Chap. I. Captain 
Price at all. It mull: be confefled, that thefe Reflections 
have not much to do with the V oyage round the W orld 
but they have a very near Relation to the great End of all 
our Reading, all our Study, all our Endeavours, I mean 
the Service of our Country. I look upon it as the ftrongeft 
Recommendation of Captain Betagh' s Book, that he neg- 
lects no Opportunity of reporting what may be ufeful, 
amongft the many Things he tells us that are curious and 
entertaining. There is an Air of Sincerity in what he fays, 
that muft affedt every Reader ; and the Readinefs with which 
he acknowledged the Obligations he received, is fufficient 
to convince us, that he was far from being of a fully, or an 
envious Difpofition. The Civilities he received from the 
Spaniards , are very handfomely repaid by the Candour with 
which he owns, and the Gratitude he expreffes for them. 
His Account of their Conduct at Sea appears perfectly 
juft and natural ; he commends the Generofity of their 
Offers, and cenfures that want of Skill and Courage, which 
are the Reproach of their Seamen in the Weft Indies. His 
Characters of the French are equally curious and pleafant -j 
and, I dare fay, he has done them ail the Juftice they he- 
ferved, by representing them as the moft felf-interefted 
People in the World. 
I had well-nigh flipt over a very ufeful and important Hint, 
given by Betagh in his Account ; which, however, cleferves 
particular Notice. It is, as to the great Ufe the French 
made of Placentia, while it was in their Hands, by car- 
rying in thither their Homeward-bound South- Sea-men 1 to 
clean and careen them j fo that afterwards they were in no 
Pain for the Engli[h Men of War that might be upon the 
Coaft. This ffiews the Ufefulnefs of the French Settle- 
ments in thofe Parts in a new Light, and fully informs us 
of the Importance of defending Newfoundland , and Nova 
Scotia , at any rate, as the only means of hindering them 
from pradtifing the fame Thing again. One cannot help 
wondering, on the Perufal of the Naval Hiftory of Great 
Britain , to find this Excufe of dean Ships perpetually of- 
fered, to fave the Reputation of our Cruifers, either in An- 
gle Ships or Squadrons : And, indeed, Mr. Secretary Bur- 
chet tells us plainly, that the Reafon why our Men of War 
fo feldom did what was expeCted from them, was owing 
to their being foul Ships, whereas the Enemies Veffels were 
always clean. In the Courfe of that War, there was fcarce 
an Xnftance of any of thefe St. Malo Ships taken •, which 
is very furprifing, fince the Fleets, from moft of our Colo- 
nies, fell often, either in whole, or in part, into the Ene- 
mies Hands. 
But if thefe lucky Efcapes of theirs depend, as they cer- 
tainly do, on their Ships being cleaner, and in better Trim, 
than ours, then it is plain this Advantage may be taken 
from them, if we can prevent their getting into any Ports, 
where tney may clean or careen. Placentia is at prefent in 
our Hands, and cannot be loft, but through the want of 
Attention. We have, moft certainly, a Naval Power fuf- 
ficient to proteCl all our Colonies •, and, at the fame time, 
to fpare Ships enough to cruife off the Eland of St. Catha- 
rine's, or the Rio Grande, on the Coaft of Brafil, in order 
to prevent the French from careening there, where they 
met with much lefs Conveniency, than in any Ports of their 
own. In the Month of January laft, they loft one of their 
beft outward-bound Ships, at the Mouth of the laft-men- 
tioned River ; ffie was called the Marchionefs d* Antin , 
failed from Cadiz laft October, and was loft on New Year's- 
day -, her whole Crew, confiding of 400 Men, were 
drowned, together with twenty-four Jefuits, and fourteen 
Miffionaries, that were on board her, the Value of her 
, Cargo being about a Million of Pieces of Eight. She was 
one of the firft French Ships licenfed by the King of Spain 
fince tne prefent War began. A Imall Squadron, cruifing 
here at the proper Seafcns of the Year, might be fure to 
meet with the French Ships, going out or coming Home •, 
and either way they muft prove rich Prizes, fince European 
Goods come to a quick Market on the Coaft of Brafil , 
and the taking fuch an Interloper, faves a Voyage to the 
South Seas. 
As 1 have mentioned the Lofs of this French Ship in her 
Voyage from Cadiz to the South Seas, it may not be amifs 
to inform the Englijh Reader of the DiftinCtion between the 
St, Malomen , that proceed with Licences, and the Inter- 
B £ T A G ii. 259 
lopers.' There is a regular and conftant Correfpondence 
carried on between St. Malo and Cadiz. The French Ships 
carry thither all forts of Goods of the Manufacture of 
that Kingdom, from the rich Brocades of Lyons and Fours, 
to the flight Stuffs of Amiens, All thefe are lent to the Weft 
Indies in the regular Way ; and, in about eighteen Months, 
the St. Malomen carry home the Return from America , con- 
lifting of Gold,. Silver, Cochineal, Indigo, Dying-woods, 
and other rich Commodities, to the Amount of from feven 
to twelve Millions, or 600,000 l. of our Money. In times 
of War, the Spanifh Merchants are glad to employ fome of 
thefe St. Malomen, which are always ftout large Ships, and 
well equipped, to go to Buenos Ayres, or any other Port, 
with a Cargo from Cadiz •, and thefe are the licenfed Ships. 
But, as this Intercourfe gives the Captains of thefe Si. 
Malomen a perleCl Knowledge of the Weft India Commerce, 
they frequently go thither, without Licence, on their own 
Account *, and this is what is properly called Interloping. 
There are, however, a third Sort of Ships that go from 
this Port ; 'viz. fuch as are fitted out diredlly from St. 
Malo for the South Seas, by Permiffion of the Spanifh 
Court, which is but rarely granted, as being direClly 
againft Treaties. There has been of late, indeed, a Scheme 
projected in France for eftablifhing an AJftento Company at 
St. Malo, to whom the Commerce of our South Sea Com- 
pany, as fettled by the Utrecht Treaty, is to be transferred 5, 
but, perhaps, before the End of the War, we may oblige 
the Spaniards to think of dome other Expedient. All this, 
however, contributes to fhew, how fall the French are 
growing upon us in this Branch of Trade, and how much 
it improves and increafes their Seamen, at the fame time 
that it raifes their Reputation for maritime Skill, while 
there are Hundreds of People, at this Angle Port, capable 
of carrying a Ship, round Cape Horn, which, to the Spa- 
niards, and fome other Nations, appears fo frightful a Na- 
vigation. But the beft way, beyond Queftion, to deal 
with the St. Malomen, is to fend fome Men of War, or 
Privateers, into the South Seas, with Tenders, laden with 
Goods and Proviftons, which muft neceffarily produce 
great Returns from their Trade, and their Prizes, at the 
lame time that it would facilitate the making Difcoveries 
in thefe Seas, and exercife our Sailors in a fort of Na- 
vigation, which, through Difufe, is almoft forgotten ; for, 
by an unaccountable Piece of ill Luck, fince our ereCting a 
Company for carrying on that Commerce, there has fcarce 
been an Englijh Ship, except thofe mentioned in the two 
laft Sections, feen in the South Seas ; fo that there are 
various Reafons for renewing this kind of Navigation, 
which could not be any-where lo properly laid open, as at 
the Clofe of thefe Remarks of Captain Betagh , who feems to 
have had the fame thing in View, and to have written them 
with no other Defign, than to induce his Countrymen to 
ftruggle for a Share in that Trade -, with the Value of which, 
and the Poftibiiity of improving it, his long Stay in thofe 
Countries had made him fo perfectly acquainted. 
We have now run intirely through the Hiftory of the 
Circum-navigators, fo far as they have been hitherto pub- 
lifhed in our Language ; having alfo made ufe of fuch 
foreign Affiftance as was neceffary to render them more 
complete. The regular Order in which they lie, enables 
the Reader to take in at once the Whole of this kind of 
Lliftory, fo as to be able to digeft and compare their Dif- 
coveries, and proportion the Praifes due to every one of 
thofe great Commanders. He will, doubtlefs, make many 
Obfervations that have efcaped me ; but there are fome few, 
relative to this general Hiftory, which incline me to con- 
clude this Sedtion, with recommending them to his Notice : 
In the firft Place, I think it very memorable, that this Art 
of failing round the Globe, was not, as fome other Arts 
are, the Effedl of a lucky Accident, and ftruck out by 
Chance, but proceeded from the judicious Obfervation of 
that great and wife Man Columbus, who, for practical and 
ufeful Knowledge, was fcarce ever equalled, and never 
exceeded. Magellan , who perfefted what the other had 
begun, and paffed through that Streight, which will pre- 
ferve his Memory as long as the W orld lafts, did not pro- 
ceed by Guefs, or at Random, but purfued his Difcovery 
with fewer Difficulties than Lome have met with, who have 
followed him. 
All 
\ 
