The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-03-17
New York Post. !

our own population with horror. but
aroused the sympathy of all of the civil
lized nations of the world The casual
ties on that occasion were sufficiently
numerous, but compared to those which
in the eighteenth century through dis
ease or perils of the sea, attended long
voyages of sQuadrons or detachad naval
vessels, they We're relatively small. In
those days mortality on ships-of-war was
accepted as inevitable and as incidental
| to the hazards of q profession of whose
dangers no one was ignorant.
or the perils and miseries that envi'
roned the man of-War's man $50 years
ago, we have no more convincing exam
pie than is offered in the cruise around
the world Of Anson's English squadron,
and that Of Spanish ships OF war detailed
to thwart its Intentions. -
In 1879 the British government per,
suaded that conflict with Spain was in.
evitable, proceeded to fit out seven yes.
sells, frigates, and sloops, and two store
ships or victuallers. 1t was prop ose d
that this expedition should sail for the
west coast of South America harass the
Spanish settlements Oh that littoral, cap
ture il possible the great Manila galleon
on its annual voyage to Acapulco, Next
co, attempt the surprise of Manila, and
then return home by way of the Cape OF
Good Hope. This squadron whose per-
sonnet consisted of 1850 officers. sailors
and marines, was placed under the COM
maud of Commodore, afterwards Lord,
| Arson, an officer of skill and distinction,
and, above all, noted for the humane and
| solicitous care that he gave to the health
and we'll being of the crews of his ships
| On the 18th of September, 1740, the
| English squadron, composed of the Cen
| turion, flag ship, the Gloucester, Severn,
Pearl, Wager, Trial and two 'spinks'' OF
store ships. sailed from St. Helen S for
| Madeira, the first port Of call. The voy-
age thither was protracted one of forty
days. This delay Was at the outset dis
| astrous, in the sense that it postponed the
passage around Cape Horn to the m ost
unpropitiOus season of the year. In No.
vember the squadron departed from Ma
deira for the Island of St. Catherine s
on the coast of Brazil, where it arrived
on the 21st of December. A stay of a
month at this port was necessary in order
to refit the ships and refresh their crews
among whom there was much sickness
and many deaths. On January Is, l74l
| the squadron weighed from st. Cathe-
rine's, and arrived off the Straits of LIE
Marie, the eastern end of Cape Horn.
early in March.
Meanwhile the squadron sent out by
| Spain to watch the movements of Arson
and to traverse his projects was under the
command of Admiral Don Joseph Piar
70. 1t consisted of the Asia, flagship, the
Guipuscoa, Hermonia, Esperanza, S {.
Estavan and "patache. They were
manned by 1920 officers, sailors and ma
rines, besides regiment of foot for the
reinforcement of the garrisons on the
west coast of South America. This
| squadron was first sent to cruise to the
leeward of Madeira in order to intercept
| Arson; but his protracted voyage thitheI
| forced the Spaniards to bear away for the
| River Plate to refit and replenish their
stores. AT the Plate Pizarro received in.
formation of the arrival of Arson atsSt.
| Catherine g. AS he was DESTROYS of reach
| ing the Pacific coast in advance of the
English, without waiting to re-provision
his ships. he set sail from the Plate on
the 22d OF January, with his crews on
| short allowance. Toward the latter end
of February, the Spanish squadron, hav-
ing made sufficient southing in order to
| double Cape Horn. Steered to the west
ward. Hardly had it shifted it's course
| when there came on furious gale from
the northwest, which drove it so far to
tho eastward and worked such havoc that
three of the ships, almost complete
wrecks, we're forced to return to the Riy-
er Plato, where they arrived soon after
the middle of May. The HerInonia
foundered at sea, with all hands-450.
The Guipuscoa WAS wrecked on the coast
of Brazil with a loss of 800 out of zoo
men. The Asia, the flagship, had re-
manning out of crew of 700 only $50; of
the complement Of the Representation
only 50 remained. and on the Estavan,
| ont of gS0 Init E0 Gnrvivpd Cf i.
ment of foot all but 81 psrished. All OF
these casualties, with the exception of
those Incidental to the laundering of the
Hermonia, were due to famine. The
scarcity of food in the Spanish ships was
so acute that rats, when they could be
caught, were sold for four dollars each.
A sailor who died on board one of the
vessels had his death concealed for some
days by his brother, who during that
4 period lay in the same hammock with
the corpse in order to receive the dead
mans allowance of provisions
This disaster to the Spanish squadron
rendered 1t Of cousre useless as an aggres-
sive power. OF all the fine vessels the
\ Asia alone was able in 1746 to return to
Spain. OF the original personnel Of the
| quadron, consisting of nearly four Ct hous-
and officers, sailors, marines and troops,
| not above 100 lived to reach their native
| land.
| Meanwhile, on the 9TH of March, 1741
with fair wind and strong favorable
current, the English squadron made the
passage through the Straits of LIE Marie
| in three hours time. The English were
elated with the hope of a speedy voyage
about Cape Horn, an elation fortified by
serene weather and bright skies. This
was a fattering delusion. The two hind
most vessels of the squadron had barely
cleared the straits when furious squall
from the south burst upon them. This
was accompanied by strong tide, that
drove them to the eastward with great
rapidity. This squall was followed by
a succession of tempestuous westerly
gales, compared to which the oldest and
most experienced seaInen on board con-
fessed that what they had previously
called storms were nothing more than
strong breezes. These tempests raised
short and mountainous waves, which
gave such quick, sharp motion to the
ships that the men were in continual
danger of being dashed to pieces against
the sides and decks. Many were injured
and more killed outright. For forty days
the equadron battled with these fierce
westerly gales, when, in a tempest that
surpassed in violence all Of those preyi
ously encountered, the Severn and Pearl,
| two sIoops- of-war, disappeared and were