[204] See Reports to the Attorney-General, 1718-1720, and full details on this subject in Macpherson, vol. iii. pp. 77-114.
CHAPTER VI.
English voyages of discovery, 1690-1779—Dampier—Anson—Byron—Wallis and Carteret—Captain Cook—His first voyage, in the Endeavour—Second voyage, in the Resolution—Third voyage—Friendly, Fiji, Sandwich, and other islands—His murder—Progress of the North American colonies—Commercial jealousy in the West Indies—Seven Years’ War, 1756-1763—Its effect on the colonies—Unwise legislative measures—Effect of the new restrictions—Passing of the Stamp Act—Trade interrupted—Non-intercourse resolutions—Recourse to hostilities—Position of the colonists—Fisheries—Shipping of North American colonies, A.D. 1769—Early registry of ships not always to be depended on—Independence of United States acknowledged, May 24, 1784—Ireland secures various commercial concessions—Scotch shipping—Rate of seamen’s wages—British Registry Act, Aug. 1, 1786—American Registry Act—Treaty between France and England, 1786—Slave trade and its profits—Trade between England and America and the West Indies re-opened—Changes produced by the Navigation Laws consequent on the separation—New disputes—English Orders in council—Negotiations opened between Mr. Jay and Lord Grenville—Tonnage duties levied by them.
English voyages of discovery, 1690-1779.
In a former portion of this work[205] attention has been directed to the remarkable discoveries of Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Cabot, Drake, Chancellor, and others. It is now proposed to furnish a very brief sketch of a few of the voyages of discovery of a later period—expeditions of which England has an especial reason for being proud, in that they greatly extended the geographical knowledge of mankind, and widely promoted the peaceful arts of commerce and navigation.[206]
Dampier.
Among the earliest of these was the one, under government auspices, made by William Dampier, who had already become famous, towards the close of the seventeenth century as one of the most daring of the buccaneers, in various marauding and piratical expeditions, but who, on a speculative voyage of his own to the Pacific, had obtained so much valuable information respecting the Eastern archipelago, Celebes, Timor, the north coast of New Holland, and the Nicobar Islands, that when he reached England in 1691, the fame he had acquired induced the government to send him in 1699 to explore more particularly New Holland and New Zealand.
It appears from Dampier’s able and amusing account of this voyage that though the government, with an unaccountable parsimony, had only placed at his disposal the Roebuck, an old and worn-out vessel, he successfully completed the object they had in view, but was obliged to abandon his ship at Ascension on his way home, it being no longer possible to keep her afloat. Having made the coast of New Holland in latitude 26° south, he shaped his course to the north, where he fell in with an archipelago of islands stretching over 20° of latitude, from which he had some difficulty in extricating himself. Thence he proceeded to Timor, sailing round the coasts of New Guinea, giving names to its principal bays and harbours, which he surveyed with much accuracy.
Anson.
The expedition of Commodore Anson was fitted out, not so much for the purpose of discovering new lands, as to make reprisals on the Spanish for their behaviour in searching English ships found near any of their settlements in the West Indies and on the coasts of America. But this expedition also was wretchedly equipped and manned, and though the ships were placed under Anson’s command in November 1739, they were not ready to sail till September 1740, while so much difficulty appears to have been experienced in getting men, that 500 out-pensioners from Chelsea Hospital were sent on board, many of whom were sixty years of age, and some threescore and ten. As might have been expected, two hundred and forty of them deserted before the ships sailed, and not one returned to England. In the place of the deserters, two hundred and ten raw marines were supplied, many of whom were so untrained that Anson would not permit them to fire their muskets! Of the squadron, originally composed of six ships of war, mounting two hundred and twenty-six guns, one alone, the Centurion, commanded by Anson himself, returned home after a cruise round the world of three years and nine months. The story of this memorable voyage, written by Mr. Walter, the chaplain of the Centurion, is one continued tale of misery and disaster, the greater part of which might, and probably would, have been avoided had the government at home listened to the repeated protests of the Commodore before he left St. Helen’s Roads. Of the courage and humanity of Anson himself throughout the whole adventure it is impossible to speak too highly.