tions, the commodore formed a plan for extricating them from their present situation; which was by hauling the Spanish bark on shore, sawing her asunder, and lengthening her twelve feet; which would enlarge her to near forty tons burden, and enable her to carry them all to China.

But a discouraging circumstance now occured, which was, that they had neither compass nor quadrant on the island. At length, on rummaging a chest belonging to the Spanish bark, they found a small compass, which though not much superior to those made for the amusement of school-boys, was to them of the utmost importance.

When this obstacle was removed, and all things were ready for sailing, it happened on the afternoon of the 11th of October, that one of the Gloucester's men being upon a hill, saw the Centurion at a distance. She was soon visible to all, and the next day cast anchor in the road. On the 14th, a sudden gust of wind drove her to sea a second time, but in about five days, they returned again to anchor. On the 20th of October, they set fire to the bark and proa, hoisted in their boats, and got under sail, steering away towards the south end of the island of Macao.

About midnight, on the 5th of November, they made the mainland of China, and on the morning of the 9th, a Chinese pilot came on board, and told them that he would carry the ship into Macao for thirty dollars, which being paid him they proceeded, and on the 12th entered the harbor of Macao.

On the 6th of April, the Centurion again stood out to sea. On the last day of May they came in sight of Cape Espiritu Santo, where they continued to cruize till the 20th of June, when about sunrise the great Manilla ship came in sight, having the standard of Spain flying at the top-gallant-mast head, and to the commodore's surprise, bore down upon him. The engagement soon began, and lasted an hour and a half, when the galleon struck to the Centurion, after having had sixty-seven men killed and eighty-four wounded. The Centurion had only two men killed and seventeen wounded. The prize carried five hundred men and thirty-six guns, and her cargo was worth 400,000l. sterling. It is impossible to describe the transports on board, when, after all their reiterated disappointments, they at length, saw their wishes accomplished. But their joy was very near being suddenly damped by a very alarming accident; for no sooner had the galleon struck, than one of the lieutenants coming to Mr. Anson, whispered him, that the Centurion was dangerously on fire near the powder-room. The commodore received this shocking intelligence without any apparent emotion, and taking care not to alarm his people, gave the necessary orders for extinguishing the fire, which was done, though its first appearance threatened the ship with destruction. On the 14th, the Centurion cast anchor off Bocca Tigris, for ming the mouth of that river; and having got under sail on the 16th

of October, 1743, came to anchor in the straits of Sunda on the 3d of January, and continued there till the eighth, taking in wood and water, when she weighed and stood for the Cape of Good Hope, where, on the 11th of March, she came to anchor in Table

Bay. Mr. Anson continued here till the 3d of April, 1744, when he put to sea, and on the 19th of the month, was in sight of St. Helena, but did not touch at it.

On the 12th of June they got sight of the Lizard, and on the evening of the 15th, to their great joy, came safe to anchor at Spithead. On his arrival Mr. Anson learned, that under cover of a thick fog, he had run through a French fleet, which was at that time cruizing in the chops of the channel.

On crossing the banks of Newfoundland, the ship was hove to, for the purpose of sounding; and the quarter-master having tied a baited hook to the deep-sea lead, a noble cod was drawn to the surface, from the depth of ninety fathoms. Upon this hint, the captain, very considerately, agreed to lie by for an hour or two; and some fifty lines being put over, the decks were soon covered, fore

and aft, with such a display of fish as Billingsgate has rarely witnessed.

People who know nothing of a sea life fancy that fish is not a rarity with us; but there is nothing of which we taste so little; so that the greatest treat by far, when we come into port, is a dish of fresh soles or mackerel; and even the commonest fish that swims is looked upon as a treasure. It is only in soundings that any are to be met with; for, in the open and bottomless ocean, we meet nothing but whales, porpoises, dolphins, sharks, bonitas and flying fish.

I never could conceive, or even form a probable conjecture, how it is that some persons manage to catch fish, and others none It is easy to understand, that in angling, a certain degree of skill, or choice of situation, may determine the probable amount of success. But when a line is let down to the depth of eighty or a hundred fathoms, or even to twenty or thirty feet, quite out of sight, what has skill to do there? And yet, in a ship, on the banks of Newfoundland, or in a boat on the Thrumcap shoals in Halifax harbor, I have seen one man hauling in cods or haddocks as fast as he could bait his hooks; while others, similarly circumstanced in all apparent respects, might fret and fidget for half a day without getting more than a nibble.

There can be no doubt, of course, that intellectual power must be in operation at one end of the line, otherwise no fish will come to the other; but the puzzle is, by what mysterious process can human intelligence manage to find its way, like electricity, down the line to the bottom of the sea? I have often asked successful fishermen what they did to make the fish bite; but they could seldom give any available answer. Sometimes they said it depended on the bait. "Well, then," I have answered, "let me take yours and do you take mine." But in two minutes after we had changed places, my companion was pulling in his fish as fast as before while not a twitch was given to my new line, though, just before, the fish appeared to be jostling one another for the honor of my friend's hook, to the total neglect of that which had been mine, now in high vogue amongst them.

There is some trick, or sleight of hand, I suppose, by which a certain kind of motion is given to the bait, so as to assimilate it to that of the worms which the fishes most affect in their ordinary researches for food. But, probably, this art is no more to be taught by description, or to be learned without the drudgery of practice, than the dexterity with which an artist represents nature, or a dancer performs pirouettes. Uninstructed persons, therefore, who, like myself, lose patience because they cannot catch fish at the first cast of the line, had better turn their attention to something else.

Almost the only one I ever caught was during my first voyage across the Atlantic, when, after my line had been down a whole

weary hour, I drew it up in despair. It felt so light, that I imagined the line must have been accidentally broken; but presently, and greatly to my astonishment, I beheld a huge cod float to the top, swollen to twice the usual dimensions by the expansion of its sound, as the air-bag is called, which lies along the back-bone At the depth of eighty or ninety fathoms, this singular apparatus is compressed by the enormous addition of fifteen or sixteen atmospheres. But when the air is relieved of this weight, by approaching the surface, the strength of the muscles proves inadequate to retain it in its condensed form; and its consequent expansion not only kills the fish, but often bursts it open as completely as if it had been blown up with gunpowder.

BYRON.

In the year 1764, the Dolphin and Tamar ships-of-war, were fitted out for the purpose of prosecuting discoveries in the South Seas. Mr. Byron was commander-in-chief, and Captain Mouat commanded under him.

On the 3d of July, the commodore hoisted his broad-pendant, and they sailed in prosecution of the voyage. On the 13th of September they came to an anchor in the road of Rio de Janeiro, on the coast of Brazil, when the commodore paid a visit to the governor, who received him in state. They weighed anchor on the 16th of October, steering for Cape Blanco, and on the 21st of November, entered the harbor of Port Desire, and the commodore in his boat, attended by two other boats, went to sound it. He landed, and they had a sight of four beasts, near thirteen hands high, and in shape like a deer, which they took to be granicoes.

On the fifth of December the ships got under sail, and on the 20th, ran close in-shore to Cape Virgin Mary, and came to an anchor. The commodore observed a number of men on horseback, riding to and fro, opposite the ship, and waving something white which he took to be an invitation to land; and as he was anxious to know what people these were, he went in one boat with a party of men well armed; the first lieutenant, with a separate party, following in another. When they came near the shore, the whole appeared to amount to five hundred persons, drawn up on a stony point of land that ran far into the sea. Byron now advanced alone, but as he approached, the Indians retreated: he therefore, made signs that one of them should come forward, which was complied with.

advanced appeared to be chief, and was very height; round one of his eyes was a circle of

black paint, und a white circle round the other; the rest of his face was painted in streaks of various colors. He had the skin of a beast, with the hair inwards, thrown over his shoulders. The commodore and the Indian having complimented each other, in language equally unintelligible to either, they walked together towards the main body of the Indians, few of whom were shorter than the height abovementioned, and the women were large in proportion.

On the 21st of December they began sailing up the Strait of Magellan, with a view to take in a stock of wood and water. On the 26th, came to an anchor at Port Famine. In this place, they found drift-wood enough to have supplied a thousand vessels. The quantity of fish that was daily taken was equal to the supply of both the crews: and the commodore shot as many geese and ducks as furnished several tables besides his own. On the 4th of January 1765, they sailed in quest of Falkland's Islands.

On the 12th they saw land, and on the 14th a flat island, covered with tufts of grass as large as bushes. Soon after this they entered another harbor, to which Byron gave the name of Port Egmont. This harbor is represented to be the finest in the world, and capacious enough to contain the whole navy of England, in full security; there is plenty of fresh water in every part of it, and geese, ducks, snipes, and other edible birds, abound in such numbers, that the sailors were tired with eating them. The commodore was once unexpectedly attacked by a sea-lion, and extricated himself from the impending danger with great difficulty; they had many battles with this animal, the killing of one of which was frequently an hour's work for six men; one of them almost tore to pieces the commodore's mastiff-dog, by a single bite. The commodore took possession of the harbor, and all adjacent islands, by the name of FALKLAND'S ISLANDS.

On Sunday, January the 27th, they left Port Egmont. Next day the commodore gave the name of Berkley's Sound to a deep inlet between the islands. On the 6th of February stood in for Port Desire, at the mouth of which they came to an anchor, and had the pleasure of seeing the Florida, a store-ship, which they had expected from England. On the 20th, at Port Famine received orders to sail for England.

Having narrowly escaped the dreadful effects of a storm on the 3d of March, at length the Do'phin was moored in a little bay opposite Cape Quod; and the Tamar, about six miles to the eastward of it. On the 28th the Tamar narrowly escaped being dashed to pieces against the rocks, by the parting of the cable to her best bower-anchor. The Dolphin, therefore, stood again into the bay, and sent her proper assistance, after which they both anchored for the night; a night the most dreadful they had known. The winds were so violent as perfectly to tear up the sea, and carry it higher than the heads of the masts: a dreadful sea rolled