ssary refreshments. Thence they prosecuted their voyage to the river
of Canton in China, where the commodore ordered the ship to be sheathed,
and found means to procure a reinforcement of sailors. The chief object
of his attention was the rich annual ship that sails between Acapulco,
in Mexico, and Manilla, one of the Philippine islands. In hopes of
intercepting her, he set sail from Canton, and steered his course back
to the straits of Manilla, where she actually fell into his hands, after
a short but vigorous engagement. The prize was called Neustra Signora de
Cabodonga, mounted with forty guns, manned with six hundred sailors,
and loaded with treasure and effects to the value of three hundred and
thirteen thousand pounds sterling; with this windfall he returned
to Canton; from whence he proceeded to the Cape of Good Hope, and
prosecuted his voyage to England, where he arrived in safety. Though
this fortunate commander enriched himself by an occurrence that may be
termed almost accidental, the British nation was not indemnified for
the expense of the expedition; and the original design was entirely
defeated. Had the Manilla ship escaped the vigilance of the English
commodore, he might have been, on his return to England, laid aside as
a superannuated captain, and died in obscurity, but his great wealth
invested him with considerable influence, and added lustre to his
talents.

He soon became the oracle which was consulted in all naval
deliberations; and the king raised him to the dignity of a peerage.
In July, sir John Balchen, an admiral of approved valour and great
experience, sailed from Spithead with a strong squadron, in quest of an
opportunity to attack the French fleet at Brest, under the command of
M. de Rochambault. In the bay of Biscay he was overtaken by a violent
storm, that dispersed the ships, and drove them up the English channel.
Admiral Stewart, with the greater part of them, arrived at Plymouth;
but sir John Balchen's own ship, the Victory, which was counted the
most beautiful first-rate in the world, foundered at sea; and this
brave commander perished, with all his officers, volunteers, and crew,
amounting to eleven hundred choice seamen. On the fourth day of October,
after the siege of Fribourg, the mareschal duke de Belleisle, and his
brother, happened in their way to Berlin to halt at a village in the
forest of Hartz, dependent on the electorate of Hanover. There they were
apprehended by the bail