C H A P . IX.
T r a n C id io n s in th e r iv e r oF Canton..
T H E' Commodore, having, takbn Pilots on board, proceeded
with his prize fo,r the river of Contain.and, on the 14th
of 'July, «aft anchor (hart of-the Bocca Tigris, which is.
a narrow paffage forming the mouth rof that river e- This entrance
he.propofed to ftand through the next day, and to run up as far as
Tiger Ifiand, which is a very fafe road, .(beared from all winds...
But whilft the Centurion'and her prize were thus at anchor, a-boat
with an officer was Pent off from., the Mandarine, commanding the
forts at Bocca Tigris, to examine what the Blips were, and whence,
they came. Mr. Anfon informed the officer,, that his own (hip-
was a man of war, belonging to the Ring of Great-Britain or.cl
■ that the other in company with him was a prize he had taken j.
that-he was. goingiihto Gaston, fiver to (be)ter himfelf agairtft the.
hurricanes which were then approaching 5 j and that as foan as the
monfoon ffiifted, he ihould fet fail for England. The officer then
defired an account of what men, guns, and ammunition were on
board, a lift of all which he faid was to be fent to the Government
o f Canton. But when thefe articles were repeated to him, particularly
upon his being told that there were in the Centurion four hundred
firelocks, and between three and four hundred barrels o f
powder, he (hrugged up his (houlders, and feemed to be terrified
with the bare recital, faying, that no Ihips ever came into Canton
river armed in that manner j adding, that he durft not fet down
the whole of this force, left it fliould too much alarm the Regency.
After he had fini£hed his enquiries, and was preparing to
depart, he defired to leave two Cuftom-houle officers behind him :
on which the Commodore told him, that though as a man of war
he
he was prohibited from trading; and had nothing to do with
cuftoms or duties of any kind; yet, for the fatisfadfion of the Ghi-
neje, he .would permit two of their people to be left on board, who
might themfelv.es be witneffes how pundtually he ftiould comply
with his inftrudtio.ns. The officer fsemed amazed when' Mr. An^
Jon mentioned being exempted from all duties, and anfwereil, that
the Emperor’s duty rouft be paid by every (hip that came into his
ports: And it is.fuppofed that, on thts.occaiion, private diredtions
were given by him .to the Cbmeje Pilot, not,to carry the Commo;-
dore through the Bocca. Tigris; which makes it néceffary, more
particularly, to deferibe that entrance.
The Bofica Tigris is a narrow paffage, little moré than mufquet-
ftiotover, formed by two points of land, on each of which there
is a fort, that on -the ftarboard-fide being a .battery on the water’s
edge, with eighteen embrafures, but where there were no more
than twelve iron cannon mounted, fteming to be four or fix poun-
ders i the fort on the larboard-fide As a large caftle, refembling
thqfe old buddings which here in England we .often find diftin-
guifbed by that name j it is fituated on ,a high .rock,, and did not
appear to be furniihejd with moré than eight 01 ten cannon, none
of which were fuppofed tp exceed fix pounders, Thefe are the
defences which fecure the river of Canton j and which the..Ghinefe
(extremely defedtive in all military (kill) have imagined were fuf-
ficient to present an enemy from forcing his way through.
But it is obvious, from the.defeription of thefe forts, that they
could have given no qbftrudtion to Mr. Anfon s paffage, even if they
had been well fupplied with gunners and ftores; and therefore,
though the Pilot, after the Ch.inefe officer had been on board, re-
fufed at firft to take .qharge of .the (hip, till he had leave from the
forts; yet, as it wa£ neqeffary tp get through without any delay,
for fear of the bad weather which wa^ hourly .expedted, the Commodore
weighed on the 15th, and ordered the Pilot .to carry him
by the forts, threatening him that, if the (hip ran. a-ground, he
would inftantly hang him up at the yard-arm. The Pilot, awed
D d d z by