A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Xi Part 20

As soon as the vessel came within hail of us, the commodore ordered her to bring to under his lee quarter; and having the boat hoisted out, sent our first lieutenant, Mr Saumarez, to take possession of the prize, with orders to send all the prisoners on board the Centurion, the officers and pa.s.sengers first. When Mr Saumarez boarded the prize, he was received by her people at the side with the most abject tokens of submission; as they were all, especially the pa.s.sengers, who were twenty-five in number, extremely terrified, and under the greatest apprehensions of meeting with very severe and cruel usage. But the lieutenant endeavoured, with great courtesy, to dissipate their terror, a.s.suring them that their fears were altogether groundless, and that they would find a generous enemy in the commodore, who was no less remarkable for his lenity and humanity, than for courage and resolution. The prisoners who were first sent on board the Centurion, informed us, that the prize was called _Neustra Lenora del Monte Carmelo_, and her commander Don Manuel Zamorra. Her cargo consisted chiefly of sugar, and a great quant.i.ty of blue cloth, made in the province of Quito, somewhat resembling our coa.r.s.e English broad cloth, but inferior. They had also several bales of a coa.r.s.er cloth, of different colours, somewhat like Colchester baize, called by them _Panniada Tierra_; with a few bales of cotton, and some tolerably well-flavoured tobacco, though strong. These were her princ.i.p.al goods; but we found besides, what was much more valuable than the rest of her cargo, some trunks full of wrought silver plate, and twenty-three serons of dollars, each weighing upwards of two hundred pounds.[2]

This ship was of about 450 tons burden, having on board 53 sailors, including whites and blacks. She came from Calao, bound for Valparaiso, and had been twenty-seven days at sea. Her return cargo from Chili was to have been corn and Chili wine, with some gold, dried beef, and small cordage, which is afterwards converted at Calao into larger rope. This vessel had been built thirty years before; yet, as they lie in harbour all winter, and the climate is remarkably favourable, she was not considered as very old. Her rigging and sails were very indifferent, the latter being of cotton. She had only three four-pounders, which were quite unserviceable, as their carriages could scarcely support them; and they had no small arms on board, except a few pistols belonging to the pa.s.sengers. They had sailed from Callao in company with two other ships, which they had parted from a few days before, and had at first taken our ship for one of their consorts; and, by the description we gave of the ship we had chased from Juan Fernandez, they a.s.sured us that she was one of their number; although the coming in sight of that island is directly contrary to the merchant's instructions, as knowing, if any English ships should be in these seas, that this island is most likely to be their place of rendezvous.

[Footnote 2: A seron is a species of package made and used in Spanish America, consisting of a piece of raw bullock's hide with the hair on, formed while wet into the shape of a small trunk, and sewed together.

The quant.i.ty of dollars taken on this occasion may have been between seventy and eighty thousand.--E.]

We met with very important intelligence in this prize, partly from the prisoners, and partly from letters and papers that fell into our hands. By these we first learnt with certainty the force and destination of that squadron which cruised off Madeira at our arrival there, and had afterwards chased the Pearl in our pa.s.sage to Port St Julian. This squadron we now knew to be composed of five large Spanish ships, commanded by Admiral Pizarro, and purposely fitted out to traverse our designs, as has been already more amply related in our third section. We had now the satisfaction to find, that Pizarro, after his utmost endeavours to get round into these seas, had been forced back to the Rio Plata, after losing two of his largest ships; which, considering our great weakness, was no unacceptable intelligence. We also learnt, that, though an embargo had been laid on all shipping in the ports of South America, by the viceroy of Peru, in the preceding month of May, on the supposition that we might then arrive on the coast, yet it now no longer subsisted: For, on receiving the account overland of the distresses of Pizarro, part of which they knew we must also have suffered; and, on hearing nothing of us for eight months after we were known to have left St Catharines, they were fully satisfied we must either have been shipwrecked, have perished at sea, or have been obliged to put back again; as they conceived it impossible for any ships to have continued at sea for so long an interval, and therefore, on the application of the merchants, and the persuasion that we had miscarried, the embargo had been lately taken off.

This intelligence made us flatter ourselves, as the enemy was still ignorant of our having got round Cape Horn, and as navigation was restored, that we might meet with some valuable captures, and might indemnify ourselves in that way, of our incapacity to attempt any of their considerable settlements on sh.o.r.e. This much at least we were certain of, from the information of our prisoners, that, whatever might be our success in regard to prizes, we had nothing to fear, weak even as we were, from the Spanish force in that part of the world, though we discovered that we had been in most imminent peril, when we least apprehended any, when our other distresses were at the greatest height. As we found, by letters in the prize, that Pizarro, in the dispatch he sent by express to the viceroy of Peru overland, after his own return to the Rio Plata, had intimated the possibility of some part of our squadron getting round; and as, from his own experience, he was certain any of our ships that might arrive in the South Seas must be in a very weak and defenceless condition, he advised the viceroy to send what ships of war he had to the southwards, in order to be secure at all events, where, in all probability, they would intercept us singly, before we had an opportunity of touching any where for refreshment; in which case he had no doubt of our proving an easy conquest. The viceroy approved this advice, and as he had already fitted out four ships of force at Callao, one of 50 guns, two of 40 each, and one of 24, which were intended to have joined Pizarro, three of these were stationed off the port of Conception, and one at the island of Juan Fernandez, where they continued cruising for us till the 6th of June; and then, conceiving it impossible that we could have kept the sea so long, they quitted this station and returned to Callao, fully persuaded we must either have perished, or been driven back.

Now, as the time when they left Juan Fernandez was only a few days before our arrival at that island, it is evident, if we had made it on our first search, without hauling in for the main to secure our easting, a circ.u.mstance we then considered as very unfortunate, on account of the many men we lost by our long continuance at sea; had we made the island 28th of May, when we first expected to see it, and were in reality very near to have so done, we had inevitably fallen in with some part of the squadron from Callao; and in our then distressed condition, the encounter of a healthy and well-provided enemy might have proved fatal, not only to us in the Centurion, but also to the Tryal, Gloucester, and Anna pink, which separately joined us, and were each less capable to have resisted than we. I may also add, that these Spanish ships, sent out to intercept us, had been greatly shattered by a storm during their cruise, and had been laid up after their return to Callao; and we were a.s.sured by our prisoners, that, when intelligence might be received at Lima of our being in the South Seas, it would require two months at least, before this armament could be refitted for going to sea. The whole of this intelligence was as favourable as we, in our reduced circ.u.mstances, could wish for; and we were now at no loss to account for the broken jars, ashes, and fish bones, which we had observed at Juan Fernandez on our first landing; these things having been doubtless the relics of the cruisers stationed at that island. Having thus satisfied ourselves in the most material articles of our enquiry, got all the silver on board the Centurion, and most of the prisoners, we made sail to the northward at eight that same evening, in company with our prize. We got sight of Juan Fernandez at six next morning, and the day following both we and our prize got safe there to anchor. When the prize and her crew came into the bay, in which the rest of our squadron lay, the Spaniards, who had been sufficiently informed of the distresses we had gone through, and were astonished we had been able to surmount them, were still more surprised when they saw the Tryal sloop, that, after all our fatigues, we should have had the industry to complete such a vessel in so short a time, besides refitting our other ships, as they concluded we had certainly built her there; nor was it without great difficulty they could be brought to believe that she came from England with the rest of the squadron; for they long insisted, that it was impossible for such a bauble as she was to have pa.s.sed round Cape Horn, when the best ships of Spain were forced to put back.

By the time of our arrival at Juan Fernandez, the letters found on board our prize were more minutely examined, and it appeared from them, and from the examination of our prisoners, that several other merchant-ships were bound from Callao to Valparaiso. Whereupon, the commodore dispatched the Tryal sloop, the very next morning, to cruise off the port of Valparaiso, reinforcing her crew with ten men from the Centurion. The commodore resolved also, on the above intelligence, to employ the ships under his command in separate cruises, as by this means he might increase the chance of taking prizes, and should run less risk of being discovered, and alarming the coast. The spirits of our people were now greatly raised, and their despondency dissipated, by this earnest of success, so that they forgot all their past distresses, resumed their wonted alacrity, and laboured incessantly in completing our water, receiving our lumber, and preparing to leave the island.

These necessary occupations took us up four or five days, with all our industry and exertions; and in this interval, the commodore directed the guns of the Anna pink, being four six-pounders and four four-pounders, with two swivels, to be mounted in the Carmelo, our prize. He sent also on board the Gloucester, six Spanish pa.s.sengers and twenty-three captured seamen, to a.s.sist in navigating that ship, and directed Captain Mitch.e.l.l to leave the island as soon as possible, the service demanding the utmost despatch, giving him orders to proceed to the lat.i.tude of 5 S. and there to cruise off the high-land of Payta, at such distance from sh.o.r.e as should prevent his being discovered. He was to continue on this station till joined by the Centurion; which was to be whenever it should be known that the viceroy had fitted out the ships of war at Callao, or on the commodore receiving any other intelligence that should make it necessary to divide our strength. These orders being delivered to Captain Mitch.e.l.l of the Gloucester, and all our business completed, we weighed anchor in the Centurion, on Sat.u.r.day the 19th of September, in company with our prize the Carmelo, and got out of the bay, taking our last leave of Juan Fernandez, and steering to the eastward, with the intention of joining the Tryal sloop, on her station off Valparaiso, leaving the Gloucester still at anchor.

SECTION XV.

_Our Cruise, from leaving Juan Fernandez, to the taking of Payta._

Although we left the bay on the 19th of September, yet, by the irregularity and fluctuation of the wind in the offing, it was the 22d of that month, in the evening, before we lost sight of Juan Fernandez; after which we continued our course to the eastward, in order to join the Tryal off Valparaiso. Next night the weather proved squally, and we split our main top-sail, which we then handed; but got it repaired and set again by next morning. In the evening, a little before sunset, we saw two sail to the eastward, on which our prize stood directly from us, to avoid any suspicion of our being cruisers, while we made ready for an engagement, and steered with all our canva.s.s towards the two ships we had descried. We soon perceived, that one of them, which seemed a very stout ship, stood directly for us, while the other kept at a great distance. By seven o'clock we were within pistol-shot of the nearest, and had a broadside ready to pour into her, the gunners having their lighted matches in their hands, only waiting orders to fire. But, as the commodore knew that she could not now escape, he ordered the master to hail the ship in Spanish; on which her commanding officer, who happened to be Mr Hughes, lieutenant of the Tryal, answered us in English, that she was a prize, taken by the Tryal a few days before, and that the other vessel at a distance was the Tryal, disabled in her masts.

We were soon after joined by the Tryal, when her commander, Captain Saunders, came on board the Centurion. He acquainted the commodore, that he had taken this ship on the 18th, being a prime sailor, which had cost him thirty-six hours chase before he could get up with her, and that for some time he gained so little upon her, that he almost despaired of ever making up with the chase. The Spaniards were at first alarmed, by seeing nothing but a cloud of sail in pursuit of them, as the hull of the Tryal lay so low in the water, that no part of it appeared; yet knowing the goodness of their ship, and finding how little the Tryal neared them, they at last laid aside their fears, and, recommending themselves to the protection of the blessed Virgin, they began to think themselves quite secure. Indeed, their success was near doing honour to their _Ave Marias_; for, altering their course in the night, and shutting close their cabin windows to prevent any of their lights from being seen, they had some chance of escaping: But a small crevice in one of their shutters rendered all their invocations of no avail; as the people of the Tryal perceived a light through this crevice, which they chased till they got within gun-shot; and then Captain Saunders alarmed them with a broadside, when they flattered themselves they were beyond his reach. For some time, however, the chase still kept the same sail abroad, and it was not observed that this first salute had made any impression; but, just as the Tryal was about to repeat her broadsides the Spaniards crept from their holes, lowered their sails, and submitted without opposition. She was named the _Arranzazu_, being one of the largest merchantmen employed in these seas, of about 600 tons burden, bound from Calao to Valparaiso, having much the same cargo with the Carmelo, our former prize, except that her silver amounted only to about 5000l. sterling.

To balance this success, we found that the Tryal had sprung her main-mast, and that her main-top-mast had come by the board; and next morning, as we were all standing to the eastward in a fresh gale at S.

she had the additional misfortune to spring her fore-mast, so that now she had not a mast left on which she could carry sail. These unhappy circ.u.mstances were still further aggravated, by the impossibility of our being then able to a.s.sist her, for the wind blew so hard, and raised such a hollow sea, that we could not venture to hoist out a boat, and consequently could not have any communication with her; so that we were obliged to lie-to for the greatest part of forty-eight hours to attend upon her, as we could not possibly leave her in such a condition of distress. It was no small addition to our misfortunes, on this occasion, that we were all the while driving to leeward of our intended station, and at the very time, when, by our intelligence, we had reason to expect several of the enemy's ships would appear on the coast, and would now get into the port of Valparaiso un.o.bstructed; and, I am convinced, the embarra.s.sment we suffered by the dismasting of the Tryal and our consequent absence from our intended station, deprived, us of some very considerable captures.

The weather proved somewhat more moderate on the 27th, when we sent our boat for Captain Saunders, who came on board the Centurion, where he produced an instrument, signed by himself and all his officers, representing that the Tryal, besides being dismasted, was so very leaky in her hull, that it was necessary to ply the pumps continually, even in moderate weather, and that they were then scarcely able to keep her free; insomuch that, in the late gale, though all the officers even had been engaged in turns at the pumps, yet the water had increased upon them; and that, on the whole, they apprehended her present condition to be so defective, that they must all inevitably perish if they met with much bad weather: For all which reasons, he pet.i.tioned the commodore to take measures for their safety. The refittal of the Tryal, and the repair of her defects, were utterly beyond our power on the present conjuncture, for we had no masts to spare, no stores to complete her rigging, and no port in which she could be hove down, to examine and repair her bottom. Even had we possessed a port, and proper requisites for the purpose it would yet have been extremely imprudent, in so critical a conjuncture to have loitered away so much time as would have been necessary for these operations. The commodore, therefore, had no choice left, but was under the necessity of taking out her people and destroying her. Yet, as he conceived it expedient to keep up the appearance of our force, he appointed the Tryal's prize, which had often been employed by the viceroy of Peru as a man-of-war, to be a frigate in his majesty's service, manning her with the crew of the Tryal, and giving commissions to the captain and all the inferior officers accordingly.

This new frigate, when in the Spanish service, had mounted thirty-two guns; but she was now to have only twenty, which were the twelve that belonged to the Tryal and eight that had been on board the Anna pink.

This affair being resolved on, the commodore gave orders to Captain Saunders to carry it into execution, directing him to take all the arms, stores, ammunition, and every thing else that could be of use from the sloop, and then to scuttle and sink her. After all this was done, Captain Saunders was to proceed with his new frigate, now called the _Tryal's prize_, to cruise off the high-land of Valparaiso, keeping it from him N.N.W. at the distance of twelve or fourteen leagues: for, as all ships from Valparaiso bound to the northward, steer that course, the commodore proposed, by this means, to stop any intelligence that might be dispatched to Callao, of two of their ships being amissing, which might give them apprehensions of the English squadron being in their neighbourhood. The Tryal's prize was to continue on this station for twenty-four days, and, if not joined by the commodore before the expiration of that time, was then to proceed along the coast to Pisco, or Nasca, where she would be certain to find the Centurion. The commodore also ordered Lieutenant Saumarez, who commanded the Centurion's prize, to keep company with Captain Saunders, both to a.s.sist in unloading the Tryal, and that, by spreading in their cruise off Valparaiso, there might be less danger of any ships of the enemy slipping past un.o.bserved. These orders being dispatched, the Centurion parted from the other vessels at eleven at night of the 27th September, directing her course towards Valparaiso, with the view of cruising for some days to windward of that port. By this distribution of our ships, we flattered ourselves that we had taken all the advantages we possibly could of the enemy with our small force, as our disposition was certainly the most prudent that could be devised: For, as we might suppose the Gloucester to be now drawing nigh the high-land of Payta, we were thus enabled, by our separate stations, to intercept all vessels employed either between Peru and Chili to the southward, or between Panama and Peru to the northward, since the princ.i.p.al trade from Peru to Chili being carried on with the port of Valparaiso, the Centurion, cruising to windward of that port, would probably meet with them, as it is the constant practice of these ships to fall in with land to windward of that place. The Gloucester, also, would be in the way of all ships bound from Panama, or any other place to the northward, to any port in Peru, since the highland, off which she was ordered to cruise, is constantly made by every ship on that voyage. While the Centurion and Gloucester were thus conveniently situated for intercepting the trade of the enemy, the Tryal's prize, and Centurion's prize, were as conveniently stationed for preventing the communication of intelligence, by intercepting all vessels bound from Valparaiso to the northward; as by such vessels it was to be feared that some account of us might be transmitted to Peru.

But the most judicious dispositions only produce a probability of success, and cannot command certainty; since those chances, which may reasonably enough be overlooked in deliberation, are sometimes of most powerful influence in execution. Thus, in the present instance, the distress of the Tryal, and our necessary quitting our station to a.s.sist her, which were events that no degree of prudence could either foresee or obviate, gave an opportunity to all the ships bound for Valparaiso to reach that port without molestation during this unlucky interval: so that, after leaving Captain Saunders, we used every expedition in regaining our station, which we reached on the 29th at noon; yet, in plying on and off till the 6th of October, we had not the good fortune to fall in with a sail of any sort. Having lost all hope of meeting with any better fortune by longer stay, we then made sail to leeward of the port, in order to rejoin our prizes; but when we arrived off the high-land, where they were directed to cruise, we did not find them, though we continued there three or four days. It was supposed, therefore, that some chase had occasioned them to quit their station, wherefore we proceeded to the northward to the high-land of Nasca, in lat. 15 20' S. being the second rendezvous appointed for Captain Saunders to join us. We got there on the 21st of October, and were in great expectation of falling in with some of the enemy's vessels, as both the accounts of former voyagers, and the information of our prisoners, a.s.sured us, that all ships bound to Callao consequently make this land to prevent the danger of falling to leeward of the port.

Notwithstanding the advantages of this station, we saw no sail whatever till the 2d November, when two ships appeared together, to which we immediately gave chase, and soon perceived that they were the Tryal's and Centurion's prizes. As they were to windward, we brought to and waited their coming up; when Captain Saunders came on board the Centurion, and acquainted the commodore that he had cleared and scuttled the Tryal according to his orders, and remained by her till she sunk. It was, however, the 4th of October before this could be effected; for there ran so large and hollow a sea that the sloop, having neither masts nor sails to steady her, rolled and pitched so violently, that, for the greatest part of the time, it was impossible for a boat to lie alongside of her; and, during this attendance on the sloop, they were all driven so far to the N.W. that they were afterwards obliged to stretch a long way to the westward, in order to regain the ground they had lost, which was the reason we had not met them on their station. They had met with no better fortune on their cruise than ourselves, never having seen a single vessel since we left them.

This want of success, and our certainty if any ships had been stirring in these seas for some time past, that we must have fallen in with them, made us believe that the enemy at Valparaiso, on missing the two ships we had taken, had suspected us to be in these seas, and had consequently laid an embargo on all trade in the southern parts. We likewise apprehended they might, by this time, be fitting out the ships of war at Callao; as we knew that it was not uncommon for an express to reach Lima from Valparaiso in twenty-nine or thirty days, and it was now more than fifty since we had taken the first prize.

These apprehensions of an embargo on the coast, and of the equipment of the Spanish squadron at Callao, determined the commodore to hasten down to the leeward of Callao, to join the Gloucester as soon as possible off Payta, that, our strength being united, we might be prepared to give the ships from Callao a warm reception, if they dared to put to sea. With this view we bore away that same afternoon, taking particular care to keep at such a distance from the sh.o.r.e that there might be no danger of our being discovered from thence; for we knew that all the ships of that country were commanded, under the severest penalties, not to sail past the harbour of Callao without stopping: as this order is always complied with, we should undoubtedly be known for enemies if we were seen to act contrary to that regulation. In this new navigation, being uncertain if we might not meet the Spanish squadron on the way, the commodore took back a part of the crew of the Centurion which had been for some time on board the Carmelo.

While standing to the northward, we had sight of the small island of St Gallan[1] before night, bearing from us N.N.E. 1/2 E. about seven leagues distant. This island lies in about the lat.i.tude of 14 S. and about five miles to the northward of a high-land called Morro Viejo, or the Old-man's Head, which island and high-land near it are here more particularly mentioned, because between them is perhaps the most eligible station on all this coast for cruising against the enemy, as hereabouts all ships bound for Callao, whether from the northward or southward, run well in with the land. By the 5th November, at 3 p.m.

we were within sight of the high-land of _Barranca_, in lat. 10 36'

S. bearing from us N.E. by E. eight or nine leagues distant; and an hour and a half afterwards we had the satisfaction, so long wished for, of seeing a sail. She appeared to leeward, and we all immediately gave chase; but the Centurion so much outsailed the two prizes that we soon ran them both out of sight, and gained considerably upon the chase. Night, however, came on before we could make up with her, and about seven o'clock the darkness concealed her from our view, and we were in some perplexity what course to steer; but our commodore resolved, being then before the wind, to keep all his sails set and not to change his course: For, although there was no doubt the chase would alter her course in the night, as it was quite uncertain what tack she might go upon, he thought it more prudent to continue the same course, rather than change it on conjecture, as, should we mistake, she would certainly get away. Continuing the chase about an hour and a half after dark, one or other of our people constantly believing they saw her sails right a-head of us, our second lieutenant, Mr Brett, at length actually discovered her about four points on the larboard bow, steering off to seawards, on which we immediately clapped the helm a-weather, standing right towards her, and came up with her in less than an hour, and, having fired fourteen shots at her, she struck. Mr Dennis, our third lieutenant, was sent in the boat with sixteen men to take possession of the prize, and to shift the prisoners to our ship.

[Footnote 1: This island of San Gallan is in lat. 14 S. long. 76 W.

about twelve miles S.W. of Pisco.--E.]

This vessel was named the _Santa Teresa de Jesus_, built at Guayaquil, of about 300 tons burden, commanded by Bartolome Urrunaga, a Biscayan.

She was bound from Guayaquil to Callao, her loading consisting of timber, cocoa, cocoa-nuts, tobacco, hides, _Pito_ thread, (which is made of a kind of gra.s.s and is very strong,) Quito cloth, wax, and various other articles; but the specie on board was very inconsiderable, being princ.i.p.ally small silver coin, not exceeding 170l. sterling in value. Her cargo, indeed, was of great value, if we could have sold it; but the Spaniards have strict orders never to ransom their ships, so that all the goods we captured in the South Seas, except what little we had occasion for ourselves, were of no advantage to us; yet it was some satisfaction to consider, that it was so much real loss to the enemy, and that despoiling them was no contemptible part of the service in which we were employed, and was so far beneficial to our country. Besides her crew of forty-five hands, she had on board ten pa.s.sengers, consisting of four men and three women, who were natives of the country, but born of Spanish parents, together with three negro slaves who attended them. The women were a mother and two daughters, the elder about twenty-one, and the younger about fourteen. It is not to be wondered that women of these years should be excessively alarmed at falling into the hands of an enemy whom they had been taught to consider as the most lawless and brutal of all mankind, owing to the former excesses of the buccaneers, and by the artful insinuations of their priests. In the present instance these apprehensions were much augmented by the singular beauty of the youngest of the women, and the riotous disposition they might naturally enough expect to find in a set of sailors who had not seen a woman for near a twelvemonth.

Full of these terrors, the women all hid themselves on the lieutenant coming on board, and, when found out, it was with difficulty he could persuade them to come to the light. But he soon satisfied them, by the humanity of his conduct, and by his a.s.surances of their future safety and honourable treatment, that they had nothing to fear. The commodore, also, being informed of their fears, sent directions that they should continue in their own ship, with the use of the same apartments and all other conveniences they had before enjoyed, giving strict orders that they should experience no inquietude or molestation; and, that they might be the more certain of having these orders complied with, or having the means of complaining if they were not, the commodore appointed the pilot, who is generally the second person in Spanish ships, to remain with them as their guardian and protector. He was particularly chosen on this occasion, as he seemed extremely interested in all that concerned these women, and had at first declared that he was married to the youngest; though it afterwards appeared that he had a.s.serted this merely with the view of securing them from the insults they dreaded on falling into our hands.

By this compa.s.sionate and indulgent behaviour of the commodore, the consternation of our female prisoners entirety subsided, and they continued easy and cheerful during the time they were with us.

I have before mentioned that the Centurion ran her two consorts out of sight at the commencement of this chase, on which account we lay to for them all the night after we had taken the prize, firing guns and shewing false fires every half hour, to prevent them from pa.s.sing us un.o.bserved. But they were so far astern, that they neither heard nor saw any of our signals, and were not able to come up with us till broad day. When they had joined, we proceeded together to the northward, being now four sail in company. We here found the sea for many miles of a beautiful red colour, owing, as we found upon examination, to an immense quant.i.ty of sp.a.w.n floating on its surface: For, taking some of the water in a gla.s.s, it soon changed from a dirty aspect to be perfectly clear, with some red globules of a slimy nature floating on the top. Having now a supply of timber in our new prize, the commodore ordered all our boats to be repaired, and a swivel-stock to be fitted in the bow of the barge and pinnace, in order to increase their force, in case we should have occasion to use them in boarding ships, or making any attempt on sh.o.r.e.

Continuing our course to the northward, nothing remarkable occurred for two or three days, though we spread our ships in such a manner that it was not probable any vessel of the enemy should escape us.

During our voyage along this coast, we generally observed that a current set us to the northward, at the rate of ten or twelve miles every day. When in about the lat.i.tude of 8 S. we began to be attended by vast numbers of flying fish and bonitos, which were the first we had seen after leaving the coast of Brazil. It is remarkable that these fish extend to a much higher lat.i.tude on the east side of America than on the west, as we did not lose them on the coast of Brazil till near the southern tropic. The reason, doubtless, of this diversity, is owing to the different degrees of heat obtaining on different sides of the continent in the same lat.i.tude; and, on this occasion, I use the freedom to make a short digression on the heat and cold of different climates, and on the variations which occur in the same places at different times of the year, and in different places in the same degree of lat.i.tude.

The ancients conceived that of the five zones into which they divided the surface of the globe, two only were habitable; supposing that the heat between the tropics, and the cold within the polar circles, were too intense to be supported by mankind. The falsehood of this idea has been long established; but the particular comparison of the heat and cold of these various climates have as yet been very imperfectly considered. Enough is known, however, safely to determine this position, that all the places within the tropics are far from being the hottest on the globe, as many within the polar circle are far from enduring that extreme degree of cold to which their situation seems to subject them; that is to say, that the temperature of a place depends much more upon other circ.u.mstances, than upon its distance from the pole, or its proximity to the equinoctial line.

This proposition relates to the general temperature of places taking the whole year round, and, in this sense, it cannot be denied that the city of London, for instance, enjoys much warmer seasons than the bottom of Hudson's Bay, which is nearly in the same lat.i.tude, but where the severity of the winter is so great as scarcely to permit the hardiest of our garden plants to live. If the comparison be made between the coast of Brazil and the western sh.o.r.e of South America, as, for example, between Bahia and Lima, the difference will be found still more considerable; for, though the coast of Brazil is extremely sultry, yet the coast of the South Sea, in the same lat.i.tude, is perhaps as temperate and tolerable as any part of the globe; since we, in ranging it along, did not once meet with such warm weather as is frequently felt in a summer day in England, which was still the more remarkable, as there never fell any rain to refresh and cool the air.

The causes of this lower temperature in the South Sea are not difficult to be a.s.signed, and shall be mentioned hereafter. I am now only solicitous to establish the truth of this a.s.sertion, that the lat.i.tude of a place alone is no rule by which to judge of the degree of heat and cold which obtains there. Perhaps this position might be more briefly confirmed by observing that on the tops of the Andes, though under the equator, the snow never melts the whole year round; a criterion of cold stronger than is known to take place in many parts far within the polar circle.

Hitherto I have considered the temperature of the air all the year through, and the gross estimations of heat and cold which every one makes from his own sensations. But if this matter be examined by means of thermometers, which are doubtless the most unerring evidences in respect to the absolute degrees of heat and cold, the result will be indeed most wonderful; since it will appear that the heat in very high lat.i.tudes, as at Petersburgh for instance, is, at particular times, much greater than any that has been hitherto observed between the tropics. Even at London in the year 1746, there was a part of one day considerably hotter than was at any time felt in one of the ships of our squadron in the whole voyage out and home, though four times pa.s.sing under the equator; for, in the summer of that year, the thermometer in London, graduated according to the scale of Fahrenheit, stood at 78, and the greatest observed heat, by a thermometer of the same kind in the same ship, was 76, which was at St Catharines in the latter end of December, when the sun was within about 3 of the vertex. At St Petersburgh, I find by the acts of the Academy, in the year 1734, on the 20th and 25th of July, that the thermometer rose to 98 in the shade, or 22 higher than it was found to be at St Catharines; which extraordinary degree of heat, were it not authenticated by the regularity and circ.u.mspection with which the observations appear to have been conducted, would appear altogether incredible.

If it should be asked, how it comes then to pa.s.s, that the heat, in many places between the tropics, is esteemed so violent and insufferable, when it appears, by these instances, that it is sometimes rivalled, and even exceeded, in very high lat.i.tudes, not far from the polar circle? I shall answer, That the estimation of heat, in any particular place, ought not to be founded upon that particular degree of it which may now and then obtain there; but is rather to be deduced from the medium observed during a whole season, or perhaps in a whole year; and in this light, it will easily appear how much more intense the same degree of heat may prove, by being long continued without remarkable variation. For instance, in comparing together St Catharines and St Petersburg, we shall suppose the summer heat at St Catharines to be 76, and the winter heat to be only 56. I do not make this last supposition upon sufficient authority, but am apt to suspect the allowance is full large. Upon this supposition, therefore, the medium heat all the year round will be 66; and this perhaps by night as well as by day, with no great variation. Now, those who have attended to thermometrical observation will readily allow, that a continuance of this degree of heat for a length of time, would be found violent and suffocating by the generality of mankind. But at Petersburg, though the heat, as measured by the thermometer, may happen to be a few times in the year considerably higher than at St Catharines, yet, at other times, the cold is intensely sharper, and the medium for a year, or even for one season only, would be far short of 60. For I find, that the variation of the thermometer at Petersburgh, is at least five times greater, from its highest to its lowest point, than I have supposed it to be at St Catherines.[2]

[Footnote 2: On his own principles, the lowest heat of Petersburg ought to be -2, and the medium temperature of the year 48; but the data are loosely expressed and quite unsatisfactory, as indeed is the whole reasoning on the subject.--E.]

Besides this estimation of the heat of a place, by taking the medium for a considerable time together, there is another circ.u.mstance which will still farther augment the apparent heat of the warmer climates, and diminish that of the colder, though I do not remember to have seen it remarked by any author. To explain myself more distinctly upon this head, I must observe, that the measure of absolute heat, marked by the thermometer, is not the certain criterion of the sensation of heat with which human bodies are affected; for, as the presence and perpetual succession of fresh air is necessary to our respiration, so there is a species of tainted or stagnated air often produced by the continuance of great heats, which, being less proper for respiration, never fails to excite in us an idea of sultriness and suffocating warmth, much beyond what the heat of the air alone would occasion, supposing it pure and agitated. Hence it follows, that the mere inspection of the thermometer will never determine the heat which the human body feels from this cause; and hence also, the heat, in most places between the tropics, must be much more troublesome and uneasy, than the same degree of absolute heat in a high lat.i.tude. For the equability and duration of the tropical heat contribute to impregnate the air with a mult.i.tude of steams and vapours from the soil and water; and many of these being of an impure and noxious kind, and being not easily removed, by reason of the regularity of the winds in those parts, which only shift the exhalations from place to place, without dispersing them, the atmosphere is by this means rendered less capable of supporting the animal functions, and mankind are consequently affected by what they call a most intense and stifling heat. Whereas, in the higher lat.i.tudes, these vapours are probably raised in smaller quant.i.ties, and are frequently dispersed by the irregularity and violence of the winds; so that the air, being in general more pure and less stagnant, the same degree of absolute heat is not attended by that uneasy and suffocating sensation.

This may suffice, in general, with respect to the present speculation; but I cannot help wishing, as it is a subject in which mankind are very much interested, especially travellers of all sorts, that it were more thoroughly and accurately examined, and that all ships bound to the warmer climates were furnished with thermometers of a known fabric, and would observe them daily, and register their observations.

For, considering the turn to philosophical enquiries which has obtained in Europe since the beginning of the eighteenth century, it is incredible how very rarely any thing of this kind has been attended to. For my own part, I do not remember to have ever seen any observations of the heat and cold, either in the East or West Indies, which were made by marines or officers of vessels, excepting those made by order of Commodore Anson on board the Centurion, and those by Captain Legg on board the Severn, another ship of our squadron.

I have been in some measure drawn into this digression, by the consideration of the fine weather we experienced on the coast of Peru, even under the equinoctial, but I have not yet described the particularities of this weather. I shall now therefore observe, that every circ.u.mstance concurred, in this climate, that could render the open air and the day-light desirable: For, in other countries, the scorching heat of the sun in summer renders the greater part of the day unapt either for labour or amus.e.m.e.nt, and the frequent rains are not less troublesome in the more temperate parts of the year: But, in this happy climate, the sun rarely appears. Not that the heavens have at any time a dark or gloomy aspect; for there is constantly a cheerful gray sky, just sufficient to screen the sun, and to mitigate the violence of its perpendicular rays, without obscuring the air, or tinging the light of day with an unpleasant or melancholy hue. By this means, all parts of the day are proper for labour or exercise in the open air; nor is there wanting that refreshing and pleasing refrigeration of the air which is sometimes produced by rains in other climates; for here the same effect is brought about by the fresh breezes from the cooler regions to the southward. It is reasonable to suppose, that this fortunate complexion of the heavens is princ.i.p.ally owing to the neighbourhood of those vast mountains called the Andes, which, running nearly parallel to the sh.o.r.e, and at a small distance from it, and extending immensely higher than any other mountains upon the globe, form upon their sides and declivities a prodigious tract of country, where, according to the different approaches to the summit, all kinds of climates may be found at all seasons of the year.

These mountains, by intercepting great part of the eastern winds, which generally blow over the continent of South America, and by cooling that part of the air which forces its way over their tops, and by keeping besides a large portion of the atmosphere perpetually cool, from its contiguity to the snows by which they are always covered, and thus spreading the influence of their frozen crests to the neighbouring coasts and seas of Peru, are doubtless the cause of the temperature and equability which constantly prevail there. For, when we had advanced beyond the equinoctial to the north, where these mountains left us, and had nothing to screen us to the eastward but the high lands on the Isthmus of Darien, which are mere mole-hills compared to the Andes, we then found that we had totally changed our climate in a short run; pa.s.sing, in two or three days, from the temperate air of Peru, to the sultry and burning atmosphere of the West Indies.

To return to our narration. On the 10th of November we were three leagues south of the southern island, of _Lobos_, in lat. 6 27'

S. This is called _Lobos de la Mar_; and another, which is to the northward of it, and resembles it so much in shape and appearance as to be often mistaken for it, is called _Lobos de Tierra_.[3] We were now drawing near the station that had been appointed for the Gloucester, and fearing to miss her, we went under easy sail all night. At day-break next morning, we saw a ship in sh.o.r.e and to windward, which had pa.s.sed us unseen in the night, and soon perceiving that she was not the Gloucester, we got our tacks on board and gave her chase. But as there was very little wind, so that neither we nor the chase had made much way, the commodore ordered his barge and pinnace, with the pinnace of the Tryal's prize, to be manned and armed, and to pursue and board the chase. Lieutenant Brett, who commanded our barge, came up with her first about nine o'clock, a.m.

and, running alongside, fired a volley of small shot between her masts, just over the heads of her people, and then instantly boarded with the greatest part of his men. But the enemy made no resistance, being sufficiently intimidated by the dazzling of the cutla.s.ses, and the volley they had just received. Lieutenant Brett now made the sails of the prize be trimmed, and bore down towards the commodore, taking up the other two boats in his way. When within about four miles of us, he put off in the barge, bringing with him a number of the prisoners, who had given him some material intelligence, which he was desirous of communicating to the commodore as soon as possible. On his arrival, we learnt that the prize was called _Nuestra Senora del Carmin_, of about 270 tons burden, commanded by Marcos Moreno, a native of Venice, having on board forty-three mariners. She was deeply laden with steel, iron, wax, pepper, cedar plank, snuff, _rosarios_, European bale-goods, powder-blue, cinnamon, papal indulgences, and other kinds of merchandize; and, though this cargo was of little value to us, in our present circ.u.mstances, it was the most considerable capture we had made, in respect to the Spaniards, as it amounted to upwards of 400,000 dollars, prime cost at Panama. This ship was bound from Panama to Callao, and had stopped at Payta on her way, to take on board a recruit of water and provisions, and had not left that place above twenty-four hours when she fell into our hands.

[Footnote 3: The Southern Lobos, or Lobos de la Mar, is in fact two contiguous islands, N. and S. from each other, in lat. 6 57' S. and long. 80 43' W. _Lobos de Tierra_, called also _Inner Lobos_, from being nearer the land, lying in the same longitude, is in lat. 6 28'

S. There is still a third, or Northern Lobos, in lat. 5 10' S. long.

81 W.]

The important intelligence received by Mr Brett, which he was so anxious to communicate to the commodore, he had learnt from one John Williams, an Irishman, whom he found in the prize, and which was confirmed by examination of the other prisoners. Williams was a papist, who had worked his pa.s.sage from Cadiz, and had travelled over the whole of the kingdom of Mexico as a pedlar. He pretended that, by this business, he had at one time cleared four or five thousand dollars, but at length got entangled by the priests, who knew he had money, and was stripped of every thing. At present he was all in rags, having just got out of Payto gaol, where he had been confined for some misdemeanour. He expressed great joy in thus meeting his countrymen, and immediately informed them, that a vessel had come into Payta, only a few days before, the master of which had informed the governor, that he had been chased in the offing by a very large ship, which he was persuaded, from her size and the colour of her sails, must be one of the English squadron. This we conjectured to have been the Gloucester, as we found afterwards was the case. On examining the master, and being fully satisfied of his account, the governor sent off an express with all expedition to the viceroy at Lima; and the royal officer residing at Payta, apprehensive of a visit from the English, had been busily employed, from his first hearing of this news, in removing the king's treasure and his own to Piura, a town in the interior, about fourteen leagues distant.[4] We learnt farther, from our prisoners, that there was at this time a considerable sum of money in the custom-house of Payta, belonging to some merchants of Lima, which was intended to be shipped on board a vessel, then in the harbour of Payta, and was preparing to sail for the bay of _Sansonnate_, on the coast of Mexico, in order to purchase a part of the cargo of the Manilla ship.

[Footnote 4: San Migual de Piura is about 50 English miles E. by S.

from Payta, and nearly the same distance from the mouth of the Piura river.--E.]

As the vessel in which this money was to be shipped was reckoned a prime sailer, and had just received a new coat of tallow on her bottom, and might, in the opinion of the prisoners, be able to sail the succeeding morning, we had little reason to expect that our ship, which had been nearly two years in the water, could have any chance to get up with her, if she were once allowed to escape from the port.

Wherefore, and as we were now discovered, and the whole coast would soon be alarmed, and as our continuing to cruise any longer in these parts would now answer no purpose, the commodore determined to endeavour to take Payta by surprise, having in the first place informed himself minutely of its strength and condition, by examining the prisoners, and being fully satisfied that there was little danger of losing many of our men in the attempt.

This attack on Payta, besides the treasure it promised, and its being the only enterprise in our power to undertake, had also several other probable advantages. We might, in all probability, supply ourselves with great quant.i.ties of live provisions, of which we were in great want; and we should also have an opportunity of setting our prisoners on sh.o.r.e, who were now very numerous, and made a greater consumption of our food than our remaining stock was capable of furnishing much longer. In all these lights, the attempt was most eligible, and to which our situation, our necessities, and every prudential consideration, strongly prompted. How it succeeded, and how far it answered our expectations, shall be the subject, of the succeeding section.