3 >4 The V OY 
X .4 ■' ' 
and, by the 6th o {April, completely rigged j and the fame 
Day they began to unmoor. On the 7th in the Afternoon 
the Commodore went afliore, to take his Leave of the Go- 
vernor of Macao ; who, upon his coming off, faluted him 
with thirteen Guns. The next Day a Mandarin, and feven 
Chinefe , in a Junk, anchored clofe by the Centurion , who 
pretended to give the Commodore Advice to make Haile, 
becaufe the Tuff 0 on Seafon was advancing j but the Com- 
modore very well underftood the Meaning of the Meifage, 
and that they were only deiirous of being rid of him, for fear 
of his interrupting their Manila Trade. This appeared 
more clearly on the 13 th, when the Mandarin fent a Mef- 
fage, infilling upon his immediate Departure ; to which the 
Commodore anfwered, that he would fail when he thought 
proper, and not before. 
On the 1 7th a Swedijh Homeward-bound Eaft-Indiaman 
anchored near them, which faluted the Commodore with 16 
Guns, who returned 1 5 •, and foon after went on board the 
Swede , where he was entertained with all imaginable Re- 
fpefil, and faluted again at his Departure with 16 Guns. 
The Commodore, finding the South Weft Monfoon fetting 
in, and that it would be dangerous for him to fail for Europe 
before the Month of October, determined to take this Op- 
portunity of fending home Captain Saunders, in the Swedijh 
Ship, with an Account of his Proceedings, for the Satif- 
fablion of the Government ; and, in the mean time, re- 
folded to cruife for the Acapulco Ship, which he had cer- 
tain Intelligence was very foon expedted at Manila. 
The City of Macao, which in the Chinefe Language 
fignifies a Port , ftands on the Point of an Ifland, called Hei- 
cheu, in the Province of Canton. The Form of this Point 
of Land is very lingular •, it refembles a Man’s Arm bent, 
the Shoulder-part being joined to the Ifland, and the reft 
■ furrounded by the Sea c The Haven is very fafe and com- 
modious, and the City was formerly very rich and fplendid. 
It belongs, as it always did, to the Portuguefe, who fettled 
here by Permiflion from the Emperor of China : They 
have a Governor of their own, and live under their own 
Laws *, but are, notwithstanding, fubjedted to the Chinefe, to 
a Degree of Slavery. The Cultoms of the Port belong to 
the Emperor, who has an Hoppo , or Commifiioner of Re- 
venue, here, as in other Ports of his Dominions, and a 
Mandarin, who direbls Civil Affairs •, neither is it poflible 
for the Portuguefe to fhake off the Yoke, becaufe they are 
every way furrounded by the Chinefe, and have not a Day’s 
Provifion but what they draw from the Country. While 
the Portuguefe were in Poffefiion of the Trade to Japan, 
this Place was in a very fiourifhing Condition, and one of 
the moll confiderable Cities in their Poffefiion ; but fince 
their Expulfion from that Ifland, their Trade has declined 
here, tho’ it feems now to be in a better Condition than it 
was fome Years ago •, and there are a confiderable Number 
of Portuguefe Ships that come hither annually from their 
Settlements in the Weft-Indies. 
But the Chinefe drive a much more confiderable Trade 
from hence, efpecially to Manila, where they vend a vaft 
Quantity of rich Goods, at a very high Price, to the Spani- 
ards, who pay for them all in ready Money ; that is to fay, 
in Pieces of Eight, or in Silver Bars, which they bring from the 
Weft- Indies. This, however, feems to be a great Slip in their 
Politics ; which may be the more eafily apprehended, if we 
compare it with the prudent Management of the Dutch, who 
carry on likewife a great Trade with the Chinefe at Bata- 
via ; where, notwithftanding, they never fuffer them to deal 
for ready Money, but for Spices, and other Indian Commo- 
dities, and for the Manufactures of Europe ; fo that the 
fame Commerce which exhaufts the Spaniards , enriches the 
Dutch , who make the Chinefe their Carriers at an eafy Ex- 
pence ; whereas the Spaniards export immenfe Quantities of 
Chinefe Goods in their Manila Ships to Acapulco, and bring 
Horn thence the Silver of Mexico in Return, the belt Part 
of which comes, fooner or later, into the Hands of the Chi- 
nefe \ fo that here, as well as in Europe , the Spaniards, thro’ 
their own ill Management, are only Fadlors for other 
People, and have no more than a tranfitory Poffefiion of that 
prodigious W ealth they draw from their Indies. It is no 
Wonder therefore, that the Chinefe , who are, without que- 
ftion, as cunning and as felf-interefted a People as any in the 
[World, were very much difturbed at Commodore Anfons 
AGES of Book L 
lying fo long in this Port, efpecially after the Arrival of a 
Ship from Manila, which happened a little before his De- 
parture, and informed the Chinefe thoroughly of the Appre- 
henfions they were under from the Centurion ’s being in their 
Neighbourhood. 
There is one Thing which has been before laid down in 
point of Fadl, that feems to require fome Explanation *, and 
that is the Caution given by the Chinefe Mandarin to the 
Commodore, in relation to the ftormy Seafon. We have 
already fpoken in other Places fomewhat of this Subject ; but 
here it will be neceffary to difcufs the Matter more at large, 
in order to fettle this Point : With refpedl to the Wea- 
ther in China , Monfoon is an Indian Word, which, ftridtly 
fpeaking, fignifies no more than a ftrong Wind ; and is ap- 
plied to the dated Trade-winds no otherwife than as they 
are remarkably ftrong, as well as fteady which Obfervation 
will hereafter appear to be of much greater Ufe, than at 
firft Sight may be imagined. The Monfoons are diftin- 
guifhed into the Eaft Monfoon, and the Weft Monfoon : 
The former fets in, to the North of the Line in the Month 
of September , and blows till April, bringing ufually fine, 
fair, and conflant Weather ; whereas the Weft Monfoon , 
which blows from April to September , is ufually accompa- 
nied with heavy Rains, and dreadful Storms ; which fhews 
the Reafon that induced the Commodore to remain in this 
Part of the World, till the Eaft Monfoon was well fet in. 
It is not to be fuppofed, that the Change of thefe Winds is 
a Thing very regular or exadt, or that the Succcfiion of 
them is immediate but it is to be underftood, that the 
Months of April and September are the fluffing Months, and 
that there is fome Variation of Winds, before the Monfoon 
becomes fix’d and fteady. Thus much, however, is cer- 
tain, that the Alteration of thefe Winds is as conftant as 
the Change of the Year ; and that all the Navigation of the 
Indies depends upon them. 
All who are concerned in Trade wait for thefe Changes, 
and complete their Cargoes, and fit out their Ships, agree- 
able to thefe Seafons, taking fuch Meafures to difpatch their 
Bufinefs, in the Places to which the Ships are configned, 
as to take the Benefit of the next or contrary Monfoon , 
which brings them back again ; neither is it eafy to conceive, 
how the Trade of India could be carried on, but for thefe : 
regular and conftant Winds, A Coafting Trade, indeed, 
might be pradlicable, from Places near each other, by the : 
Help of Sea and Land-breezes ; but Voyages of confider- • 
able Extent could by no means be carried on by the Help > 
of fuch Land and Sea Winds ; or, if they v/ere, they might ; 
take up three or four Years, inftead of fix Weeks. At the : 
Change of thefe Trade Winds there are frequently great : 
Storms, which are alfo called in the Indies , Monfoons \ taking ;= 
that Word in its natural and ftridt Senfe, for an high or •§ 
ftrong Wind ; and therefore this Diftindlion is very necef- | 
fary to be obferved, in order to prevent our confounding ; 
one Monfoon with another. 
But the Winds mentioned by the Mandarin, were T uf~ > 
foons, or, as fome write them, Typhons ; becaufe the Greek i 
Word Typhon fignifies a violent high Wind. It would b e: 
at kail a tedious and perplex’d, and, perhaps, after all, as 
dry and ufelefs Inquiry, fhould we endeavour to fhew, that t 
the Chinefe Term of Tuff 0 on is derived from, or is no better : 
than a Corruption of, the Greek Word Typhon ; and as it is e 
more agreeable to our Purpofe, we will endeavour to ex- ■ 
plain the Thing, without troubling ourfelves about the; 
Name. Tuffoons, then, are a particular Kind of violent! 
Storms, which happen ufually in the fluffing Months, butt, 
efpecially April, on the Coaft of China. They commonly r : 
happen near the Full or Change of the Moon, and are ufu-d 
ally preceded by very fair Weather, fmall Winds, and at 
clear Sky : Thefe Winds veer from the true Trade-wind, J 
and ufually fhift almoft round the Compafs. Before thed 
Storm comes on, there appears a dark thick Cloud on that!!:, 
Point from which the Storm will blow •, as fuppofe it be i 1 
from theN. E. which Cloud hangs always near the Hori- 1 
zon, the upper Edge of it being of a dark Flame- colour, '.i 
which grows brighter and brighter, and then fades to a; 
whitifh glaring Cloud. This is a very awful and terrible/: 
Spedtacle, inaftnuch as it lafts fometimes for twelve Flours - 
before the Storm comes on : When that Cloud begins to 
move, the Wind prefently follows it, and blows with incre-: j 
j diblek 
