Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
But that was not all. Over the ensuing days the prize captain
continued to find caches of treasure. As well as the chests packed
with new-minted coin and other consignments catalogued in the
Cobadonga 's bill of lading, there were, as usual, scores of concealed
private caches of gold and silver. Money was hidden beneath cabin
floors, in the false bottoms of passengers' trunks, and even in the
middle of a cheese.
The two vessels made their way back to Macao. Anson knew
that his reception there would be unfriendly but there was nowhere
else that the battle damage could be made good. Here the Cobadonga
was sold, being unequal to the long haul back to Europe. From the
point of view of circumnavigation there is little else worth recording
about the voyage of the Centurion. On 15 December she made sail
for England. She took the shortest route to the Cape, following a
course which was now well-charted, sailed with the SE trades across
the southern Atlantic, and picked up the prevailing westerlies of the
northern hemisphere to reach Spithead on 15 June 1744. Stories of
her exploits had gone before her so that Anson and his men were
welcomed as heroes. Crowds turned out to gaze in wonder at the
thirty-two well-guarded cartloads of treasure which lumbered along
the main road from Portsmouth to London. Amidst the public celeb-
rations many were the lusty performances of the most popular song
of the day - Rule Britannia. Thomas Arne had written it only weeks
before Anson's expedition set out and the Centurion 's triumphant re-
turn seemed to confirm - to patriotic landsmen, at least - that Bri-
tons really did rule the waves. In course of time every survivor re-
ceived his share of prize money, divided according to rank. For all of
them it was more wealth than they had ever seen before. Whether
they felt it adequate compensation for five years of living with death
and terror we cannot know.
 
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