TRANSACTIONS AT TINIAN AFTER THE DEPARTURE OF THE "CENTURION"
The storm which drove the _Centurion_ to sea blew with too much turbulence to permit either the commodore or any of the people on shore to hear the guns which she fired as signals of distress, and the frequent glare of the lightning had prevented the explosions from being observed: so that when at daybreak it was perceived from the shore that the ship was missing, there was the utmost consternation amongst them: for much the greatest part of them immediately concluded that she was lost, and intreated the commodore that the boat might be sent round the island to look after the wreck; and those who believed her safe had scarcely any expectation that she would ever be able to make the island again, since the wind continued to blow strong at east, and they well knew how poorly she was manned and provided for struggling with so tempestuous a gale. In either of these views their situation was indeed most deplorable: for if the _Centurion_ was lost, or should be incapable of returning, there appeared no possibility of their ever getting off the island, as they were at least six hundred leagues from Macao, which was their nearest port, and they were masters of no other vessel than the small Spanish bark of about fifteen tun seized at their first arrival, which would not even hold a fourth part of their number. And the chance of their being taken off the island by the casual arrival of any other ship was altogether desperate, as perhaps no European ship had ever anchored here before, and it were madness to expect that like incidents should send another here in an hundred ages to come: so that their desponding thoughts could only suggest to them the melancholy prospect of spending the remainder of their days on this island, and bidding adieu for ever to their country, their friends, their families, and all their domestic endearments.
Nor was this the worst they had to fear: for they had reason to apprehend that the Governor of Guam, when he should be informed of their circumstances, might send a force sufficient to overpower them, and to remove them to that island; and then the most favourable treatment they could expect would be to be detained prisoners during life; since from the known policy and cruelty of the Spaniards in their distant settlements, it was rather to be supposed that the governor, if he once had them in his power, would make their want of commissions (all of them being on board the _Centurion_) a pretext for treating them as pirates, and for depriving them of their lives with infamy.