that though as a man-of-war he was prohibited from trading, and had nothing to do with customs or duties of any kind, yet for the satisfaction of the Chinese he would permit two of their people to be left on board, who might themselves be witnesses how punctually he should comply with his instructions.  The officer seemed amazed when Mr. Anson mentioned being exempted from all duties, and told him that the Emperor’s duty must be paid by all ships that came into his ports.

On the 16th of July the Commodore sent his second lieutenant to Canton with a letter to the Viceroy, informing him of the reason of the Centurion’s putting into that port, and that the Commodore himself soon proposed to repair to Canton to pay a visit to the Viceroy.  The lieutenant was very civilly received, and was promised that an answer should be sent to the Commodore the next day.  In the meantime Mr. Anson gave leave to several of the officers of the galleon to go to Canton, they engaging their parole to return in two days.  When these prisoners got to Canton the Regency sent for them and examined them, enquiring particularly by what means they had fallen into Mr. Anson’s power.  And on this occasion the prisoners were honest enough to declare that as the Kings of Great Britain and Spain were at war, they had proposed to themselves the taking of the Centurion, and had bore down upon her with that view, but that the event had been contrary to their hopes.  However, they acknowledged that they had been treated by the Commodore much better than they believed they should have treated him had he fallen into their hands.  This confession from an enemy had great weight with the Chinese, who till then, though they had revered the Commodore’s power, had yet suspected his morals, and had considered him rather as a lawless free booter than as one commissioned by the State for revenge of public injuries.  But they now changed their opinion, and regarded him as a more important person, to which perhaps the vast treasure of his prize might not a little contribute, the acquisition of wealth being a matter greatly adapted to the estimation and reverence of the Chinese nation.

In this examination of the Spanish prisoners, though the Chinese had no reason in the main to doubt the account which was given them, yet there were two circumstances which appeared to them so singular as to deserve a more ample explanation.  One of them was the great disproportion of men between the Centurion and the galleon, the other was the humanity with which the people of the galleon were treated after they were taken.  The mandarins therefore asked the Spaniards how they came to be overpowered by so inferior a force, and how it happened, since the two nations were at war, that they were not put to death when they came into the hands of the English.  To the first of these enquiries the Spanish replied that though they had more hands than the Centurion, yet she, being intended solely for war, had a great superiority in the size