A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 11 / 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

When Captains Hill and Newsham came to visit me, they were astonished at the ruinous condition of my ship, and could scarcely think it possible for her to have made so long a passage. The rottenness of her cordage, and the raggedness of her sails, filled them with surprise and pity for my condition. When I had given them a short history of the voyage, and requested they would receive my officers and company, with their effects, they at once said, That they saw plainly my ship was in no condition to be carried any farther, and they were willing to receive us all as soon as we pleased, on payment of our passage. But the supercargoes were displeased that I had not applied to them, as they are the chief men here, though only passengers when aboard; so that I was quite neglected, and the English captains were ordered to fall down with their ships five or six miles below where I lay. I was thus left destitute in the company of five foreign ships; yet their officers, seeing me deserted by my countrymen, kindly offered me their services, and assisted me as much as they could, and without them I know not what might have been my fate, as I was under perpetual apprehensions that the Chinese would have seized my ship.

After the murder of the custom-house officer seemed to have been quite forgotten, a magistrate, called a Little Mandarin, committed the following outrageous action:At the beginning of the troubles, occasioned by that murder, he had received orders to apprehend all the English he could find, which he neglected till all was over. He then one day, while passing the European factories, ordered his attendants to seize on all the English he could see in the adjoining shops, and took hold of nine or ten, French as well as English, whom he carried, with halters about their necks, to the palace of the Chantock, or viceroy. Application was then made to the Hoppo, or chief customer, who represented matters to the viceroy in favour of the injured Europeans; on which the mandarin was sent for, and being unable to vindicate himself was degraded from his post, subjected to the bamboo, a severe punishment, and rendered incapable of acting again as a magistrate; the Europeans being immediately liberated. It appears to me, however, that the English are tyrannized over by the Chinese, and exposed to the caprices of every magistrate, wherefore I was the more urgent to be on board one of the European ships. I had now discovered my error in addressing the captains, and now sent a letter to the supercargoes, demanding a passage for myself, my officers, and ship's company, which I was sensible they could not refuse: but their compliance was clogged with a charge to the captains not to receive any thing belonging to us, unless consigned to the company in England.

The hoppo now made a demand upon me for anchorage in the river, amounting to no less than 6000 tahel, and, to quicken the payment, annexed a penalty to this extortion of 500 tahel for every day the payment was delayed. There were no means to avoid this gross imposition; and though a day necessarily elapsed before I could send up the money, I had to add the penalty of that day, so that he received 6500 tahel, or L. 2166:13:4 sterling;¹ being about six times as much as was paid for the Cadogan, the largest English ship there at the time, and which measured a third larger than mine. I soon after sold my ship for 2000 tahel, or L. 666, 13s. 4d. sterling, which money was consigned to the India Company, along with all the rest of my effects, and I prevailed on most of my officers and men to take their passage in the English homeward-bound ships.

Considering my short stay in China, and my bad health, I cannot be expected to give any tolerable account of this place from my own observation, and to copy others would be inconsistent with the purpose of this narrative, so that I shall only observe, that the English, at this time, had no settled factory at Canton, being only permitted to hire large houses, called hongs, with convenient warehouses adjoining, for receiving their goods previous to their shipment. For these they pay rent to the proprietors, and either hire the same or others, as they think proper, next time they have occasion for the accommodation.

Notwithstanding my utmost diligence, the business I was engaged in kept me in a continual hurry till the ships were ready to depart, which was in December, 1721: At which time, heartily tired of the country, and the ill usage I had met with, I sailed in the Cadogan, Captain John Hall, in company with the Francis, Captain Newsham; and as the latter ship sailed much better than the Cadogan, she left us immediately after getting out to sea. Finding his ship very tender, or crank, Captain Hill put in at Batavia, to get her into better trim. We continued here about ten days; but I can say little about that place, being all the time unable to stand on my legs, and was only twice out in a coach to take the air, two or three miles out of the city, in which little excursion I saw a great variety of beautiful prospects of fine country seats and gardens, and, indeed, every thing around shewed the greatest industry. The buildings in the city are generally very handsome, and laid out in very regular streets, having canals running through most of them, with trees planted on each side, so that Batavia may justly be called a fine city: But the sight is the only sense that is gratified here, for the canals smell very offensively when the tide is low, and breed vast swarms of muskitoes, which are more troublesome here than in any place I was ever in.

A great part of the inhabitants of Batavia are Chinese, who are remarkable for wearing there their ancient dress, having their hair rolled up in such a manner that there is little difference in that respect between the men and women. Ever since the revolution in China, which brought that country under the Tartar yoke, the Tartarian dress has been imposed upon the whole kingdom, which was not effected without great bloodshed: For many of the Chinese were so superstitiously attached to their ancient modes, that they unaccountably chose rather to lose their lives than their hair; as the Tartar fashion is to shave the head, except a long lock on the crown, which they plait in the same manner we do. The Dutch, taking advantage of this superstitious attachment of the Chinese to their hair, exact from all the men who live under their protection, a poll-tax of a dollar a month for the liberty of wearing their hair, which produces a very considerable revenue.

Hearing at Batavia that there were several pirates in these seas, Captain Hill joined the Dutch homeward-bound fleet in Bantam bay, and the Dutch commodore promised to assist Captain Hill in wooding and watering at Mew island, the water at Batavia being very bad. We fell in with the Francis in the Straits of Sunda, though we imagined that ship had been far a-head. The Dutch made this a pretence for leaving us before we got to Mew island, and Captain Newsham also deserted us, so that we were left alone. We continued six or seven days at Mew island, during which time several boats came to us from Prince's island, and brought us turtle, cocoa-nuts, pine-apples, and other fruits. From Mew island we had a very pleasant voyage to and about the Cape of Good Hope. By the good management of Captain Hill, although the Francis and the Dutch ships had the start of us seven days, by deserting us in the Straits of Sunda, we yet got to the cape seven days before the Francis, though she sailed considerably better than we. By comparing notes with the officers of the Francis, we found that she had suffered a good deal of bad weather off the south of Africa, while we, by keeping about ten leagues nearer shore, continually enjoyed pleasant weather and a fair wind, till we anchored in Table Bay, which we did towards the end of March, 1722.

We here found Governor Boon and others, bound for England in the London Indiaman. We had a pleasant voyage from the cape to St Helena, and thence to England, arriving off the Land's-end towards the close of July. On coming into the British channel we had brisk gales from the west, with thick foggy weather. In the evening of the 30th July we anchored under Dungeness, and that same night some of the supercargoes and passengers, among whom I was one, hired a small vessel to carry us to Dover, where we arrived the next morning early. The same day we proceeded for London, and arrived there on the 1st August, 1722. Thus ended a long, fatiguing, and unfortunate voyage, of three years, seven months, and eleven days, in which I had sailed considerably more than round the circumference of the globe, and had undergone a great variety of troubles and hardships by sea and land.

Footnote 1: (return)

At these proportions, the Chinese tahel is exactly 6s. 8d. sterling.E.

SECTION VII.

Supplement to the foregoing Voyage.

In the Collection of Harris, besides interweaving several controversial matters respecting this voyage, from an account of it by one Betagh, who was captain of marines in the Speedwell, a long series of remarks on the conduct of Shelvocke by that person, are appended. Neither of these appear to possess sufficient interest, at this distance of time, almost a century, to justify their insertion in our collection, where they would have very uselessly occupied a considerable space. Captain Betagh appears to have been actuated by violent animosity against Captain Shelvocke, whose actions he traduced and misrepresented with the utmost malignity, the innocent cause of his having suffered captivity among the Spaniards in South America, of which some account will be found in the subsequent section. Of all these charges, we have only deemed it expedient to insert the following statement of the circumstances connected with the capture of the Conception, as related by Betagh, which Harris, I. 230, characterizes as "a very extraordinary piece of recent history, and seemingly supported by evidence;" but at this distance of time we have no means of ascertaining to which side the truth belongs.Ed.

"This being the great crisis of the voyage, I shall be more particular in relating the affair of this last prize. This ship was named the Conception, Don Stephen de Recova commander,¹ bound from Calao to Panama, having on board several persons of distinction, particularly the Conde de la Rosa, who had been some time governor of Pisco, and was now going to Spain, laden with flour, sugar, marmalade, et cetera. Now, be it known to all men, that the et cetera was 108,630 pieces of eight, or Spanish dollars: And Shelvocke little thought, when he took this prize, or compiled his book, that I, of all men, should have the exact state of this affair. He often said that he would give the gentlemen owners a fair account; and I have often promised to prove that he did say so. We have now both made our words good, and I have not only an authentic account, but I will also declare how I got it.

"When I was carried prisoner to Lima, I had sufficient leisure to reflect on my misfortunes, and how likely I was to be ruined and the owners cheated; wherefore, to prepare them to defend their just rights, I wrote to one of them the substance of what had occurred to me; how Shelvocke had mismanaged; how arbitrarily he had acted in defiance of their articles, and what were his private intentions in the latter part of the voyage. As soon as I came to London, which was in October, 1721, I confirmed the report of my letter with several new circumstances; for all which performance of my duty, it is, as I suppose, that my name has met with so much reproach in Captain Shelvocke's book. But, besides my advices, the gentlemen owners had many proofs from prisoners and other people. Eleven months after me, being August, 1722, Shelvocke himself arrived, and immediately waited on the gentlemen in the lump for all his transactions; not owning any thing of this prize, which he had unlawfully shared, with every thing else, among twenty-three of his men. Instead of compromising the matter, the gentlemen read him a letter, secured him, and had him the same day confined in Wood-street Compter. A few days after, his pupil, Stewart, arrived at Dover, and was seized by the honest warden of the castle, according to directions, securing also his book of accounts, and brought it along with the prisoner to the owners, from whom I had the book, and copied from it the following statement of the dividends:

"The reader will perceive that the sum total of this dividend falls short of what I said the capture amounted to; but, in order to set that matter right, there is a secret article of 627 quadruples of gold, which Shelvocke graciously shared among private friends, each quadruple, or double doubloon; being worth sixteen dollars each, or L. 3:14:8 sterling, at 4s. 8d. the dollar. The value of these is 10,032 dollars, which, added to the sum of the foregoing account, make 108,636-3/4 dollars, or L. 25,348:11:6 sterling in all. Which large sum of money Shelvocke had the prodigious modesty to conceal, under the mysterious et cetera. Stewart's book mentions the double doubloons, but says not a word as to how they were distributed, so that we may imagine they were sunk between the two Shelvockes and Stewart: For, as Stewart was agent, cashier, and paymaster, it was an easy matter to hide a bag of gold from the public, and to divide it afterwards in a committee of two or three."Betagh.

Footnote 1: (return)

Shelvocke who certainly ought to have known best, names the ship the Conception de Recova, and her commander Don Joseph Desorio.E.

SECTION VIII.

Appendix to Shelvocke's Voyage round the World. Containing Observations on the Country and Inhabitants of Peru, by Captain Betagh.¹

INTRODUCTION.

This article may rather seem misplaced, as here inserted among the circumnavigations; but, both as having arisen out of the voyage of Shelvocke, and because arranged in this manner by Harris, it has been deemed proper and necessary to preserve it in this place, where it may be in a great measure considered as a supplement to the preceding voyage. In the opinion of Harris, "The time that Betagh lived among the Spaniards in Peru, and the manner in which he was treated by them, gave him an opportunity of acquainting himself with their manners and customs, and with the nature and maxims of their government, such as no Englishman had possessed; and the lively manner in which he tells his story, gives it much beauty and spirit." We have already seen, in the narrative of Shelvocke, the occasion of Betagh separating from his commander, along with Hately and a complement of men in the Mercury, on which occasion Shelvocke alleged that they purposely separated from him, in consequence of taking a prize containing 150,000 dollars. In the following narrative, Betagh tells his own story very differently, and we do not presume to determine between them. The separation of Shelvocke originally from his own superior officer, Clipperton, is not without suspicion; and Hately and Betagh may have learnt from their commander, to endeavour to promote their own individual interests, at the expense of their duty, already weakened by bad example.Ed.

§ 1. Particulars of the Capture of the Mercury by the Spaniards.

It was in the beginning of the year 1720, about the middle of March, when Captain Shelvocke sent Hately and the rest of us to seek our fortunes in the lighter called the Mercury. He then went in the Speedwell to plunder the village of Payta, where we might easily have joined him, had he been pleased to have imparted his design to us. We had not cruized long off Cape Blanco, when we took a small bark, having a good quantity of flour and chocolate. There were also on board an elderly lady, and a thin old friar, whom we detained two or three days; and, after taking out what could be of use to us, we discharged the bark and them. Soon after this we took the Pink, which Shelvocke calls the rich prize. Her people had no suspicion of our being an enemy, and held on their way till they saw the Mercury standing towards them, and then began to suspect us; on which, about noon, they clapt their helm hard a-weather, and crowded all sail before the wind; and, being in ballast, this was her best sailing, yet proved also the greatest advantage they could have given us; for, had she held her wind, our flat-bottomed vessel could never have got up with theirs. About ten o'clock at night, with the assistance of hard rowing, we got up within shot of the chase, and made her bring to, when pretty near the shore. On boarding the prize, in which were about seventy persons, thirty of whom were negroes, Hately left me and Pressick in the Mercury, with other four, where we continued two or three days, till a heavy rain spoiled all our bread and other dry provisions. We then went on board the prize, sending three men to take charge of the Mercury.

After this, we stood off and on in the height of Cape Blanco for seven or eight days, expecting to meet with the Speedwell; and at that place we sent ashore the Spanish Captain, a padre or priest, and some gentlemen passengers. At last we espied a sail plying to windward; and, having no doubt that she was either the Speedwell or the Success, we stood towards her, while she also edged down towards us. About ten in the morning we were near enough to make her out to be a ship of war, but neither of these we wished for. The master of our prize had before informed us, that he had fallen in with the Brilliante, which was cruizing for our privateers, and we had till now entirely disregarded his information. Upon this, Hately advised with me what we ought to do in this emergency, when we agreed to endeavour to take advantage of the information given us by the Spaniards; considering, as the Brilliante had spoken so very lately with the Pink, that there might not be many questions asked now. Accordingly, Hately and I dressed ourselves like Spaniards, and hoisted Spanish colours, confined all our prisoners in the great cabin, and allowed none but Indians and negroes to appear on the deck, that the Pink might have the same appearance as before. We had probably succeeded in this contrivance, but for the obstinacy of John Sprake, one of our men, whom we could not persuade to keep off the deck. As the Brilliante came up, she fired a gun to leeward, on which we lowered our topsail, going under easy sail till we got alongside. The first question asked was, If we had seen the English privateer? We answered, No. The next question was, How we had got no farther on our way to Lima? To which we answered, By reason of the currents. To two or three other questions, we answered satisfactorily in Spanish, and they were getting their tacks aboard in order to leave us, when Sprake and two or three more of our men appeared on the main deck. A Frenchman aboard the Brilliante, who was on the mast-head, seeing their long trowsers, called out, Par Dieu, Monsieur, ils sont Anglois, By Heaven, Sir, they are English: Upon which they immediately fired a broad-side into us with round and partridge shot, by one of which Hately was slightly wounded in the leg.

As soon as we struck our flag, the enemy sent for all the English on board their ships, and ordered two of their own officers into our prize. The Brilliante then bore down on the Mercury, into which she fired at least twenty-five shot, which bored her sides through and through: Yet such was the construction of that extraordinary vessel, that, though quite full of water, there was not weight enough to sink her, and our three men who were in her remained unhurt. Don Pedro Midrando, the Spanish commander, ordered these three men into his own ship, in which he intended to sail for Payta. As for me, he gave directions that I should be sent forty miles up the country, to a place called Piura, and was so kind as to leave Mr Pressick the surgeon, and my serjeant Cobbs, to bear me company. Mr Hately and the rest of our men were ordered to Lima by land, a journey of four hundred miles.² Hately had the misfortune to be doubly under the displeasure of the Spaniards: First, for returning into these seas after having been long their prisoner, and being well used among them: And, second, for having stripped the Portuguese captain at Cape Frio of a good quantity of moidores, which were now found upon him. Don Pedro proposed to have this business searched to the bottom, and the guilty severely punished, without exposing the innocent to any danger.

Footnote 1: (return)

Harris, I. 240.

Footnote 2: (return)

Lima is above six hundred miles from Cape Blanco, and Piura is about seventy-five miles from the same place. Betagh gives no account of the place where he landed; but forty miles northwards from Piura would only carry him to the north side of the bay of Payta; and, as he makes no mention of passing any river, he was probably landed on the south side of the river Amatape or Chira.E.

§ 2. Observations made by Betagh in the North of Peru.

Leaving Mr Hately for the present, I proceed to the observations I made on the road, as the admiral was so good as send me up into the country, till his return from Payta. As the weather in this part of the world is much too hot to admit of any labour in the middle of the day, the custom is to travel only from six in the evening till eight next morning. My Indian guide set me on the best mule he had, which did not think proper to follow the rest, so that I led my fellow-travellers while day lasted. The whole country through which we travelled was an open plain, having Indian plantations laid out with tolerable regularity, on both sides of us. This champaign country is from thirty to an hundred miles broad, and extends three hundred miles along shore; and I was travelling to the southward, having the Cordelieras, or mountains of the Andes, on my left hand, and the great Pacific Ocean to the right. As the soil is good and fertile, this land would be as fine a country as any in the world, if well watered; but travellers are here obliged to carry water for their mules as well as themselves. At the approach of night, I was much puzzled to find the way, my mule still persisting to go foremost, being often stopped by great sand hills, and my mule as often endeavoured to pull the reins out of my hand. This being very troublesome, the Indians advised me to lay the reins on the mule's neck, and on doing that the creature easily hit the way. These sand hills often shift from place to place, which I suppose is occasioned by strong eddy winds, reverberated from the mountains.

We rested at night in an old empty house, about half way, which the guide told me was built by the inhabitants of Piura, for the accommodation of the prince of San Bueno, viceroy of Peru, when they met and regaled him at his entrance on his government. After a short rest, we continued our journey, and arrived at Piura, a handsome regularly built town, on the banks of the river Callan or Piura. The Indian conducted us to the house of an honest Spanish gentleman and his wife, to whose charge he committed us, and then returned to Payta. In less than a quarter of an hour, the inhabitants of the town flocked to see us, as a raree-show, and entertained us with respect and civility, instead of using us as prisoners of war. The gentleman to whose charge we were committed was named Don Jeronimo Baldivieso, who had five daughters, who received us in so benevolent a manner, that we hoped our time would slide easily away, and our captivity prove no way disagreeable; and I now became sensible of the favour shewn me by Don Pedro in sending me to this place; for he had such interest in all Peru, that for his sake we found very good treatment.

After refreshing ourselves, according to the custom of the country, with chocolate, biscuit, and water, we were serenaded by the sound of a harp from some inner apartment, of which instrument the artist seemed to have a good command, as I heard parts of several famous compositions, both Italian and English. Upon enquiry, I found that all Don Jeronimo's daughters had learnt music, and sung or played upon some instrument. Though this seemed unaccountable at first, I afterwards found that music was much cultivated in Peru. During the prevalence of the Italian party at the court of Madrid, the last viceroy of Peru, the prince of San Bueno, who was an Italian, brought a great many musicians to that country along with him, by whom the taste for music had spread every where, and had become as good in Peru as in old Spain. I the rather notice this, because, by our being lovers of music, and behaving peaceably and civilly to the inhabitants, we passed our time quietly and chearfully. We were only exposed to one inconvenience, which lasted all the time we remained here: which was, the daily assembling of the people to stare at us. I and my sergeant Cobbs, being used to exercise in public, bore this pretty well; but Mr Pressick, being a grave man, at first hung down his head, and was very melancholy. But he grew better acquainted with the people by degrees, and came to like them so well, that we had much ado to get him away, when it became necessary for us to remove our quarters.

Almost all the commodities of Europe are distributed through Spanish America by a sort of pedlars, or merchants who travel on foot. These men come from Panama to Payta by sea; and in their road from Payta to Lima, make Piura their first stage, disposing of their goods, and lessening their burdens, as they go along. From Piura, some take the inland road by Caxamarca, and others the road along the coast through Truxillo. From Lima they take their passage back to Panama by sea, perhaps carrying with them a small adventure of brandy. At Panama they again stock themselves with European goods, and return by sea to Payta. Here they hire mules to carry their goods, taking Indians along with them to guide the mules and carry them back: And in this way these traders keep a continual round, till they have gained a sufficiency to live on. Their travelling expenses are next to nothing; as the Indians are under such entire subjection to the Spaniards, that they always find them in lodgings free, and provide them with provender for their mules. All this every white man may command, being an homage the Indians have long been accustomed to, and some think themselves honoured into the bargain. Yet out of generosity, they sometimes meet with a small recompense. Among the British and French, a pedlar is despised, and his employment is considered as a very, mean shift for getting a living: But it is quite otherwise here, where the quick return of money is a sufficient excuse for the manner in which it is gained; and there are many gentlemen in old Spain, in declining circumstances, who send their sons to what they call the Indies, to retrieve their fortunes in this way.

Our lodging while at Piura was in an out-house, which had been built on purpose for accommodating such travelling merchants. Every day, according to the Spanish custom, our dinner was served up under covers, and we eat at the same table with Don Jeronimo; while the good lady of the house and her daughters sat in another room. Any strong liquors are only used during dinner: And I think the only circumstance in our conduct that any way disobliged our good host, was once seeing me drink a dram with the doctor, at a small eating-house; and, as nothing is more offensive to the Spaniards than drunkenness, I had much ado to apologise for this step. Yet they admit of gallantry in the utmost excess, thus only exchanging one enormity for another.

After remaining about six weeks at Piura, our Indian guide came to conduct us to Payta, to which place the Brilliante had returned. When about to take leave, Mr Pressick our surgeon was not to be found, which detained us a day. They had concealed him in the town, meaning to have kept him there, being a very useful man; and if he could have had a small chest of medicines, he might soon have made a handsome fortune. Next day, however, we mounted our mules, and parted reluctantly with our kind host and his family. We went on board the Brilliante at Payta, which had done nothing at sea since we left her, and now made a sort of cruizing voyage to Calao, the port of Lima. I have already mentioned the civility I received from Don Pedro Midranda, who was admiral or general of the South Seas; and I shall here add one circumstance to the honour of Monsieur de Grange, a captain under the general. When taken by the Brilliante, the soldiers stripped us, considering our clothes as the usual perquisite of conquerors; on which that gentleman generously gave me a handsome suit of clothes, two pair of silk stockings, shirts, a hat and wig, and every thing accordant, so that I was rather a gainer by this accident.

§ 3. Voyage from Payta to Lima, and Account of the English Prisoners at that place.

Our voyage to Lima occupied about five weeks; and, immediately on our arrival, we were committed to the same prison in which the rest of the ship's company were confined, except Mr Hately, who, for reasons formerly assigned, was confined by himself, and very roughly treated. A short time after our arrival, commissioners were appointed to hear our cause, and to determine whether we were to be treated as criminals, or as prisoners of war. We were charged with piracy, not solely for what we had done in the South Seas in plundering the Spaniards, but for having used the like violence against other nations, before our arrival in that sea, from which they proposed to infer that we had evinced a piratical disposition in the whole of our conduct. Of this they thought they had sufficient proof in the moidores found upon Hately, as they appeared to have been taken from the subjects of a prince in amity with our sovereign. Happily for us, Don Diego Morsilio, the viceroy, who was an archbishop in the decline of life, was pleased to investigate this matter; and finding only one of us guilty, would not sign an order for taking away the lives of the innocent. Some were for sending Hatley to the mines for life, and others for hanging him: But the several accounts of the vile proceedings of Captain Shelvocke contributed to his deliverance, of the truth of which circumstance, there were enough of our people at Lima to witness; for, besides Lieutenant Sergeantson and his men, who were brought thither, there came also the men whom Shelvocke sent along with Hopkins to shift for themselves in an empty bark, who were forced to surrender themselves to the Indians for want of sustenance; so that the court were satisfied that Shelvocke was the principal in that piratical act, rather than Hately. Considering that we had all been sufficiently punished before our arrival at Lima, they thought fit to let us all go by degrees. Hately was kept in irons about a twelvemonth, and was then allowed to return to England. I was more fortunate, as my imprisonment lasted only a fortnight, owing to the interposition of one Captain Fitzgerald, a gentleman born in France, who had great interest with the viceroy, and became security for me, on which I was allowed my liberty in the city, provided I were forthcoming when called for.

Among my first enquiries was into the condition of other English prisoners at this place. I learnt from Lieutenant Sergeantson and his men, who were here before us, that most of them had adopted the religion of the country, had been christened, and were dispersed among the convents of the city. The first of these I met had his catechism in one hand, and a large string of beads dangling in the other. I smiled, and asked him how he liked it? He said, very well; for having a religion to chuse, he thought theirs better than none, especially as it brought him good meat and drink, and a quiet life. Many of Shelvocke's men followed this example, and I may venture to say, that most of them had the same substantial reason for their conversion. It is here reckoned very meritorious to make a convert, and many arguments were used for that purpose, but no rigorous measures were used to bring any one over to their way of thinking. Those who consented to be baptized, generally had some of the merchants of Lima for their patrons and god-fathers, who never failed to give them a good suit of clothes, and some money to drink their healths.

About this time four or five of Clipperton's men had leave from the convents where they resided, to meet together at a public-house kept by one John Bell, an Englishman, who had a negro wife, who had been made free for some service or other. The purpose of this meeting was merely to confirm their new baptism over a bowl of punch; but they all got drunk and quarrelled, and, forgetting they were true catholics, they demolished the image of some honest saint that stood in a corner, mistaking him for one of their companions. Missing them for a few days, I enquired at Bell what was become of them, when he told me they were all in the Inquisition; for the thing having taken air, he was obliged to go himself to complain of their behaviour, but he got them released a few days after, when they had time to repent and get sober in the dungeons of the holy office. Bell said, if these men had remained heretics, their drunken exploit had not come within the verge of the ecclesiastical power; but as they were novices, they were the easier pardoned, their outrages on the saint being attributed to the liquor, and not to any designed affront to the catholic faith, or a relapse into heresy.

Some time afterwards, about a dozen of our men from the Success and Speedwell were sent to Calao, to assist in careening and fitting out the Flying-fish, designed for Europe. They here entered into a plot to run away with the Margarita, a good sailing ship which lay in the harbour, meaning to have gone for themselves, in which of course they would have acted as pirates. Not knowing what to do for ammunition and a compass, they applied to Mr Sergeantson, pretending they meant to steal away to Panama, where there was an English factory, and whence they had hopes of getting home. They said they had got half a dozen firelocks, with which they might be able to kill wild hogs or other game, as they went along, and begged him to help them to some powder and shot, and a compass to steer their way through the woods. By begging and making catholic signs to the people in Lima, they had collected some dollars, which they desired Sergeantson to lay out for them; and he, not mistrusting their plot, bought them what they wanted. Thus furnished, one of them came to me at Lima, and told me their intention, and that Sprake was to have the command, as being the only one among them who knew any thing of navigation. I answered, that it was a bold design; but as Captain Fitzgerald had engaged for my honour, I could not engage in it. Their plot was discovered a few days after, their lodgings searched, their arms taken away, and they were committed to prison. The government was much incensed against them, and had nearly determined upon their execution; but they were soon all released except Sprake, who was the ringleader, and was kept in irons for two or three months, and then set at liberty.

The dominions belonging to the Spaniards in America are so large and valuable, that, if well governed, they might render that monarchy exceedingly formidable. In my long stay in Peru, I had the means of examining at leisure, and with attention, their manner of living, the form of their government, and many other circumstances little known in our part of the world, and had many opportunities of enquiring into things minutely, which did not fall under my immediate observation; and of which I propose to give as clear and accurate an account as I can, constantly distinguishing between what fell under my own immediate knowledge, and what I received from the information of others.

§ 4. Description of Lima, and some Account of the Government of Peru.

The great and rich city of Lima is the metropolis of Peru, and the seat of an archbishop. It is all regularly built, the streets being all straight and spacious, dividing the whole into small squares. It stands in an open vale, through which runs a gentle stream, dividing the city in two, as the Thames does London from Southwark. Calao is the port of Lima, from whence it is about seven miles distant. Because of the frequent earthquakes, the houses are only of one story, and generally twelve or fourteen feet high. It contains eight parish churches, three colleges for students, twenty-eight monasteries of friars, and thirteen nunneries, so that the religions occupy a fourth part of the city; yet, by the quick and plentiful flow of money, and the vast sums bequeathed through the effects of celibacy, they are well endowed. Besides these, there are two hospitals for sick, poor, and disabled; and in which several of our men were kindly looked after. The length of the city from north to south is two miles, and its breadth one and a half; its whole circumference, including the wall and the river, being six miles. The other, or smaller part of the city, is to the east of the river, over which there is a handsome stone bridge of seven arches. Including all sorts and colours, I computed that the whole population of Lima amounted to between sixty and seventy thousand persons; and I should not wonder at any multiplication in this city, as it is the centre of so much affluence and pleasure. Besides the natural increase of the inhabitants, all ships that trade this way, whether public or private, generally leave some deserters, who remain behind in consequence of the encouragement given to all white faces.

The people here are perhaps the most expensive in their habits of any in the world. The men dress nearly as in England, their coats being either of silk, fine English cloth, or camblets, embroidered or laced with gold or silver, and their waistcoats usually of the richest brocades. The women wear no stays or hoops, having only a stitched holland jacket next their shifts, and they generally wear a square piece of swansdown flannel thrown over their shoulders, entirely covered with Flanders lace, and have their petticoats adorned with gold or silver lace. When they walk out, the Creole women are mostly veiled, but not the mulattoes; and, till thirty or forty years of age, they wear no head-clothes, their hair being tied behind with fine ribbons. The pride of the ladies chiefly appears in fine Mechlin or Brussels lace, with which they trim their linen in a most extravagant manner, not omitting even their sheets and pillows. Their linen jackets are double bordered with it, both at top and bottom, with four or five ruffles or furbelows hanging down to their knees. They are very extravagant also in pearls and precious stones, in rings, bracelets, and necklaces, though the value of these is hardly equal to the shew.

The viceroy has a splendid palace in the royal square, or great quadrangle of the city, which seemed as large as Lincoln's-Inn-Fields. His salary is ten thousand pounds a-year, but his perquisites amount to double that sum. And though his government expires at the end of three, four, or five years, he generally makes a handsome fortune, as all places are in his gift, both in the government and the army throughout all Peru, except such as are sent out or nominated by the king. The great court of justice consists of twelve judges, besides a number of inferior officers, councillors, and solicitors. Before this court all causes are decided, but they are too often determined in favour of the party who gives most money. And, though these vast dominions abound in riches, there is not much work for the lawyers, as the laws are few and plain, which certainly is much better than a multiplicity of laws, explaining one another till they become so intricate that the issue of a cause depends more on the craft of the solicitor and advocate, than on its justice. Every magistrate in this country knows that his reign is short, and that he will be laughed at if he does not make a fortune, so that they wink at each other; and, so great is the distance between Spain and Peru, that the royal orders are seldom, regarded, being two years in going backward and forward: Hence arise many clandestine doings. According to law, the king ought to have a twentieth part of all the gold, and a fifth of all the silver procured from the mines; but vast quantities are carried away privately, without paying any duty, both north by Panama, and south through the Straits of Magellan. There are also vast sums allowed for the militia, the garrisons, and the repairs of fortifications, one half of which are never applied to these objects. Hence it may easily be imagined what immense riches would flow into the treasury of Madrid, if his catholic majesty were faithfully served.

The country of Peru is naturally subject to earthquakes. About fifty years before I was there, or about the year 1670, there were two great ones at Lima, which overturned many houses, churches, and convents. And in the reign of Charles II. the late king of Spain, there was an earthquake near the equator, which lifted up whole fields, carrying them to the distance of several miles. Small shocks are often felt which do no harm, and I have been often called out of bed on such occasions, and heard nothing more about the matter; but on these occasions the bells always toll to prayers. Yet, although this country has suffered much from earthquakes, especially near the coast, their churches are lofty and neatly built. Such parts of their buildings as require strength are made of burnt bricks; but their dwelling-houses are all constructed of bamboos, canes, and bricks only dried in the sun, which are sufficiently durable, as it never rains in Peru. Instead of roofs, they are merely covered over with mats, on which ashes are strewed, to keep out the dews. The small river of Lima, or Runac, consists mostly of snow-water from the neighbouring mountains, which are covered all the year with snow, that partly dissolves in the summer-season, from September to March.

One would expect the weather to be much hotter here; but there is no proportion between the heat of this part of America and the same latitudes in Africa. This is owing to two causes; that the neighbourhood of the snowy mountains diffuses a cool temperature of the air all around; and the constant humid vapours, which are so frequent that I often expected it to rain when I first went to Lima. These vapours are not so dense, low, and gloomy, like our fogs, nor yet are they separated above like our summer clouds; but an exhalation between both, spread all around, as when we say the day is overcast, so that sometimes a fine dew is felt on the upper garments, and may even be discerned on the knap of the cloth. This is a prodigious convenience to the inhabitants of Lima, who are thus screened half the day from the sun; and though it often shines out in the afternoon, yet is the heat very tolerable, being tempered by the sea-breezes, and not near so hot as at Lisbon and some parts of Spain, more than thirty degrees farther from the equator.

The entire want of rain in this country induced the Indians, even before the conquest, to construct canals and drains for leading water from among the distant mountains, which they have done with great skill and labour, so as to irrigate and refresh the vallies, by which they produce grass and corn, and a variety of fruits, to which also the dews contribute. A Spanish writer observes that this perpetual want of rain is occasioned by the south-west wind blowing on the coast of Peru the whole year round, which always bears away the vapours from the plains before they are of sufficient body to descend in showers: But, when carried higher and farther inland, they become more compact, and at length fall down in rain on the interior hills. The inhabitants of Peru have plenty of cattle, fowls, fish, and all kinds of provisions common among us, except butter, instead of which they always use lard. They have oil, wine, and brandy in abundance, but not so good as in Europe. Instead of tea from China, which is prohibited, they make great use of camini, called herb of Paraguay, or Jesuits tea, which, is brought from Paraguay by land. They make a decoction of this, which they usually suck through a pipe, calling it Mattea, being the name of the bowl out of which it is drank. Chocolate is their usual breakfast, and their grace cup after dinner; and sometimes they take a glass of brandy, to promote digestion, but scarcely drink any wine. In Chili, they make some butter, such as it is, the cream being put into a skin bag kept for that purpose, which is laid on a table between two women, who shake it till the butter comes.

The Spaniards are no friends to the bottle, yet gallantry and intrigue are here brought to perfection, insomuch that it is quite unmannerly here not to have a mistress, and scandalous not to keep her well. The women have many accomplishments, both natural and acquired, having graceful motions, winning looks, and engaging, free, and sprightly conversation. They are all delicately shaped, not injured by stiff-bodied stays, but left entirely to the beauty of nature, and hardly is there a crooked body to be seen, among them. Their eyes and teeth are singularly beautiful, and their hair is universally of a dark polished hue, nicely combed and plaited, and tied behind with ribbons, but never disguised by powder; and the brightness of their skins round the temples, clearly appears through their dark hair. Though amours are universal at Lima, the men are very careful to bide them, and no indecent word or action is ever permitted in public. They usually meet for these purposes, either in the afternoon at the Siesta, or in the evening in calashes on the other side of the river, or in the great square of the city, where calashes meet in great numbers in the dusk. These are slung like our coaches, but smaller, many of them being made only to hold two persons sitting opposite. They are all drawn by one mule, with the negro driver sitting on his back; and it is quite usual to see some of these calashes, with the blinds close, standing still for half an hour at a time. In these amusements they have several customs peculiar to themselves. After evening prayers, the gentleman changes his dress from a cloak to a montero, or jockey-coat, with a laced linen cap on his head, and a handkerchief round his neck, instead of a wig; or if he wear his own hair, it must be tucked under a cap and concealed, as it is the universal fashion to be thus disguised. Even those who have no mistress, are ashamed to appear virtuous, and must be somehow masked or disguised, in order to countenance the way of the world. As, all this is night-work, they have an established rule to avoid quarrels, by never speaking to or noticing each other, when going in quest of or to visit their ladies.

In short, the fore-part of every night in the year is a kind of masquerade. Among people of any rank who do not keep calashes, one couple never walks close behind another, but each at the distance of at least twelve paces, to prevent the overhearing of any secret whispers. Should a lady drop a fan or any thing else by accident, a gentleman may take it up, but he must not give it to the lady, but to the gentleman who accompanies her, lest she may happen to be the wife or sister of him who takes it up; and as all the ladies are veiled, these wise rules are devised to prevent any impertinent discoveries. Any freedom in contravention of these laws of gallantry would be looked upon as the highest affront, and would be thought to merit a drawn sword through the midriff. Should any one see his most intimate friend any where with a woman, he must never take notice of it, or mention it afterwards. Every thing of this nature is conducted with all imaginary gravity and decorum, by which the practice of gallantry becomes decent and easy; yet there are some jealousies in this regular commerce of love, which sometimes end fatally. A story of this kind happened shortly before I went to Lima. A young lady, who thought herself sole sovereign in the heart of her lover, saw him by chance in the company of another, and, waiting no farther proof of his infidelity, she instantly plunged a dagger in his bosom. She was soon after brought to trial, and every one expected that she should pay the forfeit with her life; but the judges, considering her rashness as proceeding from excess of love, not malice, acquitted her. However agreeable these gallantries may be to the Creole Spaniards, they have an inconvenient effect on society; as the men are so engrossed by these matters, as to spoil all public conversation. Their time is entirely taken up in attendance on their mistresses, so that there are no coffee-houses or taverns, and they can only be met with at their offices, or in church.

Perhaps it may be chiefly owing to this effeminate propensity, that all manly exercises, all useful knowledge, and that noble emulation which inspires virtue, and keeps alive respect for the public good, are here unknown. Those amusements which serve in other countries to relax the labours of the industrious, and to keep alive the vigour of the body and mind, are unknown in Peru; and whoever should attempt to introduce any such, would be considered as an innovator, which, among them, is a hateful character: For they will never be convinced, that martial exercises or literary conferences are preferable to intrigues. They have, however, a sort of a play-house, where the young gentlemen and students divert themselves after their fashion; but their dramatic performances are so mean as hardly to be worth mentioning, being scripture stories, interwoven with romance, a mixture still worse than gallantry. At this theatre, two Englishmen belonging to the squadron of Mons. Martinat, fought a prize-battle a short time before I came to Lima. Having first obtained leave of the viceroy to display their skill at the usual weapons, and the day being fixed, they went through many previous ceremonies, to draw, as the phrase is, a good house. Preceded by beat of drum, and dressed in holland shirts and ribbons, they went about the streets saluting the spectators at the windows with flourishes of their swords, so that the whole city came to see the trial of skill, some giving gold for admittance, and hardly any one less than a dollar. The company, male and female, being assembled, the masters mounted the stage, and, after the usual manner of the English, having shaken hands, they took their distance, and stood on their guard in good order. Several bouts were played without much wrath or damage, the design being more to get money than cuts or credit, till at length one of the masters received a small hurt on the breast, which blooded his shirt, and began to make the combat look terrible. Upon this, fearing from this dreadful beginning that the zeal of the combatants might grow too warm, the company cried out, Basta! basta! or enough! enough! And the viceroy would never permit another exhibition of the same kind, lest one of the combatants might receive a mortal wound, and so die without absolution.

So deficient are the Spaniards in energy of spirit, that many extensive countries and islands remain unexplored, in the immediate neighbourhood of their vast American dominions, though some of these are reported to be richer and more valuable than those which are already conquered and settled. The first Spanish governors of Mexico and Peru were not of this indolent disposition, but bestowed great pains in endeavouring to acquire the most perfect knowledge bordering upon their respective governments: But now that general thirst of fame is entirely extinguished, and they content themselves with plundering their fellow-subjects in the countries already known. The regions to the north of Mexico are known to abound in silver, precious stones, and other rich commodities, yet the Spaniards decline all conquest on that side, and discourage as much as possible the reports which have spread of the riches of these countries. On the same principles, they give no encouragement to attempt penetrating into the heart of South America, whence most of the riches of Peru are known to come, the mountains at the back of the country being extremely rich in gold; and the regions, on the other side, towards the Atlantic, being inhabited by nations that have abundance of that metal, though, for fear of being oppressed by the Europeans, they conceal it as much as possible.

Of all the discoveries that have been talked of among the Spaniards, that which has made the most noise is the island or islands of Solomon, supposed to be the same with those discovered by the famous Ferdinand Quiros. He reported them to be extremely rich and very populous, and repeatedly memorialed the court of Spain to be authorised to complete his discovery. All his solicitations, however, were neglected, and it became a question in a few years whether any such islands had ever existed. At length, towards the close of the seventeenth century, such discoveries were made as to the reality of these islands, that Don Alvaro de Miranda was sent out to discover them in 1695. He failed in the attempt, but in the search met with four islands, between the latitude of 7° and 10° S. which were wonderfully rich and pleasant, the inhabitants being a better looking race, and far more civilized than any of the Indians on the continent of America. This discovery occasioned a good deal of discourse at the time; but the subsequent disturbances relative to the succession to the crown of Spain, so occupied the attention of every person, that all views of endeavouring to find the islands of Solomon were laid aside.²