the Chinese that we could do without them in this matter; a circumstance, we learned afterwards, which caused almost as much surprise at Canton as the passage of the batteries. There was, however, no mystery in the case, as an admirable chart of the river had been constructed shortly before this period, by Captain Daniel Ross, a gentleman to whom the navigators of every nation, whose business leads them to the Eastern seas, are indebted in the highest degree.
“The East India Company have the sole merit, and a very high one it is, of having originated the splendid idea of surveying in a scientific manner, not only the vast seas and coasts of China, but all the straits, bays, and islands in the Indian Ocean and Malay Archipelago. This work, perhaps the most useful, and certainly the greatest of its kind that any nation ever undertook, has been steadily carried on at an enormous expence for many years under every circumstance of peace or war. To many persons this language may seem too strong; but I write without exaggeration, at the dictation of feelings which most people will be ready to make allowance for. In an open sea, in broad day-light, and in fine weather, nothing can be more delightful than sailing along on such a voyage as ours to visit strange countries. But when the scene is changed to a dark stormy night, in narrow rocky passages, with rapid tides sweeping through them, the blessing of such charts as those of Captain Ross, and such directions as those of Horsburgh, is felt in a manner that the ‘gentlemen of England, who live at home at ease,’ can form but a faint conception of.
“The flood tide was now making, and we were carried gently past the various batteries on both sides of the river, every one of which sent off a boat to offer us any assistance we might require; but I declined all their offers. At noon it fell almost calm, but the water being perfectly smooth, the brig still had steerage way, and I sent the people to dinner, thinking we should not require them to perform any evolution before one o’clock. The last drain of the flood was now stealing along, and the river seemed like a bowl filled up to the brim. The banks were low and swampy, without trees or houses, or any definite land-mark, by which our precise place could be told. Every thing looked so perfectly placid, that I dreamed of no danger, after having already navigated by the chart, for thirty or forty miles through a succession of intricate and dangerous shoals. I was thus lulled into an undue degree of security, and permitted the tide to drift the brig silently and imperceptibly towards the eastern bank of this immense river. While I was standing on the poop, endeavouring, if possible, to catch some object on the monotonous flat shore, by which the vessel’s progress might be indicated, a small Chinese boat glided slowly up under the quarter, as if to watch our motions. I took no notice of the boatman, who, however, after lying in the same spot for five minutes, stood up, and said in English, ‘Don’t you want a pilot?’ I said, ‘Oh, no – I know the river as well as you do. I want no pilot.’ The man shrugged his shoulders and sat down again. It now wanted only ten minutes of one,