difficulty they might have in complying with the European manner of eating, they seemed not to be novices in drinking. The commodore excused himself in this part of the entertainment, under the pretence of illness; but there being another gentleman present, of a florid and jovial complexion, the chief mandarin clapped him on the shoulder, and told him by the interpreter, that certainly he could not plead sickness, and therefore insisted on his bearing him company; and that gentleman perceiving, that after they had dispatched four or five bottles of Frontiniac, the mandarin still continued unruffled, he ordered a bottle of citron-water to be brought up, which the Chinese seemed much to relish, and this being near finished, they arose from table, in appearance cool and uninfluenced by what they had drank, and the commodore having, according to custom, made the mandarin a present, they all departed in the same vessels that brought them.

'After their departure, the commodore with great impatience expected the resolution of the council, and the necessary licences for his refitment. On the 6th of January, in the morning, the governor of Janson, the commodore's advocate, sent down the viceroy of Canton's warrant for the refitment of the Centurion, and for supplying her people with all they wanted; and, the next day, a number of Chinese smiths and carpenters went on board, to agree for all the work by the great. They demanded at first, to the amount of a thousand pounds sterling for the necessary repairs of the ship, the boats, and the masts. This the commodore seemed to think an unreasonable sum, and endeavoured to persuade them to work by the day; but that proposal they would not hearken to; so it was at last agreed, that the carpenters should have to the amount of about six hundred pounds for their work; and that the smiths should be paid for their iron-work by weight, allowing them at the rate of three pounds a hundred nearly for the small work, and forty-six shillings for the large.

This being regulated, the commodore exerted himself to get this most important business completed: for this purpose the first lieutenant was dispatched to Canton to hire two country vessels. called in their language junks, one of them

being intended to heave down by, and the other to serve as a magazine for the powder and ammunition: at the same time the ground was smoothed on, one of the neighbouring islands, and a large tent was pitched for lodging the lumber and pro visions, and near an hundred Chinese caulkers were soon set to work on the decks and sides of the ship. But all these preparations, and the getting ready the careening gear, took up a great deal of time; for the Chinese caulkers, though they worked very well, were far from being expeditious; and it was the 26th of January before the junks arrived; and the necessary materials, which were to be purchased at Canton, came down very slowly; partly from the distance of the place, and partly from the delays and backwardness of the Chinese merchants. And in this interval Mr. Anson had the additional perplexity to discover, that his fore-mast was broken asunder above the upper deck partners, and was partners, and was only kept together by the fishes which had been formerly clapt upon it.

"It was the beginning of April before they had new rigged the ship, stowed their provisions and water on board, and had fitted her for the sea; and before this time the Chinese grew very uneasy, and extremely desirous that she should be gone; either not knowing, or pretending not to believe, that this was a point the commodore was as eagerly set on as they could be. On the 3d of April, two mandarin boats came on board from Macao to urge his departure; and this having been often done before, though there had been no pretence to suspect Mr. Anson of any affected delays, he at this last message answered them in a determined tone, desiring them to give him no further trouble, for he would go when he thought proper, and not before. On this rebuke the Chinese (though it was not in their power to compel him to be gone) immediately prohibited all provisions from being carried on board him, and took such care that their injunctions should be complied with, that from that time forwards nothing could be purchased at any rate whatever.' The Spaniards at Manilla had heard that the Centurion was careening at this place, and had formed a project for burn. ing her while in this defenceless state; but disagreeing amongst themselves, the attempt was never made.

VOL. IV.

2 Z

On the 6th of April, the Centurion weighed from the Typa, and warped to the southward; and, by the 15th, she was got into Macao road, completing her water as she past along, so that there remained now very few articles more to attend to, and her whole business being finished by the 19th, she, at three in the afternoon of that day, weighed and made sail and stood to sea.

The commodore was now got to sea, with his ship very well refitted, his stores replenished, and an additional stock of provisions on board: his crew too was somewhat reinforced; for he had entered twenty-three men during his stay at Macao, the greatest part of which were Lascars or Indian sailors, and some few Dutch. He gave out at Macao, that he was bound to Batavia, and thence to England; and though the westerly monsoon was now set in, when that passage is considered as impracticable, yet, by the confidence he had expressed in the strength of his ship, and the dexterity of his people, he had persuaded not only his own crew but the people at Macao likewise, that he proposed to try this unusual experiment; so that there were many letters put on board him by the inhabitants of Canton and Macao for their friends at Batavia

'But his real design was of a very different nature: for he knew, that instead of one annual ship from Acapulco to Manilla, there would be this year, in all probability, two; since, by being before Acapulco, he had prevented one of them from putting to sea the preceding season. He therefore resolved to cruise for these returning vessels off cape Espiritu Santo, on the island of Samal, which is the first land they always make in the Philippine islands. And as June is generally the month in which they arrive there, he doubted not but he should get to his intended station time enough to intercept them. It is true, they were said to be stout vessels, mounting forty guns apiece, and carrying above five hundred hands, and might be expected to return in company; and he himself had but two hundred and twenty-seven hands on board, of which near thirty were boys: but this disproportion of strength did not deter him, as he knew his ship to be much better fitted for a sea-engagement than theirs, and as

he had reason to expect that his men would exert themselves in the most extraordinary manner, when they had in view the immense wealth of these Manilla galeons.

"This project the commodore had resolved on in his own thoughts, ever since his leaving the coast of Mexico. And the greatest mortification which he received, from the various delays he had met with in China, was his apprehension lest he might be thereby so long retarded as to let the galeons escape him. Indeed, at Macao it was incumbent on him to keep these views extremely secret; for there being a great intercourse and a mutual connexion of interests between that port and Manilla, he had reason to fear, that, if his designs were discovered, intelligence would be immediately sent to Manilla, and measures would be taken to prevent the galeons from falling into his hands: but being now at sea, and entirely clear of the coast, he summoned all his people on the quarter. deck, and informed them of his resolution to cruise for the two Manilla ships, of whose wealth they were not ignorant. He told them he should chuse a station, where he could not fail of meeting with them; and though they were stout ships, and full manned, yet, if his own people behaved with their accustomed spirit, he was certain he should prove too hard for them both, and that one of them at least could not fail of becoming his prize: he further added, that many ridiculous tales had been propagated about the strength of the sides of these ships, and their being impenetrable to cannon-shot; that these fictions had been principally invented to palliate the cowardice of those who had formerly engaged them; but he hoped there were none of those present, weak enough to give credit to so absurd a story: for his own part, he did assure them upon his word, that, whenever he met with them, he would fight them so near, that they should find, his bullets, instead of being stopped by one of their sides, should go through them both.

"This speech of the commodore's was received by his people with great joy: for no sooner had he ended, than they expressed their approbation, according to naval custom, by three strenuous cheers, and all declared their determination to succeed or

perish whenever the opportunity presented itself. And now their hopes, which since their departure from the coast of Mexico, had entirely subsided, were again revived; and they all persuaded themselves, that, notwithstanding the various casualities and disappointments they had hitherto met with, they should yet be repaid the price of their fatigues, and should at last return home enriched with the spoils of the enemy; for firmly relying on the assurances of the commodore, that they should certainly meet with the vessels, they were all of them too sanguine to doubt a moment of mastering them; so that they considered themselves as having them already in their possession. And this confidence was so universally spread through the whole ship's company, that, the commodore having taken some Chinese sheep to sea with him for his own provision, and one day enquiring of his butcher, why, for some time past, he had seen no mutton at his table, asking him if all the sheep were killed, the butcher very seriously replied, that there were indeed two sheep left, but that if his honour would give him leave, he proposed to keep those for the entertainment of the general of the galeons.

"It was the last of May when they arrived of cape Botel Tobago, and the month of June being that in which the Manilla ships are usually expected, the Centurion's people were now waiting each hour with the utmost impatience for the happy crisis which was to balance the account of all their past calamities. As from this time there was but small employment for the crew, the commodore ordered them almost every day to be exercised in the management of the great guns, and in the use of their small arms. This had been his practice, more or less, at all convenient seasons during the whole course of his voyage; and the advantages which he received from it, in his engagement with the galeon, were an ample recompence for all his care and attention. Indeed, it should seem that there are few particulars of a commander's duty of more importance than this, how much soever it may have been sometimes overlooked or misunderstood. Indeed, it must be ownad, that if a dexterity in the use of small arms, for instance,