A Voyage Round the World

After having continued at anchor all night, we, on the 9th, at four in the morning, sent our cutter to sound the channel where we proposed to pass; but before the return of the cutter, a Chinese pilot put on board the Centurion, and told us, in broken Portuguese, he would carry the ship to Macao for thirty dollars: these were immediately paid him, and we then weighed and made sail. Soon after several other pilots came on board, who, to recommend themselves, produced certificates from the captains of many European ships they had pilotted in, but we still continued under the management of the Chinese whom we at first engaged. By this time we learnt that we were not far distant from Macao, and that there were in the river of Canton, at the mouth of which Macao lies, eleven European ships of which four were English. Our pilot carried us between the islands of Bamboo and Cabouce; but the winds hanging in the northern board, and the tides often setting strongly against us, we were obliged to come frequently to an anchor; so that we did not get through between the two islands till the 12th of November, at two in the morning. In passing through, our depth of water was from twelve to fourteen fathom; and as we steered on N. by W.½W. between a number of other islands, our soundings underwent little or no variation till towards the evening, when they encreased to seventeen fathom, in which depth, the wind dying away, we anchored not far from the Island of Lantoon, the largest of all this range of islands. At seven in the morning we weighed again, and steering W.S.W. and S.W. by W. we at ten o'clock happily anchored in Macao road, in five fathom water, the city of Macao bearing W. by N. three leagues distant; the peak of Lantoon E. by N. and the grand Ladrone S. by E., each of them about five leagues distant. Thus, after a fatiguing cruise of above two years' continuance, we once more arrived at an amicable port and a civilized country, where the conveniencies of life were in great plenty; where the naval stores, which we now extremely wanted, could be in some degree procured; where we expected the inexpressible satisfaction of receiving letters from our relations and friends; and where our countrymen, who were lately arrived from England, would be capable of answering the numerous enquiries we were prepared to make, both about public and private occurrences, and to relate to us many particulars which, whether of importance or not, would be listened to by us with the utmost attention, after the long suspension of our correspondence with our country, to which the nature of our undertaking had hitherto subjected us.

CHAPTER VII

PROCEEDINGS AT MACAO

The city of Macao, in the road of which we came to an anchor on the 12th of November, is a Portuguese settlement, situated in an island at the entrance of the river of Canton. It was formerly very rich and populous, and capable of defending itself against the power of the adjacent Chinese governors: but at present it is much fallen from its antient splendor; for though it is inhabited by Portuguese, and hath a governor nominated by the King of Portugal, yet it subsists merely by the sufferance of the Chinese, who can starve the place and dispossess the Portuguese whenever they please. This obliges the Governor of Macao to behave with great circumspection, and carefully to avoid every circumstance that may give offence to the Chinese. The river of Canton, off the mouth of which this city lies, is the only Chinese port frequented by European ships; and is, on many accounts, a more commodious harbour than Macao: but the peculiar customs of the Chinese, solely adapted to the entertainment of trading ships, and the apprehensions of the commodore, lest he should embroil the East India Company with the Regency of Canton if he should insist on being treated upon a different footing than the merchantmen, made him resolve rather to go to Macao than to venture into the river of Canton. Indeed, had not this reason prevailed with him, he himself had nothing to fear. For it is certain that he might have entered the port of Canton, and might have continued there as long as he pleased, and afterwards have left it again, although the whole power of the Chinese empire had been brought together to oppose him.

The commodore, not to depart from his usual prudence, no sooner came to an anchor in Macao road than he dispatched an officer with his compliments to the Portuguese Governor of Macao, requesting his excellency, by the same officer, to advise him in what manner it would be proper to act to avoid offending the Chinese, which, as there were then four of our ships in their power at Canton, was a matter worthy of attention. The difficulty which the commodore principally apprehended related to the duty usually paid by ships in the river of Canton, according to their tunnage. For, as men-of-war are exempted in every foreign harbour from all manner of port charges, the commodore thought it would be derogatory to the honour of his country to submit to this duty in China: and therefore he desired the advice of the Governor of Macao, who, being an European, could not be ignorant of the privileges claimed by a British man-of-war, and consequently might be expected to give us the best lights for obviating this perplexity. Our boat returned in the evening with two officers sent by the governor, who informed the commodore that it was the governor's opinion that if the Centurion ventured into the river of Canton the duty would certainly be expected; and therefore, if the commodore approved of it, he would send him a pilot, who should conduct us into another safe harbour, called the Typa, which was every way commodious for careening the ship (an operation we were resolved to begin upon as soon as possible) and where, in all probability, the above-mentioned duty would never be demanded.

This proposal the commodore agreed to, and in the morning weighed anchor, under the direction of the Portuguese pilot, and steered for the intended harbour. As we entered between two islands, which form the eastern passage to it, we found our soundings decreased to three fathom and a half. However, the pilot assuring us that this was the least depth we should meet with, we continued our course, till at length the ship stuck fast in the mud, with only eighteen foot water abaft; and, the tide of ebb making, the water sewed to sixteen feet, but the ship remained perfectly upright; we then sounded all round us, and discovering that the water deepened to the northward, we carried out our small bower with two hawsers an end, and at the return of the tide of flood hove the ship afloat, and a breeze springing up at the same instant, we set the fore-top sail and, slipping the hawser, ran into the harbour, where we moored in about five fathom water. This harbour of the Typa is formed by a number of islands, and is about six miles distant from Macao. Here we saluted the castle of Macao with eleven guns, which were returned by an equal number.

The next day the commodore paid a visit in person to the governor, and was saluted at his landing by eleven guns, which were returned by the Centurion. Mr. Alison's business in this visit was to solicit the governor to grant us a supply both of provisions and of such naval stores as were necessary to refit the ship. The governor seemed really inclined to do us all the service he could, and assured the commodore, in a friendly manner, that he would privately give us all the assistance in his power; but he at the same time frankly owned that he dared not openly to furnish us with anything we demanded unless we first produced an order for it from the Viceroy of Canton, since he himself neither received provisions for his garrison nor any other necessaries but by permission from the Chinese Government; and as they took care only to victual him from day to day, he was indeed no other than their vassal, whom they could at all times compel to submit to their own terms by laying an embargo on his provisions.

On this declaration of the governor, Mr. Anson resolved himself to go to Canton to procure a licence from the viceroy, and he accordingly hired a Chinese boat for himself and his attendants; but just as he was ready to embark, the hoppo, or Chinese custom-house officer of Macao, refused to grant a permit to the boat, and ordered the watermen not to proceed at their peril. The commodore at first endeavoured to prevail with the hoppo to withdraw his injunction and to grant a permit; and the governor of Macao employed his interest with the hoppo to the same purpose. But the officer continuing inflexible, Mr. Anson told him the next day that if the permit was any longer refused he would man and arm the Centurion's boats, asking the hoppo at the same time who he imagined would dare to oppose them in their passage. This threat immediately brought about what his intreaties had endeavoured at in vain; the permit was granted, and Mr. Anson went to Canton. On his arrival there, he consulted with the supercargoes and officers of the English ships how to procure an order from the viceroy for the necessaries he wanted: but in this he had reason to suppose that the advice they gave him, though well intended, was yet not the most prudent; for as it is the custom with these gentlemen never to apply to the supreme magistrate himself, whatever difficulties they labour under, but to transact all matters relating to the government by the mediation of the principal Chinese merchants, Mr. Anson was persuaded to follow the same method upon this occasion, the English promising, in which they were doubtless sincere, to exert all their interest to engage the merchants in his favour. Indeed, when the Chinese merchants were spoke to, they readily undertook the management of this business, and promised to answer for its success; but after near a month's delay, and reiterated excuses, during which interval they pretended to be often upon the point of compleating it, they at last, when they were pressed, and measures were taken for delivering a letter to the viceroy, threw off the mask, and declared they neither had made application to the viceroy, nor could they, as he was too great a man, they said, for them to approach on any occasion: and not contented with having themselves thus grossly deceived the commodore, they now used all their persuasion with the English at Canton to prevent them from intermeddling with anything that regarded him; representing to them that it would in all probability embroil them with the government, and occasion them a great deal of unnecessary trouble; which groundless insinuations had unluckily but too much weight with those they were intended to influence.

It may be difficult to assign a reason for this perfidious conduct of the Chinese merchants. Interest indeed is known to exert a boundless influence over the inhabitants of that empire; but how their interest could be affected in the present case is not easy to discover, unless they apprehended that the presence of a ship of force might damp their Manila trade, and therefore acted in this manner with a view of forcing the commodore to Batavia: though it might be as natural in this light to suppose that they would have been eager to have got him dispatched. I therefore rather impute their behaviour to the unparalleled pusillanimity of the nation, and to the awe they are under of the government, since such a ship as the Centurion, fitted for war only, having never been seen in those parts before, she was the horror of these dastards, and the merchants were in some degree terrified even with the idea of her, and could not think of applying to the viceroy, who is doubtless fond of all opportunities of fleecing them, without representing to themselves the occasion which a hungry and tyrannical magistrate might possibly find for censuring their intermeddling with so unusual a transaction, in which he might pretend the interest of the state was immediately concerned. However, be this as it may, the commodore was satisfied that nothing was to be done by the interposition of the merchants, as it was on his pressing them to deliver a letter to the viceroy that they had declared they durst not interfere in the affair, and had confessed that, notwithstanding all their pretences of serving him, they had not yet taken one step towards it. Mr. Anson therefore told them that he would proceed to Batavia and refit his ship there, but informed them at the same time that this was impossible to be done unless he was supplied with a stock of provisions sufficient for his passage. The merchants, on this, undertook to procure him provisions, though they assured him that it was what they durst not engage in openly, but they proposed to manage it in a clandestine manner by putting a quantity of bread, flour, and other provisions on board the English ships, which were now ready to sail, and these were to stop at the mouth of the Typa, where the Centurion's boats were to receive it. This article, which the merchants represented as a matter of great favour, being settled, the commodore, on the 16th of December, came back from Canton to the ship, seemingly resolved to proceed to Batavia to refit as soon as he should get his supplies of provisions on board.

But Mr. Anson (who never intended going to Batavia) found on his return to the Centurion that her main-mast was sprung in two places and that the leak was considerably increased; so that, upon the whole, he was fully satisfied that though he should lay in a sufficient stock of provisions, yet it would be impossible for him to put to sea without refitting. Since, if he left the port with his ship in her present condition she would be in the utmost danger of foundring; and therefore, notwithstanding the difficulties he had met with, he resolved at all events to have her hove down before he departed from Macao. He was fully convinced, by what he had observed at Canton, that his great caution not to injure the East India Company's affairs, and the regard he had shown to the advice of their officers, had occasioned all his perplexity. For he now saw clearly that if he had at first carried his ship into the river of Canton, and had immediately addressed himself to the mandarines, who are the chief officers of state, instead of employing the merchants to apply on his behalf, he would, in all probability, have had all his requests granted and would have been soon dispatched. He had already lost a month by the wrong measures he had pursued, but he resolved to lose as little more time as possible; and therefore, the 17th of December, being the next day after his return from Canton, he wrote a letter to the viceroy of that place acquainting him that he was commander-in-chief of a squadron of his Britannick Majesty's ships of war, which had been cruising for two years past in the South Seas against the Spaniards, who were at enmity with the king his master; that on his way back to England he had put into the port of Macao, having a considerable leak in his ship and being in great want of provisions, so that it was impossible for him to proceed on his voyage till his ship was repaired and he was supplied with the necessaries he wanted; that he had been at Canton in hopes of being admitted to a personal audience of his excellency; but being a stranger to the customs of the country, he had not been able to inform himself what steps were necessary to be taken to procure such an audience, and therefore was obliged to apply in this manner, to desire his excellency to give orders for his being permitted to employ carpenters and proper workmen to refit his ship, and to furnish himself with provisions and stores, that he might be enabled to pursue his voyage to Great Britain. Hoping, at the same time, that these orders would be issued with as little delay as possible lest it might occasion his loss of the season, and he might be prevented from departing till the next winter.

This letter was translated into the Chinese language, and the commodore delivered it himself to the hoppo or chief officer of the emperor's customs at Macao, desiring him to forward it to the Viceroy of Canton with as much expedition as he could. The officer at first seemed unwilling to take charge of it, and raised many difficulties about it; so that Mr. Anson suspected him of being in league with the merchants of Canton, who had always shewn a great apprehension of the commodore's having any immediate intercourse with the viceroy or mandarines; and therefore the commodore, not without some resentment, took back his letter from the hoppo and told him he would immediately send it to Canton in his own boat, and would give his officer positive orders not to return without an answer from the viceroy. The hoppo perceiving the commodore to be in earnest, and fearing to be called to an account for his refusal, begged to be entrusted with the letter, and promised to deliver it, and to procure an answer as soon as possible. And now it was presently seen how justly Mr. Anson had at last judged of the proper manner of dealing with the Chinese; for this letter was written but the 17th of December, as hath been already observed; and on the 19th in the morning a mandarine of the first rank, who was governor of the city of Janson, together with two mandarines of an inferior class and a considerable retinue of officers and servants, having with them eighteen half gallies furnished with music, and decorated with a great number of streamers, and full of men, came to grapnel ahead of the Centurion; whence the mandarine sent a message to the commodore, telling him that he (the mandarine) was ordered by the Viceroy of Canton to examine the condition of the ship; therefore desiring the ship's boat might be sent to fetch him on board. The Centurion's boat was immediately dispatched, and preparations were made for receiving him; in particular a hundred of the most sightly of the crew were uniformly dressed in the regimentals of the marines, and were drawn up under arms on the main-deck against his arrival. When he entered the ship he was saluted by the drums and what other military music there was on board, and passing by the new-formed guard, he was met by the commodore on the quarter-deck, who conducted him to the great cabin. Here the mandarine explained his commission, declaring that he was directed to examine all the articles mentioned in the commodore's letter to the viceroy, and to confront them with the representation that had been given of them: that he was in the first place instructed to inspect the leak, and had for that purpose brought with him two Chinese carpenters; and that for the more regular dispatch of his business he had every head of enquiry separately wrote down on a sheet of paper, with a void space opposite to it, where he was to insert such information and remarks thereon as he could procure by his own observation.

This mandarine appeared to be a person of very considerable parts, and endowed with more frankness and honesty than is to be found in the generality of the Chinese. After the necessary inspections had been made, particularly about the leak, which the Chinese carpenters reported to be to the full as dangerous as it had been described, and consequently that it was impossible for the Centurion to proceed to sea without being refitted, the mandarine expressed himself satisfied with the account given in the commodore's letter. And this magistrate, as he was more intelligent than any other person of his nation that came to our knowledge, so likewise was he more curious and inquisitive, viewing each part of the ship with extraordinary attention, and appearing greatly surprized at the largeness of the lower deck guns and at the weight and size of the shot. The commodore, observing his astonishment, thought this a proper opportunity to convince the Chinese of the prudence of granting him all his demands in the most speedy and ample manner: he therefore told the mandarine and those who were with him that besides the request he made for a general licence to furnish himself with whatever his present situation required, he had a particular complaint to prefer against the proceedings of the custom-house of Macao; that at his first arrival the Chinese boats had brought on board him plenty of greens and variety of fresh provisions for daily use: that though they had always been paid to their full satisfaction, yet the custom-house officers at Macao had soon forbid them; by which means he was deprived of those refreshments which were of the utmost consequence to the health of his men after their long and sickly voyage; that as they, the mandarines, had informed themselves of his wants and were eye-witnesses of the force and strength of his ship, they might be satisfied it was not because he had no power to supply himself that he desired the permission of the government to purchase what provisions he stood in need of, since he presumed they were convinced that the Centurion alone was capable of destroying the whole navigation of the port of Canton, or of any other port in China, without running the least risque from all the force the Chinese could collect; that it was true this was not the manner of proceeding between nations in friendship with each other; but it was likewise true that it was not customary for any nation to permit the ships of their friends to starve and sink in their ports, when those friends had money to purchase necessaries, and only desired liberty to lay it out; that they must confess he and his people had hitherto behaved with great modesty and reserve; but that, as his distresses were each day increasing, famine would at last prove too strong for any restraint, and necessity was acknowledged in all countries to be superior to every other law; and therefore it could not be expected that his crew would long continue to starve in the midst of that plenty to which their eyes were every day witnesses. To this the commodore added (though perhaps with a less serious air) that if, by the delay of supplying him with provisions, his men should, from the impulses of hunger, be obliged to turn cannibals, and to prey upon their own species, it was easy to be foreseen that, independent of their friendship to their comrades, they would in point of luxury prefer the plump well-fed Chinese to their own emaciated ship-mates. The first mandarine acquiesced in the justness of this reasoning, and told the commodore that he should that night proceed for Canton; that on his arrival a council of mandarines would be summoned, of which he was a member, and that, by being employed in the present commission, he was of course the commodore's advocate; that as he was himself fully convinced of the urgency of Mr. Anson's necessity, he did not doubt but on the representation he should make of what he had seen, the council would be of the same opinion, and that all which was demanded would be amply and speedily granted; that with regard to the commodore's complaint of the custom-house of Macao, this he would undertake to rectify immediately by his own authority. And then desiring a list to be given him of the quantity of provision necessary for the expence of the ship during one day, he wrote a permit under it, and delivered it to one of his attendants, directing him to see that quantity sent on board early every morning; which order from that time forwards was punctually complied with.

When this weighty affair was thus in some degree regulated, the commodore invited him and his two attendant mandarines to dinner, telling them at the same time that if his provision, either in kind or quantity, was not what they might expect, they must thank themselves for having confined him to so hard an allowance. One of his dishes was beef, which the Chinese all dislike, tho' Mr. Anson was not apprized of it. This seems to be derived from the Indian superstition, which for some ages past has made a great progress in China. However, his guests did not entirely fast, for the three mandarines completely finished the white part of four large fowls. They were indeed extremely embarrassed with their knives and forks, and were quite incapable of making use of them: so that after some fruitless attempts to help themselves, which were sufficiently aukward, one of the attendants was obliged to cut their meat in small pieces for them. But whatever difficulty they might have in complying with the European manner of eating, they seemed not to be novices at drinking. In this part of the entertainment the commodore excused himself under the pretence of illness; but there being another gentleman present, of a florid and jovial complexion, the chief mandarine clapped him on the shoulder and told him by the interpreter that certainly he could not plead sickness, and therefore insisted on his bearing him company; and that gentleman perceiving that after they had dispatched four or five bottles of Frontiniac the mandarine still continued unruffled, he ordered a bottle of citron-water to be brought up, which the Chinese seemed much to relish; and this being near finished, they arose from table in appearance cool and uninfluenced by what they had drank; and the commodore having, according to custom, made the mandarine a present, they all departed in the same vessels that brought them.