A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Xvii Part 19

I proposed then, that the company's China ships should carry an additional complement of men each, making in all one hundred. Two vessels, one of two hundred, and the other of one hundred and fifty tons, might, I was told, with, proper notice, be readily purchased at Canton; and, as victualling is not dearer there than in Europe, I calculate, that they might be completely fitted out for sea, with a year's pay and provision, for six thousand pounds, including the purchase. The expence of the necessary articles for barter is scarcely worth mentioning. I would, by all means, recommend, that each ship should have five tons of unwrought iron, a forge, and an expert smith, with a journeyman and apprentice, who might be ready to forge such tools as it should appear the Indians were most desirous of. For, though six of the finest skins purchased by us, were got for a dozen large green gla.s.s beads, yet it is well known, that the fancy of these people for articles of ornament is exceedingly capricious; and that iron is the only sure commodity for their market. To this might be added a few gross of large-pointed case-knives, some bales of coa.r.s.e woollen cloth, (linen they would not accept of from us,) and a barrel or two of copper and gla.s.s trinkets.

I have here proposed two ships, not only for the greater security of the expedition, but because I think single ships ought never to be sent out on discoveries. For where risks are to be run, and doubtful and hazardous experiments tried, it cannot be expected that single ships should venture so far, as where there is some security provided against untoward accident.

The vessels being now ready for sea, will sail with the first south- westerly monsoon, which generally sets in about the beginning of April.

With this wind they will steer to the northward, along the coast of China, beginning a more accurate survey from the mouth of the river Kyana, or the Nankin River, in lat.i.tude 30, which, I believe, is the utmost limit of this coast hitherto visited by European ships. As the extent of that deep gulf called Whang Hay, or the Yellow Sea, is at present unknown, it must be left to the discretion of the commander, to proceed up it as far as he may judge prudent; but he must be cautious not to entangle himself too far in it, lest he should want time for the prosecution of the remaining part of his enterprise. The same discretion must be used when he arrives in the Straits of Tessoi, with respect to the islands of Jeso, which, if the wind and weather be favourable, he will not lose the opportunity of exploring.

Having proceeded to the lat.i.tude of 51 40', where he will make the southernmost point of the island of Sagaleen, beyond which the sea of Okotzk is sufficiently known, he will steer to the southward, probably in the beginning of June, and endeavour to fall in with the southernmost of the Kurile Islands. Ooroop, or Nadeschda, according to the accounts of the Russians, will furnish the ships with a good harbour, where they may wood and water, and take in such other refreshments as the place may afford.

Toward the end of June, they will shape their course for the Shummagins, and from thence to Cook's River, purchasing, as they proceed, as many skins as they are able, without losing too much time, since they ought to steer again to the southward, and trace the coast with great accuracy from the lat.i.tude of 56 to 50, the s.p.a.ce from which we were driven out of sight of land by contrary winds. It should here be remarked, that I consider the purchase of skins, in this expedition, merely a secondary object, for defraying the expence; and it cannot be doubted, from our experience in the present voyage, that two hundred and fifty skins, worth one hundred dollars each, may be procured without any loss of time; especially as it is probable they will be met with along the coast to the southward of Cook's River.

Having spent three months on the coast of America, they will set out on their return to China early in the month of October, avoiding, in their route, as much as possible, the tracks of former navigators. I have now only to add, that if the fur trade should become a fixed object of Indian commerce, frequent opportunities will occur of completing whatever may be left unfinished, in the voyage of which I have here ventured to delineate the outlines.

The barter which had been carrying on with the Chinese for sea-otter skins, had produced a very whimsical change in the dress of all our crew. On our arrival in the Typa, nothing could exceed the ragged appearance both of the younger officers and seamen; for, as our voyage had already exceeded, by near a twelvemonth, the time it was at first imagined we should remain at sea, almost the whole of our original stock of European clothes had been long worn Out, or patched up with skins and the various manufactures we had met with in the course of our discoveries. These were now again mixed and eked out with the gaudiest silks and cottons of China.

On the 30th, Mr Lannyon arrived with the stores and provisions, which were immediately stowed, in due proportion, on board the two ships. The next day, agreeably to a bargain made by Captain Gore, I sent our sheet-anchor to the country ship, and received in return the guns, which she before rode by.

Whilst we lay in the Typa, I was shewn, in a garden belonging to an English gentleman at Macao, the rock, under which, as the tradition there goes, the poet Camoens used lo sit and compose his Lusiad. It is a lofty arch, of one solid stone, and forms the entrance of a grotto, dug out of the rising ground behind it. The rock is overshadowed by large spreading trees, and commands an extensive and magnificent view of the sea, and the interspersed islands.

On the 11th of January, two seamen, belonging to the Resolution, found means to run off with a six-oared cutter, and, notwithstanding diligent search was made both that and the following day, we were never able to learn any tidings of her. It was supposed, that these people had been seduced by the prevailing notion of making a fortune, by returning to the fur islands.

As we heard nothing, during our stay in the Typa, of the measurement of our ships, it may be concluded, that the point, so strongly contested by the Chinese, in Lord Anson's time, has, in consequence of his firmness and resolution, never since been insisted on.

The following nautical observations were made while we lay here:

Harbour of Macao lat. 22 12' 0" north.

long. 113 47 0 east.

Anchoring-place in the lat. 22 9 20 north.

Typa long. 113 48 34 east.

Mean dip of the north pole of the magnetic 21 1 0 needle

Variation of the compa.s.s 0 19 0 west.

On the full and change days it was high water in the Typa at 5^h 15^m, and in Macao harbour at 5^h 50^m. The greatest rise was six feet one inch. The flood appeared to come from the south-eastward; but we could not determine this point with certainty, on account of the great number of islands which lie off the mouth of the river of Canton.

_Prices of Provisions at Canton_, 1780.

. s. d.

Annas 0 4 0 a score.

Arrack 0 0 8 per bottle.

b.u.t.ter 0 2 0-4/5 per catty.[106]

Beef, Canton 0 0 2-3/4 Ditto, Macao 0 0 5-1/5 Birds' nests 3 6 8 Biscuit 0 0 4 Beache de Mar 0 2 0-4/5 Calf 1 6 9-3/5 Caravances, dried 0 0 2-2/3 Cabbage, Nankeen 0 0 4-4/5 Curry stuff 0 4 4 Coffee 0 1 4 per catty.

Cocoa-nuts 0 0 4 each.

Charcoal 0 3 4 per pecul.

c.o.xice 0 1 4 per catty.

Canton nuts 0 0 4 Chesnuts 0 0 2-2/5 c.o.c.kles 0 0 3-1/5 Ducks 0 0 5-1/5 Ditto, wild 0 1 0-4/5 Deers' sinews 0 2 1-3/5 Eels 0 0 6-2/5 Eggs 0 2 0 per hundred.

Fish, common 0 0 3-1/5 per catty.

Ditto, best 0 0 6-2/5 Ditto salted, Nankeen 0 0 9-3/5 Fruit 0 0 1-3/5 Ditto, Nankeen 0 2 0 Frogs 0 0 6-2/5 Flour 0 0 1-76/100 Fowls, capons, &c. 0 0 7-1/5 Fish-maws 0 2 1-3/5 Geese 0 0 6-2/5 Greens 0 0 1-3/4 Gra.s.s 0 0 2-2/5 per bundle.

Grapes 0 1 0-4/5 per catty.

Ham 0 1 2-2/5 Hartshorn 0 1 4 Hogslard 0 0 7-1/5 Hog, alive 0 0 4-3/4 Kid, alive 0 0 4-3/4 Limes 0 0 0-4/5 per catty.

Litches, dried 0 0 2-2/5 Locksoy 0 0 6-2/5 Lobchocks 0 0 5-3/5 Lamp-oil 0 0 5-3/5 Lamp-wick 0 0 8 Melons 0 0 4-4/5 each.

Milk 0 0 1-1/4 per catty.

Ditto, Macao 0 0 3-1/5 Mustard seed 0 0 6-2/5 Mushrooms, pickled 0 2 8 Ditto, fresh 0 1 4 Oysters 0 3 4 per pecul.

Onions, dried 0 0 2-2/5 per catty.

Pork 0 0 7-1/7 Pig 0 0 5-3/5 Paddy 0 0 0-4/5 Pepper 0 1 0-4/5 Pheasants 0 5 4 each.

Partridges 0 0 9-1/5 Pigeons 0 0 5-1/5 Pomegranates 0 0 2-2/5 Quails 0 0 1-3/5 Rabbits 0 1 4 Rice 0 0 2 per catty.

Ditto, red 0 0 2-2/5 Ditto, coa.r.s.e 0 0 1-1/5 Ditto, j.a.pan 0 0 8 Raisins 0 2 0 Sheep 3 6 8 each.

Snipes 0 0 1-1/2 per catty.

Sturgeon 0 4 9-3/5 Ditto, small 0 2 4-4/5 Sugar 0 0 3-1/5 Salt 0 0 1-3/5 Saltpetre 0 2 1-3/5 Soy 0 0 1-3/5 Spices 0 16 8 Sweetmeats 0 0 6-2/5 Sago 0 0 3-1/5 Sallad 0 0 2-2/5 Sharks' fins 0 2 1-3/5 Samsui soy 0 0 2-2/5 Teal 0 0 6-2/5 each.

Turtle 0 0 9-3/5 per catty.

Tea 0 2 0 Turmerick 0 0 2-2/5 Tamarinds 0 0 8 Vinegar 0 0 1-3/5 Vermicelli 0 0 3-1/5 Wax-candles 0 3 0 Walnuts 0 0 4-4/5 Wood 0 1 4 per pecul.

Water 0 6 8 per 100 barrels.

Rent of Poho Factory 400 0 0 per annum.

of Lunsoon 316 13 4 Servant's rice 0 8 0 per month.

Ditto wages 0 19 2-1/5 do. for resiants.

_Doll_.

Servant's wages for the season 20 Steward's wages 80 Butler's ditto 80 per annum.

_Prices of Labour_.

A coolee, or porter 0 0 8 per day.

A tailor 0 0 5 and rice.

A handicraftsman 0 0 8 A common labourer, from 3d. to 5d.

A woman's labour considerably cheaper.

[104] It is scarcely necessary to inform any reader that Captain King here alludes to the American war, in which first the French and then the Spaniards took part against Great Britain. The pa.s.sage is certainly a very striking evidence of that enthusiasm which animates our gallant seamen in all corners of the globe, to feel and to fight for Old England; and perhaps to this spirit, as well as to his eminent professional abilities in other respects, we may ascribe Captain King's appointment, not long after his return home, to the command of the Resistance man of war, sent on service to the West Indies.--E.

[105] J'ai _verifie_ moi-meme, avec plusieurs Chinois, la population de Canton, de la ville de Tartare, et de celie de Battaux, &c.--_Voyage aux Indes, &c_. par M. Sonnerat, tom. ii. p. 14.

[106] A catty is 18 oz.--A pecul 100 catty.

SECTION X.

Leave the Typa.--Orders of the Court of France respecting Captain Cook.-- Resolutions in consequence thereof.--Strike Soundings on the Macclesfield Banks.--Pa.s.s Pulo Sapata.--Steer for Pulo Condore.--Anchor at Pulo Condore.--Transactions during our Stay.--Journey to the princ.i.p.al Town.-- Receive a Visit from a Mandarin.--Examine his Letters.--Refreshments to be procured.--Description, and present State of the Island.--Its produce.--An a.s.sertion of M. Sonnerat refuted.--Astronomical and Nautical Observations.

On the 12th of January, 1780, at noon, we unmoored, and scaled the guns, which, on board my ship, now amounted to ten; so that, by means of four additional ports, we could, if occasion required, fight seven on a side. In like manner, the Resolution had increased the number of her guns from twelve to sixteen; and, in both ships, a stout barricade was carried round their upper works, and every other precaution taken to give our small force as respectable an appearance as possible.