A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 11 by Robert Kerr

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A GENERAL HISTORY AND COLLECTION OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS,

ARRANGED IN SYSTEMATIC ORDER:

FORMING A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF NAVIGATION,
DISCOVERY, AND COMMERCE, BY SEA AND LAND, FROM THE EARLIEST AGES TO
THE PRESENT TIME.

BY

ROBERT KERR, F.R.S. & F.A.S. EDIN.

ILLUSTRATED BY MAPS AND CHARTS.

VOL. XI.

WILLIAM BLACKWOOD, EDINBURGH:
AND T. CADELL, LONDON.
MDCCCXXIV.

CONTENTS OF VOL. XI

PART II. BOOK IV. CONTINUED.

CHAP. XII.--(_Continued_.)
Voyage round the World, by Captain George Shelvocke, in 1719-1722,

SECT.
V. Voyage from California to Canton in China,

VI. Residence in China, and Voyage thence to
England,

VII. Supplement to the foregoing Voyage,

VIII. Appendix to Shelvocke's Voyage round the
World. Containing Observations on the
Country and Inhabitants of Peru, by Captain
Betagh,

Introduction,
Sec. 1. Particulars of the Capture of the Mercury
by the Spaniards,
Sec. 2. Observations made by Betagh in the
North of Peru,
Sec. 3. Voyage from Payta to Lima, and Account
of the English Prisoners at that
Place,
Sec. 4. Description of Lima, and some Account
of the Government of Peru,
Sec. 5. Some Account of the Mines of Peru and
Chili,
Sec. 6. Observations on the Trade of Chili,
Sec. 7. Some Account of the French Interlopers
in Chili,
Sec. 8. Return of Betagh to England,

CHAP. XIII. Voyage round the World, by Commodore Roggewein, in 1721-1723

Introduction

SECT.
I. Narrative of the Voyage from Holland to the Coast of Brazil,

II. Arrival in Brazil, with some Account of that Country,

III. Incidents during the Voyage from Brazil to Juan Fernandez, with a
Description of that Island,

IV. Continuation of the Voyage from Juan Fernandez till the Shipwreck of
the African Galley,

V. Continuation of the Voyage after the Loss of the African, to the
Arrival of Roggewein at New Britain,

VI. Description of New Britain, and farther Continuation of the Voyage
till the Arrival of Roggewein at Java,

VII. Occurrences from their Arrival at the Island of Java, to the
Confiscation of the Ships at Batavia,

VIII. Description of Batavia and the Island of Java, with some Account
of the Government of the Dutch East-India Company's Affairs,

IX. Description of Ceylon,

X. Some Account of the Governments of Amboina, Banda, Macasser, the
Moluccas, Mallacca, and the Cape of Good Hope,

XI. Account of the Directories of Coromandel, Surat, Bengal, and
Persia,

XII. Account of the Commanderies of Malabar, Gallo, Java, and
Bantam,

XIII. Some Account of the Residences of Cheribon, Siam, and Mockha,

XIV. Of the Trade of the Dutch in Borneo and China,

XV. Of the Dutch Trade with Japan,

XVI. Account of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope,

XVII. Voyage from the Cape of Good Hope to Holland, with some Account of
St Helena, the Island of Ascension, and the Acores,

CHAP. XIV. Voyage round the World, by Captain George Anson, in the Years
1740-1744,

Preface,

Introduction,

SECT.
I. Of the Equipment of the Squadron, and the Incidents relating to it,
from its first Appointment to its setting Sail from St Helens,

II. The Passage from St Helens to the Island of Madeira, with a short
Account of that Island, and of our Stay there,

III. History of the Spanish Squadron commanded by Don Joseph
Pizarro, 236

IV. Passage from Madeira to St Catharines,

V. Proceedings at St Catharines, and a Description of that Place, with
a short Account of Brazil,

VI. The Run from St Catharines to Port St Julian; with some Account of
the Port, and of the Country to the South of the Rio Plata,

VII. Departure from the Bay of St Julian, and Passage from thence to
the Straits of Le Maire,

VIII. Course from the Straits of Le Maire to Cape Noir,

IX. Observations and Directions for facilitating the Passage of future
Navigators round Cape Horn,

X. Course from Cape Noir to the Island of Juan Fernandez,

XI. Arrival of the Centurion at Juan Fernandez, with a Description of
that Island,

XII. Separate Arrivals of the Gloucester, and Anna Pink, at Juan
Fernandez, and Transactions at that Island during the
Interval,

XIII. Short Account of what befell the Anna Pink before she rejoined;
with an Account of the Loss of the Wager, and the putting back of
the Severn and Pearl,

XIV. Conclusion of Proceedings at Juan Fernandez, from the Arrival of
the Anna Pink, to our final Departure from thence,

XV. Our Cruise, from leaving Juan Fernandez, to the taking of
Payta,

XVI. Capture of Payta, and Proceedings at that Place,

XVII. Occurrences from our Departure from Payta to our Arrival
at Quibo,

XVIII. Our Proceedings at Quibo, with an Account of the Place,

XIX. From Quibo to the Coast of Mexico,

XX. An Account of the Commerce carried on between the City of Manilla on
the Island of Luconia, and the Port of Acapulco on the Coast of
Mexico,

XXI. Our Cruise off the Port of Acapulco for the Manilla Ship,

XXII. A short Account of Chequetan, and of the adjacent Coast and
Country,

XXIII. Account of Proceedings at Chequetan and on the adjacent Coast,
till our setting sail for Asia,

XXIV. The Run from the Coast of Mexico to the Ladrones or Marian
Islands,

XXV. Our Arrival at Tinian, and an Account of the Island, and of our
Proceedings there, till the Centurion drove out to Sea,

XXVI. Transactions at Tinian after the Departure of the Centurion,

XXVII. Account of the Proceedings on board the Centurion when driven out
to Sea,

XXVIII. Of our Employment at Tinian, till the final Departure of the
Centurion, and of the Voyage to Macao,

XXIX. Proceeding at Macao,

XXX. From Macao to Cape Espiritu Santo: The taking of the Manilla
Galleon, and returning back again,

XXXI. Transactions in the River of Canton,

XXXII. Proceedings at the City of Canton, and the Return of the
Centurion to England,

A GENERAL HISTORY AND COLLECTION OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS.

PART II.

BOOK IV. (CONTINUED.)

* * * * *

CHAPTER XII--_Continued_.

VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD, BY CAPTAIN GEORGE SHELVOCKE, IN 1719-1722.

SECTION V.

_Voyage from California to Canton in China_.

We fell in with the coast of California on the 11th of August, and
as soon as we were discovered by the natives, they made fires on the
shore as we sailed past. Towards evening, two of them came off on a
bark log, and were with difficulty induced to come on board. Seeing
our negroes standing promiscuously among the whites, they angrily
separated them from us, and would hardly suffer them to look at us.
They then made signs for us to sit down, after which one of them put
himself into strange postures, talking to us with great vehemence, and
seeming to be in a transport of extacy, running from one to the
other of us with great vehemence, continually singing, speaking, and
running, till quite out of breath. Night coming on, they were for
departing, when we gave them a knife and an old coat each, with which
they were much pleased, and invited us by signs to go on shore along
with them. On the 13th, we were near Porto Leguro, whence some of the
natives came out to meet us on bark-logs, while others made fires,
as if to welcome us, on the tops of hills and rocks near the sea, all
seemingly rejoiced to see us; those on shore running up and down
to each other, and those on the bark-logs paddling with all their
strength to meet us.

No sooner was our anchor down than they came off to us in crowds, some
off bark-logs, but most of them swimming, all the while talking and
calling to each other confusedly. In an instant our ship was full of
these swarthy gentry, all quite naked. Among the rest was their
king or chief; who was no way distinguishable from the rest by any
particular ornament, or even by any deference paid to him by his
people, his only ensign of sovereignty being a round black stick of
hard wood, about two feet and a half long. This being observed by some
of our people, they brought him to me, and concluding that I was the
chief of the ship, he delivered his black sceptre to me in a handsome
manner, which I immediately returned. Notwithstanding his savage
appearance, this man had a good countenance, and there was something
dignified in his manner and behaviour. I soon found a way to regale
them, by setting before them abundance of our choicest Peruvian
conserves, with which they seemed much gratified. They were
accommodated with spoons, mostly silver, all of which they very
honestly returned.

Having thus commenced friendship with the natives, I sent an officer
ashore to view the watering-place; and, to make him the more welcome,
I sent with him some coarse blue baize and some sugar, to distribute
among the women. On seeing our boat ready to put off, the king was
for accompanying her in his bark-log, but I persuaded him to go in the
boat, with which he seemed to be much gratified. The remainder of
the day was spent with our wild visitors, who behaved in general very
quietly. The officer returned with an account of having been very
civilly received, and we prepared our casks for being sent ashore next
morning. Although, at first view, the country and inhabitants might
dissuade us from venturing freely among them, I had formerly read such
accounts of these people, that I was under no apprehension of being
molested in wooding and watering. The Californians, however, appeared
very terrible to our negroes, insomuch, that one of them, who
accompanied the officer on shore, was afraid to stir from the boat,
and held an axe constantly in his hand, to defend himself in case of
being attacked. On the approach of night, all the Indians swam ashore,
leaving us a clear ship, after the fatigues of the day.

Next morning, at day-break, our boat went ashore with the people
appointed to cut wood and fill our water-casks; and before the sun was
up, our ship was again filled with our former guests, who seemed
never satisfied with gazing at us and every thing about the ship. That
nothing might be wanting to keep up our amity, I sent a large boiler
on shore, with a good store of flour and sugar, and a negro cook, who
continually boiled hasty-pudding, to serve the numerous guests on the
beach. At first the natives remained idle spectators of our labours;
but at length, taking compassion to see our few men labouring hard in
rolling great casks of water over the heavy sand in the sultry heat
of the day, they put forth their hands to help them, encouraged by the
particular readiness of their chief to serve us; for, after seeing Mr
Randal take up a log of wood to carry to the boat, he took up another,
and was immediately followed by two or three hundred of the natives,
so that they eased our men mightily. They also rolled our casks down
to the beach, but always expected a white man to assist them, though
quite satisfied if he only touched the cask with his finger. This
eased our men of a great deal of fatigue, and shortened the time of
our stay at this place. We even found means to make those who used to
stay all day on board, of some use to us; for, when we came to heel
the ship, we crowded them, all over on one side, which, with other
shifts, gave her a deep heel, while we cleaned and paid her bottom
with pitch and tallow.

The natives seemed every day more and more attached to us. When our
boat went ashore in the morning, there was constantly a large retinue
in waiting on the beach for our people, and particularly for those
whom they guessed to be above the common rank, by their better dress.
By this time, the news of our arrival had spread through all the
neighbouring parts, and some natives of different tribes from that
which dwelt about the bay, came daily to visit us. Those who came
from any distance in the inland country could not swim, and were
differently painted, besides some other visible distinctions; but
all united amicably to assist us, and hardly any were idle except the
women, who used to sit in circles on the scorching sand, waiting for
their shares of what was going forwards, which they received without
any quarrelling among themselves about the inequality of distribution.
Having completed our business in five days, we prepared for our
departure on the 18th August, and employed that morning in making a
large distribution of sugar among the women, and gave a great many
knives, old axes, and old iron among the men, being the most valuable
presents we could make them; and, in return, they gave us bows and
arrows, deer-skin bags, live foxes and squirrels, and the like. That
we might impress them with awe of our superior power, we saluted them
with five guns on loosing our top-sails, which greatly frightened
them, and there seemed an universal damp on their spirits on seeing
our sails loosed, as sorry for our approaching departure. The women
were all in tears when my people were coming off to the ship; and many
of the men remained till we were under sail, and then leapt into the
sea with sorrowful countenances.

Having made some stay in California, some account of that country and
its inhabitants may be expected; though I believe a complete discovery
of its extent and boundaries would produce few real advantages, except
satisfying the curious. That part of California which I saw, being the
southern extremity of its western coast, appears mountainous, barren,
and sandy, much like some parts of Peru: yet the soil about Porto
Leguro, and most likely in the other vallies, is a rich black mould,
and when turned up fresh to the sun, appears as if intermingled with
gold-dust. We endeavoured to wash and purify some of this, and the
more this was done, the more it appeared like gold. In order to be
farther satisfied, I brought away some of this earth, but it was
afterwards lost in our confusions in China. However this may be,
California probably abounds in metals of all sorts, though the natives
had no ornaments or utensils of any metal, which is not to be wondered
at, as they are perfectly ignorant of all arts.

The country has plenty of wood, but the trees are very small, hardly
better than bushes. But woods, which are an ornament to most other
countries, serve only to make this appear the more desolate; for
locusts swarm here in such numbers, that they do not leave a
green leaf on the trees. In the day, these destructive insects are
continually on the wing in clouds, and are extremely troublesome by
flying in, one's face. In shape and size they greatly resemble our
green grasshoppers, but are of a yellow colour. Immediately after we
cast anchor, they came off in such numbers, that the sea around the
ship was covered with their dead bodies. By their incessant ravages,
the whole country round Porto Leguro was stripped totally naked,
notwithstanding the warmth of the climate and the richness of the
soil. Believing that the natives are only visited with this plague at
this season of the year, I gave them a large quantity of calavances,
and shewed them how they were sown. The harbour of Porto Leguro is
about two leagues to the N.E. of Cape St Lucas, being a good and safe
port, and very convenient for privateers when cruizing for the Manilla
ship. The watering-place is on the north side of the bay or harbour,
being a small river which there flows into the sea, and may easily be
known by the appearance of a great quantity of green canes growing
in it, which always retain their verdure, not being touched by the
locusts, as these canes probably contain, something noxious to that
voracious insect.

The men of this country are tall, straight, and well set, having large
limbs, with coarse black hair, hardly reaching to their shoulders. The
women are of much smaller size, having much longer hair than the men,
with which some of them almost cover their faces. Some of both sexes
have good countenances; but all are much darker-complexioned than
any of the other Indians I saw in the South Seas, being a very deep
copper-colour. The men go quite naked, wearing only a few trifles by
way of ornament, such as a band or wreath of red and white silk-grass
round their heads, adorned on each side with a tuft of hawk's
feathers. Others have pieces of mother-of-pearl and small shells
fastened among their hair, and tied round their necks; and some had
large necklaces of six or seven strings, composed of small red and
black berries. Some are scarified all over their bodies; others use
paint, some smearing their faces and breasts with black, while others
were painted black down to the navel, and from thence to the feet with
red.

The women wear a thick fringe or petticoat of silk-grass, reaching
from their middle to their heels, and have a deer-skin carelessly
thrown over their shoulders. Some of the better sort have a cloak of
the skin of some large bird, instead of the bear-skins. Though the
appearance of the Californians is exceedingly savage, yet, from what
I could observe of their behaviour to each other, and their deportment
towards us, they seem to possess all imaginable humanity. All the time
we were there, and constantly among many hundreds of them, there
was nothing to be seen but the most agreeable harmony, and most
affectionate behaviour to each other. When any of us gave any thing
eatable to one person, he always divided it among all who were around
him, reserving the smallest share to himself. They seldom walked
singly, but mostly in pairs, hand in hand. They seemed of meek
and gentle dispositions, having no appearance of cruelty in their
countenances or behaviour, yet seemed haughty towards their women.
They lead a careless life, having every thing in common, and seemed to
desire nothing beyond the necessaries of life. They never once offered
to pilfer or steal any of our tools or other utensils; and such was
their honesty, that my men having forgotten their axes one day on
shore, while cutting wood, which was noticed by one of the natives, he
told it to the king, who sent into the wood for the axes, and restored
them with much apparent satisfaction.

Their language is guttural and harsh, and they talk a great deal, but
I could never understand a single word they spoke. Their dwellings
were very mean, being scarcely sufficient to shelter them. Their diet
is, I believe, mostly fish, which they frequently eat raw, but they
sometimes bake it in the sand. They seldom want abundance of this
food, as the men go out to sea on their bark-logs, and are very expert
harponiers. Their harpoons are made of hard wood, and with these
they strike the largest albicores, and bring them ashore on their
bark-logs, which they row with double paddles. This seemed strange
to us, who had often experienced the strength of these fish; for
frequently when we had hold of one of these with very large hooks,
made fast to eight-strand twine, we had to bring the ship to, to bring
them in, and it was then as much as eight or ten men could do; so that
one would expect, when an Indian had struck one of these fish,
from his light float, it would easily run away with the man and the
bark-log; but they have some sleight in their way of management, by
which the strength and struggling of these fish are all in vain. There
are hardly any birds to be seen in this country except a few pelicans.

When the Californians want to drink, they wade into the river, up to
their middles, where they take up the water in their hands, or stoop
down and suck it with their mouths. Their time is occupied between
hunting, fishing, eating, and sleeping; and having abundant exercise,
and rather a spare diet, their lives are ordinarily prolonged to
considerable age, many of both sexes appearing to be very old, by
their faces being much wrinkled, and their hair very grey. Their bows
are about six feet long, with strings made of deer's sinews, but their
arrows seemed too long for their bows; and considering that they have
no adequate tools, these articles must require much time in making.
The shafts of their arrows consist of a hollow cane, for two-thirds of
their length, the other third, or head, being of a heavy kind of wood,
edged with flint, or sometimes agate, and the edges notched like a
saw, with a very sharp point. They made no display of their arms to
us, and we seldom saw any in their hands, though they have need of
some arms to defend themselves from wild beasts, as I saw some men who
had been severely hurt in that way, particularly one old man, who
had his thigh almost torn in pieces by a tiger or lion, and though,
healed, it was frightfully scarred. The women commonly go into the
woods with bows and arrows in search of game, while the men are
chiefly occupied in fishing. I can say nothing respecting their
government, except that it did not seem any way strict or rigorous.
When the king appeared in public, he was usually attended by many
couples, or men walking hand in hand, two and two together. On the
first morning of our arrival, he was seen in this manner coming out of
a wood, and noticing one of my officers cutting down a tree, whom
he judged to be better than ordinary, by having silver lace on his
waistcoat, be shewed both his authority and civility at the same time,
by ordering one of his attendants to take the axe and work in his
stead.

One day while we were there, a prodigious flat fish was seen basking
in the sun on the surface of the water near the shore, on which twelve
Indians swam off and surrounded him. Finding himself disturbed, the
fish dived, and they after him, but he escaped from them at this time.
He appeared again in about an hour, when sixteen or seventeen Indians
swam off and encompassed him; and, by continually tormenting him,
drove, him insensibly ashore. On grounding, the force with which he
struck the ground with his fins is not to be expressed, neither can
I describe the agility with which the Indians strove to dispatch
him, lest the surf should set him again afloat, which they at length
accomplished with the help of a dagger lent them by Mr Randal. They
then cut him into pieces, which were distributed among all who stood
by. This fish, though of the flat kind, was very thick, and had a
large hideous mouth, being fourteen or fifteen feet broad, but not
quite so much in length.

On the 18th August, 1721, we set sail from Porto Leguro, bound for
Canton in China, as a likely place for meeting with some English
ships, in which we might procure a passage home. Considering the
length of the voyage before us, our ship was in a very bad condition,
as her sails and rigging were so old and rotten, that if any accident
had befallen our masts or sails, we had been reduced to extreme
distress and danger, having no change either of sails or ropes; but
ours being a case of necessity, we had to run all hazards, and to
endeavour, by the utmost attention, to guard against deficiencies
which could not be supplied. Having already overcome many
difficulties, seemingly insurmountable in prospect, we were full
of hope to get over these also, and the pleasing expectation of
revisiting our native shores gave us spirits to encounter this tedious
navigation in so weak and comfortless a condition. We were now so
weakly manned, that we could scarcely have been able to navigate our
vessel without the assistance of the negroes, not amounting now
to thirty whites, so much had our crew been reduced by untoward
accidents.

We discovered an island on the 21st, 110 leagues W.S.W. from Cape St
Lucas,[1] but as the wind blew fresh, I could not get nearer than two
leagues, and did not think proper to lose time in laying-to in the
night. It seemed seven or eight leagues in circumference, having a
large bay on its S.W. side, in the middle of which was a high rock. My
people named this Shelvocke's island. From hence we shelved, down to
the latitude of 13 deg. N. but were stopped two or three days by westerly
winds, which we did not expect in this sea, especially as being
now five or six hundred leagues from the land. The trade-wind again
returning, we kept in the parallel of 13 deg. N. except when we judged
that we were near the shoals of St Bartholomew, and then haled a
degree more to the north, and so continued for sixty or seventy
leagues. A fortnight after leaving California, my people, who had
hitherto enjoyed uninterrupted health, began to be afflicted with
sickness, particularly affecting their stomachs, owing doubtless to
the great quantities of sweetmeats they were continually devouring,
and also to oar common food, chiefly composed of puddings made of
coarse flour and sweetmeats, mixed up with sea-water, together with
jerked beef, most of which was destroyed by ants, cockroaches, and
other vermin. We could not afford to boil the kettle once in the whole
passage with fresh water, so that the crew became reduced to a
very melancholy state by scurvy and other distempers. The sickness
increased upon us every day, so that we once buried two in one day,
the armourer and carpenter's, mate, besides whom the carpenter,
gunner, and several others died, together with some of our best
negroes.