e first of these joined
the squadron on its way to Bahia, which, being the nearest of the
disaffected provinces, was the first to be subdued.

The coast of Bahia was reached on the 1st of May, and Lord Cochrane
was arranging to blockade its capital and port, on the 4th, when the
Portuguese fleet came out of the harbour. It comprised the _Don Joao_,
of seventy-four guns; the _Constitucao_, of fifty; the _Perola_, of
forty-four; the _Princeza Real_, of twenty-eight; the _Regeneracao_,
the _Dez de Fevereiro_, the _San Gaulter_, the _Principe de Brazil_,
and the _Restauracao_, of twenty-six each; the _Calypso_ and the
_Activa_, of twenty-two; the _Audaz_, of twenty; and the _Canceicao_,
of eight; being one line-of-battle ship, five frigates, five
corvettes, a brig, and a schooner. Lord Cochrane did not venture with
his small and as yet untried force to attack the whole squadron, but
he proceeded to cut off the four rearmost ships. This he did with the
_Pedro Primiero_, but, to his disgust, the other vessels, heedless
of his orders, failed to follow him. "Had the rest of the Brazilian
squadron," he said, "come down in obedience to signals, the ships cut
off might have been taken or dismantled, as with the flag-ship I
could have kept the others at bay, and no doubt have crippled all in
a position to render them assistance. To my astonishment, the signals
were disregarded, and no efforts were made to second my operations."
The _Pedro Primiero_, after fighting alone for some time, and during
that time even doing but little mischief, by reason of the clumsy way
in which her guns were handled, had to be withdrawn.

At that failure Lord Cochrane was reasonably chagrined. Worse than the
fact that the Portuguese had escaped uninjured for this once, was the
knowledge that he could not hope thoroughly to punish them without
first effecting great reform in the materials at his disposal. On the
5th of May he wrote to the Government to complain of the miserable
condition of the ships and crews provided for him by the Brazilian
Government. "From the defective sailing and manning of the squadron,"
he said, "it seems to me that the _Pedro Primiero_ is the only one
that can assail an enemy's ship-of-war, or act in the face of a
superior force so as not to compromise the interests of the empire and
the character of the officers commanding. Even this ship, in common
with the rest, is so ill-equipped as to be much less efficient than
she othe