Commodore Anson arrived at Macoa, and having careened and repaired the ship, and been reinforced by some Lascars or Indian sailors, and by some Dutchmen, he sailed from Macoa on the 1st May, giving out that he was bound to Batavia, Captain Saunders of the Gloucester having gone to England in a Swedish ship; but when fairly at sea he made known to his crew that he was going to cruise off Manilla for the purpose of intercepting the two galleons expected there, one of which he ultimately took on the 20th June, just a month after they arrived off the station, after a severe action, in which the galleon, which was called the Nostra Signora Cabadonga, commanded by General Don Jeronimo de Montivo, had sixty-seven killed and eighty-four wounded, while the Centurion had only two killed, and a lieutenant and sixteen men wounded. Lieut. Saumarez, who had highly distinguished himself in this action, was now made Post Captain of the prize, which he safely conducted to Canton. She had on board 400,000_l._ in specie, besides property estimated at 600,000_l._ which was destroyed; he had now therefore obtained his rank, and a considerable share of prize money. On the 7th of December 1743, they sailed from Canton, and arrived in England, to be welcomed by their families and friends, on the 15th June 1744, after an absence of four years, wherein they had endured hardships of every description. Captain Saumarez went to Bath for the recovery of his health. He subsequently served in the Sandwich, York, and Yarmouth: in the York he encountered a heavy gale, in which his superior seamanship was severely put to the test. He was subsequently removed to the Nottingham, of sixty guns, and on the 11th October 1747 fell in with the Mars, a French sixty-four gun-ship, with five hundred men, commanded by M. de Colombe, being one of the ships that had separated from D'Anville's fleet in the storm off Newfoundland. She was returning to Brest. The Nottingham had sixty guns and four hundred men. After an engagement of two hours within pistol shot, in which the Mars had twenty-three killed and nineteen wounded, she struck. On board the Nottingham only three men were killed and nine wounded, which was attributed to the superior seamanship of the Captain, who obtained an advantageous position in the battle. Captain Saumarez had been often heard to say that his highest ambition was to fall in with an enemy of equal force, and on this occasion his honourable feelings were completely gratified. He received congratulations from all his friends, and particularly from the Lords of the Admiralty, who expressed their highest approbation of the skill and courage he displayed on this occasion; but his mild, liberal, and generous treatment to a vanquished enemy was no less conspicuous in this instance than his bravery; it was indeed one of the strongest traits in his character. On this subject he received the following letter from the Secretary of the Admiralty:--