We then brought the ship to, with her head to the sea, proposing to wait for the morning; and before sunrise we were surprised to find ourselves in the midst of an incredible number of fishing-boats, which seemed to cover the surface of the sea as far as the eye could reach.  I may well style their number incredible, since I cannot believe, upon the lowest estimate, that there were so few as 6,000 most of them manned with five hands, and none with less than three.  Nor was this swarm of fishing vessels peculiar to this spot, for, as we ran onto the westward, we found them as abundant on every part of the coast.  We at first doubted not but we should procure a pilot from them to carry us to Macao; but though many of them came close to the ship and we endeavoured to tempt them by showing them a number of dollars—­a most alluring bait for Chinese of all ranks and professions—­yet we could not entice them on board us; though I presume the only difficulty was their not comprehending what we wanted them to do, for we could have no communication with them but by signs.  Indeed we often pronounced the word Macao, but this we had reason to suppose they understood in a different sense, for in return they sometimes held up fish to us, and we afterwards learned that the Chinese name for fish is of a somewhat similar sound.  But what surprised us most was the inattention and want of curiosity which we observed in this herd of fishermen.  A ship like ours had doubtless never been in those seas before; perhaps there might not be one amongst all the Chinese employed in this fishery who had ever seen any European vessel; so that we might reasonably have expected to have been considered by them as a very uncommon and extraordinary object.

CHINESE INDIFFERENCE.

But though many of their vessels came close to the ship, yet they did not appear to be at all interested about us.  Nor did they deviate in the least from their course to regard us; which insensibility, especially of maritime persons about a matter in their own profession, is scarcely to be credited, did not the general behaviour of the Chinese in other instances furnish us with continual proof of a similar turn of mind.

The next day, about two o’clock, as we were standing to the westward within two leagues of the coast, and still surrounded by fishing vessels in as great numbers as at first, we perceived that a boat ahead of us waved a red flag and blew a horn.  This we considered as a signal made to us either to warn us of some shoal or to inform us that they would supply us with a pilot, and in this belief we immediately sent our cutter to the boat to know their intentions; but we were soon made sensible of our mistake, and found that this boat was the Commodore of the whole fishery, and that the signal she had made was to order them all to leave off fishing and to return in shore, which we saw them instantly obey.  On this disappointment we kept on our course to the westward, and the next