MANILA GALLEON

The incredible story of Admiral George Anson is really worthy of placement beside that of Capt. Bligh in the annals of British maritime history, and actually in that history it is far more important. Anson was given an impossible assignment. He was to round the horn and harass the Spanish settlements and the Spanish ships wherever possible. His ships were overcrowded, under-equipped, under-armed, and in bad shape. He lost the greater number of his complement of men. Two ships deserted. Several were sunk- or lost. Others proved not seaworthy. Yet prizes were taken. Towns were harassed. Ships weathered gales that downed worthier vessels. And one ship crossed the Pacific- and took on cargoes in China- and defeated the greatest ship of the Spanish Pacific fleet on the homeward voyage. This is that story, and of the men whose names are known it is the true record. Mason has built into the framework enough of fiction to give it pace, but the whole emerges as authentic, adding another panel to tales of the sea.