SPANISH PHIZES. 55 



they were particularly well treated at Santiago. " We found/' says Byron, " many 

 Spaniards here that had been taken by Commodore Anson, and had been for some time 

 prisoners on board the Centurion. They all spoke in the highest terms of the kind 

 treatment they had received ; and it is natural to imagine that it was chiefly owing to 

 that laudable example of humanity our reception here was so good/' They even said that 

 they should not have been sorry had he taken them to England.* Anson's prize on this 

 occasion had on board large quantities of sugar, cloth, and some little cotton and tobacco; 

 and in addition, that which was more valuable, several trunks of wrought plate, and <3ver 

 two tons of dollars (" twenty-three serons of dollars, each weighing upwards of 200 Ibs. 

 avoirdupois ") . 



Shortly afterwards, Anson noted two sail, one of which appeared to be " a very 

 stout ship/' and which made for them, whilst the other stood off. By evening they were 

 within pistol-shot of the nearest, " and had a broadside ready to pour into her, the 

 gunners having their matches in their hands, and only waiting for orders to fire." The 

 ship was hailed in Spanish, when the welcome voice of Mr. Hughes, lieutenant of the 

 Tryal, answered in English that it was a prize taken by him a couple of days before. 

 She had tried to escape in the night by showing no lights, but an opening or crevice 

 in one of the ports had betrayed them. She was a merchantman of about 600 tons, and 

 had much the same cargo as that taken by Anson, but not so much money on board. 

 Her capture at that moment was invaluable, for the Tryal had sprung her mainmast, and 

 was altogether unseaworthy. She was condemned, and her crew, guns, and stores, with 

 some additions, were put on board the prize, now appropriately christened The Tryal's 

 Prize. The sloop herself was scuttled and sunk. Shortly afterwards a third prize was 

 taken, on which several Spanish lady passengers were found, who hid themselves in 

 corners, till assured of honourable and courteous treatment. Anson ordered that they 

 should retain their own cabins, with all the other conveniences and privileges they had 

 enjoyed before, and ordered the Spanish pilot, the second in command, to stay with them 

 as their guardian and protector. A fourth prize, of little value to the captors, as they 

 could not dispose of much of the cargo in any way, but a clear loss to the Spaniards of 

 400,000 dollars, was taken a few days afterwards. 



Next followed the capture of Paita, Peru, an important place in those days, though it 

 offered little or no resistance. When the sailors in search of private pillage found the 

 clothes of the Spaniards who had fled, they were seized with an irresistible impulse to try 

 them on; and soon their dirty unmentionables and jackets were covered by embroidered 

 clothes and laced hats, not forgetting the bag-wig of the day. Those who could not find 

 men's clothes put on women's, and half the Centurion's crew were transformed into 



* "Two or three days after our arrival" (at Santiago), says Byron, "the President sent Mr. Campbell 

 and me an invitation to dine with him, where we were to meet Admiral Pizarro and all his officers. This was 

 a cruel stroke upon us, as we had not any cloaths to appear in, and dared not refuse the invitation. The 

 next day, a Spanish officer belonging to Admiral Pizarro's squadron, whose name was Don Manuel de Guiror, 

 came and made us an offer of two thousand dollars. This generous Spaniard made this offer without any view 

 of ever being repaid, but purely out of a compassionate motive of relieving us in our present distress." A part 

 of the money was thankfully accepted, and they got themselves decently clothed. 



