PREPARING FOR A NIGHT ATTACK.
Mr. Anson having informed himself of the strength of the place, resolved to attempt it that very night. We were then about twelve leagues distant from the shore, far enough to prevent our being discovered, yet not so far but that, by making all the sail we could, we might arrive in the bay with our ships in the night. However, the Commodore prudently considered that this would be an improper method of proceeding, as our ships, being such large bodies, might be easily discovered at a distance even in the night, and might thereby alarm the inhabitants and give them an opportunity of removing their valuable effects. He therefore, as the strength of the place did not require our whole force, resolved to attempt it with our boats only, ordering the eighteen-oared barge and our own and the Trial's pinnaces on that service; and having picked out fifty-eight men to man them, well provided with arms and ammunition, he gave the command of the expedition to Lieutenant Brett, and gave him his necessary orders. And the better to prevent the disappointment and confusion which might arise from the darkness of the night and the ignorance of the streets and passages of the place, two of the Spanish pilots were ordered to attend the lieutenant and to conduct him to the most convenient landing-place, and were afterwards to be his guides on shore. And that we might have the greater security for their faithful behaviour on this occasion, the Commodore took care to assure all our prisoners that if the pilots acted properly they should all of them be released and set on shore at this place; but in case of any misconduct or treachery, he threatened them that the pilots should be instantly shot and that he would carry all the rest of the Spaniards who were on board him prisoners to England.
During our preparations the ships themselves stood towards the port with all the sail they could make, being secure that we were yet at too great a distance to be seen. But about ten o'clock at night, the ships being then within five leagues of the place, Lieutenant Brett, with the boats under his command, put off, and arrived at the mouth of the bay without being discovered; but no sooner had he entered it than some of the people on board a vessel riding at anchor there perceived him, who instantly put off in their boat, rowing towards the fort, shouting and crying, "The English! the English dogs!" by which the whole town was suddenly alarmed; and our people soon observed several lights hurrying backwards and forwards in the fort and other marks of the inhabitants being in great motion. Lieutenant Brett on this encouraged his men to pull briskly up to the shore, that they might give the enemy as little time as possible to prepare for their defence. However, before our boats could reach the shore, the people in the fort had got ready some of their cannon and pointed them towards the landing-place; and though in the darkness of the night it might be well supposed that chance had a greater share than skill in their direction, yet the first shot passed extremely near one of the boats, whistling just over the heads of the crew. This made our people redouble their efforts, so that they had reached the shore, and were in part disembarked by the time the second gun fired. As soon as our men landed they were conducted by one of the Spanish pilots to the entrance of a narrow street, not above fifty yards distant from the beach, where they were covered from the fire of the fort; and being formed in the best manner the shortness of the time would allow, they immediately marched for the parade, which was a large square at the end of this street, the fort being one side of the square and the Governor's house another. In this march (though performed with tolerable regularity) the shouts and clamours of three-score sailors who had been confined so long on ship-board, and were now for the first time on shore in an enemy's country--joyous as they always are when they land, and animated besides in the present case with the hopes of an immense pillage--the huzzahs, I say, of this spirited detachment, joined with the noise of their drums and favoured by the night, had augmented their numbers, in the opinion of the enemy, to at least three hundred; by which persuasion the inhabitants were so greatly intimidated that they were much more solicitous about the means of their flight than of their resistance. So that though upon entering the parade our people received a volley from the merchants who owned the treasure then in the town, and who, with a few others, had ranged themselves in a gallery that ran round the Governor's house, yet that post was immediately abandoned upon the first fire made by our people, who were thereby left in quiet possession of the parade.
A SMART PIECE OF WORK.
On this success Lieutenant Brett divided his men into two parties, ordering one of them to surround the Governor's house, and, if possible, to secure the Governor, whilst he himself with the other marched to the fort with an intent to force it. But, contrary to his expectation, he entered it without opposition; for the enemy, on his approach, abandoned it, and made their escape over the walls. By this means the whole place was mastered in less than a quarter of an hour's time from the first landing, with no other loss than that of one man killed on the spot and two wounded, one of whom was the Spanish pilot of the Teresa, who received a slight bruise by a ball which grazed on his wrist. Indeed, another of the company, the Honourable Mr. Keppel, son to the Earl of Albemarle, had a very narrow escape; for having on a jockey cap, one side of the peak was shaved off close to his temple by a ball, which, however, did him no other injury. And now Lieutenant Brett, after this success, placed a guard at the fort, and another at the Governor's house, and appointed sentinels at all the avenues of the town, both to prevent any surprise from the enemy, and to secure the effects in the place from being embezzled. And this being done, his next care was to seize on the custom-house where the treasure lay, and to examine if any of the inhabitants remained in the town, that he might know what further precautions it was necessary to take. But he soon found that the numbers left behind were no ways formidable; for the greatest part of them (being in bed when the place was surprised) had run away with so much precipitation that they had not given themselves time to put on their clothes. And in this precipitate rout the Governor was not the last to secure himself for he fled betimes, half-naked. The few inhabitants who remained were confined in one of the churches under a guard, except some stout Negroes who were found in the place. These, instead of being shut up, were employed the remaining part of the night to assist in carrying the treasure from the custom-house and other places to the fort. However, there was care taken that they should be always attended by a file of musketeers.
The transporting the treasure from the custom-house to the fort was the principal occupation of Mr. Brett's people after he had got possession of the place. But the sailors, while they were thus employed, could not be prevented from entering the houses which lay near them in search of private pillage. And the first things which occurred to them being the clothes which the Spaniards in their flight had left behind them, and which, according to the custom of the country, were most of them either embroidered or laced, our people eagerly seized these glittering habits, and put them on over their own dirty trousers and jackets; not forgetting, at the same time, the tie or bag-wig, and laced hat, which were generally found with the clothes. When this practice was once begun there was no preventing the whole detachment from imitating it; and those who came latest into the fashion, not finding men's clothes sufficient to equip themselves, were obliged to take up with women's gowns and petticoats, which (provided there was finery enough) they made no scruple of putting on and blending with their own greasy dress. So that, when a party of them thus ridiculously metamorphosed first appeared before Mr. Brett, he was extremely surprised at their appearance and could not immediately be satisfied they were his own people.
CHAPTER 19.
THE ATTACK ON PAITA (CONTINUED)--KIND TREATMENT AND RELEASE OF THE PRISONERS--THEIR GRATITUDE.
These were the transactions of our detachment on shore at Paita the first night; and now to return to what was done on board the Centurion in that interval. I must observe that after the boats were gone off we lay by till one o'clock in the morning, and then, supposing our detachment to be near landing, we made an easy sail for the bay. About seven in the morning we began to open the bay, and soon after we had a view of the town; and though we had no reason to doubt of the success of the enterprise, yet it was with great joy that we first discovered an infallible signal of the certainty of our hopes: this was by means of our perspectives, for through them we saw an English flag hoisted on the flagstaff of the fort, which to us was an incontestable proof that our people had got possession of the town. We plied into the bay with as much expedition as the wind, which then blew off shore, would permit us, and at eleven the Trial's boat came on board us, laden with dollars and church-plate; and the officer who commanded her informed us of the preceding night's transactions, such as we have already related them. About two in the afternoon we came to an anchor in ten fathoms and a half, at a mile and a half distance from the town, and were consequently near enough to have a more immediate intercourse with those on shore.
COLLECTING THE TREASURE.
And now we found that Mr. Brett had hitherto gone on in collecting and removing the treasure without interruption; but that the enemy had rendezvoused from all parts of the country on a hill at the back of the town, where they made no inconsiderable appearance; for, amongst the rest of their force, there were two hundred horse, seemingly very well armed and mounted, and, as we conceived, properly trained and regimented, being furnished with trumpets, drums, and standards. These troops paraded about the hill with great ostentation, sounding their military music and practising every art to intimidate us (as our numbers on shore were by this time not unknown to them), in hopes that we might be induced by our fears to abandon the place before the pillage was completed. But we were not so ignorant as to believe that this body of horse, which seemed to be what the enemy principally depended on, would dare to venture in streets and among houses, even had their numbers been three times as great; and therefore, notwithstanding their menaces, we went on, as long as the daylight lasted, calmly, in sending off the treasure and in employing the boats to carry on board the refreshments such as hogs, fowls, etc., which we found here in great abundance. But at night, to prevent any surprise, the Commodore sent on shore a reinforcement, who posted themselves in all the streets leading to the parade; and for their greater security they traversed the streets with barricades six feet high; and the enemy continuing quiet all night, we at daybreak returned again to our labour of loading the boats and sending them off.