II. whilft at St Jago, and entered on board the CHAP. fquadron under Admiral Pizarro at Buenos Ayres. THE Commodore, with the Centurion, Glou 1741. cefter, Tryal, and Anna pink, continued at Juan Fernandes, in repairing their fhips and waiting for the refidue of his fcattered fquadron, until September 1740; having now on board the Centurion only 214 men; the Gloucefter had only 82 remaining alive; and the Tryal but 39. The victualler being discharged, and declared incapable of returning to England, the commodore purchased the hull and furniture for 300l. and the hands, being 16, were fent on board the Gloucefter. : THESE three men of war departed from England with 961 men on board; and having loft 626, the whole of their remaining crews, exclufive of the 16 men from the victualler which were now to be diftributed amongst the three ships, amounted to no more than 335, with boys included; a number greatly infufficient for the manning the Centurion alone, and barely capable of navigating all the three with the utmoít exertion of their strength and vigour. This unfortunate reduction was the more terrifying, as they dreaded the pursuit of Pizarro's fquadron, and had some obfcure knowledge of a force to be fent out from Callao, the port of Lima, to obftruct their enterprize in the South Seas. However, in this weakly condition, the commodore determined to himself, to fail down the coaft, and touch in the neighbourhood of Panama; hoping to get fome correfpondence over land with the fleet commanded by Admiral Vernon: for the commodore, on his departure from England, left Sir Chaloner Ogle at Portsmouth, with a large PART large force deftined for the West Indies; and II. the commodore was directed, by his majesty's inftructions," That as he might find an oppor1741. "tunity to fend privately over land to Porto "Bello, or Darien; he was, by that means, to "endeavour to tranfmit to any of his majefty's "fhips or forces that fhould be on that coaft, "an account of what he had done, or intended "to do; and, leaft any fuch intelligence should fall into the hands of the Spaniards, he was "to use a cypher, that had been given him, to "correfpond with the British admiral that might be in the north feas of America, or the com "mander in chief of the forces." The commodore was acquainted, by his inftructions, of the deftination of the troops fent to the West Indies, under the command of Lord Cathcart; and was ordered, that " If thofe forces should "go to Porto Bello or Darien, with a defign "to march to Panama or Santa Maria; to "make the beft difpofitions to affist them in "making a fecure fettlement, either at Panama "or any other proper place, and fupply them "with cannon, or any thing elfe, to be spared, "without weakening the fquadron; and if they "fhould want foldiers, to reinforce them with "those on board his fquadron, with confent of "the proper officer." And believing that Porto Bello might be then garrifoned by Britsh troops, the commodore hoped, on his arrival at the Ifthmus, to procure an intercourfe with them, either by the Indians or fome of the lucrative Spaniards; and flattering himself, that by this means he might receive a reinforcement of men from Porto Bello, he was in hopes, by fettling a prudent plan of operations with the British commanders in the Weft Indies, even to take Panama, Panama, and thereby obtain the poffeffion of CHAP. the Ifthmus of Darien, and the treasures of II. Peru: and had the fuccefs of the British land forces in the West Indies been answerable to the 1741. general expectation, these views were certainly the most prudential that could have been con certed. THE feafon for navigating, in this climate, approaching; they exerted their labour and vigilance to get their fhips in readiness for the fea: and on the 8th of September, espying a fail to the N. E. the Centurion immediately got all hands on board, and by five in the afternoon got under fail for the chace; but lofing fight of the fhip, and vainly continuing the purfuit, they determined to come back to Juan Fernandes ; and in their return, on the 13th, were agreeably furprized with the fight of a fail on their weather bow, between four and five leagues dif tant, as he was a Spanish merchant fhip, in confort with another trading veffel, which was the fame that led the Centurion from the island: and this fhip, miftaking the Centurion for her confort, at first bore down upon her, which induced the commodore to fufpect fhe was a fhip of force; who thereupon cleared his fhip ready for an engagement, and foon after took her without any refiftance. The prize was called Nueftra Senora del Monte Carmelo, commanded by Don Manuel Zamorra, burthen 450 ton, having fifty-three failors, blacks and whites, and twenty-five paffengers on board; her cargo confifting of fugar, cloth, cotton, and tobacco, together with fome trunks of wrought plate, and twenty-three ferons of dollars, each weighing upwards of 200 b averdupois; and was bound from Callao, to the port of Valparaifo in the kingdom PART kingdom of Chili. The commodore here first II. learnt, from his prifoners, the force and desti nation of Pizarro's fquadron; and had the fatis1741. faction to find, that the Spanish admiral, after his utmost efforts to pafs Cape Horn, had been forced back again into the river of Plate, with the lofs of two of his largest ships. THE next morning the Centurion, with her prize, difcovered Juan Fernandes, and the following day they both came to an anchor; but when the Spaniards faw the Tryal, they were prodigiously aftonished, and could hardly be perfuaded the came from England; long infifting, that it was impoffible fuch a small ship could make the paffage of Cape Horn, when the best ships of Spain were obliged to return. FROM the accounts of the prisoners, and on examination of the letters found on board the prize, it appeared that feveral other merchantmen were bound from Callao, to Valpairafo; on which the commodore, the very next morning, difpatched the Tryal to cruize off the latter port, with a reinforcement of ten hands from on board his own fhip: and alfo, on this intelligence, the commodore refolved to feparate the fhips, and employ them in distinct cruizes; as he would thereby increase his chance for prizes, and run a lefs rifque of alarming the coast, and occafioning a discovery. He found this earnest of fuccefs had animated his men, and diffipated their defpondency: this gave the commodore a tranfcendant pleasure, and he determined to commence fome hoftilities on the coaft. Having fent on board the Gloucester fix prifoners and 23 feamen, to affift in navigating the fhip; he directed Capt. Mitchel to leave the inland as foon as poffible, ordering him "To 66 pro "proceed to the latitude of 5 deg. fouth, and CHAP. << there to cruize off the high land of Paita, at II. "fuch a distance from fhore as fhould prevent "his being discovered: on this ftation he was 1741. "to continue till joined by the commodore; " which would be, whenever it should be known "that the vice roy had fitted out the ships at "Callao, or on the commodore's receiving any "other intelligence that should make it necef fary to unite their ftrength." On delivering these orders to the captain of the Gloucester, having completed his quantity of wood and water, the commodore weighed anchor on the 19th of September, in company with the prize, and got out of the bay; taking his laft farewel of the inland of Juan Fernandes, and steering to the eastward, with an intention of joining the Tryal floop in her station off Valparifa, leaving the Gloucefter at anchor in the bay. On the 24th the Centurion met with the Tryal, who had taken a prize called the Arranzazu, of 600 ton, proceeding on the fame voyage, and with much the fame cargo with the Carmelo, except that her filver amounted only to about 5,000. fterling. The Tryal foon after had the misfortune to fpring her main maft; and the captain and other officers representing to the commodore, that fhe was very leaky in her hull, and otherwife fo defective, that if they met with much bad weather they must all inevitably perish; and, as it was impoffible to refit her with the neceffary reparations, the commodore ordered her to be fcuttled and funk; and, to keep up the appearance of his force, ap pointed the Tryal's prize to be a frigate in the royal fervice, manning her with the Tryal's crew, and giving commiffions to the captain VOL I. Q ૧ and |