Mr. Anson had learnt enough from the English at
Canton to conjecture that the war betwixt Great Britain and Spain was
still continued, and that probably the French might engage in the
assistance of Spain before he could arrive in Great Britain; and
therefore, knowing that no intelligence could get to Europe of the prize
he had taken, and the treasure he had on board, till the return of the
merchantmen from Canton, he was resolved to make all possible expedition
in getting back, that he might be himself the first messenger of his own
good fortune, and might thereby prevent the enemy from forming any
projects to intercept him. For these reasons he, to avoid all delay,
accepted the sum offered for the galleon, and she being delivered to the
merchants, the 15th of December 1743, the Centurion the same day got
under sail on her return to England. And on the 3rd of January she came
to an anchor at Prince's Island, in the Straits of Sunda, and continued
there wooding and watering till the 8th, when she weighed and stood for
the Cape of Good Hope, where on the 11th of March she anchored in Table
Bay.
Here the Commodore continued till the beginning of April, highly
delighted with the place, which by its extraordinary accommodations, the
healthiness of its air, and the picturesque appearance of the country,
all enlivened by the addition of a civilised colony, was not disgraced in
an imaginary comparison with the valleys of Juan Fernandez and the lawns
of Tinian.
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