Cover blurb

Anson's circumnavigation of the globe in the years 1740-1744 was recognised by his contemporaries as an extraordinary feat of seamanship, a triumph of determination and resourcefulness over formidable odds. Of the six ships with which he set out only one, his flagship Centurion, completed the voyage. From the start his expedition suffered misfortune. Anson spent three months in rounding Cape Horn against violent gales that destroyed the Spanish squadron sent to intercept him. Thereafter in the Pacific he experienced nearly every hazard known to sailors in the course of his long battle of wits with the Spanish authorities. Only at the last, when ready to sail for England, did success come to him with the capture of the Manilla galleon that made his expedition the most profitable since that of Drake's Golden Hind.

The comparative neglect from which this voyage has suffered in recent years can in part be attributed to the prosaic bulk of the official account by Richard Walter. Anson was unlucky in his choice of historian, his chaplain. Nevertheless, the story was compiled from diaries and logs, and checked for accuracy by Anson personally. From this first-hand material Leslie Wilcox has compiled a fresh account that will be of interest to the student of naval affairs as well as to the reader in search of high adventure. Perhaps better known as one of out leading marine artists, Mr Wilcox has given life and point to his text with pictures that in themselves are a fitting memorial to Anson's achievement.

The jacket of this book was designed by the author. His painting shows Anson's squadron entering the Pacific by way of the Straits of Magellan.

The author

L. A. WILCOX is a Member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours and of the Society for Nautical Research. He is also Honorary Secretary of the Society of Marine Artists. His earlier hook, Mr Pepys' Navy (see below) was widely acclaimed for its lively text and vivid pictures.

List of illustrations

The illustrations in this book are particularly well done and add an interesting dimension to this study of Anson's circumvention ! An example of an illustration over two pages is shown here.

Shugborough
Lady Anson
Some of the healthiest walked out
' Sowse over head and ears in the water'
The ships had to strike their topmasts
Pearl fell in with the Spanish fleet
Tents ashore
A spring in the mainmast Tryal loses her mainmast Gloucester takes Tryal in tow
Fishing a mast
Bending an entirely new suit of sails
Mountainous seas struck at them
Cape Horn
Anson put men in the shrouds to act as a wind vane
A pump sent to Tryal
Gammoning of the bowsprit broken
Men dying at the pumps
Cape Horn greybeard
Anson's course when rounding Cape Horn
The Commodore pitched his tent on a lawn
Sighting Juan Fernandez
Sick men carried ashore
Found themselves in an excellent natural harbour
The Indian and his family
Wager ashore
The four old marines
The Spaniard surprised at the Tryal's size
Anna pink broken up
Anson
The Spanish lady and her daughters
Paita burns
Balsas
The tars in ladies' gowns
The Spaniards halted The town of Paita
The argument over the captured treasure Harrison's
No. 1 chronometer
Eight swivel guns
Three negroes tried to jump overboard
In Manilla
The galleon moored to trees
The Spanish method of obtaining water
Walter tests the numbing fish
The cook stripped by Indians
The missing cutter
Gloucester was a wreck
Gloucester blows up
The leak at the stem
The long-boat smashes the stern gallery
Practising with muskets
Lengthening the little Spanish bark
Unorthodox anchor
Macao
The Hoppo refuses a permit
A mandarin comes to Centurion
At drinking they were expert
Centurion surrounded by fishing boats
Canton river
Cabadonga's mats catch fire
The Bocca Tigris
The Barge Crew
Canton
Anson received by the Viceroy
The Home-coming

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