Chapter III: Section VI: Residence in China, and Voyage thence to England

As Macao is the place where ships always stop for a pilot to carry them up the river of Canton, I sent an officer with my compliments to the governor, and with orders to bring off a pilot; but hearing nothing of him till next morning, I was under very great apprehensions. Next morning, a great number of the people belonging to the Success came off to our ship, and acquainted me that Clipperton had left me designedly. About noon this day, the 12th November, 1721, a pilot came off to us, when we immediately weighed anchor, and immediately entered Canton river, being assured that there still were some European ships at Wampoo, about ten miles short of Canton. We were four days in plying up to the road between the tower bars, where we anchored; and, finding the Bonetta and Hastings, two English ships, I sent an officer to request their instructions how to conduct ourselves in this port, and to acquaint us with its customs. They answered, that the Cadogan and Francis, two English European ships, were lying at Wampoo, and advised me to send up to the English factors at Canton, to acquaint them with our arrival, and the reasons which obliged us to come here. This I accordingly did next day, borrowing one of their flags to hoist as our boat, without which we had met with much trouble from the _Hoppo-men_, or custom-house officers. I sent letters to the captains of the English ships, signifying the necessity which forced me to this country, and requesting their succour and protection; assuring them that I acted under his majesty's commission, which also I sent, for their perusal. Next morning, being the 17th, I weighed and worked up to Wampoo, where, besides the two English ships, I found three belonging to France, one Ostender, and a small ship from Manilla.

I was here in hopes of all my troubles being at an end, and that I should have full leisure for rest and refreshment after my many and great fatigues; but I soon found these expectations ill grounded, and after all my perils, that I was fallen into others least to be endured, as proceeding from false brethren. A most unlucky accident happened the very evening that we anchored at Wampoo, which gave birth to all the troubles I encountered in India; though, in respect to me, both unforeseen and unavoidable, and purely the effects of that eagerness in the ship's company to get out of this part of the world at any rate. Had there been any government among the English settled here, to have supported my authority, this unlucky business had never happened; and, as it was, could only be imputed to nothing but the want of such an establishment. One of my men, named David Griffith, being in a hurry to remove his effects into the Bonetta's boat, in which he was chased by a _Hoppo_ or custom-house boat; and being a little in liquor, and fearing to lose his silver, fired a musket and killed the Hoppo-man or custom-house officer. Early next morning, the dead body was laid at the door of the English factory, where Chinese officers lay in wait to seize the first Englishman that should come out. A supercargo belonging to the Bonetta happened to be the first; he was immediately seized and carried off, and afterwards led in chains about the suburbs of Canton. All that could be said or done by the most considerable Chinese merchants who were in correspondence with the English, was of no avail. In the mean time, my man, who had slain the Chinese officer, and another, were put in irons aboard the Francis, which was _chopped_, or seized, till the guilty man was delivered up. He was then carried to Canton in chains, and the supercargo was released.

I had not been here many days, when I was deserted by all my officers and men, who were continually employed in removing their effects from my ship to some of the European ships, without my knowledge, I being then confined to bed. My officers were using all their efforts to engage the gentlemen belonging to the company in their interest, and had only left my son and a few negroes to look after the ship, and to defend my effects, which were on the brink of falling into the bottomless pit of Chinese avarice; besides, they and the ship's company had so many ways of disposing of every thing they could lay their hands on, that I found it impossible to oblige them to do what I thought justice to our owners: They all soon recovered from their illness, and they all became their own masters. There were no magistrates for me to appeal to on shore, who would aid me so far as to compel them to remain in my ship; and the officers commanding the English ships could not afford me the help they might have been inclined to give, lest the supercargoes might represent their conduct to the East India Company. And these last, who superintend the English trade at this port, seemed even inclined to have refused me a passage in one of their ships, and even treated me as one enemy would treat another in a neutral port; looking on me in that light for presuming to come within the limits of the Company, without considering the necessity by which I had been compelled to take that step.

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;[4] 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.

[Footnote 4: At these proportions, the Chinese _tahel_ is exactly 6s. 8d. sterling.--E.]

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.