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[Page 7]
as far as the Spaniards are settled, and after having captured, carri'd away, or destroy'd almost every Vessel upon the Coast, might go back to Port Jackson, where they could speedily refit, and return to England by way of Cape Horn after an absence, perhaps, of only fourteen Months.
No Squadron has been upon the West Coast of America since Commodore Ansons - perhaps the sufferings of that Great Officer and his Followers in rounding Cape Horn at an improper Season of the Year may have deter'd Government from making another attempt. It ought however to be consider'd we are now much better acquainted with the Seasons in those distant parts of the World than we were formerly, that Navigation is much improved, particularly in ascertaining the Longitude, that our present Ships are of superior construction, and that the method of preserving the health of Seamen on long Voyages is much better understood than it was seventy Years ago.
Had Commodore Anson gone the Eastern Rout, where he would have met with constant fair Winds, although the distance is greater than that by the Westward, and although he would have had no such place to stop and refresh at as Port Jackson, there is little doubt he would have carried all his Squadron with him to the Coast of Peru, and might in that