Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-06-05

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thing for those who were able TO walk the
deck to drop down dead in an instant, and
many perished in this manner.
in those devs sailors afflicted with the
scurvy were. upon reaching land, buried up
to their necks In the earth. The late Com
modore j. c. Long, U. S. N, told the
writer he had been treated in this way as
late as about 1920.
The Severn and Pearl bore up for Rio
de Janeiro, and never rejoined the squad
ron, which was now reduced to the Cen
turion. the Gloucester, the Wager, the
Tryal, and the Anna Pink (storeship(. On
the 2Sd of April these were so completely
dispersed in storm that no two of them
were in sight of each other.
| The Commodore, having succeeded in
doubling the cape, steered for Juan Fernan-
| dez, but was so much in doubt as to the
longitude that, having arrived in the lati-
| tude of the island, he steered east Gnstead
of wes) until he made the main land OF
Chile. He then put about and arrived at
Juan Fernandez June 8, having lost much
valuable time, by which they estimated
they lost 20 or so men.
Deaths Harvest without a Battle.
"Three months before had seen them with
crew of upward of 400 healthy officers and
men, besides the quota of upernumeraries;
but of these 200 were buried and 130 were
on the sick list"
The Tryal arrived a day or two after
ward, having lost 81 OF her small compile
ment The sick and afflicted of the two
ships we're carried ashore, and refreshments
of all kinds speedily obtained, but it was 20
DAYS before the mortality ceased and for the
first ten or II days they seldom buried less
than six each day.
tWbi1o hare eoi1ore aaupbf ebof
some goats whose ears had been slit, and
were therefore conjectured to have been
thus marked, some 80 years before, by
Alexander Selkirk," (Robinson Crusoe. }
On the Goth of June the Gloucester ap-
peared in the offing. Boats with men and
provisions were sent to her; but as she had
lost two-thirds of her crew it was not until
the 23d of july that she could make tine
anchorage, 146 days from Port st. Julian!
About the middle of August the Anna,
storeship, arrived, which caused much re-
joicing, as all fears of scarcity o provisions
were now removed. This vessel was the
last that Joined them. She had suffered but
little, ''having been forced into a COM
modious harbor of the Peninsula de Tres
Monies, not far to the northward OF where
the unfortunate Wagner struck, and her
crew were then enduring much misery"
The Anna, being found not seaworthy, was
broken up.
Nearly Two-Thirds Were Dead.
The three men-of-war had left England
with 961 men on board, of whom 626 were
dead before this time; and the number that
were left were barely sufficient to man the
Centurion, an appalling circumstance, when
they expected every day to fall in with the
feet under Pizarro.
What became OF Pizarro we shall soon see.
On October s the squadron, considerably
refreshed, left Juan Fernandez, and on the
1lth they captured a large Spanish ship
from Callao. They learned from her of
Pizarro's failure to double Cape Horn with
his squadron, and that the Spaniards of
Peru thought all of Anson's ships had per-
ished.
The Tryal was next destroyed, as unsea-
worthy. There now remained but the Gen.
turion and Gloucester
I'm one of their prizes they found an
1rishman who gave them some particular in
telligence which induced the Commodore to
steer for Paita."
They landed force at Paita, captured the
town, and obtained very rich booty in plate
and merchandise. The Spanish refusing to
ransom the town, it was burned Some
prisoners were taken, whom Anson treated
courteously and well. The ship now went
on Acapulco to look for the Galleon from
Manila, and touched at Quibo Island on
the way.
All Ships Gone but One.
Upon their arrival at Acapulco they
learned that the Galleon had already ar
rived; and that, moreover, she would not
leave that fortified and safe harbor for a
year. Anson then went further up the
coast to Tejupau for wood and water On
no of Mar
across the Pacific Ocean. The scurvy broke
out again and made fearful havoc among
them. The Gloucester was now in so leaky
a condition that on the 18th of August she
was abandoned and burned, and the Gen.
turion was left alone. On the 2Sth of
August, after very long passage and which
is partly to be attributed to very bad
navigation, the Centurion anchored at
Tinian, one of the Ladrone islands
AT this time only II men were capable of
standing to gunl The sick were landed,
and refreshments in the shape of beef,
pork, poultry, with vegetables, watermel-
ons, oranges, lines, cocoanuts and bread
fruit, were obtained in abundance. On the
18th of November they arrived at Macoa,
then, as now, in the hands of the Portuguese.
"Tne Chinese, a eople always jealous Of
strangers, vexatiously harrassed the Com
modore by equivocating measures as to re-
fitting the ship; but his frmness and con-
carriage counteracted the shuffling
of the Celestisls"
They shipped here 90 new hands, and the
officers and crew now amounted to 227
healthy men, "which, though still short
complement, was superior to what they had
lately been used to-"
Fighting Comes at Last.
The Commodore now gave out that he was |
bound to England, via Batavia, and ac- |
tually received on board the mails for the |
latter place, and on the 18th day of April, |
1743, the Centurion sailed. When clear of |
land Anson called all hands and announced !
his intention of cruising off Cape Espiritu
Santo, Samar Island, and having another
"toy" for the galleon. The crew responded |
with three cheers. !
From the 30th of May to the 18th of June |
Anson cruised off Cape Espiritu Santo
drilling his men constantly at the great |
guns and small arms. At sunrise June 20, /
Charles PROXY from the mast
head announced a sail to windward. "The
general burst of JOY which this occasioned !
was heightened to rapture when she wa.
soon afterward seen from the deck, coming
down before the wind toward the Centurion.
The Commod re was somewhat surprised 10
see her advance steadily on without chang
ing her course, and seeing her take in her
sails and fire gun induced him
to suppose she was making signal to her
consort to hasten her up. But that lucky
vessel was already in Manila,
and it afterward appeared that
the Spanish commander instantly
conjectured how matters stood, and
trusting to tie British ship being weakly
manned, as we'll as from a conviction that
an action could not be avoided, he beat to
quarters, hoisted his colors and stood boldly
On. She was much larger than the Cen