Chapter IX

Arrival at Maranham--Character of disturbances there--I assume the military command--Proclamation commanding surrender of arms--Condition of the people--Corruption of the authorities--Murderous propensities--Difficulty in detecting assassins--Letter to Minister of Marine--Pacification of Parahyba--Doubts as to the President's sincerity--He establishes secret agencies--Extraordinary memorials--Public complaints of the President--Bruce endeavours to intercept them--My reply to the memorialists--Letter to the Minister of Marine--Enclosing complaints of the Consuls--Bruce prepares to resist my authority--Complaints of the British Consul--He considers my presence necessary--Letter of the French Consul--Detailing shameful atrocities--Danger of collision with foreign states--Suspension of the President--Provision for future Government--Conduct of the faction at Rio de Janeiro--No instructions sent for my guidance--Letter to the Minister of Marine--The Ministry had previously deposed Bruce--But turned on me for anticipating their own act.

CHAPTER X.

Misrepresentations made in England--Letter to the Emperor--Tendering my resignation--Repayment demanded from the Junta--Conduct of the Prize Tribunal--No adjudication of prizes intended--Letter to the interim President--Demanding the sums owing to the squadron--Disturbance in Parà--Statement of Account to the Junta--Offer of compromise--Imperial decree--Right of the squadron to the claim.

CHAPTER XI.

Imperial approval--Continued enmity of the Administration--Junta refuses to pay the squadron's claim--I persevere in the demand--Junta agrees to pay the amount in bills--This refused--Arrival of a new President--But without authority for the assumption--Intrigues to establish him in office--I order him to quit the province--And send him to Parà--Letter to the President of Cearà--International animosities--The squadron left to provide for itself--Abuse of authority--Explanations to Minister of Marine--Of transactions at Maranham--Letter to Carvalho e Mello--Anticipating ministerial displeasure--The Junta reimburses part of its debt.

CHAPTER XII.

I quit Maranham for a cruise--Bad state of the frigate--Connivance at illicit trade--We are compelled to proceed to England--The frigate reported to the Brazilian Envoy--Who cheats me of £2,000--His assumption that I had abandoned the service--My contradiction thereof--Order to return to Rio--Reasons for not doing so--Brazilian Envoy tampers with my Officer--Who acquaints me therewith--Envoy stops pay and provisions--Declares that the Brazilian Government will give me nothing!--Captain Shepherd's reply--I prepare to return to Rio--The Envoy dismisses me from the service--Without reason assigned--He declares that I voluntarily abandoned the service--Receipts for accounts transmitted to Brazil--These denied to have been sent.

CHAPTER XIII.

I am dismissed the service by the Brazilian Government--Without any acknowledgment of my services--Inconsistency of this with former thanks--Though dismissed I am tried as a deserter--And am refused all compensation--Report of recent Commission on the subject--False representations--But partially true conclusions--My original patents never set aside--Untrue assumptions as to my dismissal--My claims founded on the original patents--Less than half the interest due paid--Opinions of eminent Brazilians thereon--My services tardily acknowledged--No act of mine had annulled them--The Estate conferred, not confirmed--Promises on account of Chili unfulfilled--The whole still my right.

CHAPTER XIV.

Proclamation for payment of Officers and Men--Log extracts in proof thereof--The sum given up to the squadron disbursed--Denial thereof by the Brazilian Government--Though made to serve as advance of wages--The amount received at Maranham--Fully accounted for--By the receipts of the Officers--Officers' receipts--Extracts from log in further corroboration--Up to my arrival in England--All our prizes, monopolized by Brazil--The conduct of the Brazilian Government unjustifiable.