On All Occasions He
Had Shewn A Humane And Even Generous Disposition, With The Most
Inflexible Honesty, And A Constant Regard To The Interest Of His Owners.
He Is Therefore Much To Be Pitied, For Having Fled To The Bottle Under A
Load Of Misfortunes Too Heavy For Him To Bear.
The voyage upon which they had now to enter was very dangerous, the run
from Manilla to China being estimated at 400 leagues; besides that the
distance they had now to sail was much greater.
They had only received a
very moderate addition to their former scanty stock of provisions; and
their vessel had been so roughly handled in the late unfortunate affair,
that they were very apprehensive she would not last out the voyage. On
careful examination, she was found to be in a very shattered condition,
having scarcely a whole timber in her upper works, and one of her
fashion pieces being shot through, which is a principal support of the
after-part of the ship, they were obliged to strap her, to keep her
together. As it blew pretty fresh, they durst not carry sail, and for
nearly a week together had to scud almost under bare poles, through
variable winds, bad weather, and a rough sea. This was a melancholy
situation for the people, in seas with which they were little
acquainted, and sailing by charts on which they could not depend. Yet
they found the accounts and charts of Dampier much superior to those
laid down by persons of much greater figure, so that without these they
had hardly been able to have extricated themselves from their
difficulties. The 24th June they were in sight of the Bashee Islands,
in lat. 20 deg. 45' N. long. 121 deg. 40' E. On the 31st they saw the
island-shoals of Pralas, in lat. 21 deg. N. long. 116 deg. 20' E. The 1st
July they fell in with other islands, not laid down in any of their
charts, which perplexed them sadly, not being able to form any certain
judgment of their true course. They anchored under one of these islands
in thirteen fathoms, and sent away one of their boats to endeavour to
procure intelligence how Macao bore from them, that being the port to
which they were bound. The pinnace returned on the 2d July, bringing a
boat in which were three Chinese sailors, or fishermen, whom they could
not understand, and all they could learn from them was, that Canton bore
from them to the S.W.
On the 3d July, finding they had got too far to leeward of Macao, and
being unable to procure a pilot, they resolved to sail for Amoy, as
the only course that was left them, and accordingly arrived before that
port in the evening of the 5th; but being afraid to enter it in the
night, they plied off and on till daybreak of the 6th. They here noticed
great numbers of snakes in the sea, brought down by the rivers that
empty themselves upon that coast. The entrance into the port of Amoy
is sufficiently conspicuous, in consequence of a high mountain, on the
top of which is a tower, or pagoda, which may be seen at the distance of
twenty leagues out to sea, and has a small island immediately before the
mouth of the bay. The river Change-neu[245] discharges itself here
into the sea, forming a spacious bay about eight leagues in circuit,
where ships may ride at anchor in great safety, the only difficulty
being in getting into port, which they happily accomplished in the
evening of the 6th July, being well pleased to find themselves once more
in a place where they might hope to procure refreshments, and be able to
repair their ship; or if that were impracticable, whence they might
procure a passage home. Clipperton was as much rejoiced as the rest;
for, having had his full share of afflictions and misfortunes at sea, he
was happy in the prospect of securing a small sum of money for his own
use, and sending home what belonged to the owners, if the ship were
really past repairing, as his people reported.
[Footnote 245: No name resembling Amoy is to be found on the coast of
China in any of our best maps, and the text gives no distinct indication
of its situation. The river Changeneu of the text, perhaps refers to
Tchang-tcheou, a city in the province of Fokien, having a large bay in
lat. 24 deg. 30' N. long. 118 deg. 15' E. and Amoy may have been some
corruption of the port of discharge at the mouth of the river which
passes Tchang-tcheou. - E.]
They had no sooner anchored in the port than ten custom-house officers
were placed on board. At Amoy, as in most other ports in China, the
customs are under the direction of a single mandarin, called the Hoppo,
or Hoppou. The Chinese are justly reputed the craftiest people in the
world; and it is their invariable maxim to appoint the cunningest man
they can find to the office of hoppo. It may be added, that the people
of Amoy are reputed to be less nice in the principles of honour and
honesty even than any others in China. The first thing demanded by these
custom-house officers was, what the ship was, and what was her business
at this port. Clipperton made answer, that the ship belonged to the King
of Great Britain, and had put in there from stress of weather, in order
to obtain a supply of provisions and other necessaries. The officers now
demanded an exact account of the number of men and guns, the nature and
amount of the cargo, and the time they intended to stay, all of which
they set down in writing, and then departed.
Next morning the men mutinied, and insisted that Clipperton should pay
them their prize-money immediately, as the Success was in no condition
to proceed to sea.
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