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.
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