WORKING UP TO MACAO.—A CHINESE COMPRADOR.—SENT ON SHORE TO VISIT THE PORTUGUEZE GOVERNOR.—EFFECTS OF THE INTELLIGENCE WE RECEIVED FROM EUROPE.—ANCHOR IN THE TYPA.—PASSAGE UP TO CANTON.—BOCCA TYGRIS.—WAMPÛ.—DESCRIPTION OF A SAMPANE.—RECEPTION AT THE ENGLISH FACTORY.—INSTANCE OF THE SUSPICIOUS CHARACTER OF THE CHINESE.—OF THEIR MODE OF TRADING.—OF THE CITY OF CANTON.—ITS SIZE.—POPULATION.—NUMBER OF SAMPANES.—MILITARY FORCE.—OF THE STREETS AND HOUSES.—VISIT TO A CHINESE.—RETURN TO MACAO.—GREAT DEMAND FOR THE SEA-OTTER SKINS.—PLAN OF A VOYAGE FOR OPENING A FUR TRADE ON THE WESTERN COAST OF AMERICA, AND PROSECUTING FURTHER DISCOVERIES IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF JAPAN.—DEPARTURE FROM MACAO.—PRICE OF PROVISIONS IN CHINA.

We kept working to windward till six in the evening, when we came to anchor, by the direction of the Chinese pilot on board the Resolution, who imagined the tide was setting against us. In this, however, he was much deceived; as we found, upon making the experiment, that it set to the northward till ten o’clock. The next morning he fell into a similar mistake; for, at five, on the appearance of slack water, he gave orders to get under weigh; but the ignorance he had discovered, having put us on our guard, we chose to be convinced, by our own observations, before we weighed; and, on trying the tide, we found a strong under-tow, which obliged us to keep fast till eleven o’clock. From these circumstances it appears, that the tide had run down twelve hours.

During the afternoon, we kept standing on our tacks, between the island of Potoe, and the grand Ladrone, having passed to the eastward of the former. At nine o’clock the tide beginning to ebb, we again came to anchor in six fathoms’ water; the town of Macao bearing north west, three leagues distant, and the island of Potoe south half-west, two leagues distant. This island lies two leagues to the north north-west of the island marked Z in Mr. Dalrymple’s chart, which we at first took to be part of the grand Ladrone. It is small and rocky; and off the west end there is said to be foul ground, though we passed near it without perceiving any.

In the forenoon of the 2d, one of the Chinese contractors, who are called Compradors, went on board the Resolution, and sold to Captain Gore two hundred pounds’ weight of beef, together with a considerable quantity of greens, oranges, and eggs. A proportionable share of these articles was sent to the Discovery; and an agreement made with the man to furnish us with a daily supply, for which, however, he insisted on being paid beforehand.

Our pilot pretending he could carry the ships no farther, Captain Gore was obliged to discharge him, and we were left to our own guidance.

At two in the afternoon, the tide flowing, we weighed, and worked to windward; and at seven anchored in three and a half fathoms of water, Macao bearing west, three miles distant. This situation was, indeed, very ineligible, being exposed to the north-east, and having shoal water, not more than two fathoms and a half deep, to leeward; but as no nautical description is given in Lord Anson’s voyage of the harbour in which the Centurion anchored, and Mr. Dalrymple’s general map, which was the only one on board, was on too small a scale to serve for our direction, the ships were obliged to remain there all night.

In the evening, Captain Gore sent me on shore to visit the Portugueze governor, and to request his assistance in procuring refreshments for our crews, which he thought might be done on more reasonable terms than the Comprador would undertake to furnish them. At the same time I took a list of the naval stores, of which both vessels were greatly in want, with an intention of proceeding immediately to Canton, and applying to the servants of the East India Company, who were at that time, resident there. On my arrival at the citadel, the fort-major informed me that the governor was sick, and not able to see company; but that we might be assured of receiving every assistance in their power. This, however, I understood would be very inconsiderable, as they were entirely dependent on the Chinese, even for their daily subsistence. Indeed, the answer returned to the first request I made, gave me a sufficient proof of the fallen state of the Portugueze power; for, on my acquainting the Major with my desire of proceeding immediately to Canton, he told me, that they could not venture to furnish me with a boat, till leave was obtained from the Hoppo, or officer of the customs; and that the application for this purpose must be made to the Chinese government at Canton.

The mortification I felt at meeting with this unexpected delay, could only be equalled by the extreme impatience with which we had so long waited for an opportunity of receiving intelligence from Europe. It often happens, that, in the eager pursuit of an object, we overlook the easiest and most obvious means of attaining it. This was actually my case at present; for I was returning under great dejection to the ship, when the Portugueze officer, who attended me asked me, if I did not mean to visit the English gentlemen at Macao. I need not add with what transport I received the information this question conveyed to me; nor the anxious hopes and fears, the conflict between curiosity and apprehension which passed in my mind, as we walked toward the house of one of our countrymen.

In this state of agitation, it was not surprising, that our reception, though no way deficient in civility or kindness, should appear cold and formal. In our inquiries, as far as they related to objects of private concern, we met, as was indeed to be expected, with little or no satisfaction; but the events of a public nature, which had happened since our departure, and now, for the first time, burst all at once upon us, overwhelmed every other feeling, and left us for some time, almost without the power of reflection. For several days we continued questioning each other about the truth of what we had heard, as if desirous of seeking, in doubt and suspense, for that relief and consolation, which the reality of our calamities appeared totally to exclude. These sensations were succeeded by the most poignant regret at finding ourselves cut off at such a distance from the scene, where, we imagined, the fate of fleets and armies was every moment deciding.

The intelligence we had just received of the state of affairs in Europe, made us the more exceedingly anxious to hasten our departure as much as possible; and I therefore renewed my attempt to procure a passage to Canton, but without effect. The difficulty arising from the established policy of the country, I was now told, would probably be much increased by an incident that had happened a few weeks before our arrival. Captain Panton, in the Seahorse, a ship of war of twenty-five guns, had been sent from Madras, to urge the payment of a debt owing by the Chinese merchants of Canton to private British subjects in the East Indies and Europe, which, including the principal and compound interest, amounted, I understood, to near a million sterling. For this purpose, he had orders to insist on an audience with the viceroy of Canton, which, after some delay, and not without recourse being had to threats, was at length obtained. The answer he received on the subject of his mission, was fair and satisfactory; but, immediately after his departure, an edict was stuck up on the houses of the Europeans, and in the public places of the city, forbidding all foreigners, on any pretence, to lend money to the subjects of the emperor.

This measure had occasioned very serious alarms at Canton. The Chinese merchants, who had incurred the debt, contrary to the commercial laws of their own country, and denied, in part, the justice of the demand, were afraid that intelligence of this would be carried to Pekin, and that the emperor, who has the character of a just and rigid prince, might punish them with the loss of their fortunes, if not of their lives. On the other hand, the Select Committee, to whom the cause of the claimants was strongly recommended by the Presidency of Madras, were extremely apprehensive lest they should embroil themselves with the Chinese government at Canton; and by that means, bring, perhaps, irreparable mischief on the Company’s affairs in China. For I was further informed, that the Mandarines were always ready to take occasion, even on the slightest grounds, to put a stop to their trading; and that it was often with great difficulty, and never without certain expence, that they could get such restraints taken off. These impositions were daily increasing; and, indeed, I found it a prevailing opinion, in all the European factories, that they should soon be reduced either to quit the commerce of that country, or to bear the same indignities to which the Dutch are subjected in Japan.

The arrival of the Resolution and Discovery at such a time, could not fail of occasioning fresh alarms; and, therefore, finding there was no probability of my proceeding to Canton, I dispatched a letter to the English supercargoes, to acquaint them with the cause of our putting into the Tygris, to request their assistance in procuring me a passport, and in forwarding the stores we wanted, of which I sent them a list, as expeditiously as possible.

The next morning I was accompanied on board by our countryman, who pointing out to us the situation of the Typa, we weighed at half past six, and stood toward it; but the wind failing, we came to, at eight, in three and a half fathoms’ water; Macao, bearing west north-west, three miles distant; the Grand Ladrone south-east by south. The Resolution here saluted the Portugueze fort with eleven guns, which were returned by the same number. Early on the 4th, we again weighed, and stood into the Typa, and moored with the stream anchor and cable to the westward.

The Comprador whom we at first engaged with, having disappeared with a small sum of money, which had been given him to purchase provisions, we contracted with another, who continued to supply both ships, during our whole stay. This was done secretly, and in the night time, under pretence that it was contrary to the regulations of the port; but we suspected all this caution to have been used with a view either of enhancing the price of the articles he furnished, or of securing to himself the profits of his employment, without being obliged to share them with the Mandarines.

On the 9th Captain Gore received an answer from the Committee of the English supercargoes at Canton, in which they assured him that their best endeavours should be used to procure the supplies we stood in need of, as expeditiously as possible; and that a passport should be sent for one of his officers, hoping at the same time, that we were sufficiently acquainted with the character of the Chinese government, to attribute any delays, that might unavoidably happen, to their true cause.

The day following, an English merchant, from one of our settlements in the East Indies, applied to Captain Gore for the assistance of a few hands to navigate a vessel he had purchased at Macao, up to Canton. Captain Gore, judging this a good opportunity for me to proceed to that place, gave orders that I should take along with me my second lieutenant, the lieutenant of marines, and ten seamen. Though this was not precisely the mode in which I could have wished to visit Canton, yet as it was very uncertain when the passport might arrive, and my presence might contribute materially to the expediting of our supplies, I did not hesitate to put myself on board, having left orders with Mr. Williamson to get the Discovery ready for sea as soon as possible, and to make such additions and alterations in her upper works, as might contribute to make her more defensible. That the series of our astronomical observations might suffer no interruption by my absence, I entrusted the care of continuing them to Mr. Trevenen, in whose abilities and diligence I could repose an entire confidence.

We left the harbour of Macao on the 11th of December, and sailing round the south-eastern extremity of the island, we steered to the northward, leaving as we passed along, Lantao Lintin, and several smaller islands, to the right. All these islands, as well as that of Macao, which lie to the left, are entirely without wood; the land is high and barren, and uninhabited, except occasionally by fishermen. As we approached the Bocca Tygris, which is thirteen leagues from Macao, the Chinese coast appears to the eastward in steep white cliffs; the two forts commanding the mouth of the river, are exactly in the same state as when Lord Anson was here; that on the left is a fine old castle, surrounded by a grove of trees, and has an agreeable romantic appearance.

We were here visited by an officer of the customs; on which occasion the owner of the vessel, being apprehensive that, if we were discovered on board, it would occasion some alarm, and might be attended with disagreeable consequences, begged us to retire into the cabin below.

The breadth of the river above these forts is variable, the banks being low and flat, and subject to be overflowed by the tide to a great extent. The ground on each side is level, and laid out in rice fields; but, as we advanced, it rose gradually into hills of considerable declivity, the sides of which are cut into terraces, and planted with sweet potatoes, sugar-canes, yams, plantains, and the cotton-tree. We saw many lofty pagodas, scattered over the country, and several towns at a distance, some of which appeared to be of a considerable size.

We did not arrive at WampÛ, which is only nine leagues from the Bocca Tygris, till the 18th, our progress having been retarded by contrary winds and the lightness of the vessel. WampÛ is a small Chinese town, off which the ships of the different nations who trade here lie, in order to take in their lading. The river, higher up, is said by M. Sonnerat not to be deep enough to admit heavy laden vessels, even if the policy of the Chinese had suffered the Europeans to navigate them up to Canton; but this circumstance I cannot take upon me to decide on, as no stranger I believe has been permitted to inform himself with certainty of the truth. The small islands that lie opposite to the town, are allotted to the several factories who have built warehouses for the reception of the merchandise that is brought down from Canton.

From WampÛ I immediately proceeded in a sampane, or Chinese boat, to Canton, which is about two leagues and a half higher up the river. These boats are the neatest and most convenient for passengers I ever saw. They are of various sizes, almost flat at the bottom, very broad upon the beam, and narrow at the head and stern, which are raised and ornamented; the middle, where we sat, was arched over with a roof of bamboo, which may be raised or lowered at pleasure; in the sides were small windows with shutters, and the apartment was furnished with handsome mats, chairs, and tables. In the stern was placed a small waxen idol, in a case of gilt leather, before which stood a pot containing lighted tapers made of dry chips or matches, and gum. The hire of this boat was a Spanish dollar.

I reached Canton a little after it was dark, and landed at the English factory, where, though my arrival was very unexpected, I was received with every mark of attention and civility. The select committee, at this time, consisted of Mr. Fitzhugh the president, Mr. Bevan, and Mr. Rapier. They immediately gave me an account of such stores as the India ships were able to afford us; and though I have not the smallest doubt that the commanders were desirous of assisting us with every thing they could spare, consistently with a regard to their own safety, and the interest of their employers, yet it was a great disappointment to me to find in their list scarcely any articles of cordage or canvass, of both which we stood principally in need. It was, however, some consolation to understand that the stores were in readiness for shipping, and that the provisions we required might be had at a day’s notice. Wishing therefore to make my stay here as short as possible, I requested the gentlemen to procure junks or boats for me the next day, with an intention of leaving Canton the following one; but I was soon informed that a business of that kind was not to be transacted so rapidly in this country; that leave must be first procured from the viceroy; that the Hoppo, or principal officer of the customs must be applied to for chops or permits; and that these favours were not granted without mature deliberation; in short, that patience was an indispensable virtue in China; and that they hoped to have the pleasure of making the factory agreeable to me, for a few days longer than I seemed willing to favour them with my company.

Though I was not much disposed to relish this compliment, yet I could not help being diverted with an incident that occurred very opportunely to convince me of the truth of their representations, and of the suspicious character of the Chinese. The reader will recollect that it was now about fifteen days since Captain Gore had written to the factory, to desire their assistance in procuring leave for one of his officers to pass to Canton. In consequence of this application, they had engaged one of the principal Chinese merchants of the place, to interest himself in our favour, and to solicit the business with the viceroy. This person came to visit the president whilst we were talking on the subject, and with great satisfaction and complacency in his countenance acquainted him, that he had at last succeeded in his applications, and that a passport for one of the officers of the Ladrone ship (or pirate) would be ready in a few days. The president immediately told him not to give himself any farther trouble, as the officer, pointing to me, was already arrived. It is impossible to describe the terror which seized the old man on hearing this intelligence. His head sunk upon his breast, and the sofa on which he was sitting shook from the violence of his agitation. Whether the Ladrone ship was the object of his apprehensions, or his own government, I could not discover; but after continuing in this deplorable state a few minutes, Mr. Bevan bade him not despair, and recounted to him the manner in which I had passed from Macao, the reasons of my journey to Canton, and my wishes to leave it as soon as possible. This last circumstance seemed particularly agreeable to him, and gave me hopes that I should find him equally disposed to hasten my departure; and yet, as soon as he had recovered the courage to speak, he began to recount the unavoidable delays that would occur in my business, the difficulty of gaining admittance to the viceroy, the jealousies and suspicions of the Mandarines respecting our real designs, which had risen, he said, to an extraordinary height, from the strange account we had given of ourselves.

After waiting several days with great impatience for the event of our application, without understanding that the matter was at all advanced toward a conclusion, I applied to the commander of an English country ship, who was to sail on the 25th, and who offered to take the men and stores on board, and to lie to if the weather should permit, off Macao, till we could send boats to take them out of his ship. At the same time he apprized me of the danger there might be of his being driven with them out to sea. Whilst I was doubting what measures to pursue, the commander of another country ship brought me a letter from Captain Gore, in which he acquainted me that he had engaged him to bring us down from Canton, and to deliver the stores we had procured, at his own risk, in the Typa. All our difficulties being thus removed, I had leisure to attend to the purchase of our provisions and stores, which was completed on the 26th; and the day following the whole stock was sent on board.

As Canton was likely to be the most advantageous market for furs, I was desired by Captain Gore to carry with me about twenty sea-otter skins, chiefly the property of our deceased commanders, and to dispose of them at the best price I could procure; a commission which gave me an opportunity of becoming a little acquainted with the genius of the Chinese for trade. Having acquainted some of the English supercargoes with these circumstances, I desired them to recommend me to some Chinese merchant of credit and reputation, who would at once offer me a fair and reasonable price. I was accordingly directed to a member of the Hong, a society of the principal merchants of the place, who being fully informed of the nature of the business, appeared sensible of the delicacy of my situation; assured me I might depend on his integrity; and that, in a case of this sort, he should consider himself merely as an agent, without looking for any profit to himself. Having laid my goods before him, he examined them with great care over and over again, and at last told me that he could not venture to offer more than three hundred dollars for them. As I knew from the price our skins had sold for in Kamtschatka that he had not offered me one half their value, I found myself under the necessity of driving a bargain, in my turn I therefore demanded one thousand; my Chinese then advanced to five hundred; then offered me a private present of tea and porcelain, amounting to one hundred more; then the same sum in money; and, lastly, rose to seven hundred dollars, on which I fell to nine hundred. Here, each side declaring he would not recede, we parted; but the Chinese soon returned with a list of India goods, which he now proposed I should take in exchange, and which, I was afterward told, would have amounted in value, if honestly delivered, to double the sum he had before offered. Finding I did not choose to deal in this mode, he proposed as his ultimatum, that we should divide the difference, which, being tired of the contest, I consented to, and received the eight hundred dollars.

The ill health, which at this time I laboured under, left me little reason to lament the very narrow limits, within which the policy of the Chinese obliges every European at Canton to confine his curiosity. I should otherwise have felt exceedingly tantalized with living under the walls of so great a city, full of objects of novelty, without being able to enter it. The account given of this place by PÈres le Comte and Du Halde, are in every one’s hand. The authors have lately been accused of great exaggeration by M. Sonnerat; for which reason the following observations, collected from the information with which I have been obligingly furnished by several English gentlemen, who were a long time resident at Canton, may not be unacceptable to the public.

Canton, including the old and new town, and the suburbs, is about ten miles in circuit. With respect to its population, if one may judge of the whole, from what is seen in the suburbs, I should conceive it to fall considerably short of an European town of the same magnitude. Le Comte estimated the number of inhabitants at one million five hundred thousand; Du Halde at one million; and M. Sonnerat says he has ascertained them to be no more than seventy-five thousand^[78]: but, as this gentleman has not favoured us with the grounds on which his calculation was founded; and, besides, appears as desirous of depreciating every thing that relates to the Chinese, as the Jesuits may be of magnifying, his opinion certainly admits of some doubt. The following circumstances may perhaps lead the reader to form a judgment with tolerable accuracy on this subject.

A Chinese house undoubtedly occupies more space than is usually taken up by houses in Europe; but the proportion suggested by M. Sonnerat, of four or five to one, certainly goes much beyond the truth. To this should be added, that a great many houses in the suburbs of Canton, are occupied for commercial purposes only, by merchants and rich tradesmen, whose families live entirely within the city. On the other hand, a Chinese family appears to consist, on an average, of more persons than an European. A Mandarine, according to his rank and substance, has from five to twenty wives. A merchant, from three to five. One of this class at Canton, had indeed, twenty-five wives, and thirty-six children; but this was mentioned to me as a very extraordinary instance. An opulent tradesman has usually two; and the lower class of people very rarely more than one. Their servants are at least double in number to those employed by persons of the same condition in Europe. If, then, we suppose a Chinese family one-third larger, and an European house two-thirds less, than each other, a Chinese city will contain only half the number of inhabitants contained in an European town of the same size. According to these data, the city and suburbs of Canton may probably contain about one hundred and fifty thousand.

With respect to the number of inhabited sampanes, I found different opinions were entertained; but none placing them lower than forty thousand. They are moored in rows close to each other, with a narrow passage, at intervals, for the boats to pass up and down the river. As the Tygris at Canton is somewhat wider than the Thames at London, and the whole river is covered in this manner for the extent of at least a mile, this account of their number does not appear to me, in the least, exaggerated; and, if it be allowed, the number of inhabitants in the sampanes alone (for each of them contains one family), must amount to nearly three times the number supposed by M. Sonnerat to be in the whole city.

The military force of the province, of which Canton is the capital, amounts to fifty thousand men. It is said that twenty thousand are stationed in and about the city; and, as a proof of this, I was assured, that, on the occasion of some disturbance that had happened at Canton, thirty thousand men were drawn together within the space of a few hours.

The streets are long, and most of them narrow and irregular; but well paved with large stones; and, for the most part, kept exceedingly clean. The houses are built of brick, one story high, having generally two or three courts backward, in which are the warehouses for merchandize, and, in the houses within the city, the apartments for the women. A very few of the meanest sort are built of wood.

The houses belonging to the European factors, are built on a handsome quay, with a regular faÇade of two stories toward the river, and disposed, within, partly after the European and partly after the Chinese manner. Adjoining to these are a number of houses, belonging to the Chinese, and hired out to the commanders of ships, and merchants, who make an occasional stay. As no European is allowed to bring his wife to Canton, the English supercargoes live together, at a common table, which is kept by the company, and have each a separate apartment, consisting of three or four rooms. The time of their residence seldom exceeds eight months annually; and as they are pretty constantly employed, during that time, in the service of the Company, they may submit, with the less regret, to the restraints they are kept under. They very rarely pay any visits within the walls of Canton, except on public occasions. Indeed, nothing gave me so unfavourable an idea of the character of the Chinese, as to find, that amongst so many persons of liberal minds and amiable manners, some of whom have resided in that country for near fifteen years together, they have never formed any friendship or social connection. As soon as the last ship quits WampÛ, they are all obliged to retire to Macao; but as a proof of the excellent police of the country, they leave all the money they possess in specie behind them, which, I was told, sometimes amounted to one hundred thousand pounds sterling, and for which they had no other security than the seals of the merchants of the Hong, the viceroy, and Mandarines.

During my stay at Canton, I was carried by one of the English gentlemen, to visit a person of the first consequence in the place. We were received in a long room or gallery, at the upper end of which stood a table, with a large chair behind it, and a row of chairs extending from it on each side down the room. Being previously instructed, that the point of civility consisted in remaining as long unseated as possible, I readily acquitted myself of this piece of etiquette; after which we were entertained with tea, and some preserved and fresh fruits. Our host was very fat, with a heavy dull countenance, and of great gravity in his deportment. He spoke a little broken English and Portugueze; and, after we had taken our refreshment, he carried us about his house and garden; and having shown us all the improvements he was making, we took our leave.

Having procured an account of the price of provisions at Canton, as settled for the year 1780, which the reader will find at the end of this chapter, I have only to observe, that the different articles are supposed to be the best of the kind; and that the natives purchase the same for nearly one-third less than the price, which in the list is fixed only for strangers.

I had hitherto intended, as well to avoid the trouble and delay of applying for passports, as to save the unnecessary expence of hiring a sampane, which I understood amounted at least to twelve pounds sterling, to go along with the stores to Macao, in the country merchant’s ship I have before mentioned; but having received an invitation from two English gentlemen, who had obtained passports for four, I accepted, along with Mr. Philips, their offer of places in a Chinese boat, and left Mr. Lannyon to take care of the men and stores, which were to sail the next day. In the evening of the 26th, I took my leave of the supercargoes, having thanked them for their many obliging favours; amongst which I must not forget to mention an handsome present of tea, for the use of the ships’ companies, and a large collection of English periodical publications. The latter we found a valuable acquisition, as they both served to amuse our impatience, during our tedious voyage home, and enabled us to return not total strangers to what had been transacting in our native country. At one o’clock the next morning we left Canton, and arrived at Macao about the same hour the day following, having passed down a channel which lies to the westward of that by which we had come up.

During our absence, a brisk trade had been carrying on with the Chinese for the sea-otter skins, which had every day been rising in their value. One of our seamen sold his stock alone for eight hundred dollars; and a few prime skins, which were clean, and had been well preserved, were sold for one hundred and twenty each. The whole amount of the value, in specie and goods, that was got for the furs, in both ships, I am confident did not fall short of two thousand pounds sterling; and it was generally supposed, that at least two-thirds of the quantity we had originally got from the Americans, were spoiled and worn out, or had been given away, and otherwise disposed of, in Kamtschatka. When, in addition to these facts, it is remembered, that the furs were at first collected without our having any idea of their real value; that the greatest part had been worn by the Indians, from whom we purchased them; that they were afterward preserved with little care, and frequently used for bed-clothes, and other purposes, during our cruize to the north; and that, probably, we had never got the full value for them in China; the advantages that might be derived from a voyage to that part of the American coast, undertaken with commercial views, appear to me of a degree of importance sufficient to call for the attention of the public.

The rage with which our seamen were possessed to return to Cook’s River, and, by another cargo of skins, to make their fortunes at one time, was not far short of mutiny; and I must own, I could not help indulging myself in a project, which the disappointment we had suffered, in being obliged to leave the Japanese Archipelago, and the northern coast of China unexplored, first suggested; and, by what I conceived, that object might still be happily accomplished, through means of the East-India Company, not only without expense, but even with the prospect of very considerable advantages. Though the situation of affairs at home, or perhaps greater difficulties in the execution of my scheme than I had foreseen, have hitherto prevented its being carried into effect, yet, as I find the plan in my journal, and still retain my partiality for it, I hope it will not be entirely foreign to the nature of this work, if I beg leave to insert it here.

I proposed then, that the Company’s China ships should carry an additional complement of men each, making in all one hundred. Two vessels, one of two hundred and the other of one hundred and fifty tons, might, I was told, with proper notice, be readily purchased at Canton; and, as victualling is not dearer there than in Europe, I calculate that they might be completely fitted out for sea, with a year’s pay and provision, for six thousand pounds, including the purchase. The expense of the necessary articles for barter is scarcely worth mentioning. I would, by all means recommend, that each ship should have five ton of unwrought iron, a forge, and an expert smith, with a journeyman and apprentice, who might be ready to forge such tools, as it should appear the Indians were most desirous of. For, though six of the finest skins purchased by us were got for a dozen large green glass beads, yet it is well known, that the fancy of these people for articles of ornament, is exceedingly capricious; and that iron is the only sure commodity for their market. To this might be added, a few gross of large pointed case-knives, some bales of coarse woollen cloth (linen they would not accept of from us), and a barrel or two of copper and glass trinkets.

I have here proposed two ships, not only for the greater security of the expedition, but because I think single ships ought never to be sent out on discoveries. For where risks are to be run, and doubtful and hazardous experiments tried, it cannot be expected that single ships should venture so far, as where there is some security provided against an untoward accident.

The vessels being now ready for sea, will sail with the first south-westerly monsoon, which generally sets in about the beginning of April. With this wind they will steer to the northward, along the coast of China, beginning a more accurate survey from the mouth of the river Kayana, or the Nankin River, in latitude 30°, which I believe is the utmost limit of this coast hitherto visited by European ships. As the extent of that deep gulf called Whang Hay, or the Yellow Sea, is at present unknown, it must be left to the discretion of the commander, to proceed up it as far as he may judge prudent; but he must be cautious not to entangle himself too far in it, lest he should want time for the prosecution of the remaining part of his enterprize. The same discretion must be used, when he arrives in the straits of Tessoi, with respect to the islands of Jeso, which, if the wind and weather be favourable, he will not lose the opportunity of exploring.

Having proceeded to the latitude of 51° 40', where he will make the southernmost point of the island of Sagaleen, beyond which the sea of Okotsk is sufficiently known, he will steer to the southward, probably in the beginning of June, and endeavour to fall in with the southernmost of the Kurile Islands. Ouroop or Nadeschda, according to the accounts of the Russians, will furnish the ships with a good harbour, where they may wood and water, and take in such other refreshments as the place may afford. Toward the end of June, they will shape their course for the Shummagins, and from thence to Cook’s River, purchasing, as they proceed, as many skins as they are able, without losing too much time, since they ought to steer again to the southward, and trace the coast with great accuracy from the latitude of 56° to 50°, the space from which we were driven out of sight of land by contrary winds. It should here be remarked, that I consider the purchase of skins, in this expedition, merely as a secondary object, for defraying the expence; and it cannot be doubted, from our experience in the present voyage, that two hundred and fifty skins, worth one hundred dollars each, may be procured without any loss of time; especially as it is probable they will be met with along the coast to the southward of Cook’s River.

Having spent three months on the coast of America, they will set out on their return to China early in the month of October, avoiding in their route, as much as possible, the tracks of former navigators. I have now only to add, that if the fur trade should become a fixed object of Indian commerce, frequent opportunities will occur of completing whatever may be left unfinished, in the voyage of which I have here ventured to delineate the outlines.

The barter which had been carrying on with the Chinese for our sea-otter skins, had produced a very whimsical change in the dress of all our crew. On our arrival in the Typa, nothing could exceed the ragged appearance both of the younger officers and seamen; for, as our voyage had already exceeded, by near a twelvemonth, the time it was at first imagined we should remain at sea, almost the whole of our original stock of European clothes had been long worn out, or patched up with skins, and the various manufactures we had met with in the course of our discoveries. These were now again mixed and eked out with the gaudiest silks and cottons of China.

On the 30th, Mr. Lannyon arrived with the stores and provisions, which were immediately stowed in due proportion on board the two ships. The next day, agreeably to a bargain made by Captain Gore, I sent our sheet anchor to the country ship, and received in return the guns, which she before rode by.

Whilst we lay in the Typa, I was shown a garden belonging to an English gentleman at Macao, the rock, under which, as the tradition there goes, the poet Camoens used to sit and compose his Lusiad. It is a lofty arch, of one solid stone, and forms the entrance of a grotto dug out of the rising ground behind it. The rock is overshaded by large spreading trees, and commands an extensive and magnificent view of the sea, and the interspersed islands.

On the 11th of January, two seamen belonging to the Resolution found means to run off with a six-oared cutter, and notwithstanding diligent search was made, both that and the following day, we were never able to learn any tidings of her. It was supposed, that these people had been seduced by the prevailing notion of making a fortune, by returning to the fur islands.

As we heard nothing, during our stay in the Typa, of the measurement of the ships, it may be concluded, that the point so strongly contested by the Chinese, in Lord Anson’s time, has, in consequence of his firmness and resolution, never since been insisted on.

The following nautical observations were made while we lay here:

On the full and change days, it was high water in the Typa at 5^h 15^m, and in Macao harbour at 5^h 50^m. The greatest rise was six feet one inch. The flood appeared to come from the south eastward; but we could not determine this point with certainty, on account of the great number of islands which lie off the mouth of the river of Canton.

Price of Provisions at Canton, 1780.