1742.]

NEWS OF THE MANILLA GALLEON.

then were; but that, while they were lying upon their oars in suspense what to do, being ignorant that they were then at the very place they sought for, they discerned a small light upon the surface of the water, on which they instantly plied their paddles, and moving as silently as possible towards it, they found it to be in a fishing canoe, which they surprised, with three Negroes that belonged to it. It seems the Negroes at first attempted to jump overboard, and being so near the land, they would easily have swam on shore; but they were prevented by presenting a piece at them, on which they readily submitted, and were taken into the barge. The officers further added, that they had immediately turned the canoe adrift against the face of a rock, where it would inevitably be dashed to pieces by the fury of the sea; this they did to deceive those who perhaps might be sent from the town to search after the canoe; for, upon seeing several pieces of a wreck, they would immediately conclude that the people on board her had been drowned, and would have no suspicion of their having fallen into our hands. When the crew of the barge had taken this precaution, they exerted their utmost strength in pulling out to sea, and by dawn of day had gained such an offing as rendered it impossible for them to be seen from the coast.

And now having got the three Negroes in our possession, who were not ignorant of the transactions at Acapulco, we were soon satisfied about the most material points which had long kept us in suspense. And on examination we found that we were indeed disappointed in our expectation of intercepting the galleon before her arrival at Acapulco; but we learned other circumstances which still revived our hopes, and which, we then conceived, would more than balance the opportunity we had already lost. For though our Negro prisoners informed us that the galleon arrived at Acapulco on our 9th of January, which was about twenty days before we fell in with this coast, yet

413

they at the same time told us that the galleon had delivered her cargo and was taking in water and provisions for her return, and that the Viceroy of Mexico had by proclamation fixed her departure from Acapulco to the 14th of March, N.S. This last news was most joyfully received by us, as we had no doubt but she must certainly fall into our hands, and as it was much more eligible to seize her on her return than it would have been to have taken her before her arrival, as the specie for which she had sold her cargo, and which she would now have on board, would be prodigiously more to be esteemed by us than the cargo itself, great part of which would have perished on our hands; and no part of it could have been disposed of by us at so advantageous a mart as Acapulco.

Thus we were a second time engaged in an eager expectation of meeting with this Manilla ship, which, by the fame of its wealth, we had been taught to consider as the most desirable prize that was to be met with in any part of the globe. As all our future projects will be in some sort regulated with a view to the possession of this celebrated galleon, and as the commerce which is carried on by means of these vessels between the city of Manilla and the port of Acapulco is perhaps the most valuable, in proportion to its quantity, of any in the known world, I shall endeavour in the ensuing Chapter to give as distinct an account as I can of all the particulars relating thereto; both as it is a matter in which I conceive the public to be in some degree interested, and as I flatter myself that, from the materials which have fallen into my hands, I am enabled to describe it with more distinctness than has hitherto been done, at least in our language.

CHAPTER X.1

THOUGH Spain did not [by the voyage of Magellan] acquire the property of

1 The historical portion of this

to steer to the northward till they got clear of the trade-winds, and then, by the favour of the westerly winds, which generally prevail in high latitudes, to stretch away for the coast of California. This has been the practice for at least 160 years past; for Sir Thomas Cavendish, in the year 1586, engaged off the south end of California a vessel bound from Manilla to the American coast. And it was in compliance with this new plan of navigation, and to shorten the run both backwards and forwards, that the staple of this commerce to and from Manilla was removed from Callao, on the coast of Peru, to the port of Acapulco, on the coast of Mexico, where it continues fixed at this time.

any of the Spice Islands, yet the discovery made, in his expedition, of the Philippine Islands, was thought too considerable to be neglected, for these were not far distant from those places which produced spices, and were very well situated for the Chinese trade, and for the commerce of other parts of India; and therefore a communication was soon established and carefully supported between these islands and the Spanish colonies on the coast of Peru. So that the city of Manilla (which was built on the Island of Luconia, the chief of the Philippines) soon became the mart for all Indian commodities, which were brought up by the inhabitants, and were annually sent to the South Seas to be there vended on their account; and the returns of this commerce to Manilla being principally made in silver, the place by degrees grew extremely opulent and considerable, and its trade so far increased as to engage the attention of the Court of Spain, and to be frequently controlled and regulated by royal edicts.

In the infancy of this trade, it was carried on from the port of Callao to the city of Manilla, in which voyage the trade-wind continually favoured them; so that, notwithstanding these places were distant between three and four thousand leagues, yet the voyage was often made in little more than two months. But then the return from Manilla was extremely troublesome and tedious, and is said to have sometimes taken them up above a twelvemonth, which, if they pretended to ply up within the limits of the trade-wind, is not at all to be wondered at; and it is asserted that in their first voyages they were so imprudent and unskilful as to attempt this course. However, that route was soon laid aside by the advice, as it is said, of a Jesuit, who persuaded them

Chapter, relating to the old feud between the Spanish and Portuguese on the score of their discoveries, and to the origin of the trade, has been left out.

The trade carried on from Manilla to China, and different parts of India, is principally for such commodities as are intended to supply the kingdoms of Mexico and Peru. These are, spices; all sorts of Chinese silks and manufactures, particularly silk stockings, of which I have heard that no less than 50,000 pairs were the usual number shipped on board the annual ship; vast quantities of Indian stuffs— as calicoes and chintzes, which are much worn in America; together with other minuter articles-as goldsmiths' work, &c., which is principally done at the city of Manilla itself by the Chinese; for it is said there are at least 20,000 Chinese who constantly reside there, either as servants, manufacturers, or brokers. All these different commodities are collected at Manilla, thence to be transported annually in one or more ships to the port of Acapulco. But this trade to Acapulco is not laid open to all the inhabitants of Manilla, but is confined by very particular regulations, somewhat analogous to those by which the

The Santa Anna, of 700 tons, the Admiral of the South Seas, bearing a cargo valued at 122,000 pesos. From Cape St Lucas, after capturing the Manilla ship, Cavendish sailed to the Ladrones in forty-five days.

2 The place of trade established by decree or ordinance.

1742.]

THE TRACK OF THE MANILLA GALLEON.

trade of the register ships from Cadiz |
to the West Indies is restrained. The
ships employed herein are found by
the King of Spain, who pays the offi-
cers and crew; and the tonnage is
divided into a certain number of bales,
all of the same size. These are dis-
tributed amongst the convents at Man-
illa, but principally to the Jesuits, as
a donation for the support of their
missions for the propagation of the
Catholic faith; and these convents
have hereby a right to embark such a
quantity of goods on board the Manilla
ship as the tonnage of their bales
amounts to; or, if they choose not to
be concerned in trade themselves, they
have the power of selling this privi-
lege to others. And as the merchants
to whom they grant their shares are
often unprovided of a stock, it is usual
for the convents to lend them consi-
derable sums of money on bottomry.
The trade is by the royal edicts limited
to a certain value, which the annual
cargo ought not to exceed. Some
Spanish manuscripts I have seen men-
tion this limitation to be 600,000 dol-
lars; but the annual cargo does cer-
tainly surpass this sum; and though
it may be difficult to fix its exact
value, yet from many comparisons I
conclude that the return cannot be
greatly short of 3,000,000 dollars.

This trade from Manilla to Acapulco and back again is usually carried on in one or at most two annual ships, which set sail from Manilla about July, arrive at Acapulco in the December, January, or February following, and, having there disposed of their effects, return for Manilla some time in March, where they generally arrive in June; so that the whole voyage takes up very near an entire year. For this reason, though there is often no more than one ship employed at a time, yet there is always one ready for the sea when the other arrives; and therefore the commerce at Manilla are provided with three or four stout ships, that, in case of any accident, the trade may not be suspended. The largest of these ships, whose name I have not learned, is described as little less than one of our first-rate men-of-war, and

415

indeed she must be of an enormous size, for it is known, that when she was employed with other ships from the same port to cruise for our China trade, she had no less than 1200 men on board. Their other ships, though far inferior in bulk to this, are yet stout, large vessels, of the burthen of 1200 tons and upwards, and usually carry from 350 to 600 hands, passengers included, with fifty odd guns. As these are all King's ships, commissioned and paid by him, there is usually one of the captains who is styled the General, and who carries the royal standard of Spain at the main-topgallant masthead.

The ship having received her cargo on board, and being fitted for the sea, generally weighs from the mole of Cabite1 about the middle of July, taking the advantage of the westerly monsoon, which then sets in, to carry them to sea. The getting through the Boccadero to the eastward must be a troublesome navigation; and, in fact, it is sometimes the end of August before they get clear of the land. When they have got through this passage, and are clear of the islands, they stand to the northward of the east, in order to get into the Latitude of thirty odd degrees, when they expect to meet with westerly winds, before which they run away for the coast of California. It is most remarkable, that by the concurrent testimony of all the Spanish navigators, there is not, one port, nor even a tolerable road, as yet found out betwixt the Philippine Islands and the coast of California and Mexico; so that from the time the Manilla ship first loses

1 The port of Manilla, about two leagues to the southward of the city.

2 Luzon, or Luconia, is separated from Mindoro by the strait of that name, about five miles broad; and from Samar by the "Embocadero de San Bernardino," the common passage for vessels navigating the Pacific on their way to China.

3 Compare Dampier's account of the navigation in Chapter IX., page 210.