eratrice_, there is no doubt; _but not a
shilling of the amount was ever paid by his ministers, nevertheless even
within the past few months the present Brazilian Ministry has charged
that sum against me, as having been received and not accounted for!_ It
is quite possible, that, in ignorance of the practices common amongst
their predecessors of 1824, the present ministers of Brazil may imagine
that the orders of His Majesty were complied with; but if so, the 40,000
milreis never reached me or the squadron. Had it done so, nothing can be
more easy than to find my receipt for the amount, which I defy them to
do.

Considering our difficulties in a fair way of now being settled, I
willingly undertook to conciliate the seamen, and having made the low
calculation of _Rs_. 650.000 milreis--a sum scarcely one-fourth the
value of the prize property--reported to the Minister of Marine the
willingness of the squadron generally to accept 600,000 dollars (about
L.120,000) in compensation of their full rights; agreeing, moreover, to
give up all claim on the Imperial Government on payment of one-half, and
security for the remainder.

Notwithstanding this easy mode of arrangement, solely brought about by
my personal influence with the men, not a milrea was allotted, His
Majesty's ministers deliberately evading the Imperial wishes and
promises. On the contrary, the more His Majesty was determined to do the
squadron justice the more was the Portuguese faction in the ministry
bent on frustrating the Imperial intentions--notwithstanding that, by
the revolutionary proceedings in the North, the integrity of the empire
was at stake. I may indeed go farther and state with great truth, that
whilst His Majesty was most anxious for our speedy departure, in order
to suppress the revolution at Pernambuco, his ministers were, day by
day, addressing to me letters on the most insignificant subjects, with
the apparent object of delaying the squadron by official frivolities,
the necessity of replying to which would prevent my attention to the
fulfilment of the Imperial wish. The best proof of this is the fact
which will be apparent in the course of this chapter, viz.--that
although the province of Pernambuco was in open revolt, the
Administration contrived to delay the sailing of the squadron for _six
months_ beyond the events just narrated.

On the 24th of February, the following extraordinary _portaria_ was
transmitted to me by the Minister of Mar