Acapulco, from almost a solitude, is And now the town of immediately thronged with merchants from all parts of the kingdom of Mexico. The cargo being landed and disposed of, the silver and the goods intended for Manilla are taken on board, together with provisions and water, and the ship prepares to put to sea with the utmost expedition. There is indeed no time to be lost; tain to be out of the port of Acapulco, for it is an express order to the capApril, N.S. on his return, before the first day of

1742.] TREASURE CONVEYED BY MANILLA GALLEON. which they hope hereafter to bring | tremely unhealthy, for the air about 417 under their power. And being thus it is so pent up by the hills, occupied in advancing the interests of that it has scarcely any circulation. their Society, it is no wonder if some The place is, besides, destitute of share of attention is engaged about fresh water, except what is brought the security of the Manilla ship, in from a considerable distance; and is which their convents at Manilla are in all respects so inconvenient, that so deeply concerned. For this pur- except at the time of the mart, whilst pose there are refreshments, as fruits, the Manilla galleon is in the port, it wine, water, &c., constantly kept in is almost deserted. When the galleon readiness for her; and there is besides arrives in this port, she is generally care taken at Cape St Lucas to look moored on its western side, and her out for any ship of the enemy which cargo is delivered with all possible might be cruising there to intercept expedition. her; this being a station where she is constantly expected, and where she has been often waited for and fought with, though generally with little success. In consequence, then, of the measures mutually settled between the Jesuits of Manilla and their brethren at California, the captain of the galleon is ordered to fall in with the land to the northward of Cape St Lucas, where the inhabitants are directed, on sight of the vessel, to make the proper signals with fires; and on discovering these fires the captain is to send his launch on shore with twenty men, well-armed, who are to carry with them the letters from the convents at Manilla to the Californian missionaries, and are to bring back the refreshments which will be prepared for them, and likewise intelligence whether or no there are any enemies on the coast. And if the captain finds, from the account which is sent him, that he has nothing to fear, he is directed to proceed for Cape St Lucas, and thence to Cape Corrientes; after which he is to coast it along for the port of Acapulco.

The

The most usual time of the arrival of the galleon at Acapulco is towards the middle of January; but this navigation is so uncertain that she sometimes gets in a month sooner, and at other times has been detained at sea above a month longer. port of Acapulco is by much the securest and finest in all the northern parts of the Pacific Ocean; being, as it were, a basin surrounded with very high mountains: but the town is a most wretched place, and ex

intended for Manilla, I must observe And having mentioned the goods that the principal return is always made in silver, and consequently the rest of the cargo is but of little account; the other articles, besides the silver, being some cochineal, and a few sweetmeats, the produce of the American settlements, together with European millinery ware for the wowines, such as tent and sherry, which men at Manilla, and some Spanish are intended for the use of their priests in the administration of the the cargo of the ship to and from sacrament. And this difference in Manilla occasions a very remarkable variety in the manner of equipping the ship for these two different voysail from Manilla, being deep laden ages. For the galleon, when she sets with a variety of bulky goods, has not the conveniency of mounting her lower tier of guns, but carries them in her hold till she draws near Cape St Lucas, and is apprehensive of an enemy.

Her hands, too, are as few as is consistent with the safety of the

ship, that she may be less pestered with the stowage of provisions. But, on her return from Acapulco, as her cargo lies in less room, her lower tier is (or ought to be) always mounted before she leaves the port; and her crew is augmented with a supply of sailors, and with one or two companies of foot, which are intended to reinforce the garrison at Manilla. And there being, besides, many merchants who take their passage to Manilla on board the galleon, her whole number of hands on her return is usually little short of six hundred, all which are easily provided for by reason of the small stowage necessary for the silver.

1

to yield her all the assistance in their power. However, the danger of the road at Guam is so great, that though the galleon is ordered to call there, yet she rarely stays above a day or two; but getting her water and refreshments on board as soon as possible, she steers away directly for Cape Espiritu Santo, on the Island of Samal.' Here the captain is again ordered to look out for signals; and he is told that sentinels will be posted not only on that cape, but likewise in Catanduanas, Butusan, Birriborongo, and on the Island of Batan. These sentinels are instructed to make a fire when they discover the ship, which the captain is carefully to observe. For if, after this first fire is extinguished, he perceives that four or more are lighted up again, he is then to conclude that there are enemies on the coast; and on this he is im

The galleon being thus fitted for her return, the captain, on leaving the port of Acapulco, steers for the Latitude of 13° or 14°, and runs on that parallel till he gets sight of the Island of Guam, one of the Ladrones.mediately to endeavour to speak with In this run the captain is particularly directed to be careful of the shoals of St Bartholomew, and of the Island of Gasparico. He is also told in his instructions that, to prevent his passing the Ladrones in the dark, there are orders given that through all the month of June fires shall be lighted every night on the highest part of Guam and Rota, and kept in till the morning. At Guam there is a small Spanish garrison, (as will be more particularly mentioned hereafter) purposely intended to secure that place for the refreshment of the galleon, and

1 In Anson's Chart San Bartolomeo is laid down as a considerable island, in about Latitude 13° N., Longitude 159° E. The position nearly corresponds with that of some of the smaller islands, north of Torres, belonging to the Caroline group. Gaspar Rico, not shown in Anson's Chart, is in about Latitude 12° 30' N., Longitude 171° 30' E. But the two islands specially signalled out for caution are no more than a speck among the hundreds of isles which for fully thirty degrees of longitude the Centurion passed to the northward in her voyage to the Ladrones.

the sentinel on shore, and to procure from him more particular intelligence of their force, and of the station they cruise in; pursuant to which he is to regulate his conduct, and to endeavour to gain some secure port amongst those islands, without coming in sight of the enemy; and in case he should be discovered when in port, and should be apprehensive of an attack, he is then to land his treasure, and to take some of his artillery on shore for its defence, not neglecting to send frequent and particular accounts to the city of Manilla of all that passes. But if, after the first fire on shore, the captain observes that two others only are made by the sentinels, he is then to conclude that there is nothing to fear; and he is to pursue his course without interruption, and to make the best of his way to the port of Cabite, which is the port to the city of Manilla, and the constant station for all the ships employed in this commerce to Acapulco.

2 Or Samar; an island of considerable size, lying to the north of Mindanao, about the centre of the Archipelago, with its point farthest advanced towards the east.

1742.] RETURN OF THE BARGE FROM ACAPULCO.

CHAPTER XI.

419

order of it was thus: The Centurion brought the paps over the harbour to bear NNE., at fifteen leagues' distance, which was a sufficient offing to prevent our being seen by the enemy. To the westward of the Centurion there was stationed the Carmelo, and to the eastward were the Trial prize, the Glou

I HAVE already mentioned in the ninth Chapter, that the return of our barge from the port of Acapulco, where she had surprised three Negro fishermen, gave us inexpressible satisfaction; as we learned from our pricester, and the Carmen. These were soners that the galleon was then preparing to put to sea, and that her departure was fixed, by an edict of the Viceroy of Mexico, to the 14th of March N.S., that is, to the 3d of March according to our reckoning. What related to this Manilla ship being the matter to which we were most attentive, it was necessarily the first article of our examination; but having satisfied ourselves upon this head, we then indulged our curiosity in inquiring after other news; when the prisoners informed us, that they had received intelligence at Acapulco of our having plundered and burned the town of Paita; and that on this occasion the Governor of Acapulco had augmented the fortifications of the place, and had taken several precautions to prevent us from forcing our way into the harbour; that in particular he had placed a guard on the island which lies at the harbour's mouth, and that this guard had been withdrawn but two nights before the arrival of our barge: so that had the barge succeeded in her first attempt, or had she arrived at the port the second time two days sooner, she could scarcely have avoided being seized on, or if she had escaped it must have been with the loss of the greatest part of her crew, as she would have been under the fire of the guard before she had known her danger.

And now, on the 1st of March, we made the high lands usually called the paps, over Acapulco, and got with all possible expedition into the situation prescribed by the Commodore's orders. The distribution of our squadron on this occasion, both for the intercepting the galleon and for the avoiding a discovery from the shore, was so very judicious that it well merits to be distinctly described. The

all ranged in a circular line, and each ship was three leagues distant from the next; so that the Carmelo and the Carmen, which were the two extremes, were twelve leagues distant from each other. And as the galleon could without doubt be discerned at six leagues' distance from either extremity, the whole sweep of our squadron, within which nothing could pass undiscovered, was at least twenty-four leagues in extent; and yet we were so connected by our signals as to be easily and speedily informed of what was seen in any part of the line. And to render this disposition still more complete, and to prevent even the possibility of the galleon's escaping us in the night, the two cutters belonging to the Centurion and the Gloucester were both manned and sent in-shore, and were ordered to lie all day at the distance of four or five leagues from the entrance of the port, where, by reason of their smallness, they could not possibly be discovered; but in the night they were directed to stand nearer to the harbour's mouth, and, as the light of the morning came on, they were to return back again to their day posts. When the cutters should first discover the Manilla ship one of them was ordered to return to the squadron, and to make a signal whether the galleon stood to the eastward or to the westward; whilst the other was to follow the galleon at a distance, and, if it grew dark, was to direct the squadron in their chase by showing false fires.

Besides the care we had taken to prevent the galleon from passing by us unobserved, we had not been inattentive to the means of engaging her to advantage when we came up with her; for, considering the thinness of our hands, and the vaunting

1742.]

IN THE HARBOUR OF CHEQUETAN.

all the ships being joined, the Commodore made a signal to speak with their commanders; and upon inquiry into the stock of fresh water remaining on board the squadron, it was found to be so very slender, that we were under a necessity of quitting our station to procure a fresh supply. And consulting what place was the properest for this purpose, it was agreed that the harbour of Seguataneo or Chequetan, being the nearest to us, was on that account the most eligible; and it was therefore immediately resolved to make the best of our way thither. And that, even while we were recruiting our water, we might not totally abandon our views upon the galleon, which perhaps, upon certain intelligence of our being employed at Chequetan, might venture to slip out to sea, our cutter, under the command of Mr Hughes, the lieutenant of the Trial prize, was ordered to cruise off the port of Acapulco for twenty-four days; that, if the galleon should set sail in that interval, we might be speedily informed of it. In pursuance of these resolutions, we endeavoured to ply to the westward, to gain our intended port, but were often interrupted in our progress by calms and adverse currents. In these intervals we employed ourselves in taking out the most valuable part of the cargoes of the Carmelo and Carmen prizes, which two ships we intended to destroy as soon as we had tolerably cleared them. By the 1st of April we were so far advanced towards Seguataneo, that we thought it expedient to send out two boats, that they might range along the coast, and discover the watering-place. They were gone some days, and, our water being now very short, it was a particular felicity to us that we met with daily supplies of turtle; for had we been entirely confined to salt provisions we must have suffered extremely in so warm a climate. Indeed, our present circumstances were sufficiently alarming, and gave the most considerate amongst us as much concern as any of the numerous perils we had hitherto encountered; for our boats, as we

421

conceived by their not returning, had not as yet discovered a place proper to water at, and by the leakage of our casks and other accidents we had not ten days' water on board the whole squadron; so that, from the known difficulty of procuring water on this coast, and the little reliance we had on the Buccaneer writers (the only guides we had to trust to), we were apprehensive of being soon exposed to a calamity, the most terrible of any in the long, disheartening catalogue of the distresses of a sea-faring life.

But these gloomy suggestions were soon happily ended; for our boats returned on the 5th of April, having discovered a place proper for our purpose about seven miles to the westward of the rocks of Seguataneo, which, by the description they gave of it, appeared to be the port called by Dampier the harbour of Chequetan. The success of our boats was highly agreeable to us; and they were ordered out again the next day to sound the harbour and its entrance, which they had represented as very narrow. At their return they reported the place to be free from any danger; so that on the 7th we stood in, and that evening came to an anchor in eleven fathoms. The Gloucester came to an anchor at the same time with us; but the Carmelo and the Carmen having fallen to leeward, the Trial prize was ordered to join them, and to bring them in, which in two or three days she effected. Thus, after a four months' continuance at sea from the leaving of Quibo, and having but six days' water on board, we arrived in the harbour of Chequetan.

CHAPTER XII.

THE harbour of Chequetan lies in the Latitude of 17° 36′ Ñ., and is about thirty leagues to the westward of Acapulco. It is easy to be discovered by any ship that will keep well in with the land, especially by such as range down coast from Acapulco, and will attend to the following particulars.