Chapter 25

THE PRIZES SCUTTLED--NEWS OF THE SQUADRON REACHES ENGLAND--BOUND FOR CHINA.

The next morning after our coming to an anchor in the harbour of Chequetan, we sent about ninety of our men well armed on shore, forty of whom were ordered to march into the country, and the remaining fifty were employed to cover the watering-place and to prevent any interruption from the natives. Here it was agreed after a mature consultation to destroy the Trial's prize, as well as the Carmelo and Carmen, whose fate had been before resolved on. Indeed, the ship was in good repair and fit for the sea; but as the whole number on board our squadron did not amount to the complement of a fourth-rate man-of-war, we found it was impossible to divide them into three ships without rendering them incapable of navigating in safety in the tempestuous weather we had reason to expect on the coast of China, where we supposed we should arrive about the time of the change of the monsoons. These considerations determined the Commodore to destroy the Trial's prize and to reinforce the Gloucester with the greatest part of her crew. And in consequence of this resolve, all the stores on board the Trial's prize were removed into the other ships, and the prize herself, with the Carmelo and Carmen, were prepared for scuttling with all the expedition we were masters of. But the great difficulties we were under in laying in a store of water, together with the necessary repairs of our rigging and other unavoidable occupations, took us up so much time, and found us such unexpected employment, that it was near the end of April before we were in a condition to leave the place.

During our stay here there happened an incident which proved the means of convincing our friends in England of our safety, which for some time they had despaired of and were then in doubt about. From this harbour of Chequetan there was but one pathway, which led through the woods into the country. This we found much beaten, and were thence convinced that it was well known to the inhabitants. As it passed by the spring-head, and was the only avenue by which the Spaniards could approach us, we, at some distance beyond the spring-head, felled several large trees and laid them one upon the other across the path, and at this barricade we constantly kept a guard, and we, besides, ordered our men employed in watering to have their arms ready and, in case of any alarm, to march instantly to this spot; and though our principal intention was to prevent our being disturbed by any sudden attack of the enemy's horse, yet it answered another purpose which was not in itself less important, this was to hinder our own people from straggling singly into the country, where we had reason to believe they would be surprised by the Spaniards, who would doubtless be extremely solicitous to pick up some of them in hopes of getting intelligence of our future designs. To avoid this inconvenience, the strictest orders were given to the sentinels to let no person whatever pass beyond their post.

THE COMMODORE'S COOK.

But, notwithstanding this precaution, we missed one Lewis Leger, who was the Commodore's cook, and as he was a Frenchman, and suspected to be a Papist, it was by some imagined that he had deserted with a view of betraying all that he knew to the enemy; but this appeared by the event to be an ill-grounded surmise, for it was afterwards known that he had been taken by some Indians, who carried him prisoner to Acapulco, whence he was transferred to Mexico and then to Vera Cruz, where he was shipped on board a vessel bound to Old Spain; and the vessel being obliged by some accident to put into Lisbon, Leger escaped on shore, and was by the British consul sent thence to England, where he brought the first authentic account of the safety of the Commodore, and of what he had done in the South Seas. The relation he gave of his own seizure was that he had rambled into the woods at some distance from the barricade, where he had first attempted to pass, but had been stopped and threatened to be punished; that his principal view was to get a quantity of limes for his master's store, and that in this occupation he was surprised unawares by four Indians, who stripped him naked and carried him in that condition to Acapulco, exposed to the scorching heat of the sun, which at that time of the year shone with its greatest violence. And afterwards at Mexico his treatment in prison was sufficiently severe, and the whole course of his captivity was a continued instance of the hatred which the Spaniards bear to all those who endeavour to disturb them in the peaceable possession of the coasts of the South Seas. Indeed, Leger's fortune was, upon the whole, extremely singular, for after the hazards he had run in the Commodore's squadron, and the severities he had suffered in his long confinement amongst the enemy, a more fatal disaster attended him on his return to England; for though, when he arrived in London, some of Mr. Anson's friends interested themselves in relieving him from the poverty to which his captivity had reduced him, yet he did not long enjoy the benefit of their humanity, for he was killed in an insignificant night brawl, the cause of which could scarcely be discovered.

On the 28th of April the Centurion and the Gloucester weighed anchor. Being now in the offing of Chequetan, bound across the vast Pacific Ocean in our way to China, we were impatient to run off the coast as soon as possible, as the stormy season was approaching apace, and we had no further views in the American seas.

The sending away our prisoners* was our last transaction on the American coast, for no sooner had we parted with them than we and the Gloucester made sail to the south-west, proposing to get a good offing from the land, where we hoped in a few days to meet with the regular trade-wind. It has been esteemed no uncommon passage to run from hence to the easternmost parts of Asia in two months, and we flattered ourselves that we were as capable of making an expeditious passage as any ship that had ever run this course before us; so that we hoped soon to gain the coast of China. On the 6th of May we for the last time lost sight of the mountains of Mexico, persuaded that in a few weeks we should arrive at the river of Canton in China, where we expected to meet with many English ships, and numbers of our countrymen, and hoped to enjoy the advantages of an amicable, well-frequented spot, inhabited by a polished people, and abounding with the conveniences and indulgences of a civilised life--blessings which now for nearly twenty months had never been once in our power.

(*Note. Before leaving the American coast for China, Anson released fifty-seven of his prisoners, including all the Spaniards, and sent them to Acapulco. A certain number of natives were retained to assist in working the ships. There had been some previous attempt at correspondence between Anson and the Spanish governor of Acapulco. The latter, with Spanish courtesy, when answering Anson's letter, despatched with his answer "a present of two boats laden with the choicest refreshments and provisions which were to be found in Acapulco." Unfortunately the boats were unable to find Anson, and he never received either the letter or the present.)