rable time afterwards, when some Chinese boats were selling
provisions to the Centurion, the person who had wrested the sword from
the Chinese came with great eagerness to the commodore, to assure
him that one of the principal thieves was then in a provision-boat
alongside the ship; and the officer, who had been robbed, viewing
the fellow on this report, and well remembering his face, orders were
immediately given to seize him; and he was accordingly secured on
board the ship, where strange discoveries were now made.

This thief, on his being apprehended, expressed so much fright in his
countenance, that it was feared he would have died upon the spot; the
mandarine too, who attended the ship, had visibly no small share of
concern on the occasion. Indeed he had reason enough to be alarmed,
since it was soon evinced that he had been privy to the whole robbery,
for the commodore, declaring that he would not deliver up the thief,
but would himself order him to be shot, the mandarine immediately put
off the magisterial air with which be had at first pretended to
demand him, and begged his release in the most abject manner; and the
commodore appearing inflexible, there came on board, in less than two
hours time, five or six of the neighbouring mandarines, who all joined
in the same entreaty, and, with a view of facilitating their suit,
offered a large sum of money for the fellow's liberty. Whilst they
were thus soliciting, it was discovered that the mandarine, who was
the most active amongst them, and who seemed to be most interested in
the event, was the very gentleman who came to the officer just after
the robbery, and who pretended to be so much displeased with the
villainy of his countrymen. And, on further enquiry, it was found that
he was the mandarine of the island; and that he had, by the authority
of his office, ordered the peasants to commit that infamous action:
And it seemed, as far as could be collected from the broken hints
which were casually thrown out, that he and his brethren, who were all
privy to the transaction, were terrified with the fear of being
called before the tribunal at Canton, where the first article of their
punishment would be the stripping them of all they were worth; though
their judges (however fond of inflicting a chastisement so lucrative
to themselves) were perhaps of as tainted a complexion as the
delinquents. Mr Anson was not displeased to have caught the Chinese
in this dilemma; and h