rdice imputed to me by the same
authority, it would be easy to refer to the above enumeration of
distresses caused by our two ships having captured all their provisions
in the face of thirteen, in every way better manned and equipped.

The consternation caused by my nocturnal visit, which decided the
evacuation of the city, was described as almost ludicrous. As I had been
correctly informed, the Portuguese admiral and his officers _were_ at a
ball, and information of our appearance amongst the fleet was conveyed
to him in the midst of the festivities. "What"--exclaimed he--"Lord
Cochrane's line-of-battleship in the very midst of our fleet! Impossible
--no large ship can have come up in the dark." We, however, did find our
way in the dark--and did not retire till our _reconnaissance_ was as
complete as darkness would permit.

The lamentations caused by General Madeira's proclamation were no doubt
faithfully chronicled in the Bahia newspapers, one of these declaring
"in the last few days we have witnessed in this city a most doleful
spectacle that must touch the heart even of the most insensible. A panic
terror has seized on all men's minds--the city will be left without
protectors--and families, whose fathers are obliged to fly, will be left
orphans--a prey to the invaders," &c. &c. A prognostication not at all
in accordance with my mode of carrying on warfare, which, as Portuguese
families afterwards found, both at Bahia and elsewhere, was to protect
the defenceless and unoffending.

The before-mentioned resolution of the council was precisely what I
wished, as the evacuation of the port and province by the troops as well
as the fleet, must prove more favourable to the Imperial cause than if
the fleet alone had been destroyed and the military force remained. As I
had, however, every reason to believe that it was General Madeira's
intention to remove the troops to the Northern provinces, which would
only have shifted the scene of war to another locality, I was determined
at all hazards to prevent such movement.

On the 1st of July, information was brought, that, as the fireships were
now known to be in readiness for the attack, the Portuguese admiral had
hastily embarked the whole of the troops in transports, and that a
number of merchantmen were also filled with persons who wished to leave
Bahia under his protection. As it was clear that the total evacuation of
the province by the enemy was preferable to an attack wh