At
This Place, The Crew Of The Success Found Themselves Considerably At A
Loss, As The Portuguese Commander Declared Himself Entirely In Favour Of
Captain Clipperton.
Captain Cook, therefore, and another of the officers
of the Success, went up to Canton, to consult with Mr Winder, supercargo
of an English East Indiaman, and son to one of the principal owners, as
to what should be done with, the Success.
On their return, the ship was
surveyed, condemned, and sold for 4000 dollars, which was much less than
her worth. This was, however, no fault in Captain Clipperton, who, to
shew that he still adhered to his former opinion, that the ship was fit
to proceed to England, agreed with the persons who purchased her for a
passage to Batavia, a convincing proof that he did not believe her in
any danger of foundering at sea.
The ship being sold, the crew naturally considered themselves at liberty
to shift for themselves, and to use their best endeavours each to save
what little remained to him, after their unfortunate expedition. All
were satisfied that Captain Mitchell, with his crew and cargo, had
either gone to the bottom or fallen into the hands of the Spaniards, so
that they had no hopes of any farther dividend from that quarter; yet it
was some consolation that they were so near the English factory at
Canton, and as six dollars were required for a passage to that place in
one of the Chinese boats, twenty of them agreed to go there immediately,
in hopes of getting a passage from thence to England. Mr Taylor, one of
the mates of the Success, was of the number: But before the boat set
sail, he had some presentiment of danger, and chose rather to lose his
money, by waiting for another opportunity. He had reason to be satisfied
with himself for this conduct; as he soon learnt that the boat tad been
taken by a pirate, and the people stript of all their property. After a
short stay at Macao, Mr Taylor had an opportunity of going up to Canton
in an armed boat along with a mandarin, for which he and the rest of the
crew belonging to the Success, who went along with him, paid twenty
dollars each. In their passage up, they had satisfactory proof that in
some cases there may be frugality in expence, as they saw a pirate take
a boat in sight of that in which was the mandarin. This plainly shewed
that the government winks at these things, perhaps deeming it good
policy to raise thereby a considerable revenue, partly by presents from
the pirates, and partly by sums paid by merchants and passengers for
protection. From this, and many other circumstances which might be
adduced, the boasted wisdom of the Chinese is nothing more than the
science of dexterously hiding their robberies from the inspection of the
law: In which, perhaps, they are as much exceeded by some northern
nations as in the use of the compass, of which they pretend to be the
original inventors, and perhaps with justice; but both in the management
of the compass, and in this political trade of pirating, they are
equally clumsy.
Mr Taylor and his company arrived at the English factory in Canton on
the 4th November, where they were well received, and promised all
assistance for getting home. There were at this time ships ready to
sail, first for several ports in India and then for Europe. The captains
of these vessels, on being solicited by the gentlemen of the factory to
take Captain Clipperton's men on board, agreed to carry them for five
pounds a man, which they all accordingly paid, esteeming it a very great
favour. Mr Taylor and two or three more embarked in the Maurice, Captain
Peacock, then riding at Wanapo, [Wampoa,] about three leagues below
Canton, the place where European ships lie; and the rest of the company
were distributed among the other ships. They sailed on the 9th, in
company with the Macclesfield, an English East-Indiaman, and the
House-of-Austria, belonging to Ostend. Mr Taylor arrived safely at
Batavia in the month of December; sailed thence by the Cape and St
Helena, and arrived in London in May 1722. The rest of the company
returned also, some sooner and some later.
As for Captain Mitchell, who was sent to Brazil with a small crew, he
was never more heard of, having probably been destroyed at the island
of Velas, where he went ashore to procure fresh provisions. This has
generally been considered as the greatest blemish in the management of
Captain Clipperton, but I confess without just cause, in my opinion; as
the great stress laid on that measure by Captain Rogers, might very well
have induced Captain Clipperton to try what might be done in this way,
especially as his owners had very strongly recommended the account of
Captain Rogers to be his rule and guide. I also think the proposal in
itself was very reasonable, and such as an officer who had the good of
the expedition at heart had good grounds for trying. It was well known
that the prize goods could produce little or nothing in the South Sea,
as the Spanish governors demanded such exorbitant sums for liberty to
trade, that no advantage could be derived from such a commerce, either
in buying or selling. He knew also that it was to little purpose
carrying these goods to Europe; and it was certainly much preferable to
send them to a place where they might sell to advantage, and where the
produce might be so invested as to procure a considerable profit on the
voyage from Brazil to London. The vessel in which Captain Mitchell
sailed was very fit for the purpose, and every way well provided; and
having a crew of thirteen English and ten negroes, was quite sufficient
for the navigation.
Captain Clipperton sailed from Macao to Batavia, in his own ship the
Success, after she was sold; and got a passage to Europe in a Dutch
ship.
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