Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
spectacle as, 'as melancholy a scene as ever I observed since I have
hastily brought from the
Gloucester,
and dead and dying men who
fouled the running lines,
Centurion
hoisted sail and lumbered west-
wards.
Ten days later she anchored off Tinian in the Marianas with only
seventy-one men still fit for duty. Although this area was frequently
patrolled by Spanish warships, the voyagers were obliged to spend
another seven weeks reviving the sick and patching up their leaky
vessel. But at last Anson had every reason to hope that the worst was
now behind him. If he could make the Portuguese trading post of
Macao on the China coast he doubted not that he could see his ship
properly repaired in a well-equipped dockyard, buy all the provi-
sions he needed and, through the good offices of the resident British
agent, hire men to bring his depleted crew up to strength. Everyone
aboard the
Centurion
was excited at the prospect of meeting some of
their fellow countrymen for the first time in over three years, looked
forward to hearing news of home, and expected to receive a warm
welcome in Macao.
The reception they received when they dropped anchor in the
Canton river in mid-November, therefore, came as a shock. The ar-
rival of a British warship filled the commercial and diplomatic com-
munity with alarm. Chinese officials, the Portuguese governor and
East India Company factors were united in their urgent desire to be
rid of the
Centurion
as quickly as possible. They flatly refused An-
son's request for stores, repairs and men and brought every pres-
sure to bear to persuade him to depart. The commodore was dis-
mayed and angry. Only slowly did he come to appreciate the reasons
why his arrival had caused such alarm. Peaceful trade at Macao
was enormously profitable to all concerned but it depended upon a
very delicate balance of interests. China was still a closed country.
She tolerated the western trading community as long as it gave no
