1742.]

A VIOLENT STORM.

437

duty were sent on board the ship. | of our hands, had been on board with And then the Commodore, who was us, since our only hopes of safety himself ill of the scurvy, had a tent seemed to depend on our putting im erected for him on shore, where he mediately to sea. But all communiwent with the view of staying a few cation with the shore was now effecdays for the recovery of his health; tually cut off, for there was no possibeing convinced, by the general ex- bility that a boat could live, so that perience of his people, that no other we were necessitated to ride it out method but living on the land was to till our cables parted. Indeed it was be trusted to for the removal of this not long before this happened, for the dreadful malady. The place where small bower parted at five in the his tent was pitched on this occasion, afternoon, and the ship swung off to was near the well whence we got all the best bower; and as the night our water, and was indeed a most came on, the violence of the wind still elegant spot. As the crew on board increased. But, notwithstanding its were now reinforced by the recovered inexpressible fury, the tide ran with hands returned from the island, we so much rapidity as to prevail over began to send our casks on shore to it; for the tide, having set to the be fitted up, which till now could not northward in the beginning of the be done, for the coopers were not well storm, turned suddenly to the southenough to work. We likewise weighed ward about six in the evening, and our anchors, that we might examine forced the ship before it in despite of our cables, which we suspected had the storm, which blew upon the beam. by this time received considerable And now the sea broke most surprisdamage. And as the new moon was ingly all around us, and a large now approaching, when we appre- tumbling swell threatened to poop hended violent gales, the Commodore, us; the long-boat, which was at this for our greater security, ordered that time moored astern, was on a sudden part of the cables next to the anchors canted so high that it broke the tranto be armed with the chains of the som of the Commodore's gallery, whose fire-grapnels; and they were besides cabin was on the quarter-deck, and cackled twenty fathoms from the would doubtless have risen as high as anchors, and seven fathoms from the the taffrail had it not been for this service, with a good rounding of a stroke which stove the boat all to 44-inch hawser; and to all these pre- pieces; but the poor boat-keeper, cautions we added that of lowering though extremely bruised, was saved the main and fore yards close down, almost by miracle. About eight the that in case of blowing weather the tide slackened, but the wind did not wind might have less power upon the abate; so that at eleven the best ship to make her ride a-strain. bower cable, by which alone we rode, parted. Our sheet anchor, which was the only one we had left, was instantly cut from the bow; but before it could reach the bottom we were driven from twenty-two into thirtyfive fathoms; and after we had veered away one whole cable, and two-thirds of another, we could not find ground with sixty fathoms of line. This was a plain indication that the anchor lay near the edge of the bank, and could not hold us [long].

Thus effectually prepared, as we conceived, we expected the new moon, which was the 18th of September; and riding safe that and the three succeeding days (though the weather proved very squally and uncertain), we flattered ourselves (for I was then on board) that the prudence of our measures had secured us from all accidents. But on the 22d the wind blew from the eastward with such fury that we soon despaired of riding out the storm; and therefore we should have been extremely glad that the Commodore and the rest of our people on shore, which were the greatest part

In this pressing danger, Mr Saumarez, our first lieutenant, who now commanded on board, ordered several guns to be fired and lights to be

shown, as a signal to the Commodore of our distress; and in a short time after, it being then about 1 o'clock, and the night excessively dark, a strong gust, attended with rain and lightning, drove us off the bank and forced us out to sea, leaving behind us on the island Mr Anson, with many more of our officers, and great part of our crew, amounting in the whole to 113 persons. Thus were we all, both at sea and on shore, reduced to the utmost despair by this catastrophe; those on shore conceiving they had no means left them ever to leave the island, and we on board utterly unprepared to struggle with the fury of the seas and winds we were now exposed to, and expecting each moment to be our last.

CHAPTER III.

of no other vessel than the small Spanish bark, of about fifteen tons, which they seized at their first arrival, and which would not even hold a fourth part of their number. And the chance of their being taken off the island by the casual arrival of any other ship was altogether desperate, as perhaps no European ship had ever anchored here before, and it were madness to expect that like incidents should send another here in 100 ages to come; so that their desponding thoughts could only suggest to them the melancholy prospect of spending the remainder of their days on this island, and bidding adieu for ever to their country, their friends, their families, and all their domestic endearments. Nor was this the worst they had to fear for they had reason to expect that the Governor of Guam, when he should be informed of their situation, might send a force sufficient to overpower them and to remove THE storm which drove the Centurion them to that island; and then the to sea blew with too much turbulence most favourable treatment they could to permit either the Commodore or hope for would be to be detained any of the people on shore from hear- prisoners for life; since, from the ing the guns which she fired as sig-known policy and cruelty of the nals of distress, and the frequent glare of the lightning had prevented the explosions from being observed: so that when at daybreak it was perceived from the shore that the ship was missing, there was the utmost consternation amongst them. For much the greatest part of them immediately concluded that she was lost, and entreated the Commodore that the boat might be sent round the island to look for the wreck; and those who believed her safe had scarcely any expectation that she would ever be able to make the island again; for the wind continued to blow strong at east, and they knew how poorly she was manned and provided for struggling with so tempestuous a gale. And if the Centurion was lost, or should be incapable of returning, there appeared in either case no possibility of their ever getting off the island; for they were at least 600 leagues from Macao, which was their nearest port; and they were masters

Spaniards in their distant settlements, it was rather to be expected that the Governor, if he once had them in his power, would make their want of commissions (all of them being on board the Centurion) a pretext for treating them as pirates, and for depriving them of their lives with infamy.'

In the midst of these gloomy reflections Mr Anson had doubtless his share of disquietude, but he always kept up his usual composure and steadiness; and having soon projected

1 As in 1575, John Oxenham, or Oxnam, who had accompanied Drake in his expedition to the West Indies, was put to death by the Governor of Panama, with all his companions, because he had undertaken a daring but ultimately calamitous privateering expedition without any commission from his sovereign. Oxenham was the first Englishman who ever navigated the Pacific Ocean.

1742.]

THE CENTURION DRIVEN SEAWARD.

a scheme for extricating himself and his men from their present anxious situation, he first communicated it to some of the most intelligent persons about him; and having satisfied himself that it was practicable, he then endeavoured to animate his people to a speedy and vigorous prosecution of it. With this view he represented to them how little foundation there was for their apprehensions of the Centurion's being lost; that he should have hoped they had been all of them better acquainted with sea affairs than to give way to the impression of so chimerical a fright, and that he doubted not but, if they would seriously consider what such a ship was capable of enduring, they would confess that there was not the least probability of her having perished; that he was not without hopes that she might return in a few days, but if she did not, the worst that could be supposed was that she was driven so far to the leeward of the island that she could not regain it, and that she would consequently be obliged to bear away for Macao on the coast of China; that, as it was necessary to be prepared against all events, he had, in this case, considered of a method of carrying them off the island, and joining their old ship the Centurion again at Macao; that this method was to haul the Spanish bark on shore, to saw her asunder, and to lengthen her twelve feet, which would enlarge her to near forty tons burthen, and would enable her to carry them all to China; that he had consulted the carpenters, and they had agreed that this proposal was very feasible, and that nothing was wanting to execute it but the united resolution and industry of the whole body. He added that for his own part he would share the fatigue and fabour with them, and would expect no more from any man than what he, the Commodore himself, was ready to submit to; and concluded with representing to them the importance of saving time, and that, in order to be the better prepared for all events, it was necessary to set to

439

work immediately and to take it for granted that the Centurion would not be able to put back (which was indeed the Commodore's secret opinion); since, if she did return, they should only throw away a few days' application; but, if she did not, their situation, and the season of the year, required their utmost despatch.

These remonstrances, though not without effect, did not immediately operate so powerfully as Mr Anson could have wished. He indeed raised their spirits by showing them the possibility of their getting away, of which they had before despaired; but then, from their confidence of this resource; they grew less apprehensive of their situation, gave a greater scope to their hopes, and flattered themselves that the Centurion would return and prevent the execution of the Commodore's scheme, which they could easily foresee would be a work of considerable labour. By this means it was some days before they were all of them heartily engaged in the project; but at last, being in general convinced of the impossibility of the ship's return, they set themselves zealously to the different tasks allotted them, and were as industrious and as eager as their commander could desire, punctually assembling at daybreak at the rendezvous, whence they were distributed to their different employments, which they followed with unusual vigour till night came on.

And here I must interrupt the course of this transaction for a moment to relate an incident which for some time gave Mr Anson more concern than all the preceding disasters. A few days after the ship was driven off, some of the people on shore cried out, "A sail!" This spread a general joy, every one supposing that it was the ship returning; but presently a second sail was descried, which quite de

1 And the Commodore, Thomas says, encouraged their diligence by his example; for being always at work by daybreak himself, it was thought a disgrace to be idle when their chief was employed.

stroyed their conjecture, and made it | difficult to guess what they were. The Commodore eagerly turned his glass towards them, and saw they were two boats; on which it immediately occurred to him that the Centurion was gone to the bottom, and that these were her two boats coming back with the remains of her people; and this sudden and unexpected suggestion wrought on him so powerfully that, to conceal his emotion, he was obliged (without speaking to any one) instantly to retire to his tent, where he passed some bitter moments in the firm belief that the ship was lost, and that now all his views of further distressing the enemy, and of still signalising his expedition by some important exploit, were at an end. But he was soon relieved from these disturbing thoughts by discovering that the two boats in the offing were Indian proas; and perceiving that they stood towards the shore, he directed every appearance that could give them any suspicion to be removed, and concealed his people in the adjacent thickets, prepared to secure the Indians when they should land. But after the proas had stood in within a quarter of a mile of the land, they suddenly stopped short, and, remaining there motionless for near two hours, they then made sail again and stood to the southward.

weight, which were to be well considered. These were the rigging it, the victualling it, and lastly, the navigating it for the space of six or seven hundred leagues, through unknown seas, where no one of the company had ever passed before. In some of these particulars such obstacles occurred, that without the intervention of very extraordinary and unexpected accidents the possibility of the whole enterprise would have fallen to the ground, and their utmost industry and efforts must have been fruitless.1

But to return to the projected enlargement of the bark. If we examine how they were prepared for going through with this undertaking, on which their safety depended, we shall find that, independent of other matters which were of as much importance, the lengthening of the bark alone was attended with great difficulty. Indeed, in a proper place, where all the necessary materials and tools were to be had, the embarrassment would have been much less; but some of these tools were to be made, and many of the materials were wanting; and it required no small degree of invention to supply all these deficiencies. And when the hull of the bark should be completed, this was but one article; and there were many others of equal

And now, all these obstacles being in some degree removed (which were always as much as possible concealed from the vulgar,2 that they might not grow remiss with the apprehension of labouring to no purpose), the work proceeded very successfully and vigorously. The necessary ironwork was in great forwardness, and the timbers and planks (which, though not the most exquisite performances of the sawyer's art, were yet sufficient for the purpose) were all prepared; so that on the 6th of October, being the fourteenth day from the departure of the ship, they hauled the bark on shore, and, on the two succeeding days she was sawn asunder (though with great care not to cut her planks), and her two parts were separated the proper distance from each other; and, the ma

1 Both carpenters and smiths were here hard at work in the enlargement of the bark, Anson himself lending a hand in the sawing of trees into plank. When the equipment of the vessel was being proceeded with, they made the disheartening discovery that they were without a compass by which to steer, but in about eight days from the departure of the Centurion, they were relieved from their perplexity, by the discovery of a small one in a chest belonging to the Spanish bark.

From the general knowledge of the company on shore. Thomas says, "The alacrity with which the business was carried on left no room for reflection among the common sailors, though their superiors were not without their fears."

RETURN OF THE CENTURION.