.
But if, by the time when all was in readiness to be shipped off (which it
was supposed would be in about forty days), the merchants should not have
procured the Viceroy's permission, then the Commodore proposed to apply
for it himself. These were the terms Mr. Anson thought proper to offer to
quiet the uneasiness of the supercargoes; and notwithstanding the
apparent equity of the conditions, many difficulties and objections were
urged, nor would the Chinese agree to them till the Commodore had
consented to pay for every article he bespoke before it was put in hand.
However, at last the contract being passed, it was some satisfaction to
the Commodore to be certain that his preparations were now going on, and
being himself on the spot, he took care to hasten them as much as
possible.

During this interval, in which the stores and provisions were getting
ready, the merchants continually entertained Mr. Anson with accounts of
their various endeavours to get a licence from the Viceroy, and their
frequent disappointments, which to him was now a matter of amusement, as
he was fully satisfied there was not one word of truth in anything they
said. But when all was completed, and wanted only to be shipped, which
was about the 24th of November, at which time, too, the north-east
monsoon was set in, he then resolved to apply himself to the Viceroy to
demand an audience, as he was persuaded that without this ceremony the
procuring a permission to send his stores on board would meet with great
difficulty. On the 24th of November, therefore, Mr. Anson sent one of his
officers to the mandarin who commanded the guard of the principal gate of
the city of Canton with a letter directed to the Viceroy. When this
letter was delivered to the mandarin, he received the officer who brought
it very civilly, and took down the contents of it in Chinese, and
promised that the Viceroy should be immediately acquainted with it, but
told the officer it was not necessary for him to wait for an answer,
because a message would be sent to the Commodore himself.

A FIRE AT CANTON.

Two days after the sending the above-mentioned letter a fire broke out in
the suburbs of Canton. On the first alarm Mr. Anson went thither with his
officers and his boat's crew to assist the Chinese. When he came there he
found that it had begun in a sailor's shed, and that by the slightness of
the buildings and the awkwardness of the Chinese it was getting head
apace. But he