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BRITISH EXPLOITS 
 IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
..^^^S^JSt-^^. 
 
 
 ■'^ -^t .^'- %^/'' 
 
 ** *.••■■:.,* i 
 
 ^:^,V 
 
 A SOUTH AMERICAN HOME 
 
BRITISH EXPLOITS 
 IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 A History of British Activities in Explo- 
 ration, Military Adventure, Diplomacy, 
 Science, and Trade, in Latin-America 
 
 BY 
 
 W. H. KOEBEL 
 
 Author of "Argentina, Past and Present," "Modern Chile," "Romance 
 
 of the River Platte," "Uruguay," "The South Americans, 
 
 from the Social and Industrial Point of View," 
 
 "Modern Argentina," Editor-in-Chief of the 
 
 "Encyclopedia of South America." 
 
 ILLUSTRATED WITH 
 PHOTOGRAPHS AND OLD PRINTS 
 
 NEW YORK 
 THE CENTURY CO. 
 
 1917 
 

 Copyright, 1917, by 
 The Cektuey Co. 
 
 Published, May, igi? 
 
 / 
 
 MAY 31 1917 
 
 ©G1.A4G2761 
 
THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED TO 
 
 MY MOTHER 
 
 WHOSE FATHER DID HIS SHARE 
 
 OF VOYAGING UNDER THE 
 
 WHITE ENSIGN 
 
PEEFACE 
 
 Among such merits as I may claim for this work is a 
 total lack of haste in its preparation. Written under the 
 stress of no other pre-occupation save that caused by the 
 deep shadow of the war, there has been no question here 
 of a rapid gathering together of material; but rather 
 that of a lengthy process of selection. To pick out the 
 most salient features from the vast field of British enter- 
 prise in South America is not an easy task. 
 
 This book having been written in the comparative soli- 
 tude of the country, and its sources of information largely 
 derived from my own library, I have taxed the good na- 
 ture of a smaller number than usual of the various ex- 
 perts. It is, nevertheless, impossible for me to pass by 
 the names of three gentlemen without a special note of 
 thanks. 
 
 The first of these is his Excellency Senor Don Agustin 
 Edwards, that most notable Chilean Minister Plenipoten- 
 tiary in London, whose kindness in obtaining information 
 concerning the early British in Chile must be gratefully 
 acknowledged. To Mr. Herbert Gibson I am deeply in- 
 debted for similar good offices in regard to Argentina and 
 to the British writers on that country. I have, more- 
 over, to express my obligation to Mr. Francis Edwards, 
 who has not only placed at my disposal his wide knowl- 
 edge of South American bibliography but has most courte- 
 ously taken the trouble to send me down for purposes of 
 reference those particular books which I lacked for this 
 work. 
 
 The subjoined letter, which I found myself under the 
 necessity of sending to the editor of a minor London pub- 
 
viii PREFACE 
 
 lication, will explain itself. It is true that it was written 
 in the heat of an indignation which appeared justifiable to 
 me; but, on mature consideration, the special nature of 
 this present book, written at this period, seems to de- 
 mand its inclusion, sincerely reluctant though I am to 
 introduce any personal matter of the kind. I include it 
 in full, moreover, although some lines have no bearing 
 on the subject. But this is preferable to the employ- 
 ment of the asterisk — than which there is surely no instru- 
 ment of the pen which lends itself more readily to the un- 
 fair practices of a juggling mind. 
 
 It is unnecessary to give the name of the publication to 
 which the following was directed : 
 
 Sir : — In this secluded spot most things, including periodicals, 
 are belated. It is for this reason that I have only now been 
 enabled to read your review, published on the thirtieth of Novem- 
 ber, of my book. The South Americans. I have, up to now, man- 
 aged to deliver myself of eighteen books without sparring with a 
 reviewer — possibly because there has seemed no reason! But 
 there are two points in this review of yours that cannot be passed 
 over in silence. 
 
 The first is a personal one. According to your reviewer: 
 * ' The name of our author leads one to suppose that he knows a 
 good deal more than he tells of the unceasing efforts of Germany 
 for supremacy — not commercial supremacy alone — in some of 
 the states, especially in parts of Brazil; as a matter of fact he 
 dismisses this subject airily in twenty lines." 
 
 Now this, leaping from the flat body of a review, is startling, 
 and imbues one with the sensations of a sitter on a needle-point 
 concealed in a cushion! If the words have any meaning at all, 
 sir, they surely convey the gravest slur on the loyalty of one 
 who has never willingly missed an opportunity of pointing out 
 the German peril, not only in South America, but elsewhere. 
 Those who are familiar with my work — and I am fortunate in 
 that, though clearly lacking your reviewer, their number is not 
 small — know that I have laboured this very point with persistence 
 for the last ten years. They, I am sure, will not need from me 
 any comment on this imputation. The others (I suppose, sir, 
 that it would savour too much of egotism to class them as the 
 "remainder"?) will, I hope, accept my unqualified denial that 
 
PREFACE ix 
 
 there is the faintest ground for this queer insinuation concern- 
 ing some dark and mysterious knowledge which I am jealously 
 guarding from the British public. 
 
 As regards the precise degree of taste in interpolating such 
 matter, on such evidence, in a review — well, I do not think that 
 I have any peculiar reason to be sensitive on this point. As one 
 whose father held a commission from Queen Victoria, and as 
 one who at the outbreak of the war alone out of five brothers 
 — the number is no longer intact — did not hold a commission in 
 the regular forces, I cannot produce a blush of shame even to 
 gratify your reviewer! Moreover, that I am still a civilian is 
 the fault, not of four years on the shady side of the slacker's 
 haven (forty) but of a slightly sprung heart. So much for a 
 personal outpouring rendered unavoidable by our critic. 
 
 The second point I can turn to with some relief, since it is 
 not of an intimate nature, and since it seems to me to come within 
 the reviewer's legitimate province. In any case it strengthens 
 my theory that I have the misfortune not to count your reviewer 
 among my readers. According to him, again: "Mr. Koebel 
 cannot know much of Pernambuco or its surroundings, or he 
 could not have failed to observe the copious and interesting 
 Dutch remains still to be seen in that part of the continent." 
 
 I freely admit that an ambiguous sentence which the reviewer 
 has picked out might produce this supposition — in the mind of 
 one who has not read on and arrived at the description of these 
 very Dutch remains at Pernambuco (p. 265). 
 
 Accept my apologies for the length of this letter, which is 
 primarily due to the fact that it is not only men having the 
 advantage of homely names who pride themselves on being Eng- 
 lish. There are others, such as, 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 W. H. Koebel. 
 Castle Combe, 
 Combe Martin, 
 N. Devon. 
 
 These latter apologies must be repeated here to the 
 present reader. May his breast be free from that justi- 
 fied resentment which one who has paid to enter a place 
 of public entertainment must experience when he finds 
 himself buttonholed and drawn into a corner for an in- 
 timate and heart-to-heart talk with a performer whose 
 
X PREFACE 
 
 rightful place is on the stage, and whose private affairs 
 are a mere matter of boredom to others ! Nevertheless, 
 it is preferable to run this risk than to permit the re- 
 motest doubt of the loyalty with which the affairs of the 
 British in South America are regarded in these pages. 
 
CONTENTS 
 PART I 
 
 THE NAVIGATORS 
 OHAFTEB FAQE 
 
 I The Romantic Period in South America ... 3 
 
 II The First English Mariners to Sail the Spanish 
 
 Main 15 
 
 III The Beginnings of British Trade with South 
 
 America 46 
 
 IV The Buccaneers 80 
 
 PART II 
 
 THE BRITISH IN COLONIAL SOUTH AMERICA (-^^ 
 
 V Early British Adventures in Spanish America . 101 
 VI Some Eighteenth-Century British Voyages to 
 
 South America 116 
 
 VII The British Expedition to the River Plate . . 141 
 VIII British Guiana and the Falkland Islands . . 156 
 IX British Fighters in the Cause of South Ameri- L^ 
 
 can Independence (I) 163 
 
 X British Fighters in the Cause of South Ameri- 
 can Independence (II) 188 
 
 XI British Fighters in the Cause op South Ameri- 
 can Independence (III) 214 
 
 PART III 
 
 south AMERICA IN THE EARLY PART OP THE 
 NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 XII The First British Relations with the New 
 
 Republics .:- 235 
 
 XIII Early Travelers and Traders in the Republics . 255 
 
 XIV The British in Brazil (I) 281 
 
 XV The British in Brazil (II) .;.... 295 
 
 XVI The British in Brazil (III) 311 
 
 XVII The British in Brazil (IV) 327 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER FAQB 
 
 XVIII The British in Brazil (V) 340 
 
 XIX The British in Brazil (VI) 364 
 
 XX The British in the South American Internal 
 
 Wars 374 
 
 PART IV 
 
 scientific and literary observers 
 
 XXI Some British Naturalists in South America . 395 
 XXII South America in English Print 420 
 
 XXIII Achievements of the British in the Nineteenth 
 
 Century (I) 481 
 
 XXIV Achievements of the British in the Nineteenth 
 
 Century (II) 494 
 
 XXV Achievements of the British in the Nineteenth 
 
 Century (III) 512 
 
 XXVI To-day and To-morrow in South America . . 525 
 
 Appendix 553 
 
 Bibliography of Modern Works 555 
 
 British Arrivals in the River Plate at the Be- 
 ginning OP THE XIXth Century .... 570 
 Index 573 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 A South American Home Frontispiece 
 
 TAOING PAGE 
 
 Sir John Hawkins ..." 20 
 
 Sir Francis Drake 20 
 
 The Santos Eiver in Brazil 48 
 
 Old Fort at Mouth of Santos Eiver, Brazil 48 
 
 Island of Juan Fernandez 88i 
 
 Valdivia, Chile (1836) 102' 
 
 Conference of President O 'Higgins with the Indians . . 112 
 
 Ambrose O 'Higgins 124^ 
 
 Sir Home Riggs Popham 144 ^ 
 
 Lieutenant-General Whitelocke 144 
 
 General San Martin 168 "^ 
 
 General Bolivar 184 '^ 
 
 An Early View of Valparaiso, Chile 190 '^ 
 
 Plaza de la Independencia, Santiago, Chile (early XlXth 
 
 century) 206 ' 
 
 Araucanian Witch Doctors at "Work 218 '^ 
 
 An Early Raid by Araucanian Indians, Chile 228^ 
 
 A British South American on His Rancho 244 
 
 British South Americans 244 
 
 Crossing the Andes 262 
 
 South American Indian Encampment 276 
 
 Rio de Janeiro (1809) 300 
 
 Landing Stage, Rio de Janeiro (early XlXth century) . . 332 
 
 Public Gardens (1835) 332 
 
 Sugar Loaf Mountain, Rio de Janeiro 372 
 
 Garibaldi 380 v' 
 
 General Rosas 380 ^^ 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 TAOINO 
 
 PAQE 
 
 South American Indians 412 
 
 South American Cattle 432 
 
 South American Oxen 432 
 
 Early View of Valparaiso, Chile 456 
 
 Plaza San Martin, Mendoza, Argentina 472 ' 
 
 Cattle Market at Montevideo 488 
 
 Plaza Constitucion Station, Buenos Aires 496 
 
 Avenue de Mayo, Buenos Aires 496 
 
 South American Indians 508 ' 
 
 Old Print of the Llama and Indians 508 
 
 A Modern British South American Ship 516 
 
 Early Type of Royal Mail Steam Packet Company Ship . . 516 
 
 Railroad Construction in South America 520 
 
 Forest Clearing in South America 520 ' 
 
 Viaduct Construction in South America 532 
 
 Bridge Construction in South America 532 
 
 Avenue Rio Branco, Rio de Janeiro 548 
 
 Street Scene in Rio de Janeiro 548 ' 
 
 The publishers acknowledge with thanks the courtesy of The Royal Mail Steam 
 Packet Company in supplying several of the above illustrations. 
 
PAET I 
 THE NAVIGATORS 
 
BRITISH EXPLOITS IN 
 SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE ROMANTIC PEEIOD IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 The charm of the Americas — Iberian navigators — Prince Henry of Portu- 
 gal and his seamen — Some famous captains — Columbus — ^Manner in 
 which the English were attracted to the new lands — The English 
 crusaders as comrades of the Portuguese — Ramifications of friend- 
 ship which succeeded the first alliance — The interchange of Portuguese 
 wines and English cloth — The alliance consolidated in battle against 
 the Spaniards — The treaty of Windsor — The marriage of John of 
 Portugal to Philippa of England — Prince Henry, the navigator of 
 English blood on his mother's side — Some ethics of the slave trade — 
 Effect of the discoveries of the new lands upon the English in Portu- 
 gal — The return of the galleons — Awakening of the navigating spirit 
 in the West of England — The story of Robert Machin — ^Romance which 
 is alleged to have led to the discovery of Madeira by the English — 
 Death of Machin and Anna d'Arset — Links connecting the tale with 
 the accepted discovery of the island by Joao Gongalves Zarco — Se- 
 bastian Cabot — His South American discoveries made in the Spanish 
 service — Condition of South America when William Hawkins, father 
 of Sir John, set sail for that continent in 1530 — Achievements already 
 effected by the navigators and conquistadores — Iberian colonization — 
 Extent of the continent occupied — Questions of Indian and Negro 
 labor — Doctrine of Las Casas — ^The early English navigators unwit- 
 tingly act as the avenging spirits of the slaughtered Indians — Mis- 
 taken policy of the Spanish Einpire. 
 
 THE rich flavor of such names as the Spanish Main 
 and the South Seas has retained its charm almost 
 unimpaired from the dawn of the New World to 
 the present day. For four centuries the promise of the 
 new and rich lands has drawn adventurers from the 
 North to compete with each other and with the descend- 
 
4 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 ants of those Iberian conquistador es who first set foot on 
 the neck of a wondering continent. 
 
 The tale of the early Iberian navigators is clear enough, 
 from the brave band of Portuguese voyagers, fathered 
 by Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal, to Columbus 
 and his comrades. It was the Portuguese who first drove 
 boldly into the Western Ocean. Their seniority as dis- 
 coverers is not to be questioned. It was some three 
 quarters of a century before Columbus set sail for the 
 West when their two seamen, Bartholomeu Perestrello 
 and Joan Gongalves Zarco, discovered the islands of 
 Porto Santo and Madeira respectively in 1419 and 1420: 
 But after this the more famous of the Portuguese navi- 
 gators, such as Nuno Tristao, Vasco da Gama, and Pedro 
 Alvarez Cabral (although this last was at a later period 
 responsible for the discovery of Brazil), forsook the west- 
 ern course for the southern, and, fringing the African 
 coast, turned to the east, and sought India and China by 
 way of the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 The significance of the voyages of Columbus and of the 
 other navigators in the service of the neighboring king- 
 dom of Spain is perhaps even more generally understood. 
 The manner in which one of these great events followed 
 on the heels of another has been made abundantly clear. 
 But what of the English? How did these Northern 
 islanders come to put their spoke into these new wheels 
 of land and water from which their home was so remotely 
 situated? What was it that first set on the track of the 
 tropical seas the bearers of such charmed names as Haw- 
 kins, Drake, Ealeigh, Cavendish, and Dampier? For a 
 sufficiently comprehensive answer to all this it is neces- 
 sary to hark back to a precolonial age, almost three cen- 
 turies before the discovery of Madeira. 
 
 It was as early as 1147 that a number of English cru- 
 saders, on their way to the Holy Land, halted on the 
 banks of the Tagus, and assisted the Portuguese to cap- 
 ture the city of Lisbon from the Moors. The men of the 
 
ROMANTIC PERIOD IN SOUTH AMERICA 5 
 
 oak and the men of the olive found that, however much 
 they might differ in complexion, they had at least much 
 sympathy in common. Thus was begun the alliance be- 
 tween England and Portugal. 
 
 The relations between the two countries rapidly be- 
 came consolidated. The following year, 1148, we find an 
 Englishman, Gilbert of Hastings, as Bishop of Lisbon. 
 In 1217 another fillip was given to this international 
 friendship by the arrival of a second, and more formid- 
 able, army of English crusaders, by whose assistance a 
 Moorish army of fifty-five thousand men was completely 
 defeated. 
 
 Nearly twenty years after the falling through of a 
 proposed matrimonial alliance between the English and 
 Portuguese royal houses, the earls of Lancaster and 
 Arundel arrived in Portugal in 1344, charged with an 
 important mission of friendship, and three years after 
 this some further matrimonial schemes were drawn up, 
 but these, too, proved abortive. These delicate failures 
 seemed to have no ill effect on the relations between the 
 two countries. Commercial bonds had now entered into 
 the field to strengthen the military friendship. Through 
 the instrumentality of a young Portuguese wine mer- 
 chant, sent on a mission to London, many special agree- 
 ments and clauses were arrived at between the English 
 and Portuguese merchants. As a result, the red wines 
 of the Douro Mountains and the CoUares and Algarve 
 slopes began a northward journey in ships, which they 
 have continued practically without intermission from 
 that day to this, while the first consignments of an 
 equally lengthy and unbroken procession of English 
 clothes began to come rolling southwards across the Bay 
 of Biscay. 
 
 It is certainly curious that in those days of small and 
 cranky ships we should have established our most inti- 
 mate relations with a people dwelling just the wrong side 
 of the dreaded Bay of Biscay ! The bay whose entrance 
 
6 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 is guarded by the jagged and equally menacing rocks of 
 Ushant! But so it was. At the beginning of the four- 
 teenth century English merchants were already familiar 
 with Portuguese soil, while in 1381 two thousand fresh 
 English men-at-arms set sail for the Tagus. Four years 
 later these were followed by five hundred English arch- 
 ers, who fought side by side with the Portuguese among 
 the vines and olives, and whose long-bows twanged to 
 some purpose on the field of Aljubarrota, where the Cas- 
 tilian knights went down before them. 
 
 In 1386, the following year, the treaty of Windsor con- 
 firmed the Anglo-Portuguese alliance, and this friend- 
 ship — no new thing even at the time of the compact — ^has 
 lasted, practically unbroken, from that day to this. 
 Surely this must constitute the oldest-standing known 
 treaty in the history of the world ! 
 
 The following year John of Gaunt triumphantly en- 
 tered Portugal at the head of an English army of two 
 thousand lances and three thousand archers, and on the 
 second of February, 1387, his daughter Philippa, by his 
 first wife, Blanche of Lancaster, was married to King 
 John of the then solid realm of Portugal. 
 
 Those who have taken the trouble to wonder what 
 these affairs of crusaders, cloth, and port wine have to 
 do with the English in South America will now begin to 
 obtain some inkling. For one of the issue of this mar- 
 riage was Prince Henry the Navigator, the first and 
 greatest patron of deep-sea voyagers, who devoted him- 
 self heart and soul to the science of discovery. It was 
 he who called astronomers and mathematicians to his 
 aid, and who, zealously studying the problems of the 
 ocean in his austere Sagre Castle on the southern Portu- 
 guese coast by Cape St. Vincent — the nearest point 
 in all Europe to tropical America! — directed the voy- 
 ages of those famous mariners who sailed into the un- 
 known. 
 
 Thus the friend and patron of the Portuguese sea cap- 
 
ROMANTIC PERIOD IN SOUTH AMERICA 7 
 
 tains — the leading navigators of their day — was of Eng- 
 lish blood on his mother's side. It was under his au- 
 spices that central and southern Africa, India, and Brazil 
 were discovered, and that Lisbon became the western 
 gate of Europe, while decaying Venice bewailed the loss 
 of her monopoly of the overland trade route to In- 
 dia. 
 
 From the modern point of view it can scarcely fail to 
 militate against Prince Henry's repute that he should 
 have been the founder of the Negro slave-trade. But, 
 according to the morality of the fifteenth century, the 
 procedure was not only excusable; it was sound policy. 
 For centuries the Portuguese had become accustomed to 
 the enslaving of prisoners in the hands of the Moors, and 
 they themselves — in common with all the European na- 
 tions of the Mediterranean coast line — ^had retaliated in 
 similar fashion, until that degraded condition had grown 
 to be regarded as a part of ordinary life. The war-worn 
 and depopulated lands of Southern Portugal were sorely 
 in need of tillers. It must be the business of his captains, 
 the Navigator decided, to supply this need. A point of 
 interest in connection with this is that it was owing to 
 their intimate association with the Portuguese, whose ex- 
 ample they copied, that the English first approached the 
 coasts of Spanish America as carriers of those slaves who 
 were destined to labor in the mines and plantations of the 
 conquistador es. 
 
 The noises of these great discoveries sounded but dully 
 in the ears of most of the Northern Europeans, who had 
 small means of grasping fully what was afoot. But the 
 case was very different with those English who, encour- 
 aged by the crown and welcomed by the inhabitants, 
 found themselves in Portugal at that period. These saw 
 with their own eyes the return of the deeply laden gal- 
 leons, as their painted bows breasted the rapid tide of 
 the broad Tagus. They watched the processions bear- 
 ing treasure, spices, strange woods, and stranger aborig- 
 
8 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 inal huinan beings from the landing place at Belem to 
 the center of Lisbon. 
 
 They heard, moreover, with their own ears the barking 
 of the cannon and the booming of the church bells that 
 saluted the return of a rich armada from the Indies or 
 Brazil. Many of them made overtures to the returned 
 mariners, and, over deep cups of Lisbon wine, listened 
 eagerly to the tales of the glittering South — tales of what 
 the sailors had actually seen, as well as those vaporings 
 of their vivid imaginings concerning what lay behind the 
 mere fringe of the New World that they had so far ex- 
 plored. 
 
 When these tales floated northwards from the blue 
 skies to the gray, they were answered by a stir in the 
 blood of the Englishmen, more especially in the West, 
 the center of the chief intercourse with Portugal, where 
 the bales of cloth slid down into the holds and the barrels 
 of wine rumbled out on to the quays. We thus at length 
 arrive in England, together with these amazing reports 
 and rumors ! Very soon the echoes of these began to be 
 heard in Plymouth, where William Hawkins, a fine old 
 sailor of King Henry the Eighth's, was preparing to 
 unfurl his sails for the first equatorial voyage ever made 
 by an Englishman with an English crew. 
 
 But before we get into the stride of this — or into the 
 wash of Hawkins' wake, whichever you prefer — let us 
 dispose of three remaining preliminary matters and thus 
 clear the decks for consecutive action. 
 
 The first of these concerns the story of Robert Machin, 
 almost certainly the first Englishman, mythical or phys- 
 ical, to sail the Western Ocean. The legend runs that in 
 the first half of the fourteenth century there lived in the 
 southwest of England a man, Robert Machin, of a gentle 
 but impoverished family. In an ill-starred moment he 
 became enamored of a lady, Anna d'Arset, of a rank 
 superior to his own. In addition to her noble birth, Anna 
 d'Arset possessed rare beauty, large fortune, and stern 
 
ROMANTIC PERIOD IN SOUTH AMERICA 9 
 
 relatives. These last, observing with sordid anger that 
 the Lady Anna regarded Machin with favor, caused him 
 to be flung into prison, and presently forced Anna d'Ar- 
 set into a marriage with an abhorred but wealthy noble- 
 man. 
 
 The marriage once celebrated, all futile romance was 
 considered at an end. The detested husband bore his 
 bride away to his castle near Bristol, and Machin, now 
 considered a negligible factor, was released from his cell. 
 But his persecutors had failed to reckon with the real 
 ardor of the foiled lover. Machin, collecting a small band 
 of tried friends, proceeded to Bristol, and opened his 
 plan of campaign. He succeeded in communicating with 
 the Lady Anna, whose conjugal ideas appear to have been 
 in advance of her times, and eventually procured her es- 
 cape from the castle. This once effected, the entire 
 party fled from Bristol in a small vessel, hoping to reach 
 France. But the elements showed no greater pity upon 
 the lovers than had Anna d'Arset's family. Assailed by 
 tempestuous weather, the amateur sailors missed their 
 desired port, and in great tribulation were tossed about 
 for days on the broad, roaring ocean. 
 
 On the dawn of the fourteenth morning, the hapless 
 wanderers discerned the loom of a dark mass across the 
 waters. Full daylight revealed an island. They had ar- 
 rived at a fair spot, Madeira. The storm had died away ; 
 all was peace and sunshine now. White and yellow birds 
 flitted about the vessel, while for a background stood the 
 fairylike island. 
 
 Here Machin landed, accompanied by his ladylove and 
 some others of the party. But misfortune still dogged 
 the pair. Lost in the rapture evoked by their surround- 
 ings, the small company delayed the landing of such few 
 necessary articles as they had brought with them. A 
 sudden tempest arose and blew the vessel from its an- 
 chorage out to sea. The next morning there was no trace 
 of it, nor of the party that had remained on board. This 
 
10 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 final catastrophe marked the end of the beautiful Anna 
 d'Arset, doubtless much weakened by her sufferings at 
 sea. Neither the beauty of the spot nor the presence of 
 Machin sufficed to counteract the shock. She expired in 
 the arms of her agonized lover, and he, for his part, sur- 
 vived her but a few days. 
 
 Machines last request to his friends was that his re- 
 mains should be placed in the same grave with those of 
 his beloved. His wish was faithfully executed. Above 
 the bodies of the ill-fated couple was erected an altar 
 shaded by the branches of a stately tree. Upon the altar 
 was inscribed the tragic history of Machin and Anna 
 d'Arset, and a pious request that if Christians should 
 ever come to settle in the island they should erect a 
 church upon the spot. 
 
 A number of the earlier historians seem inclined to 
 give full credence to this story. Gaspar Fructuoso, the 
 sixteenth-century Portuguese chronicler, for one, en- 
 deavors with some seeming success to pick up links con- 
 necting the tales told by the survivors of Machin 's voy- 
 age with the accepted discovery of the island by the 
 one-eyed explorer, Joao Gongalves Zarco, in 1420. 
 
 Even at the present day the very rare visitors to the lit- 
 tle Madeirense town of Machico — the nomenclature is sig- 
 nificant — are shown a very small and ancient chapel, 
 which is said to be in part the original building which 
 Zarco piously constructed over the bodies of the dead 
 lovers. 
 
 But the features of the tale, if they ever existed in 
 material life, are much obscured by the mist of ages. 
 Perhaps at this stage of the book it may seem that I have 
 dragged in Machin and the Lady Anna rather superflu- 
 ously by their dead or mythical heels. I have merely in- 
 troduced them to show the possibility that an Englishman 
 made an excursion into the Western Ocean before any 
 other European plowed it with his keel on his way to the 
 Americas in search of the road to India. 
 
ROMANTIC PERIOD IN SOUTH AMERICA 11 
 
 The second matter may be tackled with considerably- 
 more assurance, since, concerning Sebastian Cabot, it 
 rests at least on a secure historical basis. The memory 
 of Cabot, great navigator and explorer though he was, 
 suffers just a little from the variety of his interests, when 
 living. The name of Columbus, though himself an Ital- 
 ian, is an indissoluble part of the birthright of every 
 Spaniard. There are other explorers, too, whose feats 
 have made them part and parcel of a land which could 
 not claim them by birth or descent. 
 
 But the case of Cabot is not on all fours with any of 
 these. A Venetian by birth and an Englishman by 
 choice, he served the Spanish Empire as well as the land 
 of his adoption. On this account it is a little difficult to 
 determine the neighborhood of his correct niche in his- 
 tory. It is doubtless owing to this that some inevitable 
 neglect has supervened, and that many of the more inti- 
 mate details of his career are unknown. *'He gave Eng- 
 land a continent," says an American author, "and no 
 one knows his burial-place." 
 
 Some side issues of the evil fate which has dogged this 
 great man's memory enter even into these pages, for, 
 although Cabot, having two Englishmen in his company, 
 sailed southwards to investigate Brazil and the river 
 Plate in 1527, and thus formed one of the first flight of 
 the explorers of the South American mainland, he 
 achieved this not in the English service but as a high 
 official of the Spanish marine. So, for the particular 
 purposes of this book Cabot must remain unclaimed, and 
 the first of the English keels to enter the Southern Ocean 
 and our picture must be that of the first of the three most 
 notable generations of navigating Hawkins'. 
 
 Before setting sail with him we must take a rapid sur- 
 vey of South America as it was when the first flight of 
 seamen from the North were preparing to invade its pri- 
 vacy. 
 
 When William Hawkins set sail from Plymouth in 
 
12 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 1530, the tide of Iberian colonization had not yet swollen 
 to its full flood. Spain had succeeded in planting her 
 foot firmly on the coast of what is now Venezuela and on 
 the Isthmus of Panama, whence she was preparing to 
 send her forces southwards to conquer the Pacific slope. 
 But the great Empire of the Incas still lay intact among 
 its gigantic mountain ranges, and Pizarro had not yet 
 destroyed the Inca rule, nor slain the Emperor Atahu- 
 alpa, nor plundered the heavy gold of the sacred cities 
 near Lake Titicaca. 
 
 It was only on the eve of such mighty occurrences as 
 these that William Hawkins sailed his ship out of Plym- 
 outh. At that period, too, was still lacking the Span- 
 ish colonizing stream which, headed by Pedro de Men- 
 doza, was to set in from the southeast and embrace the 
 countries of the river Plate and Paraguay. 
 
 The coast of Brazil had been explored by Cabral, Pin- 
 zon, and others, and the wonted stone pillars engraved 
 with the arms of Portugal had been left at various points 
 on the shore. Moreover, the Portuguese, following an- 
 other custom of theirs, had marooned a few of their 
 condemned criminals among various tribes of the coastal 
 Indians — a procedure which had a double advantage in 
 that it served to test the real sentiments of the Indians 
 (for if the Portuguese were found alive in their midst 
 by any subsequent expedition it might be taken for 
 granted that the natives were friendly!), and to prepare, 
 by this humble and somewhat maculate instrumentality, 
 the mind of the aboriginal for the advent of the white 
 man. 
 
 But the actual settlements of the Portuguese on the 
 Brazilian coast had as yet scarcely come into being. 
 Bahia, the first real center of Portuguese colonization, 
 was still the haunt of Indians, and Rio de Janeiro itself 
 had not yet even been discovered. 
 
 It was only on a narrow strip of the right shoulder of 
 the continent, therefore, that active colonizing was pro- 
 
ROMANTIC PERIOD IN SOUTH AMERICA 13 
 
 ceeding. Elsewhere the red-skinned South American In- 
 dian was still permitted to attend to his own affairs 
 himself and had not yet been forced into the fatally hard 
 labor of the mines, which sent so many millions of these 
 unfortunate folk to their death. 
 
 It is true that the pity which cannot fail to be meted out 
 for the sufferings of these long-dead Indians is in some 
 instances apt to be tempered by a closer acquaintance 
 with some branches of the modern race. After reading 
 ''Richard Spruce," for instance, the inclination is to be- 
 stow an extra amount of commiseration on the aboriginal 
 female and a lesser amount on the male. That botanist's 
 opinion of the average Indian of the forests with whom 
 he was brought into contact was that : 
 
 ''He is naturally apathetic and dislikes exertion; but 
 he makes his wife work like a slave. On the Rio Negro 
 I have seen the poor women grating mandiocca by moon- 
 light until midnight; and they must be stirring before 
 daybreak to give their husband his morning drink ; while 
 he, extended in his hammock, is warming his nether ex- 
 tremities near a fire which must not be allowed to go out. 
 When I had seen this, I felt no pity for the Indian when 
 the white man took him by force to row his boats and do 
 other work for him. * ' 
 
 But this comment affords no excuse for the methods 
 adopted by the conquistador es. 
 
 Those who endeavor to follow the workings of fate and 
 of a poetic justice, which is only too rare on this earth, 
 may derive an instance from the retribution which over- 
 took the Spaniards in their inhuman policy toward the 
 aboriginal tribes. So stupendous was the wastage of 
 native life that the Indian's best friend, Bishop Las 
 Casas, saw no other remedy but the homeopathic measure 
 of the introduction of the Negro slave — in order that the 
 sturdy African should bear part of the other's burden, 
 and that, instead of the extinction of the one race, the 
 two should continue to live and to labor side by side. 
 
14 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 The remedy served well enough to tide over the crisis ; 
 but it was in this remedy that lay the seeds of incalculable 
 loss and tribulation to the Spaniards of the succeeding 
 generations. For it was this transport of the Negro 
 slave from West Africa to South America that brought 
 upon the scene such men as Sir John Hawkins and his 
 bold sea-dogs. And when the Spaniards, resenting the 
 growing familiarity of these sailors with their tropical 
 coasts, turned upon them to chase them away, they fre- 
 quently enough found the proof that they had caught a 
 tartar in the torn planks of their sinking galleons and 
 the smoke and flames of their burning coast towns. 
 
 So the early English navigators — although they had 
 no intention of posing for the part — of which, indeed, they 
 were profoundly unconscious — served as very efficient 
 avenging spirits of the countless slaughtered Indians. 
 At the same time it must be candidly supposed that this 
 retribution would never have been brought about had not 
 the Spaniards begun their long, incessant, and hopeless 
 struggle to retain as their close and private property the 
 territories of a continent and a half ! 
 
 It is clear enough now that no empire, however ma- 
 jestic, could build a fence strong enough to shut off so 
 large a part of the world from the rest of the earth's 
 inhabitants. But Spain made a conscientious and costly 
 endeavor to achieve the impossible, and it was in the 
 course of frustrating this attempt that the admirable 
 group of Elizabeth's English sailors learned much of 
 their seamanship ! 
 
CHAPTEE II 
 
 THE FIEST ENGLISH MAEINEKS TO SAIL THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 William Hawkins not the first Englishman to sail South American seas — 
 Sir Thomas Pert — Thomas Tison — William Hawkins' voyage to the 
 Brazilian coast — Marine superstitions of the period — William Haw- 
 kins' intercourse with the Brazilian Indians — One of these latter is 
 taken to England to be shown to King Henry VIII — Notwithstanding 
 the Indian's death, the English hostage is released by the Brazilians 
 on William Hawkins' return to Brazil — Other early voyagers — Robert 
 Eeniger — Thomas Borey — Thomas Pudsey — Sir John Hawkins — Span- 
 ish attitude toward foreign seamen — Pope Alexander VI's division 
 of the earth — Establishment of the Inquisition in Lima — John Haw- 
 kins carries slaves from West Africa to Spanish America — Respecta- 
 bility of the sixteenth-century slave trade — General theories concern- 
 ing the Negro — John Hawkins' financial supporters — Reception of his 
 squadron in Hispaniola and on the mainland — A profitable expedi- 
 tion — John Hawkins' second voyage — Episodes in West Africa — Trade 
 complications in Spanish America — The ways of imperial officialdom 
 — On his next voyage John Hawkins is accompanied by Drake — 
 Drake's youth — ^How his early days were spent — Hawkins' squadron 
 off West Africa — Fruitless treaty with a Negro potentate — Increas- 
 ing oflBcial difficulties concerning the disposal of slaves in Spanish 
 America — John Hawkins storms Rio de la Hacha — His squadron 
 treacherously attacked in the harbor of San Juan de Ulloa — Losses 
 of the English after a desperate defense — ^Escape of John Hawkins 
 in the Minion, and of Drake in the Judith — ^Privations endured on 
 the homeward voyage — Drake's voyage in the Pacha — El Draque 
 avenges San Juan de Ulloa — Depredations on the Spanish Main — 
 The Pacific sighted — Captain John Oxenham penetrates to these for- 
 bidden waters — His achievements there — ^Some of his men betrayed 
 by floating feathers — Capture and execution of his company — Drake, 
 Queen Elizabeth, and King Philip of Spain — Circumnavigation of the 
 world — His squadron, men, and sentiments — Some episodes of the 
 voyage — Paraphernalia of a progress of state — Feats of compression — 
 Drake loses his cap to a Southern Indian — The tragedy of San Julian 
 — Execution of Captain Doughty — ^The Golden Hind sails alone into 
 the Pacific Ocean — The rich reward of his daring — ^The toll of the 
 South Sea — Lady Elliott Drake and Miss Zelia Nuttall on Sir Francis 
 Drake — A notable map— Episodes on the Pacific coast — Effect on the 
 morale of the Spaniards — Drake's last voyage — In the course of a 
 
 15 
 
16 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 less successful expedition — Sir John Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake 
 die within a short period of each other — Andrew Barker's voyage — 
 Mutinous spirit of the oflBcers and crew — Punishment dealt out to 
 the survivors of an imfortunate expedition — Richard Hawkins' voy- 
 age to the Spanish Main in 1593 — His theories concerning the nomen- 
 clature of ships — His prolonged fight against an overwhelmingly su- 
 perior Spanish fleet, commanded by Don Beltran de Castro — His im- 
 pressions and observations — Chivalry displayed by the Spaniards — 
 Some notable booty. 
 
 THAT fine old sailor, William Hawkins, has some 
 just — if comparatively vicarious! — demands on 
 posterity, for the reason that he was the father 
 of Sir John Hawkins. But, beyond this, he has more 
 varied claims to celebrity. He was the first English- 
 man who ever let fly the sails of his own ship to belly 
 out before the trade winds, and to bear his staggering 
 vessel on a successful voyage down the latitudes, leaving 
 the Spanish Main to the north, as far as the coast of 
 Brazil. 
 
 It must not be gathered from this that William Haw- 
 kins was the first Englishman to sail the South American 
 seas. As early as 1516 a certain Sir Thomas Pert, in 
 company with Sebastian Cabot, is said to have penetrated 
 to these waters, and to have made a half-hearted attempt 
 at a landing at the island of Hispaniola. But, according 
 to Hakluyt, it appears that Sir Thomas Pert was one 
 * 'whose faint heart was the cause that the voyage tooke 
 none effect; if, I say, such manly courage, whereof wee 
 have spoken, had not at that time beene wanting, it might 
 happily have come to passe, that that rich treasurie called 
 Perularia, (which is nowe in Spaine in the Citie of Sivill, 
 and so named, for that in it is kept the infinite riches 
 brought thither from the newfoundland of Peru) might 
 long since have beene in the tower of London, to the kings 
 great honour and wealth of this realme. ' ' 
 
 Nor was William Hawkins the first Englishman to set 
 his foot on South American — or West Indian — soil. It 
 is known that in 1526 there was resident somewhere in 
 
THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 17 
 
 the depths of those then mysterious latitudes an English- 
 man named Thomas Tison, who is supposed to have acted 
 secretly as the agent of some English merchants, and to 
 whom consignments of armor and other commodities were 
 sent from time to time. Beyond this, nothing seems to 
 be known of the enterprising spirit of Thomas Tison. 
 
 In Pedro de Mendoza's expedition, moreover, which 
 sailed from Seville in 1534, and which founded the first 
 European settlements in the Eio de la Plata and in Para- 
 guay, were two or three Englishmen, the names of two 
 of which are thus rendered in the Spanish records: 
 Richarte Limon and Juan de Bute. 
 
 William Hawkins, the first Englishman who success- 
 fully sailed his own ship to South America, is said to have 
 been one of King Henry VIII 's most valued sea-captains. 
 William Hawkins made three voyages to Brazil. On his 
 first voyage he left the port of Plymouth in the year 1530. 
 This was only some thirty years after the Portuguese 
 navigators had first set eyes on that tropical shore, and 
 those on board his vessel — ^the Paul of Plymouth, of two 
 hundred and fifty tons — seemed to have been little con- 
 cerned with the scanty Portuguese colonists of that pe- 
 riod. 
 
 William Hawkins appears to have picked up a certain 
 amount of information by one means and another. So 
 that, although he was sailing into seas unknown to him, 
 he was at all events spared the terrors of the first Latin 
 mariners of the Atlantic, who, when caught up in the 
 ceaseless and unchanging rush of the trade winds, made 
 certain that their wicked and damnable daring in trying 
 to penetrate into the regions beyond the world was being 
 punished, and that Satan had sent this extraordinary 
 breeze to blow them straight into the mouth of hell, which 
 was supposed to be yawning redly somewhere below the 
 horizon just ahead. 
 
 Hawkins arrived in Brazil before the coast had been 
 regularly settled by the Portuguese, and when he cast 
 
18 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 anchor before those shining tropical beaches backed by 
 their palms he had an opportunity of personal inter- 
 course with the Indians. He was anxious to show one of 
 these painted and feathered specimens of humanity to 
 King Henry VIII — a desire that seems to have been a 
 popular weakness of that period. Where we are satis- 
 fied to-day with bringing home a monkey or a paroquet, 
 the sixteenth-century traveler had large ideas, and pre- 
 ferred a human curiosity! 
 
 So when William Hawkins sailed back to England he 
 bore with him a Brazilian chief, as a hostage, for whose 
 safe return he had left behind one of his ship 's company, 
 Martin Cockaram of Plymouth. 
 
 The Brazilian chief duly arrived in England, and was 
 exhibited in his feathers and paint, in fact, '4n all his 
 wild accoutrements" to bluif King Hal, who doubtless 
 laughed at the man as bluffly as he did at most things. In- 
 deed, as the chronicler continues, he was one: *'at the 
 sight of whom the King and all the nobility did not a 
 little marvaile, and not without cause, for in his cheekes 
 were holes made according to their savage manner, and 
 therein small bones were planted, standing an inch out 
 from the said holes, which in his owne country was re- 
 puted for a great braverie." 
 
 But the poor denizen of the land of palms and sun- 
 shine and blinding white sand did not long survive the 
 sensation he had caused. His was the fate of many fellow 
 martyrs, to say nothing of millions of those marmosets 
 and parrots already referred to! Strange people, 
 stranger food, and strangest climate proved rapidly fatal 
 to the first native of Brazil who set his foot on the shores 
 of England. 
 
 It is true that when William Hawkins set out again 
 for Brazil in 1532 the Indian was still alive. True to his 
 word, William Hawkins took him on board his vessel, 
 but the man — with a complete and provoking disregard 
 for the safety of Martin Cockaram of Plymouth — died 
 
THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 19 
 
 on the outward voyage. Nevertheless, on the arrival of 
 the vessel, when explanation had been made and be- 
 lieved, Cockaram was freely allowed to return to his 
 compatriots, a circumstance which redounds infinitely 
 to the good faith of both parties. 
 
 After this there are some sufficiently vague accounts 
 of various voyages undertaken about 1540 with profit to 
 Brazil by the Southampton merchants, Robert Reniger 
 and Thomas Borey. In 1542, moreover, a certain 
 Thomas Pudsey of Southampton is said not only to have 
 sailed out to Bahia de Todos os Santos in Brazil, but 
 actually to have built a fort there. 
 
 The next to take up the quest of regular commerce in 
 the southern seas was William Hawkins' son, the famous 
 Sir John, who undertook his first important voyage in 
 1562. 
 
 By this time, the frontier delimitations of the whole 
 globe had been settled between the Spaniards and Portu- 
 guese. Pope Alexander VI, when appealed to, had ar- 
 ranged the affair in a manner which contemporary opinion 
 considered as inspired. He had simply taken a pen, and 
 had drawn a direct line one hundred leagues westward 
 of the Azores from pole to pole. Excluding Europe, the 
 effect of this partition — though the boundary was after- 
 wards moved closer to the setting sun — ^was that all the 
 lands and oceans to the west of this line belonged to the 
 Spaniards, and all the lands and oceans to the east of 
 it became the property of the Portuguese. 
 
 This is undoubtedly the most comprehensive present 
 ever recorded in history. Moreover, the mere fact of a 
 subsequent heretic protest to the effect that the Pope had 
 won this record reputation for generosity at the expense 
 of other people's property scarcely affected the value of 
 the gift at the time it was made ! 
 
 By this time, too, the lesser lights of the Roman Church 
 had been busy in their own way, and as early as 1533 the 
 Inquisition set out across the ocean and established itself 
 
20 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 in its dungeon-infested palace in Lima in order to be 
 prepared with some acute physical discouragements for 
 those heretics who might dare to sully the South Amer- 
 ican atmosphere with the blight of some foreign faith ! 
 
 So the empire of the New World had already issued its 
 warning and clanged to its gates, when the free-lance, 
 John Hawkins, dared to sail southwards through the 
 bright blue waters and the shoals of flying-fish to the out- 
 raged and threatening shadow of the Spanish Main. His 
 advent heralded an unquiet period for the authorities of 
 the Indies, for he was the first bold wasp to buzz about 
 the ears of the Spanish giant. 
 
 Hawkins' first relations with the Spaniards of South 
 America were by no means hostile. His little vessels — 
 the Soloman, the Swallow, and the Jonas — of which the 
 largest was of 120 tons and the smallest 40 — carried that 
 cargo for which the whites of South America were clam- 
 oring. Under the reeking hatches her hold was crammed 
 full of valuable black ivory — Negro slaves ! Hawkins had 
 sailed from England to Sierra Leone, and had gathered 
 these in with the scant ceremony to which the unfortunate 
 human chattels were destined to become accustomed in 
 those days. 
 
 It is no doubt regrettable enough that the English 
 should have made their first definite trading appearance 
 in South America in the light of slave carriers. But 
 the ethics of the sixteenth century differed widely from 
 those of to-day. At that period there was no question 
 even of by how much the Negro was less than the white ; 
 the only surmise was by how little he was better than 
 the beasts ! This doubt was fully shared by the clergy, 
 who, for a long period after the Negro had become Chris- 
 tianized, hesitated to admit him to the sacraments. In 
 fact, although humane persons were protesting against 
 the ill-treatment of slaves, it was far from occurring 
 either to cleric or to layman that there was anything rep- 
 rehensible in the actual traffic in human beings. 
 
THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 21 
 
 Indeed, John Hawkins had very solid commercial com- 
 pany in his venture, for, ''being amongst other partic- 
 ulars assured, that negroes were very good Marchandise 
 in Hispaniola, and that store of negroes might easily bee 
 had upon the coast of Guinea, resolved with himself to 
 make triall thereof, and communicated that devise with 
 his worshipfull friendes of London: namely with Sir 
 Lionell Ducket, Sir Thomas Lodge, M. Gunson his father 
 in law. Sir William Winter, M. Bromfield, and others. 
 All which persons liked so well of his intention, that they 
 became liberall contributers and adventurers in the ac- 
 tion." 
 
 It is important for Hawkins ' repute that this should be 
 made clear. His morality must no more be judged by 
 this commerce than must Queen Elizabeth's table man- 
 ners from the fact that she — and all her courtiers — fre- 
 quently used fingers where we should use forks. John 
 Hawkins was not going in the least against contemporary 
 opinion when he carried to Hispaniola three hundred of 
 those unwilling but profitable passengers! 
 
 If anything will make this clear it is his instructions to 
 the officers of his squadron on a subsequent slave-carry- 
 ing voyage: ''Serve God dayly, love one another, pre- 
 serve your victuals, beware of fire, and keep good com- 
 panie." 
 
 These show to us John Hawkins as we would have him : 
 they are emphatically not the words of a man with an 
 evil conscience. 
 
 There may yet come a time when we of to-day shall be 
 held up to unborn generations as interesting examples 
 of a barbarous age when men forced horses to labor by 
 flogging them and by stabbing steel points into their 
 sides ! 
 
 When Hawkins arrived off the great Island of His- 
 paniola he was received with mixed feelings. So great 
 had become the demand for Negroes that — although the 
 local authorities fumed and chafed — ^he was welcomed by 
 
22 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 the colonists with open arms, and managed to dispose of 
 his sorry human wares at an enormous profit. As a re- 
 sult, his three ships, accompanied now by two additional 
 freighters, returned, loaded as deep as they could con- 
 veniently sail with hides, ginger, sugar, and some far less 
 bulky packets of pearls ! 
 
 So brilliant were the financial results of this trip that 
 Hawkins undertook another voyage with two ships and 
 two barks in 1564. On this occasion his squadron was a 
 considerably more imposing one. It consisted of the 
 Jesus of Lubech, a great ship of some 700 tons ; the Tiger, 
 a bark of 50 tons, and the Soloman and Swallow, which 
 had accompanied him on the previous voyage. The 
 squadron was manned by 170 men. In the course of their 
 slave gathering on the west coast of Africa the expedi- 
 tion would seem to have come into contact with some 
 peculiarly unsophisticated tribes of Africans, who at 
 first took no notice of the arquebuses, ''but used a mar- 
 veilous crying in their fight with leaping and turning 
 their tayles, that it was most strange to see, and gave us 
 great pleasure to beholde them. At the last, one being 
 hurt with a harquebuz upon the thigh, looked upon his 
 wound and wist not howe it came, because hee could not 
 see the pellet." 
 
 Then, when the hungry holds had been restocked with 
 human freight, the vessels sailed across the warm ocean 
 to the tropical islands of the Spanish Empire. 
 
 But this time the various Spanish governors showed 
 themselves more resolute in their determination to pre- 
 vent any trade between these foreigners and heretics — 
 intruding now for the second time — and the colonists. 
 Moreover, when these latter met with a governor who 
 was more amenable in this respect, they found that both 
 the officials and the colonists were now intent on obtain- 
 ing the slaves at a price which was very far below their 
 market value. There were more departments than is 
 usually imagined in the profession of an Elizabethan navi- 
 
THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 23 
 
 gator. Hawkins had now to meet these Spanish wiles 
 with some guile of his own. So he sent for the '' princi- 
 pals of the Towne, and made a shewe hee would depart, 
 declaring himselfe to be very sory that he had so much 
 troubled them, and also that he had sent for the gov- 
 ernour to come down, seeing nowe his pretence was to 
 depart. ' ' 
 
 This ruse prevailed, and the Spaniards, falling into the 
 trap, begged him to remain. Nevertheless he had to re- 
 peat such haggler's tricks as this on several occasions 
 before he concluded a satisfactory sale of all his slaves. 
 But when it came to the demand for a royal tax of thirty 
 ducats for every slave sold, stronger measures became 
 necessary. Nothing short of a landing party of one hun- 
 dred men armed to the teeth had to be brought forward 
 as an argument here. But these proved entirely success- 
 ful in convincing the governor that the ordinary tariff of 
 seven and a half per cent, was all that could be reason- 
 ably demanded in this case. 
 
 After this another feint of departure brought up the 
 buyers in earnest, and the last slaves were satisfactorily 
 disposed of. Then the squadron set sail for England, and 
 arrived safely at Padstow in Cornwall, with a total loss 
 of no more than twenty men, "and with great profit to 
 the venturers of the said voyage, as also to the whole 
 realme, in bringing home both golde, silver, Pearles, and 
 other Jewels great store." 
 
 On his next voyage Hawkins was accompanied by 
 Drake — El Draque, of the Spaniards — ^who commanded 
 the little fifty-ton bark Judith. Heroic cycles would seem 
 to belong to the youthful, as is surely exemplified looking 
 backwards from Napoleon's generals across the ages. At 
 the time of this voyage Drake was twenty-two years of 
 age! But he could already look back upon an adven- 
 turous life. 
 
 Drake 's early youth in his father 's cottage on the beau- 
 tiful banks of the Tavy must have been of a scrambling 
 
24. BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 and rough-and-ready order, for the means of the family- 
 were slender, and he was the eldest of twelve! It may 
 have been his father's appointment as chaplain to the 
 fleet stationed in the Medway which gave young Francis 
 Drake his first taste for the sea — or, to be more accurate, 
 materialized the instinct that had been his from his birth. 
 In any case he was early afloat. At the age of eighteen 
 he had been purser of a bark trading with the ports of 
 Biscay. And now here he was, in command of the little 
 Judith, under the leadership of Hawkins, his commodore 
 and fellow Devonian, on a venture to these balmy new 
 Southern territories that held fabulous riches and moun- 
 tains of gold — somewhere inland ! 
 
 The expedition, which sailed in 1567, paid its indispen- 
 sable preliminary call on the West African coast. On 
 this occasion they found the natives warier than before. 
 Sambo had no more mind to turn himself into merchandise 
 than had a sheep to transform itself into mutton. But 
 these navigating traders were men of resource. They 
 made an alliance with a Negro king who had fallen out 
 with a neighboring monarch. By the terms of this, Haw- 
 kins, in return for his military assistance, was to receive 
 all the prisoners captured in the proposed battle. When 
 the battle had been fought and the victory had been won, 
 Hawkins observed with pleasure that his dusky ally had 
 captured some six hundred prisoners: he himself had 
 secured two hundred and fifty. But the next morning's 
 sun rose on a scene of vacant deceit ! The African victor 
 had disappeared — and he had taken his six hundred pris- 
 oners with him! The sable potentate, it appears, was 
 also a man of resource! 
 
 So Hawkins was obliged to set up to the West with no 
 more than the two hundred and fifty Negroes who were 
 the trophies of his own men's prowess. Arrived off 
 Spanish America, they found the colonists were once 
 again only too glad of an opportunity of trading with 
 them. But on this occasion the authorities at Rio de la 
 
THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 25 
 
 Hacha were firm in their refusal to permit any dealings 
 with the foreigners. Enraged at this, Hawkins stormed 
 the town, though the nations were at peace, and succeeded 
 in secretly disposing of all but fifty of his slaves to the 
 colonists in the night. But this act cost him the bitter 
 enmity of the Spaniards. 
 
 Soon after this a storm drove Hawkins' squadron to 
 the north, and they took shelter at the Mexican port of 
 San Juan de UUoa, where a number of treasure ships 
 lay at anchor. The situation was a curious one, and 
 doubtless the English sailors fretted not a little at their 
 bits at being crowded so temptingly close together in the 
 small harbor with these vessels laden with gold and silver. 
 Nevertheless they honorably kept the peace, and suffered 
 the treasure to remain in what they considered the wrong 
 holds ! As for the Spanish officials of the port, they be- 
 gan to breathe freely again when they found that these 
 dreaded Northern sailors only required to purchase some 
 victuals. 
 
 The next day thirteen Spanish vessels appeared off 
 the harbor. Hawkins, viewing this spectacle with some 
 unease, sent to ascertain their intentions, and received 
 an assurance that these were friendly. So, unopposed by 
 the English, the thirteen vessels entered the already 
 crowded harbor. That which followed has been told 
 many hundred times. The Spaniards broke faith, and 
 the quiet of the port was shattered by the sudden din of 
 battle and slaughter, as the Spaniards treacherously took 
 advantage of the close proximity of the vessels to attack 
 the English. 
 
 The majority of these were slaughtered before they had 
 time to prepare themselves for defense (Sir Francis 
 Drake is reported on a subsequent occasion to have esti- 
 mated the dead at three hundred), but some were en- 
 abled to take a heavy toll of their assailants. Before the 
 fight was ended the Spanish admiral's vessel and two of 
 her consorts were destroyed, and presently the lazy, flap- 
 
26 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 ping buzzards glutted themselves with equal zest on Eng- 
 lish and Spanish corpses. 
 
 Only the Minion, in which was Hawkins, and the little 
 Judith, commanded by Drake, managed to escape. Un- 
 prepared for sea as they were, they made their way to 
 England as best they could, and — mauled and short- 
 handed — arrived in a pitiable condition, their crews hav- 
 ing barely kept themselves alive on the ships' rats and 
 on their pet monkeys and parrots, and such other crea- 
 tures as they had collected. 
 
 '*If all the miseries and troublesome affaires," says 
 John Hawkins bitterly, ' ' of this sorrowf ull voyage should 
 be perfectly and thoroughly written, there should neede 
 a painefull man with his pen, and as great a time as he 
 had that wrote the lives and deaths of the Martyrs. ' ' 
 
 An English Merchant, John Chilton, who is quoted 
 later, remarked on a relic of the tragic expedition which 
 he saw in the Mexican town of Tehuantepec: ''Heere in 
 the yeere 1572 I saw a piece of ordinance of brasse, called 
 a demy culverin, which came out of a ship called the Jesus 
 of Lubec, which captaine Hawkins left in S. Juan de 
 Ulloa, being in fight with the Spanyards in the yeere 1568 ; 
 which piece they afterwards carried 100 leagues by land 
 over mighty mountains to the sayd city, to be embarked 
 there for the Philippinas. " 
 
 The careers of Hawkins and Drake seem to have been 
 curiously bound up with one another. This first really 
 serious misfortune in the careers of both they suffered 
 in company, and the two were destined to sail together 
 in their final great venture — the memorable voyage from 
 which neither returned. 
 
 The actual monetary loss incurred by the. expedition in 
 this attack at San Juan de Ulloa was two millions of 
 ducats ; but it would have taken a great many such dis- 
 asters to discourage that great seaman Drake perma- 
 nently. Four years or so after that affair he hoisted 
 his sails again for the forbidden coasts in the Pacha, a 
 
THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 27 
 
 vessel of seventy tons, and his brother accompanied him 
 in the Swan, a little craft of twenty-five tons. Here was 
 a typical expedition such as set out from the west country 
 in those days : a squadron of two vessels not mustering a 
 hundred tons between the pair of them, and having a 
 total complement of seventy-three men and boys ! 
 
 It is true that Drake was subsequently joined on the 
 South American coast by an Isle of Wight ship, com- 
 manded by a Captain Eawse, that brought the strength 
 of his crews up to one hundred and fifty men. But even 
 so, what a force with which to tweak the might of Spain 
 in its own waters ! 
 
 It is only possible, of course, to follow the doings of 
 Drake and of his peers in the most sketchy fashion here. 
 It is — or should be — a matter of commonest history how 
 the Pacha became a terror to the Spanish Main, and how 
 fully El Draque avenged San Juan de Ulloa. He paid 
 special attention to the Isthmus of Panama, for it was 
 across this that ran the famous "gold roan," the track 
 cut through the dense tropical forest, along which the 
 trains of laden mules transported the riches of Peru and 
 the Pacific to the Atlantic coast for shipment to Europe. 
 And when Drake and his men, boldly penetrating in- 
 land, planted themselves astride this road, there was a 
 pretty flutter among the royal caravans, and a profitable 
 spilling of gold and silver! 
 
 It was on one of these incursions that Drake, between 
 the graceful palm-tops and the bright festoons of tropical 
 flowers, caught sight of the Pacific Ocean glittering in the 
 distant "West. Then and there he swore an oath that he 
 would one day navigate those forbidden waters for the 
 honor of England. 
 
 But, though he kept his word, he was not destined to 
 be the first Englishman to float upon those waters. John 
 Oxenham has that honor. In 1575 that daring captain 
 sailed to the neck of the continent with seventy men in a 
 ship of one hundred and forty tons, ran his vessel ashore, 
 
28 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 concealed her with a mass of tropical vegetation, and 
 forced his way with all his men through the dense forests 
 of the isthmus until he gained the Pacific shore. There 
 he built himself a pinnace forty-five feet in length, and 
 in it he and his men floated at length upon the strictly 
 guarded waters of the South Sea! 
 
 The material rewards of this great venture were not 
 long in forthcoming. Of two barks captured, the one 
 yielded sixty thousand pesos in gold, the other, one hun- 
 dred thousand pesos in silver. After obtaining some 
 pearls, in addition, he proceeded inland up the river. 
 
 The outraged Spaniards were now in full chase. A 
 strong force of men sped to the mouth of the stream. 
 Here they lay in doubt for a while as to which of the 
 three branches they should ascend, when a great many 
 birds' feathers, floating down in light betrayal on the 
 water, revealed which of the streams it was up which 
 the English had traveled. Never had plucked birds a 
 more dramatic posthumous revenge! 
 
 Owing to this a small party of Englishmen was dis- 
 covered near the spot, and, in the end, after a fierce fight, 
 John Oxenham, and those of his men who had not been 
 slain, were made prisoners. 
 
 Most of his men were hanged at Panama, though one 
 or two boys were spared ; but Oxenham and two or three 
 others were taken to Lima, and were imprisoned there 
 for a considerable time before being executed as a penalty 
 for their daring. When it came to Drake 's turn to navi- 
 gate the Pacific he had reason to suspect that these com- 
 rades of his were actually imprisoned in the dungeons 
 of Lima, when he was off Callao, the port of that town. 
 But neither warnings and threats directed to the viceroy, 
 nor an attack on the shipping of the harbor, could effect 
 their release, and Drake was forced, reluctant, to sail 
 away and to leave Oxenham and his men to the mercies 
 of the Inquisition. But all this has brought us ahead of 
 our proper period. 
 
THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 29 
 
 Drake returned to England with his vessels deeply 
 laden with booty. Elizabeth — who, with all her varied 
 virtues, never lacked an eye to the main chance — re- 
 ceived him cordially, and extended to him her royal en- 
 couragement to set out again. "We do account that he 
 who striketh at thee, Drake, striketh at us," said the 
 Queen. 
 
 A more tangible mark of her favor was a green scarf 
 with ornamental red bands at both ends, on which were 
 embroidered it is said, by her maids of honor — the words, 
 **The Lord guide and preserve thee until the ende." 
 
 And then, no doubt, she sent a message to Philip of 
 Spain complaining how little control she had over people 
 like Sir Francis Drake ! Elizabeth was a great queen, but 
 she had her weaknesses, not the least of which was that 
 of opposing guile to ponderous force, and of indulging in 
 that diplomat pastime which modern slang would know as 
 pulling Philip of Spain 's leg ! 
 
 She found a more than willing horse in Drake, whose 
 views exactly coincided with those of the Queen. In- 
 deed, it was no doubt with considerable glee that he pro- 
 pounded his theories to her concerning the chastening of 
 Philip of Spain, explaining the **smale good that was to 
 be done in Spayne, but thonly waye was to anoy hym 
 by his Indyes. ' ' 
 
 The next voyage was the most famous that Drake un- 
 dertook, for it was in the course of this that he circum- 
 navigated the world. This feat, as a matter of fact, had 
 already been accomplished by Magellan's expedition. 
 But, since Magellan had been slain on the homeward way, 
 it followed that Drake, although his expedition was the 
 second, was himself actually the first commanding navi- 
 gator to sail round the world. 
 
 So far as the material side of the expedition was con- 
 cerned, Drake seems to have intended this more espe- 
 cially in reprisal for the surprise attack on Hawkins' 
 squadron at San Juan de Ulloa. For all its insignificant 
 
30 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 size, it was to be a punitive fleet. Drake himself made 
 some rather quaint and humorous observations concern- 
 ing his objects : * * For the reason that the King had, since 
 that time, been his treasurer for the sum that had been 
 taken from him ten years ago, he now wished to act as 
 treasurer of the King's estate. Therefore the silver 
 which he took from the King was for himself; the silver 
 taken from private individuals was for his Queen, his 
 Sovereign Lady. ' ' 
 
 He embarked on this voyage in 1577, and this time he 
 set out with some pomp. It is true that the largest 
 vessel of his five ships, the Pelican, was of no more than 
 120 tons, while the smallest, the Christopher, was a 
 cockleshell of 15 tons. The total number of his "gentle- 
 men and sailors," too, was only 164. 
 
 Nevertheless, since this mission of Drake's was of a 
 far more official character than his previous undertakings, 
 he made a brave show of it. He saw no reason why the 
 Dons should have it all their own way in the matter of 
 dignity and splendor. So he adorned his cabin with much 
 silver, and many handsome fittings. ''Whereby,*' as he 
 said with no little reason, "the credit and magnificence 
 of his native country might ... be all the more ad- 
 mired." 
 
 Who can fail to admire the shrewd intelligence of 
 Drake! Three centuries and a half ago he had already 
 discovered that which sovereigns and statesmen have 
 only fully begun to realize to-day — that a little judicious 
 advertising may benefit captains, cruises, countries, and 
 causes quite as much as merchants who own shop win- 
 dows, and have goods to sell ! 
 
 Drake's thoroughness did not end here. He engaged 
 what he described as "an orchestra of expert musicians" 
 who should serve to make his entry into the Southern 
 Seas the more imposing. The addition of this harmoni- 
 ous luxury to the crowded space must have involved an 
 astonishing feat in the way of packing, when the size of 
 
THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 31 
 
 the little Pelican is remembered. Indeed, how these 
 musicians — crammed sardine-like together with the ser- 
 ried inhabitants, provisions, and warlike stores of a 
 vessel that did not much exceed in size a modern sailing 
 trawler — could have delivered themselves of sweet strains 
 is not easy to understand. Yet we are told that they 
 did, and that they gave many pleasant entertainments 
 in tropical seas both to Drake's fellow countrymen and 
 to his Spanish prisoners. How was it done? How was 
 this extraordinary feat of compression achieved? The 
 main secret undoubtedly lay in the fact that the value of 
 ventilation and elbow room had not yet been discovered! 
 
 After all, the region of comfort is included in that of 
 science, which means that its benefits have to be sought 
 for as assiduously as were once the unknown lands of the 
 earth. But there all similarity ends; for, whereas the 
 horizon of the earth has steadily contracted, that of 
 science has expanded with an astonishing rapidity. 
 Surely the sense of discomfort is only awakened by the 
 knowledge of something better ! We, who travel in town- 
 like liners, probably do not pity the cooped-up commu- 
 nity of the Judith any more deeply than Drake's men com- 
 miserated their remote forefathers who pushed out from 
 the shore in little round basket-like coracles of hide ! 
 
 Drake sailed southwards along the ocean track that was 
 gradually becoming familiar. He snapped up some 
 prizes in the Atlantic, and then, taking in fresh water in 
 the broad estuary of the river Plate, bore southwards to 
 the *' roaring forties," driving through the warm belt of 
 the tropics to the wild and gray waters on the further 
 side, until he came to an anchorage where the uncouth 
 Southern Indians proved themselves moderately friendly, 
 and some intercourse was attempted. Judging by the 
 following occurrence these wild people were no respec- 
 tors of persons : 
 
 ''These people would not of a long time receive any- 
 thing at our handes; yet at length our generall being 
 
32 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 ashore, and they dauncing after their accustomed manner 
 about him, and hee once turning his backe towards them, 
 one leapt suddenly to him, and tooke his cap with his golde 
 band off his head, and ran a little distance from him and 
 shared it with his fellow, the cap to the one, and the band 
 to the other. ' ' 
 
 Such an incident must have been irritating in the ex- 
 treme ; but Drake undoubtedly restrained his temper, for 
 no untoward incident followed. After this he set forth 
 to the south again until he arrived at the haven of San 
 Julian, a few degrees north of the eastern entrance to the 
 Straits of Magellan, through which he intended to pass. 
 
 On the rugged shore of San Julian the English mariners 
 discovered a grim object — a giblet pricking up gauntly 
 against the desolate sky. It was the one, it was imagined, 
 from which Magellan had hung some of his rebellious 
 crew. The bones of the victims, it is even said, were 
 found close by. This must have seemed an ominous mes- 
 sage, left behind by the first ship 's company that had ever 
 gained Europe by that road to the second band of daring 
 men who were about to follow, from Atlantic to Pacific, 
 on their heels ! 
 
 If the object had been placed there as a warning the 
 sinister omen held good, and the superstition that none 
 could pass with impunity into the Pacific Ocean had yet 
 another link added to the unbroken early chain of tragedy 
 that supported it ! It was in this very bay of San Julian 
 that occurred the execution of Doughty, one of Drake's 
 captains. Both the cause and justice of this act have been 
 in dispute for too many hundreds of years to make it 
 probable that the veil will ever be lifted from the tragedy. 
 It is certain that Drake received the sacrament in com- 
 pany with Doughty on the last day of the condemned 
 man's life. Then the two dined together, pledged each 
 other, and immediately afterwards Doughty, rising from 
 the table, walked out to bare his neck for the executioner's 
 ax. 
 
THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 33 
 
 For so young a port, San Julian had a strangely gloomy 
 record. 
 
 After this Drake navigated the Magellan Straits, where 
 the trees "seeme to stoope with the burden of the 
 weather," changing the name of his vessel from the Peli- 
 can to the Golden Hind in the middle of the passage. 
 But, when he had emerged into the Pacific and had passed 
 from the stormy southern waters into temperate lati- 
 tudes and sunshine, the Golden Hind sailed alone. Of 
 the two other ships which had been in his company when 
 he left San Julian, one, the Marygold, had been blown 
 by a withering tempest to an unseen death somewhere in 
 the dark and icy South. Captain Winter, of the second 
 vessel, the Elizabeth, appears to have had enough of it, 
 and, in the face of the protests of his crew, put about, 
 achieved the feat — then supposed impossible — of navi- 
 gating the Magellan Straits from west to east, and sailed 
 back to England, arriving at Ilfracombe on the 2d of June, 
 1579. 
 
 But Drake went on. That which he achieved with a 
 single ship, manned now by a force of just over eighty 
 men, makes breathless reading. He beat up the Pacific 
 coast, and found the reward of his daring. Tall ships, 
 pieces of eight, bars of gold and silver, precious stuffs, 
 silks, Chile wines and Peruvian jewels: all these came 
 tumbling in rich profusion into his net, while the aston- 
 ished peaks of the Andes looked down with a dry and 
 cold smile. It is true that the manner of boarding the 
 first ship they came across lacked a good deal in polite- 
 ness. For here they were mistaken for friends, and were 
 about to be greeted with the offer of wine when, "one 
 of our company called Thomas Moone began to lay about 
 him, and strooke one of the Spaniards, and sayd unto 
 him, Abaxo Perro, that is in English, Goe downe, dogge." 
 All this time the panic was spreading along the shores 
 of the most private waters of the Spanish South Sea, 
 and, lest the dwellers on those coasts should experience 
 
34 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 an unjustifiable sense of ease and security, now and 
 again Drake would arrange a land excursion ! 
 
 Indeed the disturbance caused by this unwelcome visit 
 of Drake's was extraordinarily far-reaching. No longer 
 could the loads of silver be carried from one port to an- 
 other in safety on the broad bosom of the Pacific. In- 
 stead of this convenient transport, the ingots had to be 
 placed on the backs of mules and llamas and be painfully 
 and toilfully carried across the mountainous country. 
 And all along the coast were now posted points of ob- 
 servation, with the bonfires stacked in readiness to send 
 up their warning smoke. 
 
 It would seem a curious axiom of history that, the fur- 
 ther one is removed by time from a famous character, 
 the closer are the glimpses obtained of his personality 
 and private habits ! Each separating generation, in fact, 
 seems to throw back a longer ladder of popular knowledge 
 than the last. 
 
 It is only quite recently, for instance, thanks to the re- 
 spective works of Lady Elliott Drake and Miss Zelia 
 Nuttall, that some of Drake's more intimate touches have 
 been placed on record. To those who have looked on him 
 merely in the light of a bluff sailor his intimate knowledge 
 of the Spanish tongue will come as rather a surprising 
 revelation. Curiously enough, too, it has been left to the 
 recently unearthed testimony of some of his Spanish 
 prisoners to point out Drake 's hobby of painting, and how 
 he and his young cousin, John Drake, would amuse them- 
 selves for hour after hour by painting in Sir Francis' 
 cabin. 
 
 It is Miss Zelia Nuttall, too, who has pointed out a 
 remarkable proof of Drake 's patriotic ambition and keen 
 judgment, which is also, by the way, referred to in Hak- 
 luyt. This is patent on a map corrected by him — a map 
 on which he has placed a northern limit to Spanish Mex- 
 ico, and on which the words *'Nova Albio" indicate the 
 very territory which afterwards became the southern 
 
THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 35 
 
 part of the British colonies! This land would seem to 
 be well to the south of that Nova Albio so christened by- 
 Drake for two reasons : ' ' The one in respect of the white 
 bankes and cliffes, which lie towards the sea: and the 
 other, because it might have some affinitie with our 
 Countrey in name, which sometime was so called.** To 
 a student of Drake the importance of this discovery is 
 not to be overestimated. 
 
 *'It thus appears," says Miss Nuttall, '*as though the 
 present occupation of the North American continent by 
 the Anglo-Saxon race is, after all, but a realization of 
 what may be called Drake 's Dream. ' * 
 
 To return to the Pacific and to the cruise of the Golden 
 Hind: there is a lighter side to the most weighty adven- 
 tures, and not all the incidents were epoch-making, or 
 even dignified ! There were minor episodes, such as that 
 which occurred one day when a party, having landed, 
 found a Spaniard fast asleep on shore, having thirteen 
 bars of silver by his side. **We took the silver and left 
 the man," they explained joyfully. They would certainly 
 have stormed a great galleon in the same cheerful mood. 
 But it happened to be very easy hunting that day, and 
 this kind of thing is not likely to go down to history as 
 one of the great incidents of Drake's life! It was cer- 
 tainly a flea bite in the way of plunder compared with the 
 capture of the great Spanish ship Cacafuego, which 
 yielded over £200,000. And a sovereign in those days had 
 as much value as a dozen of our modern ones. 
 
 Incidentally, there were others besides the Spaniards 
 who suffered in pocket from Drake 's visit to these shores. 
 Here for instance is the plaint of an English merchant, 
 John Chilton, one of the few examples of that period who 
 made himself at home among the Spaniards in Europe, 
 and was permitted to sail from the Peninsula to the new 
 world, with apparently all the privileges and rights to 
 Vrode that were possessed by any native-born Spaniard. 
 
 Chilton must have regarded Drake 's advent with mixed 
 
36 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 feelings, for, when speaking of the town of "Aguatulco" 
 he remarks: *'in which place Sir Francis Drake arrived 
 in the yeere 1579, in the moneth of April, where I lost with 
 his being there above a thousand duckets, which he tooke 
 away. ' ' 
 
 Drake sailed his rich ship home by way of the Molucca 
 Islands, Java, and the Cape of Good Hope, dropping an- 
 chor at Plymouth on the 26th September, 1580, after a 
 voyage of two years and ten months. On his return with 
 enormous treasure Queen Elizabeth most adroitly man- 
 aged to keep the enraged Spanish ambassador at one 
 arm's length while she extended the other to Drake. 
 
 One day in the spring of the following year the Golden 
 Hind, decorated and burnished, lay at Deptf ord to receive 
 her gracious and virgin Majesty to dinner. When the 
 meats had been eaten and the wines drunk, and when, the 
 music having been enjoyed and the laudatory Latin verses 
 nailed to the masts had been admired, Drake bade fare- 
 well to his royal mistress no longer a plain master, but 
 a knight. 
 
 In 1585 Drake set out for the Spanish Main again, in 
 command this time of a most formidable fleet of twenty- 
 five vessels manned by some two thousand three hundred 
 men. With him sailed many notable men, and his vice- 
 admiral was no less a personage than Martin Frobisher. 
 Perhaps the most important event of this voyage was the 
 capture of the town of Cartagena, which was eventually 
 ransomed by the Spaniards for the sum of one hundred 
 and ten thousand ducats. 
 
 In the course of this expedition eight captains and some 
 seven hundred and fifty men lost their lives, either from 
 sickness or wounds ; nevertheless the voyage was regarded 
 as a successful one, and when the fleet arrived at Ports- 
 mouth on the 28th of July, 1586, it was claimed with 
 justice that it was to the "no small honour to our Prince, 
 our Country, and ourselves." 
 
 It was, of course, inevitable that such raids should have 
 
THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 37 
 
 had their effect on the morale of the Spaniards, and the 
 tension of the period is revealed in a letter which 
 Hieronima de Navares wrote from Panama in 1590 to the 
 Licenciate Juan Alonso of Valladolid. In this he remarks 
 that : *'I can certifie your worship of no newes, but only, 
 that all this countrey is in such extreme feare of the 
 Englishmen our enemies, that the like was never scene 
 or heard of: for in seeing a saile, presently here are 
 alarmes in all the countrey. ' ' 
 
 Here we have Drake at the height of his fame and suc- 
 cess. Doubtless many, had they achieved half as much 
 as he, would have considered their life's work done, and 
 would have retired to the enjoyment of the soft airs of 
 the west country varied by an occasional trip to court. 
 Not so, Drake ! The call of the Spanish Main was in his 
 blood, and the chastising of the Spaniard had become part 
 of his creed. It was his fate to continue upon the seas 
 to the end, and, his death preceded by the hangings of 
 cannon, and the charges of his forces on Spanish soil, to 
 have his fever-worn body sink beneath the limpid blue 
 swell of the tropical seas. 
 
 Judging by its strength, this last expedition in which 
 Drake, accompanied by John Hawkins, took part, should 
 have excelled all the previous ones in results. Twenty- 
 one ships and nearly two thousand five hundred men 
 sailed under these famous leaders from Plymouth on the 
 28th of August, 1595. But the expedition was ill fated. 
 Towns were captured and Spanish forces were defeated 
 in the West Indies and on the Spanish Main, it is true. 
 But in general its objects were frustrated, and a landing 
 force, making for the town of Panama, was assailed on all 
 sides in the woods, and was obliged to retreat with great 
 loss. 
 
 Before this, fever had begun to work its will on the men 
 of the fleet. Sir John Hawkins was one of the first of the 
 leaders to fall a victim to this. His anxiety on the ac- 
 count of his son, a prisoner in the hands of the Spaniards, 
 
38 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 had sent him into a condition of depression which was 
 deepened by the news of the capture by the Spaniards 
 of the Francis, one of the vessels of the expedition — a 
 misfortune that revealed its plans to the Spaniards, and 
 thus made the success of the enterprise almost hopeless. 
 His vessel had just cast anchor in an inlet of the east 
 coast of Puerto Rico, when Hawkins died. 
 
 As fate would have it, his old friend Drake's spirit 
 was within an ace of winging its way to the spot where 
 the souls of all fine sailors go, within a few hours of 
 Hawkins' passage to the same place. As he sat at sup- 
 per in his cabin the next day opposite to the town of 
 Puerto Eico a heavy shot from the fort on shore crashed 
 in, wounding to death Sir Nicholas Clifford and Mr. 
 Browne, damaging Captain Stratford and one or two 
 others, and actually striking the stool from under Drake 
 himself, without causing him any hurt! 
 
 But the fever was less merciful. On the 15th of Janu- 
 ary, 1596, Drake was stricken down. He made that gal- 
 lant fight for his life that was to be looked for in such 
 as he, and an hour before his death he rose and attempted 
 to dress himself. On the 28th of January he passed 
 away, and was solemnly buried at sea in the presence 
 of Sir Thomas Baskerville and all his captains. 
 
 We may hark back for a short time to some lesser men 
 than Drake, and to a voyage which was marred chiefly on 
 account of the mutinous conduct of those who partici- 
 pated in it. Master Andrew Barker of Bristol appears to 
 have been a peculiarly unfortunate man. In 1574 a 
 cargo of goods which he had sent to Teneriffe was confis- 
 cated at the instance of the Inquisition. In order to 
 avenge this and to reimburse himself, Andrew Barker 
 fitted out two barks — the Ragged Staff e, of which he him- 
 self was captain and Phillip Roche, master; and the 
 Beare, of which William Coxe of limehouse was captain 
 and master — and with these he set out for the Spanish 
 colonies. 
 
THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 39 
 
 From the moment the vessels left Plymouth the tone 
 of their companies seems to have been a little reckless, 
 judging from the conscious, and seemingly unusual, recti- 
 tude betrayed by this phrase : ''in our course we met with 
 a ship of London, and afterwards with another ship, but 
 tooke nothing from either of them." 
 
 Nevertheless, after they had visited Trinidad, where 
 the Indians gave them ''friendly and courteous enter- 
 tainment," they found legitimate prey in a Spanish 
 frigate, overhauled near Cartagena, which contained some 
 gold, silver, and emeralds, "whereof one very great being 
 set in gold, was found tied secretly about the thigh of a 
 frier. ' ' 
 
 It may have been the sight of these treasures that in- 
 creased both the greed and the mutinous spirit of Andrew 
 Barker 's officers and men. Judging by the events of the 
 voyage, Andrew Barker could have possessed few of the 
 qualities of a leader. At Veragua his relations with his 
 master had grown so strained that they landed to fight 
 a duel, in the course of which Barker was slightly 
 wounded in the cheek. After this, when off the island of 
 San Francisco, William Coxe, the master of the Beare, 
 took a hand in the general insubordination. Coming on 
 board the Ragged Staff e, he took possession of the ship 
 and its treasure, and sent Barker ashore, where the lat- 
 ter fought with a German of the name Weiborne, both 
 being wounded. 
 
 So occupied had they been with their own affairs that 
 these turbulent spirits had overlooked the possibility of 
 damage at the hands of the Spaniards. They were re- 
 minded of this by a sudden attack by these on the men 
 ashore, in which the unfortunate Andrew Barker and 
 eight of his men were killed. 
 
 This disaster appears to have sobered William Coxe 
 for a while. He consented to receive on board again 
 those of the English who survived on the island, and 
 soothed the conscience of his crew by dividing among them 
 
40 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 a golden chain which had been found in Andrew Barker's 
 cabin after his death. 
 
 But ill luck dogged the expedition. Raiding boat 
 parties were chased by Spanish warships; the captured 
 frigate was capsized in a squall, and in her were lost 
 fourteen lives and much treasure, while shortly after this 
 Philip Roche died. The remnants of the party, having 
 divided among themselves such little booty as remained, 
 returned furtively to England. But there their crimes 
 were brought home to them, and John Barker of Bristol, 
 the brother of the dead Andrew, haled them before the 
 justices. That the chief malefactors were punished by a 
 long term of imprisonment instead of death would seem 
 to prove that, in the opinion of the judges, there had been 
 faults on all hands. 
 
 The morals to be deducted from this voyage are too 
 abundant and patent to need any emphasis here! On 
 this occasion, moreover, the spirit of poetic justice ap- 
 pears to have been peculiarly thorough, for, although 
 some of the lesser criminals "escaped the rigor of man's 
 law, yet could they not avoide the heavy judgement of 
 God, but shortly after came to miserable ends. Which 
 may be example to others to shew themselves faithfull 
 and obedient in all honest causes to their Captaines and 
 Governors." 
 
 Richard Hawkins, the son of John, and therefore of 
 the third South Sea navigating generation of the Haw- 
 kins, sailed for the Spanish Main in 1593. The style 
 in which he describes his numerous adventures is diffuse 
 but quaintly gallant. 
 
 He tells us that he caused to be constructed in the river 
 of Thames a ship of between three and four hundred 
 tons, ** pleasing to the eye, profitable for stowage, good 
 of sayle and well conditioned. ' ' 
 
 There was a considerable to-do about the naming of 
 this ship. The Lady Hawkins (whom Richard Hawkins 
 terms his mother-in-law by which term he means, I take 
 
THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 41 
 
 it, his stepmother) craved this privilege. But the name 
 she chose, the Repentance, came as a shock to Kichard 
 Hawkins. He considered it uncouth, and told her so. In 
 vain. Lady Hawkins absolutely refused to modify her 
 views on nomenclature. All the satisfaction that he ever 
 obtained from her was her expressed conviction that, 
 ** repentance was the safest ship we could sayle in to 
 purchase the haven of Heaven." 
 
 This seems to have consoled Eichard Hawkins to a 
 certain extent, for he remarks, "Well I knew, shee was no 
 Prophetesse, though a religious and most vertuous lady, 
 and of a very good understanding. . , .'* 
 
 At the same time Eichard Hawkins has much to say 
 concerning the giving of these names of celestial char- 
 acter. What luck did the Revenge ever have? Had she 
 not been all but cast upon the Irish coast? Had she not 
 run ashore coming into Plymouth, with his father. Sir 
 John, aboard? Had she not all but sunk of a leak off the 
 coast of Spain, turned ''topsie-turvie" at her moorings 
 in the river of Eochester, and suffered other catastrophes 
 too numerous too mention ? And in her last voyage, when 
 fifteen hundred Spaniards and three Spanish ships 
 perished about her, did she not give England and Spain 
 just cause to remember her ? ' * What English died in her, 
 many living are witnesses: Amongst which was Sir 
 Eichard Greenfield, a noble and valiant gentleman, Vice- 
 Admirall in her of her Majestie's Fleete, so that well 
 considered she was even a ship loaden and full fraught 
 with ill successe." 
 
 So much for the Revenge. But, after all, the Repent- 
 ance was not destined to go to sea under so ill-omened 
 a name. As she lay at Deptford, Queen Elizabeth, pass- 
 ing down the river in her barge, caught sight of her, 
 and commanded her men to pull round her. The Queen, 
 "viewing her from Post to Stemme, disliked nothing but 
 her Name, and said that shee would Christen her a-new. ' ' 
 
 So the Repentance fell at one royal swoop from her 
 
42 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 austere pinnacle to the opposite and light and airy pole of 
 the Daintie. But this cheering metamorphosis worked no 
 good in the long run. Once in South American waters, 
 after some successful cruising, Hawkins found himself, on 
 a June day in 1594, surrounded by an overwhelmingly 
 superior Spanish fleet under Don Beltran de Castro. 
 
 Eichard Hawkins made preparations for a most gallant 
 defense, which lasted three days; '*we hayled first with 
 our noise of trumpets; then with our waytes, and after 
 that with our Artillerie. ' ' 
 
 The English commander has a very great deal to say 
 concerning the lessons that should be learned from this 
 fight — of the best methods of employing ships, cannon, 
 and leaders ; of Spanish ideas of discipline and strategy ; 
 of the benefits of ** glistering" armor compared with over- 
 indulgence in the alcoholic cup, and of the foolishness of 
 mixing gunpowder with wine. He does not appear to 
 have been over-sanguine concerning the merits of wine 
 itself, a rare doubt in those days, for he complains : "Al- 
 though I had a great preparation of Armours, as well of 
 proofe as of light Corseletes, yet not a man would use 
 them ; but esteemed a pott of wine a better defense than an 
 Armour of proofe. ' ' 
 
 But no armor or wine — whatever their respective claims 
 — could hope to prevail against the immense superiority 
 of the Spanish forces. The time came when the Spanish 
 proposals of terms had to be considered seriously, though 
 not until they had been frequently rejected : '* Came wee 
 into the South Sea to put out flagges of truce?" cries Sir 
 Richard in gallant indignation. ''And left we our pleas- 
 ant England with all her contentments with intention and 
 purpose to avail ourselves with white ragges and by ban- 
 ners of peace to deliver ourselves for slaves into our 
 enemies' ranks'?" 
 
 But what would you ? Torn sails, perished masts, rent 
 pumps, fourteen shots under water, eight feet of water in 
 the hold, many slain men, and scarcely a whole one among 
 
THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 43 
 
 those that survived — these are not the factors with which 
 to snatch a victory against overwhelming odds. Richard 
 Hawkins, himself bleeding from six wounds (" one of them 
 in the necke very perillous") found himself hesitating be- 
 tween two alternatives. In his hand was the glove sent 
 to him as a guarantee of good faith by Don Beltran de 
 Castro; in his memory was the broken Spanish pledge 
 from which his father had suffered at San Juan de Ulloa. 
 
 In the end he struck his colors, the only alternative left 
 him if he wished to preserve a man of his crew alive. In 
 this instance at least he found that his confidence had not 
 been misplaced. When the Spaniards came aboard it was 
 with shouts of "Buena Guerra! Buena Guerra! Hoy 
 por mi, manana por ti!" which may be translated thus: 
 * ' Honorable Warfare ! Honorable Warfare ! To-day to 
 me : to-morrow to thee ! ' ' 
 
 There is surely a most pleasant touch of true chivalry 
 in this, as well as in the reception with which Richard 
 Hawkins met at the hands of Don Beltran de Castro. For 
 the latter nobleman received him with *' great Courtessie 
 and compassion, even with tears in his eyes, and words 
 of great consolation," and "commanded mee to bee ac- 
 comodated in his own cabbine where he sought to cure 
 and comfort mee the best he could, the like he used with 
 all our hurt men, sixe and thirtie at least. ' ' 
 
 Presently, at their leisure, the Spanish and the English 
 leader appear to have discussed the exact definitions of 
 pirates, corsairs, and legal and honorable enemies. Sir 
 Richard ** laboured to reforme the idea that the Generall 
 in Peru and in all Spaine held (before our surrendry) of 
 English Men-of-Warre to be pirats and corsarios." 
 
 In this, being as mighty a man in speech as in war (to 
 say nothing of some outbreaks into what in a less gallant 
 fellow would perilously have approached verbosity) he 
 seems to have succeeded. And then, as the intimacy of 
 the two ripened, Richard Hawkins abandoned general- 
 ities, and broached a topic of considerable personal im- 
 
44 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 portance. He strongly deprecated the custom of making 
 officers (frequently needy) pay a heavy ransom, and ex- 
 cusing the common soldiers (frequently better off than the 
 officers) with the payment of some mere trifle. 
 
 Considering his comparatively tender years, there is no 
 doubt that Sir Richard was an all-round man, and no 
 mean hand at finance ! And here again Don Beltran de 
 Castro reassured him, for he promised him that, if any 
 ransom at all were exacted, he should ask no more than a 
 couple of greyhounds for himself, and another couple for 
 his brother. 
 
 There are other instances of Spanish courtesy in vic- 
 tory which afford equally agreeable reading. But the oc- 
 casions were frequent enough when the Iberian mariners, 
 even if they would, had no opportunity of displaying any 
 magnanimity of the kind! Apart from any qualities of 
 seamanship, it was only to be expected that victory should 
 rest most often with the bold and predatory sea-dogs who, 
 fully prepared, swept down like hawks across the blue 
 waters, and disappeared again beneath the shimmering 
 horizon like the greyhounds coveted by Don Beltran de 
 Castro. 
 
 One of the bitterest pills that the Empire of Spain had 
 to swallow was the fact that at its mightiest it could not 
 always prevent its great galleons from suffering capture 
 practically at the end of their voyage. This occurred 
 with an irritating frequency at the hands of even the 
 Barbary pirates, who, athirst to avenge their fathers' and 
 forefathers' expulsion from Spain, would boldly sally out 
 from time to time, and would strain the bleeding backs 
 of their galley-slaves at the oars to board, almost within 
 sight of its port, many a treasure ship that had toilfuUy 
 sailed its voyage from Puerto Bello or Mexico. 
 
 It was not only in American waters, moreover, that the 
 English made their prizes. Many a one of these was 
 snapped up off the Spanish coast itself, and occasionally 
 even an outward vessel proved to be laden with a more 
 
THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 45 
 
 valuable cargo than might reasonably have been expected 
 by the fortunate captor. Of this kind were the two ships 
 captured in 1592 by Master Thomas White in the Amity 
 of London on his homeward voyage from Barbary, after 
 an action in which the Amity's crew of more than forty- 
 two men and a boy used their guns with such accuracy 
 upon the enemy that they ' * slew divers of their men ; so 
 that we might see the blood run out at the scupper holes. ' ' 
 Hakluyt gives the following account of their contents : 
 ** These two rich prizes were laden with 1400 chests of 
 quicksilver with the armes of Castile and Leon fastened 
 upon them, and with a great quantity of bulles of in- 
 dulgences. . . . The loss in money to the King of Spain 
 from the capture of these bulles was (in hard cash) two 
 millions and 72 thousand for living and dead persons for 
 the provinces of Nova Hispania, lucatan, Guatimala, the 
 Honduras, and the Phillipinas, taxed at two reals the 
 piece. And more for eighteene thousand bulles taxed, at 
 foure reals, amounteth all to 107,700 pounds." 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE WITH SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Trade between England and the Early Portuguese settlements in Brazil — 
 Friendly relations at Santos — A burial incident — Liberal spirit dis- 
 played by the clergy — John VVhitall — The first English resident in San- 
 tos — His letter to his friends in London — Matters of business and mar- 
 riage — Instructions concerning the first consignment of goods — How 
 local difficulties of pronunciation were overcome — Arrival of the Min- 
 ion with merchandise, and a present for Whitall — Edward Fenton's 
 voyage — He is accompanied by John Drake, a young cousin of Sir 
 Francis — Tidings of a great Spanish fleet in the Straits of Magellan 
 alter the plans of the expedition — Richard Carter, an Englishman, 
 found on board a captured ship — Fenton sails to Santos — He is visited 
 by the inhabitants of the port, including Whitall — Entertainments and 
 negotiations — Appearance on the scene of three Spanish vessels, who en- 
 gage Fenton's squadron — Victory of the English — Fenton's irresolution 
 — Suspicions concerning him — End of the English peaceful relations 
 with Brazil, now under Spanish rule — Fate of John Drake — Curious 
 circumstances concerning a man of his name in an auto-da-f4 of 1650 — 
 Eobert Withrington's expedition — English and Irish on board the cap- 
 tured ships — Some curious circumstances of the voyage — Trading ven- 
 tures — Edward Cotton's instructions to his shipmaster — Disastrous voy- 
 age of the Delight — Sufi"erings in the Straits of Magellan and on the 
 Brazilian coast — A tragic home-coming — Thomas Cavendish — His voy- 
 age round the world — Aspect of the ruined Spanish settlement in the 
 Straits of Magellan — Cavendish's methods compared with those of 
 Drake — His second voyage — Mismanagement of the attack on Santos — 
 A town empty of booty — Misfortunes of the expedition — Death of Cav- 
 endish — Adventures of the Desire — Privations of the crew — An able 
 captain — Sufferings in the Magellan Straits — Disease, death, and hos- 
 tile attack on the Brazilian coast — Result of the decay of many thou- 
 sands of dried penguins — How the Desire was brought to the coast of 
 Ireland — James Lancaster — How his previous residence in Portugal as- 
 sisted him in his voyage to Brazil — His squadron joins company with 
 that of Captain Venner — Capture of Recife and Olinda — Lancaster ob- 
 tains the assistance of Dutch and French vessels — Methods by which he 
 avoided a discussion with the Portuguese — Conclusion of a successful 
 voyage — Sir Walter Raleigh — His navigation of the Orinoco — The 
 legend of El Dorado — Effects of the landscape and of the Spaniard 
 Berreo's theories upon a poetic imagination — Raleigh's impressions 
 
 46 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 47 
 
 given in his own words — Some questions of credulity and practical fact 
 — Captains Amyas Preston, George Summers, Keymis, Berrie, and 
 Leigh — Eobert Harcourt's settlement — Raleigh's last voyage — He falls a 
 victim to his sovereign's feeble policy. 
 
 UNTIL in 1580 the Portuguese Empire fell under 
 the domination of Spain, the ancient friendship 
 in Europe between the English and Portuguese 
 gave to the English navigators the comparative freedom 
 of the Brazilian seas. About 1540 a considerable trade 
 sprang up between Southampton and Brazil, and — as we 
 have already seen — in 1542 an Englishman of the name 
 of Pudsey is said actually to have constructed a fort — 
 and, presumably, to have founded a trading post — in the 
 neighborhood of Bahia. 
 
 Just before the temporary extinction of the Portuguese 
 rule the relations between the English and their old allies 
 appear to have been particularly cordial. This was most 
 of all evident at Santos in the south of the great colony, 
 where, on the news of a probable attack by the French on 
 the port, the English traders who found themselves there 
 at the time hastened to lend their cannon to the local 
 authorities for the purpose of defense. 
 
 Indeed, we have one picture of this period which shines 
 out, a little dimly, like a star, solitary and threatened, in 
 the path of black and sullen clouds. The thing arose from 
 the kindly but unorthodox procedure of the Santos clergy. 
 The English traders and sailors had apparently become 
 accustomed to worship at the Santos church, and, on the 
 death of one of them, he was actually buried in that 
 Eoman Catholic building. 
 
 When the news of this reached the ears of the high 
 clerical dignitaries of the colony, they, scandalized, sent 
 peremptory orders that no heretic, living or dead, was to 
 be allowed to enter the sacred edifice. The priests of 
 Santos, having no choice, bowed their heads in submission. 
 But when they gave the message to the English they soft- 
 ened its harshness by every means in their power, and 
 
48 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 begged the visitors to believe in their own chagrin and 
 to think as well of them as they could. 
 
 One of the chief — and probably the first — of these Eng- 
 lish traders in Santos was John Whithall who sent home a 
 most interesting letter, written on the 26th of June, 1578. 
 He begins by explaining that he had intended proceeding 
 to Europe, but : 
 
 ''It is in this countrey offered mee to marry, and to 
 take my choice of three or f oure, so that I am about three 
 dayes agoe consorted with an Italian gentleman to marry 
 with his daughter within these foure days." 
 
 There are people known as matchmakers, but it was 
 John Whithall who was made by this match ! In a mer- 
 cenary outburst which is largely redeemed by its frank- 
 ness he confides to his friend the worldly gains which he 
 is about to obtain from his prospective father-in-law. He 
 does not say whether these come within the category of 
 additional advantages to the marriage or in that of com- 
 pensations, since not one syllable is devoted to the ap- 
 pearance or character of the lady ! But the catalogue of 
 what he is about to receive is detailed, including a sugar 
 factory ''that doth make every yeare a thousand roves 
 of sugar," and the management of another such establish- 
 ment in addition. 
 
 "This my marriage," chuckles John Whithall, "will 
 be worth to mee two thousand duckets, little more or 
 lesse." He is, at all events, an honest and open rejoicer, 
 although he has still to prove his merits as a husband. 
 He ends up this first portion of his letter in a burst of 
 thankfulness : 
 
 "I give my living Lord thanks for placing me in such 
 honour and plentifulness of all things." Undoubtedly 
 his joy was at its height just then, and John Whithall 
 must have dreamed many golden dreams as he strolled 
 by the banks of his broad river, where the purple and 
 white flowering trees rose at the back of the mangroves. 
 We may wonder what became of him when a few years 
 
OLD FORT AT MOLTH OF SANTOS RIVER, BRAZIL 
 
 THE SANTOS RIVER IN BRAZIL 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 49 
 
 later the spot was overwhelmed by the arrogant and 
 bigoted Spanish soldiers and priests ! 
 
 Fortunately for his peace of mind, he foresaw noth- 
 ing of that. He was wholly taken up with his own 
 promising plans; **My father-in-law and I shal (God 
 willing) make a good qnantitie of sugar every yeere, 
 which sugar we intend to ship for London from hence- 
 forth, if we can get such a trustie and good friend as you 
 to deale with us in this matter." 
 
 All that glittered before Whithall as he wrote his very 
 long letter to his friend Richard Staper was a golden 
 commercial future. Even at that moment his acute 
 trader's brain had grasped an opportunity. Would his 
 friend send him out a ship — a vessel of some sixty or 
 seventy tons? This argosy, you see, which was to sail 
 from Europe to Brazil, was not to be much larger than 
 a modern fishing smack! — laden, with *' these parcels of 
 commodities or wares, as foUoweth." 
 
 Now these wares are just of the nature that a new 
 colony might be expected to desire. They included 
 cloths, gowns, hollands, fustians, silks, flannels, cottons, 
 frieze, shirts, hats, doublets, girdles, knives, Venice 
 glasses, axes, soap, nails and fishhooks. Also there was 
 to be wine from the Canaries, and **sixe dozen of Cor- 
 dovan skinnes of these colours, to wit, orenge, tawnie, 
 yellow, red, and very fine black." 
 
 John Whithall then points out that : * ' To cause a ship 
 to come hither with such commodities as would serve this 
 countrey, would come to great gaines," more especially 
 if the proceeds be invested in a cargo of the local sugar 
 to freight the vessel back. It may, of course, be merely 
 a coincidence that this advice should have been tendered 
 just as the fortunate John Whithall was on the eve of 
 acquiring a sugar factory! But in any case he reveals 
 himself a shrewd fellow. 
 
 "This voyage is as good as any Peru voyage," 
 promises John Whithall, and he was probably right. 
 
50 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Then he makes an offer, and it will be seen that the size 
 of the suggested ship has swollen just a little in the 
 course of his long letter : * ' If you and Master Osborne 
 will deale here, I will deale with you before any other, 
 because of our old friendly friendship in time past" — 
 perhaps it is to his credit that he shows himself far more 
 sentimentally inclined towards past comrades than 
 towards future wives. '*If you have any stomake 
 thereto, in the name of God, do you espie out a fine barke 
 of seventie or eightie tunnes, and send her hither with 
 a Portugal pilot to this port of S. Vincent in Brazil, 
 bordering upon the borders of Peru. ' ' 
 
 Finally Whithall strikes a light on the difficulties of 
 pronunciation which his name has involved, and on the 
 triumphant compromise which has been effected : 
 
 ''Here in this countrey in stead of John Whitehall they 
 have called me John Leitoan ; so that they have used this 
 name so long time, that at this present there is no rem- 
 edie, but it must remaine so. When you write unto me, 
 let the superscription be unto John Leitoan." 
 
 In whatever manner it may have been pronounced, 
 John Whithall 's name was clearly sound and respected 
 for commercial purposes, for in response to his appeal 
 the Minion, laden with the specified goods, set sail from 
 London, sighted the mountains guarding the northern 
 bank of the Santos River, swung round into the stream, 
 and came to an anchor near the palm-covered hill on the 
 top of which stood Santos church. She bore a letter to 
 Whithall from his merchant friends of London, explain- 
 ing that the great credit they attach to his promises 
 has caused them *' to joyne ourselves in company together, 
 and to be at great charges purposely to send this good 
 ship the Minion of London, not onely with such marchan- 
 dizes as you wrote for, but also with as many other things 
 as we thought might any wayes pleasure you, or profit 
 the country." 
 
 Toward the end of the long letter comes the news of 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 51 
 
 a little personal present to Whithall himself: ''And in 
 the meane time for a token of our good willes toward 
 you, we have sent you a fieldbed of walnut tree, with the 
 canopy, valens, curtaines, and gilt knobs." 
 
 That the Minion was cordially received — not only by 
 John Whithall, but by the officials and all the people — 
 we know, and it is probable enough that the *'deales" 
 fully justified John Whithall 's appeal. 
 
 But this was the end of those friendly relations — or, 
 if you prefer it, the death of the first promise of dawn, 
 which the Spanish conquest of Portugal was to bring to 
 nothing. 
 
 Edward Fenton's expedition to South America cannot 
 be ranked as one of the triumphs of the early mariners. 
 Its original destination was China; but it achieved 
 neither that object, nor anything else of importance, 
 chiefly owing to bad leadership and to differences be- 
 tween the various commanders. 
 
 Fenton's fleet consisted of the Leicester, of four hun- 
 dred tons; the Bonaventure, three hundred tons; the 
 Elizabeth, fifty tons, and the Francis, a bark of forty 
 tons, the property of Sir Francis Drake, and commanded 
 by his young cousin John Drake. This latter was a most 
 promising lad of some twenty years of age, who, as we 
 have already seen, had accompanied his illustrious rela- 
 tive on his voyage round the world. It was the boy John 
 Drake, as a matter of fact, who had won the gold chain 
 offered by Sir Francis as a prize to him who should first 
 sight the treasure ship Cacafuego. 
 
 The services of John Drake, as well as the boatswain 
 Thomas Blackaller and the shipmaster Thomas Gult, 
 were lent by Sir Francis Drake to Fenton, as that mortal 
 of hesitating tendencies does not appear to have had any 
 practical knowledge of the sea. 
 
 After a visit to the west coast of Africa it was de- 
 termined to set sail for Brazil, ''and so to appoint our 
 course from time to time, if wee lost companie, to stay 
 
52 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 fifteene dayes in the River of Plate, and from thence to 
 go for the streights, and there to ride, and water, and 
 trimme our ships." 
 
 When off the South American coast, however, the ex- 
 pedition captured a Spanish vessel, from which they 
 gleaned some disturbing intelligence. A powerful Span- 
 ish fleet, of twenty- three ships and 3,500 men under Diego 
 Flores de Valdez, it appeared, had sailed down to the 
 Straits of Magellan, and was lying there in wait for any 
 squadron which might attempt the passage. 
 
 On board of the captured vessel, it may be remarked, 
 were a number of friars, and an Englishman, named 
 Richard Carter, who for the last twelve years had been 
 dwelling at the town of Asuncion on the banks of the 
 Paraguay River, a thousand miles from the coast. When 
 the other prisoners were released. Carter, as well as a 
 certain Juan Pinto who knew the mouth of the Rio de la 
 Plata, were retained, doubtless on account of their 
 knowledge of the local topography. 
 
 On receiving the news of the hostile occupation of the 
 Magellan Straits, Fenton had declared that he would pass 
 through them in spite of the Spanish fleet. Presently 
 his resolution wavered, and he summoned a council of 
 war of his captains. How ill-assorted these latter were 
 may be judged from the fact that "their opinions were 
 as divers as their names ; and as much differed, as before 
 this time they were wont usually to doe : onely they all 
 agreed in this one point, that it was impossible for us 
 to passe the streights without seeing, and incountring 
 with the ships." 
 
 From subsequent events we may feel positive that John 
 Drake was not one of those who advocated the timorous 
 counsel which in the end prevailed. After the captains 
 had supped in company Fenton announced to them that 
 he had temporarily abandoned the plan of passing 
 through the straits. The question now was merely 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 53 
 
 whether they should revictual on the banks of the Eio 
 de la Plata or at the Brazilian port of Santos. 
 
 This was soon settled. The Spanish prisoners had ad- 
 mitted that food existed on the banks of the great river, 
 but they had added that there was no wine available there. 
 This was certainly true, as the Indian-harried settlement 
 of Buenos Aires, founded for the second time scarcely 
 two years before, was still in the throes of want and hard- 
 ship. As at that time the importance of wine in the pro- 
 vision list of a vessel was scarcely second in importance 
 to that of solid food, this condition of affairs did not 
 appeal to Fenton, who sailed along the coast until he 
 opened up that spot in the forest-covered mountains, in 
 the midst of which spread the alluvial valley of the San- 
 tos Eiver. So Diego Flores de Valdez' great fleet waited 
 in vain in the Straits of Magellan, and the history of the 
 suffering and disasters incurred in the attempt to form 
 defensive settlements in those bleak and remote channels 
 is one of the most tragic that the Spanish colonies have 
 to show. 
 
 Soon after Fenton 's vessels had dropped anchor in the 
 stream at a point some distance below the town, the com- 
 mander was visited by Giuseppe Doria, WhithalPs 
 wealthy and respected father-in-law, and some others. 
 There was a good deal of doubt ashore, it appeared, con- 
 cerning Fenton 's intentions. The efforts on the part of 
 the seamen to dissipate this were sufficient, as is testi- 
 fied to by Captain Luke Ward, of the Bonaventure: 
 
 "After many speeches and requests a banket was made 
 them, and the generall in his pinnesse with his musicke, 
 and trumpets; and I in my skiffe with trumpets, drum 
 and fife, and tabor and pipe, accompanied them a mile 
 up the river : at going off, we saluted them with a volley 
 of three great pieces out of each ship." 
 
 In these days we may have lacked elbow room, creature 
 comforts, and ventilation; but we had it within us to 
 
54 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 make a brave show when the time for ceremony ar- 
 rived ! 
 
 This visit was productive of friendly sentiments. On 
 the next day Whithall himself came on board. For all 
 the enthusiastic shrewdness of his trading instincts, he 
 does not seem to have hesitated for a single moment when 
 the call of loyalty clashed with his pecuniary interests. 
 Whithall came now with a word of warning. The 
 shadow of the Spanish Empire lay over the spot, and 
 its influence had already been working. The Portuguese 
 were restless and uneasy. In proof of the probability 
 that their natural instincts of hospitality would give way 
 to the harsh demands of Spain, they had sent away their 
 women folk, and were hurriedly fortifying the town. 
 Why not, he urged, sail up and anchor before the town, 
 and thus take the delicate situation more directly under 
 control 1 
 
 Then Whithall took his departure over the side, and 
 was doubtless paddled away in one of those dug-out 
 canoes such as still survive in the river. Very shortly 
 afterwards Doria came floating down the stream again, 
 accompanied by a Portuguese. They brought further 
 pacific messages, but advised the postponement of any 
 important steps until the governor had spoken with Mas- 
 ter Fenton, which he would do in a few days. 
 
 Fenton thanked his visitors, begged them to partake 
 of his hospitality, and then, while they were busied in 
 dining, he mounted to the deck to discuss the situation 
 with his officers. Fenton — arguing that a wealthy mer- 
 chant in hand was worth a dozen governors in the bush 
 — was inclined to detain his guests indefinitely in the light 
 of hostages. But, as usual, he was loth to do anything 
 — even the wrong thing ! — without discussion and hesi- 
 tation. 
 
 His second-in-command, Ward, deprecated anything of 
 the kind. He reminded Fenton that their instructions 
 forbade violence except in self-defense, and pointed out 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 55 
 
 the irretrievable damage that such a procedure would 
 cause to the budding trade which the Minion had opened 
 up with Santos. This pacific counsel prevailed, and the 
 outcome of it was that, instead of detention, the visitors 
 received some fine black cloth, and — in order that social 
 distinctions might be preserved — the same quantity for 
 the governor, but this in scarlet and murrey ! 
 
 But the days of peaceful trading had gone by. Southey 
 — not quite fairly, I think, — charges the fault of their 
 disappearance to Drake rather than to the grim and im- 
 mutable policy of Spain. He says : 
 
 "But the evil which Ward anticipated from hostile pro- 
 ceedings had already been produced by Drake ; our nation 
 was hated, and by all the Spaniards in America, English- 
 men were considered as pirates." 
 
 However this may have been, there was no uncertainty 
 about the masts and yards of three Spanish ships, which 
 one day pricked up plainly above the low trees of the 
 alluvial valley, separated from the English vessels by 
 only a few windings of the tortuous river. 
 
 The Spanish squadron came on to the attack, and, as 
 a brilliant moon was shining, a night action ensued in 
 the river, in the course of which one of the Spanish ves- 
 sels sank to the muddy bottom of the stream. In the 
 end the squadron to which it had belonged, defeated, 
 made its way with difficulty up the river. Fenton did 
 not trouble himself about pursuit. He shook the water 
 of the river from his sterns, and sailed homewards, 
 having achieved very little beyond a certain loss of repu- 
 tation. 
 
 Decidedly the victor of this river fight, he appears to 
 have behaved with the most exemplary humanity, and to 
 have contented himself with vigorously repelling the as- 
 sault on him. Iberian historians themselves freely admit 
 that Fenton might have inflicted much more severe dam- 
 age on the Spaniards, had he been so minded. Lopez 
 Vaz, a Portuguese, gives the following account: 
 
56 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 **The Englishmen easily put them to the worst, and 
 sunke one of them, and might have sunke another, if the 
 Englishmen would : but they minded not the destruction 
 of any man: for that is the greatest vertue that can be 
 in a man, that when hee may doe hurt, yet he will not doe 
 it. So the Englishmen .... went backe for England, 
 without doing of any harme in the countrey.'* 
 
 Such generous praise from an opponent would read still 
 more pleasantly were Fenton's motives perfectly clear. 
 But the reason of many of this leader's actions is 
 shrouded in mystery. Undoubtedly his procedure was 
 often half-hearted, and in more than one quarter he was 
 suspected of carrying on negotiations with the Spanish 
 ambassador in London. 
 
 This action, although insignificant in itself, was a mo- 
 mentous one, since it signaled the termination of the 
 English peaceful relations with Brazil. The whole of 
 South America was now under Spanish domination, and 
 throughout the entire length of its coasts the English 
 might know well enough that not a port existed that 
 would not throw a round shot or two — even were the 
 cannon old and rusted — at any vessel flying the St. 
 George's Cross which should chance to come within 
 range. 
 
 The free intercourse between the English and the Port- 
 uguese was not destined to be renewed until some two 
 centuries and a quarter later, when a British fleet es- 
 corted a Portuguese regent and his court to their new 
 capital of Rio de Janeiro. For when in 1640 the Portu- 
 guese flung off the Spanish yoke, the Government of 
 Brazil continued to be tainted with methods which, 
 though less harsh, savored of the Spanish model, and the 
 advent of the foreigner was hindered as much as possible. 
 
 One tragic episode, however, has yet to be related con- 
 cerning Fenton's expedition. Young John Drake, mind- 
 ful no doubt of his great kinsman's deeds, had no mind 
 to abandon the voyage to the South Seas. So he sepa- 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 57 
 
 rated his forty-ton cockleshell from Fenton's squadron, 
 and sailed it gallantly on to the south, he and his crew 
 of seventeen men and a boy ! Alas ! off the River Plate 
 the Francis struck a rock, and was wrecked, and after 
 conflicts with the Indians and captivity, John Drake and 
 two companions found themselves at Buenos Aires. 
 
 They were kindly received, and would probably have 
 been sent back to their own country, had not a former 
 prisoner of Francis Drake's appeared on the scene and 
 recognized the admiral's young cousin. 
 
 John Drake was taken to Lima, after a long stay at 
 Asuncion on the way. He appears eventually to have 
 adopted the Roman Catholic faith and to have married ; 
 but he was never permitted to leave the neighborhood 
 of Lima. 
 
 It is supposed that John Drake and his two companions 
 were the sole survivors of the unfortunate Francis; but 
 it is possible that there remained some who did not suc- 
 ceed in escaping from the hands of the Indians. Hakluyt, 
 for one, was led to believe this, for he remarks : 
 
 ''Upon this comming of the Englishmen, there were 
 prepared 50 horsemen to goe over the river to seeke the 
 rest of the Englishmen, and also certaine Spaniards that 
 were among the savage people, but I am not certaine, 
 whether they went forward or not." 
 
 Zelia Nuttall in her very valuable work for the Hakluyt 
 Society, ''New Light on Drake," has an interesting note 
 in connection with John Drake: 
 
 "In the official description of the auto-da-fe held in 
 December, 1650, in the Church of Santo Domingo at 
 Cartagena, the capital of the Spanish Main, the name of 
 John Drake is given as that of one of the penitents. He 
 had been denounced to the Dominican fathers because 
 'being a Lutheran, he frequented the Holy Sacraments.' 
 After performing public penance in the auto-da-fe, he was 
 'absolved with a caution' and admitted to reconciliation 
 with the Church of Rome. In 1650 John Drake, the 
 
58 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 cousin of Francis Drake, would have been an octogenar- 
 ian, a fact which might explain the otherwise unaccount- 
 able leniency of the sentence imposed for so grave a 
 sacrilege .... Whatever the truth may be, it is a fact 
 which cannot but awaken deep interest, that sixty-five 
 years after Drake's cousin figured in an auto-da-fe at 
 Lima, a Lutheran namesake of his was living on the 
 Spanish Main, the scene of many an English raid, whither 
 ships sailed regularly from Lima, transporting the gold 
 and silver destined for Spain. There, if anywhere in 
 America, at that time, there was a remote chance of liber- 
 ation or escape and this may account for the fact that in 
 1652 'an English tailor, named Anthony' also lived at 
 Cartagena." 
 
 After Fenton's return an expedition set out for the 
 South Seas by way of the Brazils, no longer bearing an 
 olive branch at the main. The squadron, financed by the 
 Earl of Cumberland, was commanded by Robert With- 
 rington, and was accompanied by two privateers, one of 
 which had been fitted out by Raleigh. 
 
 Setting out in 1586, when well to the south of the 
 line, Withrington stood in toward the shore, and where 
 the blue of the Southern Pacific was becoming tinged 
 with the thick yellow flood of the River Plate he captured 
 two small Portuguese vessels. 
 
 Curiously enough, the first of these ships was com- 
 manded by a certain Abraham Cocke, who had originally 
 been one of the members of the Minion's crew. This 
 tends to show that the last spark of international genial- 
 ity had not yet been stamped out by the Spaniards, and, 
 morever, reveals the remarkable manner in which the 
 threads of each of these English expeditions happened 
 to be picked up by the next. 
 
 In the second of the captured vessels were three or 
 four friars, an Irishman among them, and, if only the 
 date corresponded more closely, one would have made 
 certain that this could have been no other than the Jesuit 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 59 
 
 Father Fields, whose adventures when captured by 
 English '■ ' pirates ' ' are described in a later chapter. 
 
 Cocke assured his compatriots that, if they would turn 
 their bows northwards, they could raid Bahia with suc- 
 cess. Withrington took his advice, but obtained no booty 
 to speak of at that tropical port, in spite of much fierce 
 fighting the town itself being strenuously guarded by 
 great numbers of the Jesuit Mission Indians, who had 
 been hastily summoned for that purpose. 
 
 It is worthy of remark that on this voyage a landing 
 party at Seal Island (probably Lobos Island) found there 
 the arms of Portugal engraved on a rock. These, it was 
 imagined, had been placed there by the order of Martin 
 Alonso de Souza. 
 
 This last voyage makes no mention of John Whithall, 
 and it is possible that the intercourse between him and 
 his fellow countrymen was broken off after it. If he 
 remained there, no doubt his descendants inhabit the 
 neighborhood at the present day, and if any people of 
 the name of Leitoan or Leitoa exist there now, they 
 may congratulate themselves on a distinctly interesting 
 ancestry ! 
 
 It is not a little curious to find that in the actual heyday 
 of the raids of the great English navigators there were 
 other sailors who were occupied in commonplace trading 
 with the colonists. Yet this is clear enough from the 
 instructions given by Master Edward Cotton of South- 
 ampton to the commander of a ship of his freighted in 
 1590 for Brazil and the River Plate. 
 
 Needless to say, the traffic had to be carried on very 
 quietly, and the palms of the Spanish officials well 
 smoothed with gold. Among the commodities required 
 for the return trip were ''amber, sugar, green ginger, 
 cotton-wool, and some quantity of the peppers of the 
 country there. Also for parats and monkies, and the 
 beast called serrabosa." 
 
 The crew, morever, were to drag for oysters, and the 
 
60 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 master was to keep a sharp lookout for the seeds and 
 kernels of strange plants, **also to doe your best en- 
 deavour to try for the best ore or golde, silver, or other 
 rich mettals whatsoever. ' ' 
 
 Unfortunately for the high hopes of Edward Cotton, 
 his vessel was cast away on the shore of Guinea, only 
 one man out of the ship's company returning to tell the 
 tale. 
 
 In 1589, the Bristol ship Delight set out from Plymouth 
 on a voyage to the Magellan Straits and the Southern 
 Chilean Province of Arauco, which caused her name to 
 appear most grimly ironical. For the first part of the 
 journey she was accompanied by two other vessels, the 
 Wild Man and the White Lion, as well as by two small 
 pinnaces. But in the neighborhood of Cape Blanco on 
 the Barbary coast she lost sight of her consorts, and did 
 not get into touch with them again. 
 
 The Delight stood on for the South American coast, 
 and eventually reached the Magellan Straits in safety, 
 although by the time she had made the mountainous and 
 wooded inlets, disease had carried off sixteen persons out 
 of their complement of ninety one. 
 
 The voyage of the Delight deserves to be better known. 
 It provides unsurpassable material for an epic of mis- 
 fortune. Having waited in the vain hope of being joined 
 by the remaining vessels of the expedition, she proceeded 
 to Penguin Island and her crew captured and salted a 
 number of penguins, ** which must be eaten with speed, 
 for wee found them to be of no long continuance." In 
 the course of this work of provisioning a serious accident 
 occurred; for their boat was blown away in a sudden 
 gale, and was never seen again. This catastrophe cost 
 them the lives of fifteen men, and left them without a 
 boat. However, a substitute was improvised out of the 
 wood of the men's chests, and the Delight made her way 
 along the Straits as far as Port Famine. Here, near 
 the ruins of the Spanish settlement which it had been 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 61 
 
 attempted to found in 1582, they met with, and succored, 
 a solitary Spaniard, the only one remaining at the spot 
 out of the original four hundred, who was leading a her- 
 mit and precarious existence. 
 
 About this time, attracted by the signals of some In- 
 dians on shore, the Delight's new boat was sent to the 
 beach. No sooner had the men landed than they were 
 set on by the treacherous natives, and out of a crew of 
 nine only two returned alive to their ship. To cut short 
 a long story of disaster, a six weeks' sojourn in these 
 fatal straits cost the lives of thirty-eight men, whether 
 from casualties or disease. 
 
 Nothing remained but for the Delight to attempt to 
 make her way home as best she could. No grain of good 
 fortune relieved the gloom of the return voyage. Once, 
 an eighty-ton Portuguese vessel was sighted, from which, 
 it was hoped, some food might be obtained. But the 
 Portuguese master ran his ship ashore, and there, for 
 want of a proper boat, the Delight had to leave her ! 
 
 Infested by disease, the stricken vessel staggered on 
 to the north, and when foul weather at length drove her 
 mournful ribs on to the rocks of Normandy only six of 
 her crew remained alive ! 
 
 When we come to Cavendish we arrive at one of the 
 few of the most prominent early navigators who was not 
 a Devonian. Thomas Cavendish was a fairly wild Suf- 
 folk lad, of good family and easy circumstances. Or- 
 phaned when a minor, he took the first opportunity of 
 squandering his patrimony with that impetuousity which 
 characterized his actions throughout his life. 
 
 In 1585 a voyage with Sir Richard Greenville to Vir- 
 ginia gave him his taste for the sea. On his return he 
 employed the remains of his fortune to equip a small 
 fleet of three vessels. This he took to Sierra Leone in 
 1586, whence he sailed to South America. When off the 
 coast of Brazil he endeavored to get into communication 
 with John Whithall of Santos, but failed. After this. 
 
62 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 he proceeded to the south, and passed through the Magel- 
 lan Straits. Here they saw the ruins of the settlement 
 which the Spaniards had endeavored to establish there: 
 ''the citie had foure Fortes, and every Fort had in it 
 one cast piece, which pieces were buryed in the ground, 
 the carriages were standing in their places unburied: 
 we digged for them and had them all. ' ' The inhabitants, 
 attacked by starvation and Indians, had "dyed like 
 dogges in their houses, and in their clothes, wherein we 
 found them still at our coming, untill that in the ende 
 the towne being wonderfully taynted with the smell and 
 the savour of the dead people, the rest which remained 
 alive were driven .... to forsake the towne." 
 
 Such was a portion of the tragedy of Port Famine. 
 After this Cavendish sailed up the Pacific coast, then, 
 drawing away to the westward, he sailed home in the 
 track of Drake, being the second Englishman to circum- 
 navigate the world. 
 
 England and Spain being at this period openly at war, 
 Cavendish had at least the advantage of carryiiig on his 
 vastly extensive plundering with a completely easy mind. 
 His spoil was immense, one captured vessel alone being 
 found to be laden with the equivalent of £49,000 in gold. 
 But, for all that he was a bold and daring mariner, in 
 some respects Cavendish fell far from the standard set 
 by Drake. Drake, it is true, had once ducked an obsti- 
 nate prisoner, a sufficiently mild chastisement, but Caven- 
 dish did not hesitate at actual torture, relying on the 
 thumbscrew to break the silence of more than one Span- 
 ish captive. His bravery was of the kind which his fel- 
 low leaders of the age rightly claimed for the English; 
 but his methods were such as — with far less reason — 
 have been held, in the British mind, for centuries as the 
 special characteristics of the Spaniard ! 
 
 Surely something of his spirit struts out in these words 
 of his, trumpeting his first voyage : 
 
 "In which voyage I have either discovered or brought 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 63 
 
 certaine intelligence of all the ricli places of the world 
 that were ever knowen or discovered by any Christian. 
 I navigated alongst the coast of Chili, Pern, and Nueva 
 Espana, where I made great spoiles : I burnt and sunke 
 nineteen sailes of ships small and great. All the villages 
 and townes that ever I landed at I burnt and spoiled." 
 
 Cavendish seems to have been determined that his re- 
 turn from so successful a voyage should lose nothing 
 in the way of crude splendor. So, when his bows at 
 length clove their way into English waters, they were, 
 it is said, gilt and shining; his sails were of variously 
 colored damask, and his topmasts were covered with 
 cloth-of-gold. As a finishing touch — ^probably not with- 
 out its own humor — ^his grim sea-dogs are said to have 
 lounged against this gorgeous back-ground, themselves 
 resplendent in the bravest of silks. 
 
 Cavendish's second voyage is chiefly remarkable for 
 the unusual amount of attention paid to the coast of 
 Brazil. In 1591 two of his ships surprised the town of 
 Santos, and captured practically the entire population 
 who happened to be at mass. This in itself was some- 
 thing of a haul, since wealthy settlers were often worth 
 their weight in silver for a ransom. But Cocke, Caven- 
 dish's second in command, who had charge of the affair, 
 found the good cheer of Santos too much for his 
 astuteness. While he feasted and drank, the inhabitants 
 packed up their valuables very stealthily, and, laden with 
 these, slipped away into the forest, making their way 
 toward the highlands of the interior. 
 
 So that when, rather more than a week later. Cavendish 
 arrived at Santos, he found Cocke — ^who doubtless re- 
 ceived him sheepishly — safely in possession of Santos — 
 but Santos without its inhabitants, valuables, or pro- 
 visions. In their anger, the sailors took a clay image 
 of St. Catherine from a small chapel, and flung it into 
 the river. Later, it was recovered by a dragnet — either 
 by accident or design — and was found to be completely 
 
64 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 covered with those little oyster-shells such as are to be 
 seen on the sea-walls of Santos to-day. These were suf- 
 fered to remain, and by its immersion the image became 
 vested with a double sanctity. After this the disgusted 
 crews burned the neighboring village of Sao Vicente, 
 and made oif to the south to navigate the Magellan 
 Straits. But the good fortune which had attended Cav- 
 endish on his first voyage failed him now. His fleet 
 was driven and scattered by the overwhelming storms of 
 the bleak southern latitudes. Doubtless soured by these 
 misfortunes, Cavendish appears to have fallen foul of 
 his officers and crew, who, however, remained loyal to 
 him. 
 
 Once more Cavendish's storm-battered ship, alone on 
 the waters now, sailed with a sick and starving crew to 
 the mouth of the Santos River. But misfortune clung 
 like a hungry shark to the weather-beaten quarter of 
 Cavendish's vessel. Of twenty-five men, landed at a dis- 
 tance of some three leagues from Santos in order to 
 obtain provisions, not a soul returned to the vessel. They 
 were attacked by a band of Indians who on the previous 
 occasion had shown themselves friendly, and all but two 
 were slain. The unfortunate survivors were escorted 
 into Santos by the Indians, who triumphantly waved in 
 the air the twenty- three severed heads of the prisoners' 
 slain comrades. 
 
 Cavendish left the place, and, cruising along the coast, 
 was soon joined by the Roebuck, one of the vessels of his 
 squadron which had lived through the southern storms. 
 They sailed northwards in company, raiding where they 
 could, until they came to Espiritu Santo. 
 
 Here they determined on a more important landing 
 expedition. The bar, however, of the small river which 
 ran by the place presented some problems. Moved by a 
 fatal inspiration, one of Cavendish's Portuguese prison- 
 ers volunteered to pilot the vessels in. Cavendish, 
 doubting the possibility of this, sent a boat's crew to 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 65 
 
 sound. They pulled back, to report an insufficient depth 
 of water to permit the passage of the bar. 
 
 The unfortunate Portuguese protested that, whatever 
 soundings they made it, he had safely taken in vessels 
 of a hundred tons. But his protestations fell on deaf 
 ears. Cavendish hanged him forthwith, having first cyni- 
 cally explained to the poor wretch that he deserved hang- 
 ing in either case — ^whether for piloting his country's 
 enemies, or for attempting to wreck an English vessel ! 
 
 But this was one of the last outbursts of Cavendish's 
 peculiarly grim species of humor. A boat-expedition, 
 sent up the river, was, notwithstanding much individual 
 gallantry, forced to return after having suffered very 
 heavy loss. Much of the fault of this Cavendish at- 
 tributed to the master of the Roebuck, whom he dubbed 
 a most cowardly villain. Then he set sail for England, 
 realizing that the expedition had failed in all things, a 
 circumstance which undoubtedly contributed to his end 
 a little later. For, like his greater fellow navigators, 
 Drake and Hawkins, Cavendish died in the tropics with 
 the oak timbers of his vessel beneath him. 
 
 In connection with this expedition occurred a voyage 
 which, from the point of view of tragedy, may well com- 
 pare with that of the Delight. After Cavendish's fleet 
 had left the Straits of Magellan, and was beating its way 
 up through the stormy latitudes toward Brazil, the Desire 
 lost company with the other vessels. After a time her 
 captain, John Davis, decided to return to the Straits 
 of Magellan. The Desire even attained the length of 
 entering the Pacific, but was beaten back by weather to 
 the grim shelter of the land waters. 
 
 In the course of a desperate and precarious existence 
 here, a portion of the crew became suspicious of the 
 captain's motives, and planned to murder him — a silver 
 bullet had already been prepared that would leave no 
 doubt about his end ! But that fine sailor. Captain Davis, 
 learning of this in time, convinced the malcontents of his 
 
66 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 sincerity, and read them some well-earned lectures on 
 their conduct in addition. 
 
 This episode affords merely one more proof that if 
 ever there was a spot designed to bring to a head an 
 incipient mutinous spirit, it was these very Magellan 
 Straits. The more one reads of their history, the clearer 
 it becomes that they were the earthly hell of sixteenth, 
 seventeenth, and eighteenth century mariners! 
 
 In the first instance the unfortunate men of the Desire 
 had been obliged to subsist largely on mussels ; but after- 
 wards their diet improved : 
 
 ''All the time that wee were in this place, we fared 
 passing well with egs, Penguins, young scales, young 
 Guiles, besides other birds .... we found an herbe 
 called Scurvygrasse, which we fried with egs, using traine 
 oyle in stead of butter. This herbe did so purge 
 ye blood, that it tooke away all kind of swellings, of 
 which many died, and restored us to perfect health of 
 body.*' 
 
 With this more favorable outlook, died away the in- 
 cipient growlings of a mutiny to which the sufferings of 
 the men had inclined to drive them. 
 
 In these circumstances it was decided to return, and to 
 make for Brazil. It was with a woefully diminished 
 crew that the weatherbeaten Desire drove her nose dog- 
 gedly into the waters of the Atlantic again. In her hold 
 were fourteen thousand dried penguins, the fruit of in- 
 finite toil and labor in the bleak straits. 
 
 Thus provisioned, the ship 's company of the Desire may 
 well have thought that they had left most of their troubles 
 behind them, however shaken might be the hull of their 
 vessel and however rotten its sails. But when they 
 passed from the chilly southern latitudes to the brilliant 
 glow of the subtropics the taste of penguin, eked out by 
 nothing beyond a few precious spoonfuls of oil, meal, 
 and pease, became more and more difficult to bear, more 
 especially now that the allowance of water was short. 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 67 
 
 When off the Brazilian Island of Placentia, matters 
 had become desperate. The Desire was brought to an 
 anchor, while a party was sent ashore to collect cassava 
 roots, near an apparently deserted settlement. This 
 work they performed for several days, when, on the night 
 of the fifth of February, ^'rnany of our men in the ship 
 dreamed of murther and slaughter : in the morning they 
 reported their dreams, one saying to another ; this night 
 I dreamt, that thou wert slaine; another answered, and 
 I dreamed, that thou wert slaine: and this was general 
 through the ship." 
 
 Treating this phenomenon with some respect, the cap- 
 tain commanded those who were about to proceed on 
 shore to arm themselves well, and to keep a sharp watch. 
 Nevertheless, the tropical languor of the after-dinner 
 hour on shore proved too much for the caution of the 
 men, and they were sleeping in the shade of the palms 
 and the brilliant flowers, when they were surprised by a 
 force of Portuguese and Indians, and of fifteen men all 
 but two were slain. The Desire's boat was pulled in hot 
 haste to the spot, but, save for the two survivors, they 
 found their comrades already dead, and ''laide naked on a 
 ranke one by another, with their faces upward, and a 
 crosse set by them." 
 
 The Englishmen had not leisure to do any more than 
 take in this melancholy sight; for two large pinnaces, 
 crowded with armed men, were approaching, and it was 
 high time for the mauled and maltreated Desire to leave 
 this unhealthy neighborhood. 
 
 When her tattered and soiled sails were spread to the 
 joyously mocking and brilliant airs only twenty-seven 
 gaunt men remained to work the vessel. As they drew 
 near the Equator some welcome showers renewed the 
 water in their cask. But this was nothing but an ironical 
 caress of the merciless fortune which obsessed the poor 
 vessel. The equatorial sun and the malignant spirits of 
 the slain penguins entered into a gruesome treaty to deal 
 
68 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 the most dreadful blow of all. What happened is best 
 told in the homely words of the sufferers themselves. 
 
 '* After we came neere unto the sun, our dried 
 Penguins began to corrupt, and there bred in them a most 
 lothsome and ugly worme of an inch long. This worme 
 did so mightily increase, and devoure our victuals, that 
 there was in reason no hope how we should avoide famine, 
 but be devoured of these wicked creatures: there was 
 nothing that they did not devour, only yron excepted: 
 our clothes, boots, shooes, hats, shirts, stockings: and 
 for the ship they did so eat the timbers, as that we 
 greatly feared they would undoe us, by gnawing through 
 the ship's side .... the more we laboured to kill them, 
 the more they increased ; so that at the last we could not 
 sleepe for them, but they would eate our flesh, and bite 
 like Mosquotos." 
 
 Presently these unfortunate beings fell into a disease 
 which, beginning in the ankles, caused their whole bodies 
 to swell in a monstrous fashion. Undoubtedly it was a 
 nightmare of a voyage, this! No wonder that ''divers 
 grew raging mad, and some died in most lothsome and 
 furious paine." Through it all the captain's spirit seems 
 to have remained undaunted, and of the five who, at the 
 end of the voyage, were able to move about the deck, he 
 and a boy were the only two who remained in health. 
 Beyond these were eleven prostrate invalids, all that re- 
 mained out of the original ship 's company of seventy-six 
 men. 
 
 Even when within sight of home the survivors were 
 destined to experience more sordidness — this time in 
 human nature: 
 
 "Thus as lost wanderers upon the sea, the 11 of June 
 1593, it pleased God that we arrived at Bear-haven in 
 Ireland, and there ran the ship on shore : where the Irish 
 men helped us to take in our sails, and to more our ship 
 for floating : which slender paines of theirs cost the cap- 
 taine some ten pounds before he could have the ship in 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 69 
 
 safetie. Thus without victuals, sails, men, or any furni- 
 ture God only guided us into Ireland. ' ' 
 
 A few days later this staunch captain and some of his 
 men landed at Padstow in Cornwall, ''and in this manner 
 our small remnant by God's only Mercie were preserved, 
 and restored to our country, to whom be all honour 
 and glory world without end." A ringing sentence, 
 which calls for an amen from across the centuries ! 
 
 In James Lancaster, described as a gentleman of Lon- 
 don, we have a type of man entirely different to that 
 of his navigating predecessors. For one thing, Lan- 
 caster's education had been cosmopolitan by compari- 
 son. ''He had by his own account been brought up 
 among the Portuguese, lived among them as a gentle- 
 man, served with them as a soldier, and dwelt among 
 them as a merchant," says Southey and, adds, as one 
 whose residence in Portugal had imbued him with 
 friendly feelings toward that kindly folk: "There was 
 therefore what may be called moral treason in bearing 
 arms against a people with whom he had so long been 
 domesticated. ' * 
 
 Although it is impossible to judge of the rights and 
 wrongs of these circumstances at this length of time, it 
 seems possible enough that Southey 's complaint was not 
 without some foundation. Undoubtedly Lancaster was 
 a many-sided man. His education had been unusually 
 liberal for that period. In addition to his notable quali- 
 ties as a navigator and a resolute leader of men, he was 
 worldy wise, an able linguist, a shrewd business man, 
 and, morever, endowed with a remarkable mental agil- 
 ity. 
 
 It has always seemed to me — although it is sufficiently 
 probable that some quite simple circumstances of which 
 I am ignorant may account for his name and his pres- 
 ence in the Peninsula — that, in view of the close con- 
 nection of the Lancastrian dynasty with Portugal, the 
 origin of this Lancaster might prove interesting, On 
 
70 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 the other hand, mere coincidence of nomenclature — 
 although in this instance very long-armed, considering 
 the few English in Portugal — may well deprive his an- 
 cestry of any mystic glamour. 
 
 Lancaster may be said to have specialized in attacks 
 on Brazil! The motive of this, naturally, was his long 
 acquaintance with the Portuguese people and language, 
 two circumstances which stood him in good stead. 
 
 Lancaster set out on his principal voyage in 1594 with 
 three ships — of which the largest was some two hundred 
 and forty tons and the smallest sixty — victualed by alder- 
 men and citizens of London. His fleet was manned by 
 two hundred and seventy-five men and boys. His des- 
 tination was Recife, the sister port of Olinda, both of 
 which are now popularly known as Pernambuco. An 
 eloquent testimony to Lancaster's foresight, thorough 
 methods, and cosmopolitan relations was his procuring 
 from Dieppe before he started two Frenchmen conversant 
 w^ith the language of the Indians in the neighborhood of 
 Recife ! 
 
 On the southward voyage Lancaster had an opportu- 
 nity of displaying his resolution; for trouble with the 
 mast of one of his ships caused a separation of his squad- 
 ron, to the discouragement of many of the men, who de- 
 sired to abandon the enterprise. But Lancaster kept a 
 firm hand over his crew, and was rewarded by the coming 
 together again of his three vessels off the sandy north- 
 west African coast in the neighborhood of Cape Blanco. 
 
 Master Barker, Lancaster's second in command, had 
 already busied himself among the Spanish and Portu- 
 guese shipping, and from a prisoner from one of the many 
 captured vessels he had learned that a richly laden car- 
 rack from India had been wrecked off the northern Bra- 
 zilian coast, and that all her cargo had been taken to 
 Recife. 
 
 This, fitting in so admirably with the objects of the 
 expedition, must have seemed the work of a special prov- 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 71 
 
 idence. Greatly encouraged by the news, the squadron, 
 accompanied now by five of the prizes, set sail for the 
 southwest. Presently it fell in with a squadron of four 
 privateers commanded by Captain Venner. An agree- 
 ment was arrived at with these, and Lancaster found his 
 fleet strengthened by two ships, a pinnace, and a 
 Biscayan prize. As to the division of the spoils to come, 
 Lancaster was to have three shares and Venner the 
 fourth — a proportion that may have been just enough, 
 but that it was in any case eloquent of the comparative 
 intellectual force of the pair. 
 
 After this the combined squadrons made for Recife, 
 and arrived off that port in the darkness of night. When 
 the sun rose out of the warm ocean it showed the mari- 
 ners all that they had expected to see — the low forest- 
 covered hills, the green stretches of the sugar-cane 
 fields, the groves of cocoanut palms, the lowly houses 
 of the town, and the sheltering coral-reef that extended 
 itself in front. 
 
 But there was more than this. Just where the end 
 of the coral reef made the limit of the natural harbor 
 three large Dutch ships lay at anchor. The sight was 
 as unwelcome as it was unexpected, since there was noth- 
 ing to show what attitude the Dutch would adopt. Lan- 
 caster therefore made all preparations to assail the town 
 and the Dutch as well. His answer to a somewhat super- 
 fluous question sent out by the governor as to what the 
 English fleet desired, was perfectly direct. Lancaster 
 explained in so many words that it was for the goods 
 of the carrack he had come, and the goods of the carrack 
 he must have. 
 
 Then he sent his boats' crew ashore to the attack. 
 To his infinite relief he found that the Dutch vessels had 
 warped themselves out of the way, thus displaying peace- 
 able intentions. The assault on the fort itself was merely 
 one out of a thousand such instances. It was captured 
 with a rush, and the twin towns with their booty and the 
 
72 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 rich cargo of the carrack fell into the hands of Lan- 
 caster. 
 
 * ' The day of our arrival, ' ' says the narrator of this in 
 a cynical note, ''was their Good Friday, when by custom 
 they usually whipp themselves; but God sent us now 
 for a general scourge to them all, whereby that labour 
 among them might be well spared." 
 
 It was only when this victory was won that the English 
 leader showed the full scope of his enterprising spirit. 
 Here was more rich plunder than could be carried in his 
 own ships ; and there were the three great Dutch vessels 
 — early heralds of the future Dutch invasion of Northern 
 Brazil — ^whose crews could not well help chafing with 
 envy at the scene that was being enacted before their 
 eyes! Lancaster dropped his raider's part, and became 
 a tactful merchant. He chartered the Dutch ships on 
 liberal terms, with the result that the men in these were 
 soon working with enthusiasm at the loading of the ves- 
 sels — which, of course, was all to the benefit of Lancas- 
 ter and his expedition. 
 
 But even now these international episodes were not 
 yet at an end. Two or three days afterwards three ships 
 and two pinnaces rose their sails over the edge of the 
 blue ocean. They were French privateers, the captain 
 of one of which, Jean Noyer, had rendered Lancaster a 
 service in the West Indies the previous year. Thus 
 cordiality was established from the start, and as a result 
 of Lancaster's generous terms the French soon found 
 themselves allied to the expedition just as the Dutch 
 were. 
 
 Of the four nations thus flung into contact, the Portu- 
 guese alone nourished a cause for grievance! First of 
 all they endeavored to treat with Lancaster. But Lan- 
 caster, when he heard that the envoys were coming, 
 ''hung downe his head for a small season; and when he 
 had muzed awhile, he answered, ' I must go aboard of the 
 Flemings upon business that importeth me'." Then he 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 73 
 
 fied from his ship as though the evil one himself were 
 after him. He had himself rowed across to one of the 
 Dutch ships, and there he sought complete seclusion. 
 He refused to exchange a single word with the Portu- 
 guese, vowing that he knew them too well to run any such 
 risk ! 
 
 ''When they cannot prevail with the sword," said he, 
 *'then they deal with their deceivable tongues, for faith 
 and truth they have none." 
 
 He must have been honest in his convictions, for he 
 swore that he would hang the first Portuguese who at- 
 tempted a parley — a wholesome precaution, which instils 
 a doubt as to whether his former relations with the Port- 
 uguese had been quite so cordial as Southey imagined! 
 
 When the wings of the doves of peace definitely failed 
 them the Portuguese sent off fireships instead; but the 
 careful watch and skilful work of the sailors rendered 
 them harmless, and attempts to cut the ship' cables were 
 foiled by the efficient crews. Moreover, when they at- 
 tempted to erect some entrenchments near the town these 
 were captured by the privateers, and some carts were 
 taken which proved of the greatest assistance in loading 
 the ships with the spoils of the port! 
 
 The next attempt on the part of the Portuguese was 
 to construct a battery on the seashore with the object of 
 raking the hostile fleet with their shot. A landing party 
 destroyed the work, although in the course of too reck- 
 less a pursuit of the townsmen Captain Barker, Captain 
 Cotton, two of the French captains, and thirty-five men 
 were slain. After this the fleet, having occupied the port 
 for thirty-one days, decided that it would make for home. 
 
 "That evening," says the chronicler, ''they weighed 
 anchor and sailed out, eleven ships in company, all richly 
 laden, and all reached their ports safely." 
 
 Save for the final contretemps, the expedition had pro- 
 ceeded without a hitch. And as for this last, there were 
 doubtless some among the mariners sufficiently callous 
 
74 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 to console themselves with the reflection that it happened 
 during the last day's stay in South America, and with 
 calculations that set off the advantages of a division of 
 booty among fewer hands against the loss of human lives. 
 
 It was, indeed, as was jubilantly remarked, '*a well- 
 governed and prosperous voyage. ' ' Its conclusion, more- 
 over, set the seal on Lancaster 's shrewdness and capacity 
 for leaving well enough alone — qualities quite as un- 
 usual in a sixteenth- or seventeenth-century privateer as 
 in a modern actor. For it was the last he undertook. 
 
 "When in 1595 Sir Walter Ealeigh sailed his five ships 
 up the stream of the Orinoco, he was already a personage 
 of distinction, a great navigator, a tried statesman, a 
 poet, and a close friend of Spenser — no small honor in 
 itself — a writer of stirring prose, a brilliant courtier, and 
 the petted favorite of his queen. 
 
 But of all these things it was as a poet that Ealeigh 
 went sailing up the Orinoco. He was no longer young, 
 it is true ; it was forty -three years since he had been born 
 in the Devon manor house near Budleigh. In his own 
 words, it was in the winter of his life, and with a body 
 blasted with misfortune that he undertook these travels. 
 Yet, he says, ''I would not doubt but for one yeere more 
 to hold fast my soule in my teeth, till it were performed.*' 
 
 He had navigated, fought on the sea, discovered, and 
 colonized — all this as a practical man and as an able sea- 
 man. Now, for the moment, he had thrown that frame 
 of mind aside. He had been listening to rumors and tales 
 of fantastic things — that might yet be true ! 
 
 The tales had caught themselves up in his poet's mind, 
 and had set it aflame. He had heard the elusive and 
 shadowy accounts of the Kingdom of El Dorado, the 
 Gilded One, and the romance of his spirit had built 
 dreams on these misty foundations, until he could possess 
 himself no longer, but had to yield to the call of the placid 
 Orinoco. 
 
 So far as El Dorado was concerned, Raleigh's evil gen- 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 75 
 
 ius was Don Antonio de Berreo, the Spanish governor 
 of Guiana whom he had captured, principally in order 
 to teach him that it was not profitable to invite English 
 seamen ashore to hunt, and then to capture them in the 
 face of his pledge, as he had in the previous year! 
 Manoa was Berreo 's particular hobby. His love for gold 
 and diamonds seems to have been as great as his callous- 
 ness toward the Indians, among whom he was unpopular, 
 as any person would be who — as was his occasional habit 
 — dropped burning bacon upon naked aboriginal flesh ! 
 
 It was through this Manoa that Berreo had his revenge, 
 whether it was intended or not. Raleigh's pages are 
 eloquent on the point. Very soon it was '^Berreo told 
 me this," ''Berreo told me that," — and all the tales were 
 of gold, in dust, and lumps, and plates; and of great 
 diamonds that shone under waterfalls and elsewhere! 
 So Raleigh saw visions while Berreo talked — Berreo who 
 was now "very valiant and liberall, and a gentleman of 
 great assuredness, and of a great heart." Perhaps, on 
 nearer acquaintance, Berreo possessed all this — ^but I 
 much misdoubt that he had the brain of a fox, too. 
 
 Raleigh was sailing now to put these stories and these 
 dreams to the test. The sight of the Orinoco itself was 
 not of the kind which would dispel any illusion. The 
 dense and mysterious forests whose green waves rolled 
 down to the edge of the stream, the occasional sweeping 
 aside of the verdure to admit the tributary streams with 
 their splashing waterfalls — ^this in itself made a suffi- 
 ciently romantic setting for the poet's mind. But when 
 the gorgeous scarlet, blue, and yellow of the macaws 
 flashed across the green, and the almost equally brilliant 
 toucans bore their gigantic beaks from point to point, 
 while the metallic fire of the humming-birds shone out 
 among the feathers of other winged creatures of every 
 conceivable hue; when, again, the brilliance of vast but- 
 terflies floated above the log-like forms of the dozing 
 alligators, and the distant campanero bird, unseen in its 
 
76 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 snowy whiteness, tolled out its notes that so perfectly 
 resembled a convent bell, and, finally, when at night the 
 great demoniacal wings of the vampire bats flitted by, 
 and the fireflies lit up water and leaf — here were scenes 
 and sounds such as made the vision of El Dorado draw 
 nearer and take new life! 
 
 The curious fascination of the country is admitted by 
 Ealeigh himself in his description of an excursion toward 
 some great waterfalls : 
 
 ''For mine owne part I was well perswaded from 
 thence to have returned, being a very ill footeman, but 
 the rest were all so desirous to goe neere the saide strange 
 thunder of waters, as they drew me on by little and little, 
 ill wee came into the next valley where we might better 
 discerne the same. I never saw a more beautifull coun- 
 trey, nor more lively prospects, hills so raised here and 
 there over the valleys, the river winding into divers 
 branches, the playnes adjoyning without bush or stubble, 
 all faire greene grasse, the ground of hard sand easie to 
 march on, either for horse or foote, the deere crossing in 
 every path, the birdes towards the evening singing on 
 every tree with a thousand severall tunes, cranes and 
 herons of white, crimson, and carnation pearching in the 
 rivers side, the aire fresh with a gentle Easterly winde, 
 and every stone that we stouped to takeup, promised 
 either golde or silver by his complexion. ' ' 
 
 It is true that the tale of El Dorado was fantastic 
 enough, even for a poet floating on such shining and 
 magic water as these. As he went on, Ealeigh picked 
 up more and more fragments from both Indians and 
 white adventurers. The white stone palace on an island 
 in a lake, the guardian lions chained by massive fetters 
 of gold, the great golden sun upon the silver altar, the 
 Dorado, or Gilded Monarch himself, whose body was first 
 anointed and then blown upon with gold dust every morn- 
 ing until he was clothed from head to foot in the glitering 
 metal of which he held such great store — to what ex- 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 77 
 
 tent Raleigh in his own heart was credulous remains un- 
 solved to this day. Certainly a man of his mental ca- 
 pacity can scarcely have swallowed the childish fairy 
 tale of the sands of gold and pebbles of diamonds which 
 fringed the lake. He may have considered that, on the 
 principle that there is no smoke without fire, in Manoa 
 there was no fable without a solid foundation of gold 
 somewhere or other. That he used a story, of which he 
 himself was entirely incredulous, as a lever toward the 
 colonization of the Guianas is a fairly popular theory. 
 But surely it is more probable and natural that Raleigh 
 really did credit the existence — although not necessarily 
 in the least as described in the legend — of great stores of 
 gold in Guiana. Is it necessary to go afield to search 
 for a more powerful magnet than this? Raleigh's fervid 
 imagination was a double-edged possession — first a bril- 
 liant servant, afterwards a mortal enemy ! 
 
 Raleigh sailed home, his head still filled with the 
 glamour of these enchanted rivers, and we may now take 
 a hasty survey of one or two notable captains who as- 
 sisted in the exploration of Guiana, and the northeast 
 of the continent. One of the most prominent of these 
 was Captain Amyas Preston, who set out for those lati- 
 tudes in 1595, accompanied by Captain George Summers. 
 The year after (1596) Captain Keymis set out and thor- 
 oughly explored the coast of Guiana, Captain Berrie con- 
 tinuing these explorations in 1597. In this year, too, 
 Captain Leigh explored the Guiana rivers in a bark, the 
 John, of London. An attempt to found a definite settle- 
 ment was made by Captain Leigh in 1607; but sickness 
 and the wreck of a relief ship caused the survivors of the 
 original company of forty-six to abandon the attempt. 
 In 1609, however, Robert Harcourt essayed the venture 
 on a more ambitious scale, and in 1613 he obtained from 
 King James I a patent for all the country between the 
 rivers Amazon and Essequibo. 
 
 All this time Raleigh had been suffering from those 
 
78 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 overwhelming blows of injustice and ill-fortune which 
 are too familiar to even the least historically curious to 
 be dilated on here. Stripped of his honors and offices, 
 he had been flung into the Tower of London by a king 
 with an untrue heart, a watery spine, and a windy head. 
 
 Ealeigh had been released in a half-hearted fashion. 
 It was greed alone that opened his prison doors, for he 
 was set free only in order that he might make solid the 
 gold of his Eldorado and bring it home to doubting, but 
 half-hopeful, James. 
 
 So, here he was, sailing down toward the blue South- 
 ern waters again, graciously permitted by his king to 
 attempt to add to the latter 's wealth. It must have been 
 with mixed feelings that Ealeigh undertook the venture. 
 Years before, when taunted with a want of good faith 
 in his enterprise, he had said: 
 
 "For mine owne part, I am not so much in love with 
 these long voyages, as to devise, therby to cozen my 
 selfe, to line hard, to fare worse, to be subjected to perils, 
 to diseases, to ill savors, to be parched and withered, 
 and withall to sustaine the care and labour of such an 
 enterprize, except the same had more comfort, than the 
 fetching of Marcasite in Guiana, or buying of gold oare 
 in Barbary." 
 
 This is a mere plain picture of the marine hardships 
 of those days. But to the troubles of this last voyage 
 were added those of a despairing and embittered spirit. 
 
 The story of no fleet is sadder than that of the poorly 
 manned squadron with which he set out. Of the failing 
 of his plans, of his own illness, of the death of his son 
 in action, of his bitter outburst of reproach against 
 Keymis that galled that gallant sailor to suicide — there 
 is surely no necessity to repeat the details of these fa- 
 mous tragedies. 
 
 Far better for him had Raleigh — like Cavendish and 
 his fellow Devonians, Drake and Hawkins — died at sea. 
 He sailed into Plymouth on the 21st of June, 1618, a 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 79 
 
 broken-hearted, solitary, and doomed man. Three 
 months later he stood on the scaffold, and felt the edge 
 of the ax he did not fear, since it was, as he explained 
 in the broad and soft Devon speech that he had never 
 lost, **a sharp and fair medicine to cure him of all his 
 diseases.'* 
 
 It was a triumph for Gondomar, the cynical Spanish 
 ambassador who had ceaselessly intrigued and worked 
 against him, as well he might, being an enemy. But 
 James and his creatures had not that excuse. 
 
 So much for Raleigh, and for the rest of the navigators 
 of that period. Only a fraction of the number of their 
 names and voyages has been given here. But these may 
 serve to recall some faint breaths of the atmosphere of 
 one of England's greatest ages. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE BUCANEEKS 
 
 Origin of the Bucaneers — Hostilities between the cattle hunters of His- 
 paniola and the Spaniards — Reprisals taken by the "Boucaniers" — 
 Dignity of the "Brethren of the Coast" — John Esquemeling on this sub- 
 ject — A remarkable community — Its socialistic laws — A comparison in 
 this respect with Mission settlements of Paraguay — ^The laws of the 
 bucaneers — Wild and savage pomp combined with careful business ar- 
 rangements — Meticulous rules of partnership and insurance — "No prey, 
 no pay!" — Respective results of a profitless and successful cruise — 
 Scenes in the bucaneers' town — Feats of the "Brethren of the Coast" 
 — Reasons for their success — Bravery of the Spaniards — Instances of 
 predatory strategy and daring — Viscount Bury on the bucaneers — Their 
 life and circumstances ashore — Food, costume, and customs — How men 
 became bucaneers — Friendship between the Brethren of the Coast and 
 the Indians — The Island of Juan Fernandez — A haven to the sea-rovers 
 — A thieves' kitchen to the Spaniards — Official order for the extinction 
 of the island goats — The step from a bucaneers' establishment to a Brit- 
 ish colony — British sections of the bucaneers — Lewis Scot — John Davis 
 — The chronicles of Basil Ringrose — Drastic rules of life adopted by 
 some of the crews — ^The celebration of divine service — Prohibition of 
 gambling and profanity — An instance of Captain Sharpe's merciful tend- 
 encies — Occasional amenities between the bucaneers and Spaniards — 
 Some notes from Ringrose's diary — Pregnant passages — Some prominent 
 captains — Coxon, Sawkins, Sharpe, Watling, Lewis Scot, John Davis, 
 Teach, Kidd, Cowley, Wafer — Dampier's youth — How he joined the 
 Brethren of the Coast — A bucaneer merely by chance — His connection 
 with the castaways of the Island of Juan Fernandez — Sir Henry Morgan 
 — His treacherous and greedy character — A medley of the jackal and 
 the lion — The last of the genuine bucaneers — Captains Woodes Rogers 
 and Stephen Courtney — A voyage that was only partly of the bucaneer 
 character — The expedition is cordially received by the inhabitants of a 
 small Brazilian town — Some amazing toasts — The finding of Alexander 
 Selkirk — Captain Rogers' abstemious preparations for attack — The 
 voyage of Captains Clipperton and Shelvock. 
 
 WE now arrive at one of the wildest and most 
 stormy of all South American periods, that of 
 the bucaneers. There is no need to enter at 
 any length here into the origin, history, or social causes 
 
 '80 
 
THE BUCANEERS 81 
 
 of these grim amphibious beings who at the height of 
 their power pursued three principal callings: the tend- 
 ing of their own plantations, the hunting of ownerless 
 wild cattle, and the capture of Spanish ships, towns, gold, 
 and goods. 
 
 It is natural to suppose that the behavior of this ut- 
 terly reckless and cosmopolitan set of men would have 
 been wild enough in the most favorable circumstances. 
 The effect, therefore, of the repressive and irritating 
 policy of Spain on these desperate characters may be 
 imagined. "Without a doubt Spain brought most of her 
 freebooter troubles on herself. The first men who on 
 the Hispaniolan prairies smoked their meat over the 
 Boucane, or woodfire, wondering by day at the gorgeous 
 butterflies and at night marveling at the green-white 
 flame of the passing fireflies, were hunters pure and 
 simple — hunters, moreover, of the wild cattle whose 
 enormous herds had only come into existence since the 
 Spanish conquistador es themselves had depopulated the 
 island and laid it waste. The Boucaniers, as a matter of 
 fact, never entirely abandoned this first occupation of 
 theirs, and even at the height of their later power they 
 would continue their chase after the hides and meat, 
 until the diminishing herds of cattle forced them to pay 
 a less-divided attention to the profitable ''pickings" af- 
 forded by their fellow men. 
 
 With these newcomers, the Boucaniers, the Spanish 
 officials did not find the matter so easy. The hunters, as 
 well as the smugglers of all nationalities, were well able 
 to look after themselves. It is true that on many occa- 
 sions they were attacked by the Spaniards. More than 
 once their settlements were surprised by these, and their 
 houses burned, and the blood of women and children 
 sprinkled over the charred embers and the tobacco leaves 
 of the young plantations. Among such treacherous at- 
 tacks were some on the budding regular British colonies 
 — deeds at which Oliver Cromwell growled with righteous 
 
82 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 fierceness, and with difficulty was restrained from flying 
 at the throat of the Spanish Empire. 
 
 But, so far as revenge was concerned, there was no 
 need. The blood of the massacred welded together new 
 and fiercer communities. Moreover, the fact that they 
 faced death, torture, or the most terrible form of life- 
 long labor in the mines added a further zest and spice 
 even to the bucaneers' racy recklessness. The *' Breth- 
 ren of the Coast" were only too willing, not only to 
 fight their own battles, but to adapt themselves to the 
 most merciless methods of warfare. In the end the 
 Spaniards found themselves worsted at the inhuman 
 game of reprisals, and most bitterly did they atone for 
 their early barbarities. The instruments of revenge 
 which their deeds forged against them may not have 
 been highly tempered, but they served! The name of 
 Morgan alone is synonymous with blood and tears for 
 hundreds of leagues along the Spanish Main. 
 
 In the eyes of many the scale on which the bucaneers 
 conducted their operations raised these from the status 
 of mere plunderings to the dignity and pomp of actual 
 warfare — since after all the chief moral distinction be- 
 tween the two seems to lie in the point of numbers! 
 This, at all events, was the view taken by the seventeenth- 
 century translator of John Esquemeling's bucaneer 
 reminiscences. In his enthusiasm he claims that this 
 work, in itself vastly interesting: ''informs us (with 
 huge novelty) of as great and bold attempts in point of 
 military conduct and valor as ever were performed by 
 mankind; without excepting here either Alexander the 
 Great or Julius Caesar or the rest of the Nine Worthies 
 of Fame." 
 
 Now here is a wholehearted apologist of the bucaneers. 
 *'Walk up!" he cries, standing on the step of his prom- 
 isingly reddened booth. "Walk up, my peaceful ama- 
 teurs of vicarious slaughterings! Presently I will pull 
 the curtain back and show you rapine and bloody gold on 
 
THE BUCANEERS 83 
 
 a scale such as you never dreamed of! If you don't find 
 the thing as wholesale as an American beef-trust you 
 shall have your money back, on my word as a bucaneer's 
 translator!" 
 
 Decidedly at the height of their power the bucaneers 
 made up one of the most extraordinary communities that 
 the world has ever seen. At this period the South 
 American atmosphere would seem to have been peculiarly 
 ripe in socialistic experiments. At the same time that 
 the socialist republic of the Jesuits flourished in Para- 
 guay, the bucaneer island settlements in the Caribbean 
 Sea began to adopt the policy of sharing all things, in- 
 cluding plunder, in common. It is true that nothing 
 could have differed more widely than the actual existence 
 of these two peoples. Where the white-shirted Indian 
 converts went out in a chaunting procession to till the 
 fields, the bucaneers, their garments dyed the approved 
 scarlet by means of the blood of cattle, sailed out over 
 the bright blue swell to sink and bum in search of plun- 
 der, and those who resisted were made to feel the force 
 of the armory of cutlasses, knives, and pistols stuck in 
 each freebooter's belt. And, if they landed, woe to the 
 town that heard the tramp of the advancing brethren, 
 each ship's company under some fanciful flag designed 
 by its captain, the homely bunting occasionally adorned 
 with the mocking gaiety of fluttering ribbons ! 
 
 But it must not be imagined that such expeditions were 
 conducted on the mere rollicking and licentious lines of 
 pillage, riot, and murder. Though they usually abounded 
 in all three, the bucaneers ' voyages were only undertaken 
 after the most careful, exact, and businesslike prepara- 
 tions. It is curious to reflect that that grim but pic- 
 turesque object, a bucaneers' ship under a full press of 
 sail, with the Brethren of the Coast in their caps, buskins, 
 and blood-hued garments disposed about the deck, re- 
 sembled in its ethics nothing so much as a modern limited 
 liability company, with its articles of association meticu- 
 
84 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 lously drawn out, with its ofiBcers and surgeon as direc- 
 tors, and with its captain as chairman ! 
 
 Yet it was so. Afloat, the association of the men who 
 went partners ashore in tobacco-planting and cooking 
 was carried to further lengths. Not a single bucaneer 
 vessel, provisioned with pork and salt turtle, pulled her 
 anchor up through the warm and shining waters of 
 Jamaica or Tortuga, but had the respective shares of 
 profit of the ships ' company accurately arranged, as well 
 as the salaries of the captain, the surgeon, and the car- 
 penter — the paid servants of the crew, who ate and lived 
 with the rest, and shared all else alike. Then there was 
 the insurance against the accidents of the cruise, and 
 the risks of round-shot, bullet, and cutlass. So many 
 pieces-of-eight for a right arm shot off, so many dollars 
 for a pierced eye, and so on throughout the entire cate- 
 gory of maimed members. There was just one if on 
 which the entire basis of pay, profit, and insurance rested. 
 **No prey, no pay," was the immutable law of the 
 Brethren of the Coast. A profitless cruise meant empty 
 pockets and hunger for all, from captain to cabin-boy, 
 and probably a lapse into a period of slavery into which 
 a debtor was forced by his creditor ashore in order to 
 discharge his liability. So these rovers on the tropical 
 seas took particular pains that no cruise should be fruit- 
 less, and saw to it that no consideration for life or limb 
 should stand in the way. Among themselves there was 
 no mercy extended to a breaker of the fraternity 's laws. 
 Marooned on a bare yellow strand surrounded by the 
 mocking blue sea, they died of thirst and their bones 
 grew bleached among the shining shells — objects seen by 
 very few beyond the gulls, the flying-fish, and the now 
 incurious sharks. 
 
 The reverse of this picture heaves with the wildest 
 and most bizarre life. On their own mountainous and 
 wooded island of Tortuga some hints of the bucaneer 
 celebrations of a successful cruise have been given by 
 
THE BUCANEERS 85 
 
 Esquemeling — that rare being who combined the merits 
 of a freebooter and a historian, and who published a 
 book in Amsterdam in 1678. When a ship, emptied of 
 powder and shot, pork and turtle, but filled with gems 
 and pieces of eight, sailed into the rocky and verdurous 
 harbor of Tortuga, there would ensue wild scenes as the 
 shouting men came ashore, and swaggered past the palms 
 and flowers to the drinking-booths and gambling dens. 
 Perhaps a mining-camp in the mid-nineteenth century 
 would have supplied the nearest parallel. Thus we find 
 a sturdy desperado ruffling it in the middle of the street 
 by the side of a cask of wine, forcing every passer-by to 
 drink with him at the pistol's mouth. We get a glimpse 
 of another, too, running .amuck up and down the street, 
 slashing indiscriminately at those of his own profession, 
 well able to look after themselves, and at the terrified 
 crowd of peaceful, parasitical, and fat-pursed traders. 
 But it was doubtless the bucaneers who paid for their 
 fling in the long run. The trader had a very simple 
 revenge for all such risks. He put up the price of 
 powder, bullets, and brandy! 
 
 Had five-pound notes existed, doubtless the bucaneers 
 would have eaten them in sandwiches as did the later 
 antipodean miners. As it was, they preferred the gam- 
 bling road to a penniless condition. Then, hungry, 
 moody, and fierce, they would demand a new ship and a 
 new venture. They were short and busy days, those of 
 affluence. The tastes of the rovers saw to it that they 
 had not long ashore. 
 
 How was it, it may well be asked, that all this plunder 
 was won with comparative ease, and that a few men in 
 dug-out canoes were able to capture great Spanish 
 galleons? The most natural assumption would be that 
 of an extraordinary want of resolution among the Span- 
 iards. But this was not so. What of the three hundred 
 and fourteen men of the Spanish garrison of Chagres 
 who fought on until only thirty men remained on their 
 
86 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 feet, and of these thirty, twenty were wounded? No lack 
 of courage there, surely! Ringrose and others, more- 
 over, bear witness to the shambles into which many a 
 galleon's decks were turned before its crew would sur- 
 render. And, as Esquemeling's translator demands, in 
 justice to the Spaniards : 
 
 ''Were not 600 killed upon the spot at Panama, 500 
 at Gibraltar, almost as many more at Puerto del Principe, 
 all dying with their arms in their hands and facing 
 bravely the enemy. . . .?" 
 
 No, the success of their enterprises is to be attributed 
 to the extraordinary initiative and daring of the buca- 
 neers, employed against a brave enemy, and to that ex- 
 traordinary combination of cunning and complete reck- 
 lessness which made a hardened Brother of the Coast 
 the match of half-a-dozen ordinary men. What, for in- 
 stance, can exceed the callous ingenuity of the rovers, 
 who, their shot failing them on a land attack, pulled to 
 pieces a great organ in a neighboring church, and blazed 
 away its pipes from their cannon's mouths at the amazed 
 and discomfited enemy! 
 
 From a strategical point of view these haunts of the 
 bucaneers were admirably situated. Across the narrow 
 neck of Panama still ran the "gold road," astride of 
 which Drake in his own time had planted himself, and 
 which still groaned beneath the weight of the riches trans- 
 ferred from the Pacific coast. Moreover, much of the 
 treasure had stuck en route. Such towns as Panama and 
 the City of Cartagena to the east were well worthy of 
 more than one sacking, as many a sea-rover could have 
 told you with grim complacency. 
 
 Viscount Bury in his "Exodus of the Western Na- 
 tions" has most ably described the type and ambitions 
 of the later recruits of the "Brethren of the Coast": 
 
 "It became known to lawless vagabonds, the scum of 
 great European cities, that twice a year, there passed 
 among the islands of the tropical seas a procession of 
 
THE BUCANEERS 87 
 
 stately galleons, deep with the weight of bars of gold 
 and silver, and bales of costly merchandize, and pearls, 
 and gems. It was but natural that men, feeling habitu- 
 ally the sharp pinch of misery, should turn with fierce de- 
 sire to the adventurous life that presented such allure- 
 ments ; that they should contrast the squalor and hunger 
 in which they passed their days with the brilliant career 
 of the bold 'Brethren of the Coast'; that they should 
 long to replace famine and sordid rags with the laced 
 coat and unlimited licence of the bucaneer; that they 
 should dream of the riches that might reward the lucky 
 adventurer, who should enjoy but for one hour the plun- 
 der of a royal galley, or thrust his arms elbow-deep into 
 a sackful of pearls from Margarita. ' ' 
 
 It was such men as these, completely reckless, who 
 sailed down by hook or by crook through the steady 
 breezes of the Trades, landed at Tortuga or Jamaica, 
 learned to curse the mosquitos, to live on pork, pigeons 
 and strange birds, turtle, land crabs and curious fish, 
 bananas, mangoes, and wondrous fruits — and without a 
 doubt only accustomed themselves to the new fare after 
 much indigestion and many torturings of their interiors, 
 for which the new and almost incredible superabundance 
 of tobacco only compensated in part. Then they would 
 fraternize with the easy-going crowd of daredevils they 
 found there, and swilling brandy in the soft shade of 
 the palms, would make overtures to the company of a 
 stout ship fitting out for a cruise. Then, having made 
 his first raiding voyage, learning to drink the crudely 
 ceremonious toasts on board to the accompaniment of 
 the roaring cannon, and possibly having fleshed his cut- 
 lass, the new Brother of the Coast would find his pocket 
 weighed down with unaccustomed pieces of eight, and 
 would buy an Indian woman ''at the price of a knife, or 
 any old ax, wood-bill or hatchet," as Esquemeling has it. 
 If he were wise, he would observe the same good faith as 
 did his companions toward the Indians of the mainland 
 
88 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 and the islands, and would do nothing to destroy the time- 
 honored alliance and intimacy between the Brethren of 
 the Coast and the infinitely useful native hunters, fishers, 
 guides, and gleaners of information. Failure in this 
 would have been a serious matter for a budding bucaneer, 
 for this friendship of the Indians was keenly valued by 
 the sea-roving community. 
 
 Sometimes, but much more rarely, an ambitious cruise 
 would lead the bucaneer into the Pacific. There, for a 
 certainty, his ship would rendezvous, provision and water 
 at the Island of Juan Fernandez. Surely throughout all 
 the oceans of the world there was never so minute an isle 
 of such moment as that of Juan Fernandez. In the eyes 
 of the average person its chief claim to fame is that it 
 once harbored the lonely Alexander Selkirk. But, not- 
 withstanding the extent to which it has been prosed and 
 sung, that event is in reality a very minor one in the his- 
 tory of the place. 
 
 The true significance of the Island of San Juan lay 
 in the fact that it stood as a refuge, not alone for a single 
 castaway but for every vessel of non-Spanish nationality 
 which had beaten and buffeted its way from Atlantic to 
 Pacific. It was a place of shelter by the way on whose 
 grassy stretches the tired and scurvy- stricken crews of 
 a corsair or royal ship could cast themselves do\\Ti in 
 the shade of the trees, and breathe in restful peace while 
 recuperating in preparation for their raids on the Pacific 
 coast. 
 
 To the bucaneer, the slopes and trees and grasses of 
 Juan Fernandez stood out from the ocean as a godsend : 
 in the eyes of the Spaniards the place loomed darkly as a 
 thieves' kitchen. They grudged the great wealth of fish 
 which frequented its coast, and the edible plants with 
 which its soil abounded. And they had reason; for it 
 was by such fresh food that the spent and invalided hostile 
 sailors regained a condition of health that was peculiarly 
 unwelcome to the Spaniard! The numerous herds of 
 
THE BUCANEERS 89 
 
 goats, moreover, which flourished in the island found 
 favor neither with the viceroy sitting in his palace at 
 Lima, nor with the governor of Chile stationed in his 
 more modest habitation. Let there be no more goats on 
 Juan Fernandez ! was the official command, and packs of 
 hounds were ferried across to the island to swallow the 
 nuisance and to forestall the hostile sailors. Even then, 
 a large proportion of these irritating goats succeeded in 
 eluding the hounds, and in preserving their unpatriotic 
 carcasses for the benefit of heretic enemies. A bitter pill, 
 this, for the Spanish authorities, for undoubtedly steril- 
 ity and lifelessness in Juan Fernandez would have meant 
 the preservation of many sacked cities on the Pacific 
 coast. 
 
 In what may be termed their home waters of the Carib- 
 bean Sea the deeds of many of these Brethren of the 
 Coast were destined to play a larger part in history than 
 they themselves suspected. It was not such a very long 
 step from a bucaneers ' establishment to a British colony. 
 So much was discovered by the bucaneers themselves on 
 more than one occasion, when quite suddenly the pres- 
 ence of a royal governor put an end to their free and 
 easy councils. It was in a sense a compliment to them- 
 selves that their Government had taken them, and their 
 lands, seriously. But it is not to be wondered at that 
 these red-garmented gentlemen sulked for a while when 
 they found themselves cold-shouldered. They were con- 
 cerned chiefly with their pockets, and decidedly such part 
 as they played in the building up of so magnificent a 
 structure as that of the British Empire was not pre- 
 meditated. 
 
 We are concerned here with the British section alone 
 of the cosmopolitan army of bucaneers, and must pass 
 over the wild doings of such of their comrades as 
 Bartholomew Portugues, Eock Brasiliano, and Frangois 
 Lolonois. At the same time one may pause to remark 
 that this species of nomenclature is eloquent enough in 
 
90 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 itself. Where the personal name is sunk beneath a na- 
 tional or territorial substitute, it may be taken for 
 granted — as in one or two small, floating, and reckless 
 communities to-day — that the motive for this is not in the 
 least concerned with pride of repute or achievement ! 
 
 So far as their deeds are concerned, the doings of these 
 British bucaneers — like those of their comrades of other 
 nationalities — very rapidly become monotonous to re- 
 late. They soon began to vary the capturing of ships by 
 the sacking of coast towns, Lewis Scot setting an ex- 
 ample in this respect by his storm of Campeachy — an ex- 
 ample that was followed with success by John Davis and 
 the rest of the Brotherhood. 
 
 The record, indeed, is monotonous in its mere wild- 
 ness. Chases at sea, cutting-out expeditions, boarding- 
 parties, attacks on lordly galleons frequently carried out 
 in mere dug-out canoes, river expeditions in little na- 
 tive craft ; battles, burnings, and plunderings ashore ; the 
 stripping of the dead, the taking of prisoners, and their 
 occasional execution, the excesses and riots which fol- 
 lowed a victory — it is on these points that the changes of 
 the tale must be rung over and over again. 
 
 Yet even the most reckless and dissolute of all these 
 ships' companies was not altogether inhuman. The 
 chronicles of Basil Ringrose — the second historian of the 
 true genus bucaneer, who eventually met his death at the 
 hands of the Spaniards on the occasion of a shore raid 
 in 1688 — showed that the ordering spirit of humanity had 
 allowed no such departure from its laws. 
 
 It would, of course, be the simplest matter to picture 
 the life of the British bucaneers as a continuous pande- 
 monium of oaths, blows, drunken orgies, and general 
 debauchery. Of all these there was a ruddy and plentiful 
 harvest; but there was a good deal beyond. The exist- 
 ence of these strange folk was sufficiently complex. On 
 some vessels, for instance, divine service was celebrated 
 each Sunday, and it is possible enough that these services 
 
THE BUCANEERS 91 
 
 were undertaken with some dim but genuine fervor, for 
 mere respectability and outward appearance were of less 
 than no account in the community! How much it com- 
 forted a dying Spaniard to know that a service of prayer 
 had preceded a surprise attack on his vessel is far more 
 doubtful. One or two bucaneer crews actually went 
 further, and their articles forbade profanity and gam- 
 bling — of course merely until a more fitting opportunity 
 arose ashore, since the regulation was clearly one of 
 expediency rather than morality. 
 
 There appear, moreover, to have been fairly frequent 
 protests against actions of cruelty in cold blood, and 
 Eingrose himself relates that on one occasion the notable 
 bucaneer. Captain Sharpe, when his pleadings for the 
 life of an old captain were of no avail, took water and 
 washed his hands, vowing that he, for one, would be in- 
 nocent of the man's blood. 
 
 Eingrose himself seems to have been inclined to mercy, 
 for he relates with indignant warmth how having saved 
 the lives of some Spanish prisoners from the hands of 
 their hated enemies, the Mosquito Indians, his men would 
 have given them back to their would-be murderers as 
 soon as his back was turned. He succeeded in saving 
 them for the second time, and his reward came when, 
 having been himself shortly afterwards captured by the 
 Spaniards, one of the men whom he had rescued chanced 
 to be on the spot. Then ensued a scene of the kind which 
 one does not usually associate with the relations between 
 bucaneer and Spaniard. For the Spanish captain, hav- 
 ing heard the story, embraced Eingrose, and feasted him 
 and his companions. Then he gave them back their 
 canoe, and bade them ''Go in God's name, saying withal, 
 he wished us as fortunate as we were generous." 
 
 Although this was a sufficiently astonishing incident, 
 the optimist in human nature will read with some com- 
 fort that it was not alone of its kind. On another occa- 
 sion on that very same voyage some bucaneer prisoners 
 
92 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 were "very civilly entertained" at Africa on the Pacific 
 coast, "but more especially by the women." 
 
 Indeed, to show the amazing and versatile fashion in 
 which a bucaneer's day might be altered, it will suffice 
 to cull a final extract from Ringrose. The manner in 
 which the affairs of goats, duels, mutinies, drunkenness, 
 and revelry are mixed up is surely eloquently and incom- 
 parably casual! Here is the notable fragment: 
 
 "August 12th, in the morning, we came to an anchor 
 at the aforesaid isle {that of Plate). We sent our boat 
 ashore with men, as we had done formerly, to kill goats, 
 but we found them to be extremely shy and fugitive, 
 compared with what they were the last year. Here it was 
 that our quartermaster, James Chappel, and myself 
 fought a duel together on shore. In the evening of this 
 day, our slaves agreed among themselves, and plotted to 
 cut us all in pieces, not giving quarter to any, when we 
 should be buried in sleep. They conceived this night af- 
 forded them the fittest opportunity, by reason that we 
 were all in drink." 
 
 The discovery of the plot, its prevention, and the shoot- 
 ing of a slave, occupy three or four more lines. The end 
 of the paragraph discloses everything apparently 
 straightened out again, every one ' ' being very merry all 
 the while with the wine and brandy we had taken in the 
 prize." Truly, an efficient bucaneer's life was a breath- 
 less one ! 
 
 This extraordinary terseness of Ringrose 's diary fre- 
 quently causes its reader to wonder not a little as to what 
 really lay at the back of these simple little sentences. 
 "James Chappel and myself fought a duel together on 
 shore!" And here is another, relating to a captured 
 ship: "In this vessel I saw the most beautiful woman 
 that I ever saw in the South Sea." Put the two to- 
 gether, compare them, and I think that you may safely 
 drop a tear to the memory of the most beautiful woman 
 in the South Sea ! 
 
THE BUCANEERS 93 
 
 I have no intention here of attemping to enter into the 
 lives and deeds of all the British bucaneers. The preg- 
 nant paragraph just quoted must suffice to demonstrate 
 the impossibility of this. Their passages across the 
 Isthmus of Panama from one ocean to another, their em- 
 barcations in frail canoes, mosquito flotillas that become 
 metamorphosed into fleets of galleons as the boarding 
 parties became busy and the prizes grew — these inci- 
 dents in themselves suffice for numerous bulky volumes. 
 
 Of the men themselves, too, enough has already been 
 written to send them down through all the ages to pos- 
 terity clearly painted in all the wild and glaring detail 
 of their lives. Their names conjure up some grim 
 specters of the past, and some really gallant deeds as 
 well. Captains Coxon, SawMns, Sharp, Watling, Lewis 
 Scot, John Davis, Teach, Kidd, Sharp, Cowley, Wafer — 
 each of these Brethren of the Coast has hacked his own 
 niche in history, and is memorable for what he took 
 rather than for what he gave ! 
 
 The name of Dampier, however, gives one pause, for, 
 like many more of the tribe than casual history records, it 
 was a curious combination of circumstances and sheer 
 fatality rather than temperament and natural inclination 
 which drove him to join the Brotherhood. A Devon 
 farmer's son, he approached the life of the bucaneer by 
 the respectable path of a Jamaica plantation manager's 
 post, and, curiously enough (though some pessimist might 
 retort that it was naturally enough), it was only after his 
 marriage that he began to tread the same decks as the 
 bucaneers. Dampier soon proved himself a fine naviga- 
 tor, circumnavigating the world among his other feats, 
 and the advantages of his education enabled him to record 
 his adventures in a much more distinguished fashion than 
 that of the remaining British bucaneer chroniclers, Sharp, 
 Cowley, Eingrose, and Wafer. 
 
 It was Dampier 's fate to be closely connected with the 
 castaways of the Island of Juan Fernandez, for it was 
 
94 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 his vessel which — weighing anchor in a hurry on the ap- 
 pearance of three Spanish men-of-war — accidentally left 
 behind the friendly Mosquito Indian known as William, 
 the first hermit of Juan Fernandez. It was on a much 
 later voyage, too, in 1708, that the vessel in which Dam- 
 pier sailed took up from the island the much more famous 
 Alexander Selkirk. As for Dampier himself, he died in 
 obscurity. He was in reality a very notable man, a skilled 
 navigator, and a bucaneer by the merest chance. 
 
 It was different with the redoubtable Sir Henry Mor- 
 gan, the admiral of the bucaneers, and the most notorious 
 of all their number. Morgan, whose headquarters were 
 Jamaica, was heart and soul a Brother of the Coast — 
 save that he lacked just that one virtue which even the 
 most dissolute of the company was wont to boast, loyalty 
 to his fellows. Perhaps Morgan founded his actions as a 
 bucaneer on the basis of his early experience in the West 
 Indies. The fact that on his first landing at Barbados 
 he was treacherously sold as a slave cannot have softened 
 his natural instincts ! For all that, his success was phe- 
 nomenal, and culminated — ^having first remorselessly 
 blown up a castleful of Spaniards — in his storming of 
 Panama, when a wailing eddy of nuns and priests were 
 driven forward remorselessly as the front rank of his 
 two thousand desperadoes. As to the sack of Panama, 
 no other plundering in the world has exceeded it in the 
 wildness and terror of its debauch. When it was all 
 done, moreover, the greedy and treacherous Morgan left 
 more than weeping women and the corpses of men be- 
 hind him. He was followed by the curses of his allies, 
 whom with his usual cool and calculating daring, he had 
 left in the lurch. For in his ship, as it dipped away from 
 sight down below the horizon, were many tens of thou- 
 sand of pieces of eight, and a great hoard of gold and 
 silver ornaments that should have been theirs. 
 
 Undoubtedly in Morgan's character the jackal added 
 a very shrill howl to the lion's roar. What, for instance, 
 
THE BUCANEERS 95 
 
 could be a more eloquent study in consummate meanness 
 than the pains he took to seek out the bodies of his 
 drowned comrades as they floated on the sea — not in 
 order to give the corpses decent burial, but to despoil 
 them of their rings and richer clothes. 
 
 But Morgan had the fortunate knack of floating on the 
 surface of involved affairs. He escaped the vengeance 
 of his wronged comrades, and continued to escape it 
 when, a knighted governor of Jamaica, he cynically 
 hounded down in the name of the law those very men by 
 the side of whom he had once fought, slain, and plundered, 
 and with whom he had sworn eternal comradeship. 
 
 Decidedly Morgan appeared as the loudest squawk in 
 the swan song of the bucaneers, for at the close of the 
 seventeenth century when a Bourbon came to the throne 
 of Spain the true Brethren of the Coast passed away, and 
 were succeeded by lesser and indiscriminate pirates, 
 whose methods by comparison were vulgar and parochial. 
 
 We may close this chapter with some details of one or 
 two voyages which, although they recall the bucaneer 
 flavor up to a certain point, were, officially, of an author- 
 ized and privateering nature. 
 
 Captain Woodes Eogers set sail from Bristol on the 
 1st of August, 1708, in command of a thirty-gun ship, the 
 Duke. Dampier sailed with him as one of his officers, 
 and he was accompanied by the twenty-six gun ship, the 
 Duchess, commanded by Captain Stephen Courtney. The 
 expedition held a commission from Prince George of 
 Denmark, Lord High Admiral of England, to cruise in 
 the South Seas against the Spaniards and French. 
 
 Having captured a prize or two, the vessels put in at 
 Eio de Janeiro, casting anchor near a village some 
 leagues from the capital. Here the fact that some French 
 privateers were in the neighborhood caused an unusually 
 warm welcome to be extended to the British seamen by 
 the Portuguese, doubtless largely owing to the hope of 
 added protection thus brought them. 
 
96 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Indeed — apart from the routine of chasing vessels, 
 which after a time grows monotonous to relate — one of 
 the notable circumstances of this voyage was the lengths 
 to which the cordiality between the Portuguese and the 
 British was carried — though this did not prevent one or 
 two of the usual attempts at inveigling British seamen on 
 shore — in order that, as deserters, their labor might be 
 available for the mines ! 
 
 The record of one day alone at the little town of Angre 
 de Reyes suffices to take away the breath of one familiar 
 with the usual ceremonious and stilted intercourse such 
 as characterized the relations between Iberian governors 
 and British sailors. This was the 27th of October, when 
 the governor, most unreservedly friendly, sent word to 
 know if the British would lend their ''music" to head a 
 procession in honor of the Virgin Mary. By all means ! 
 replied the seamen. And so behold the procession set- 
 ting out through the very modest streets of Angre de 
 Reyes, banners waving, candles flaming, incense smoking 
 — and, at the head of all, the ''music" of the British 
 vessels, which consisted of a hautboy and two trumpets, 
 the blowers of which — owing to the too generous local 
 offers of liquor — were just a little the worse for wear. 
 But they appear to have maintained decorum, no doubt 
 largely owing to the presence in the procession of Cap- 
 tain Rogers, Captain Courtney, and the other officers of 
 the Duke and Duchess, each of whom carried a wax 
 taper. 
 
 But by far the most amazing thing was yet to happen. 
 The procession at an end, the British officers, having been 
 feasted, returned to their ships in a hospitable mood, and 
 then invited the chief men of the place to come aboard 
 and be entertained in their turn. Presently, when the 
 liquor had got well under way, the Portuguese toasted 
 the pope, to whom the sailors drank with jovial enthusi- 
 asm. Then Rogers, declaiming in his turn, gave first 
 the health of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and then, 
 
THE BUCANEERS 97 
 
 in order that no one should be forgotten, called on his 
 guests to drink to William Penn, the Quaker. And to 
 both of these the Portuguese drank deep ! What a day ! 
 
 Whether Rogers, following the time-honored customs 
 of the bucaneers, had these toasts saluted by salvoes of 
 artillery I know not. They may have been considered 
 sufficiently startling without any such addition. 
 
 It was on this voyage that Rogers discovered Alex- 
 ander Selkirk after his four years' and four months' 
 lonely residence, and that super-castaway was made mate 
 of the Duke on the spot. 
 
 The remainder of the log is made up of the usual chases 
 and captures on the Pacific, and of a lengthy, patient, and 
 cat-like lying in wait for the Manila galleon. When one 
 appeared (that proved worth two million dollars to the 
 crews) it is only with mixed feelings that one may read 
 of Rogers ' preparations for the attack. Having no spir- 
 ituous liquor on board, he caused a great kettleful of 
 chocolate to be made for the men ! Could anything have 
 been less rollicking — less appropriate to the latitude and 
 period ! Then he called his crew to prayers, and success- 
 fully engaged the galleon. 
 
 In 1719, Captain Clipperton, who had served under 
 Dampier, set sail for the South Seas with his two vessels, 
 one, the Success commanded by himself, the second, the 
 Speedwell, in charge of Captain Shelvock, formerly of 
 the royal navy. 
 
 Less than a week after they had left Plymouth a severe 
 gale separated the two vessels, which did not meet again 
 until chance happened to bring them together in the 
 Pacific Ocean. The misfortune was felt the more 
 keenly by the Success, since, as ill-luck had it, the Speed- 
 well carried the entire stock of liquor for the two ships. 
 
 The Success appears to have attempted nothing in the 
 Atlantic, arriving at Juan Fernandez vexed by scurvy 
 and beaten by storms. Here they stocked their larder 
 with a great number of the goats with which the island 
 
98 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 abounded, but on the other hand they left behind them 
 two seamen who, desiring to play at Alexander Selkirk 
 in company, had deserted. After this comes the usual 
 record of prizes, and on account of a stay at Cocos Is- 
 land, in order that the crew should have an opportunity 
 of recovering from the sickness attending a long cruise. 
 
 Off the coast of Mexico, Clipperton chased a ship which, 
 when overhauled, proved to be the Jesu Maria, com- 
 manded by Captain Shelvock, and manned by forty of 
 the survivors of the Speedwell's crew. Here was a dra- 
 matic meeting. The Speedwell, it appeared, had been 
 wrecked on the Island of Juan Fernandez, and with her 
 timbers a smaller vessel had been built, by means of 
 which they had captured their present prize. 
 
 The Island of Juan Fernandez had seen many queer 
 things, but probably nothing stranger than the boat which 
 set out from its shores, holding forty persons, crowded 
 together, four live hogs, one cask of beef, and over two 
 thousand smoked conger-eels, on the odorous bundles of 
 which the men, for want of room, were forced to lie ! 
 
 It soon became evident to Clipperton that Shelvock 
 and his crew were no longer inclined to sail in company 
 with him, nor to share the considerable booty they had 
 amassed. So the Success sailed away to China, leaving 
 Shelvock to his own devices. The latter, after some 
 further cruising, followed in the track of the Success to 
 the west. 
 
PAET II 
 THE BRITISH IN COLONIAL SOUTH AMERICA 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 EAELY BRITISH ADVENTURERS IN SPANISH AMERICA 
 
 Reasons for the slender English records during the colonial period of the 
 continent — Influence of the Inquisition — The Spaniard in his official 
 and in his private capacity — Questions of faith — Englishmen who sailed 
 to Paraguay in 1534 with Pedro de Mendoza's expedition — The town of 
 "Londrez" — Cause of the nomenclature — The Chilean census of 1788 — 
 A late proof of the phenomenal dearth of foreigners — Conditions which 
 obtained in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries — Influence of the 
 Spanish occupation of Brazil — Method of receiving strangers in that 
 colony — Inhospitality to foreigners general throughout South America 
 until the independence of the continent — Early English Jesuits in 
 South America — The kidnapped London boy, John Martin, develops into 
 Joao d' Almeida, a noted Brazilian saint — His enthusiastic scourgings of 
 the flesh — ^Veneration in which he was held — Father Thomas Fields — 
 A famous Irish Jesuit — Captured by an English bucaneer — Alleged fate 
 of the most violent of the captors — Father Field's work in Paraguay — 
 Sacred ceremonies at sea — English vessels engaged in the slave trade — 
 Privileges granted to these — South America as a refuge for the social 
 outcast — Irish settlers — Their popularity in the continent — Special con- 
 cessions granted them — Their success as pastoralists — ^Method of part- 
 nership with the South Americans — Ambrose O'Higgins — The greatest 
 British figure in South America — Circumstances of his youth — Arrival 
 in South America — ^As a humble immigrant he takes up a minor com- 
 mercial career — ^His success as an itinerant trader — The road from that 
 situation to the viceregal throne — O'Higgins, when middle-aged, enters 
 the Spanish colonial service — His work among the Araucanian Indians 
 — ^Various governorships held — Increasing velocity of his upward career 
 — His liberal policy as captain-general of Chile — Ambrose O'Higgins 
 becomes Viceroy of Peru — His achievements while holding this high 
 office — Death of O'Higgins — His career compared with that of his son 
 Bernardo. 
 
 THE records of the English during the early 
 colonial period of South America are naturally 
 very slender. So far as Spanish America was 
 concerned, this could scarcely have been otherwise. "We 
 have already seen that the political and religious aim of 
 
 101 
 
102 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 the Spanish Empire was the complete seclusion of its 
 colonies. When not even every province of Las Espanas, 
 the Spains themselves, was given free access to the 
 South American colonies, it may be imagined what diffi- 
 culties lay in the path of the foreigner — and, above all, 
 the heretic — ^who had a longing to taste of the vast riches 
 in which the Southern shores were reputed to abound. 
 
 The marvel, therefore, is not that those English expedi- 
 tions which harried the shores of Spanish South Amer- 
 ica should have met with so few of their own fellow coun- 
 trymen, but rather that they should have been brought 
 into contact with so many. In centers such as Lima and 
 other places where the Inquisition was powerful and in- 
 quisitors numerous there is no doubt that unrepentant 
 ** heretics" were burned or otherwise put out of the way 
 by the annihilating laws of the auto-da-fe. But Span- 
 ish South America was wide, and the dread even of the 
 Inquisition did not succeed in obtruding itself the entire 
 length of the Pacific, to say nothing of the Atlantic coast. 
 There were many kindly Spaniards, official and other, 
 who shrugged their shoulders, and winked at the growing 
 intimacy between the South American colonists and a 
 stranded mariner or two. 
 
 Nevertheless, such cases were rare enough, and such of 
 their countrymen, as the Northern seamen met with on 
 their expeditions were nearly always of the Koman Cath- 
 olic faith. These seemed to come to the surface of the 
 spray of events with considerable frequency. They were 
 met with both on shore and in command of Spanish ves- 
 sels, and such meetings were by no means always of a 
 friendly character. 
 
 Indeed, there are instances of English Roman Catholics 
 in the service of Spain accompanying some of the earliest 
 of the expeditions to South America. One is said to have 
 accompanied Pizarro's force, and three — John Rutter of 
 London, Nicholas Coleman of Hampton, and Richard 
 Liman of Plymouth — sailed with Pedro de Mendoza in 
 
EARLY BRITISH ADVENTURERS 103 
 
 1534 to the mouth of the River Plate, thence to Paraguay, 
 where they appear to have settled down. 
 
 Out of the mists of the early Spanish colonization of 
 the interior of the continent the aftermath of a sudden 
 explosion of cordiality still remains. In the Province 
 of Catamarca, which now belongs to the Argentine Re- 
 public, is a small village boasting the name of '^Londres." 
 This is the result of one of the farthest-flung eddies which 
 the marriage of Mary of England to Philip II of Spain 
 set in being. The nomenclature must have been the work 
 of a tactful local governor. Nevertheless, considering 
 the extreme remoteness of Catamarca from Spain, it is 
 quite possible that, by the time the news of the marriage 
 arrived and the name had been given, the hope of na- 
 tional alliance, and the cause of cordiality, had already 
 vanished. 
 
 To what extent foreigners had been kept out of the 
 Spanish South American dominions may be gathered 
 from a census taken in Chile in 1788. Out of four hun- 
 dred thousand inhabitants only seventy-nine were given 
 in as foreigners. Of these, representing thirteen na- 
 tionalities, there were only three who were not Roman 
 Catholics. 
 
 It is likely enough that this list was not a complete 
 one. It stands to reason that many complacent local 
 officials would not care to have it on record that they 
 were harboring too liberal a number of these strangers 
 who were so unpopular with the highest authorities. 
 And juggling with figures was so simple a matter under 
 the Spanish Empire that it had become almost a hobby 
 on the part of nearly every official, however straitlaced 
 he might have been in other respects ! Even so, it may 
 be taken for granted that the number of strangers in 
 Chile and elsewhere at that period were extraordinarily 
 limited. 
 
 If this state of affairs obtained at so late a date as the 
 end of the eighteenth century, it may be imagined how 
 
104 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 much more severe were the conditions which applied in 
 the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In what might 
 be termed the mid-colonial period of South America, 
 when, Portugal having freed herself in Europe from the 
 yoke of Spain, the great colony of Brazil reverted to the 
 mother country, it might well have been expected that an 
 alteration of policy would occur in this portion of the 
 continent. But this was not so. The germ of the Span- 
 ish colonial theory had eaten too deeply into the con- 
 temporary Portuguese mind to be lightly eradicated. 
 
 Thus when the affairs of Brazil came again to be ad- 
 ministered by the Portuguese, the foreigner who spread 
 his sails in anxious haste to make the ports of the new 
 Brazil met with an abrupt shock of disillusion. If the 
 authorities were in a complacent mood, his ship might be 
 allowed to anchor in one of the harbors and a certain 
 amount of very guarded intercourse might be permitted. 
 But all trips from the ship to the shore were rigidly dis- 
 couraged, and this policy was applied even to those old 
 national friends, the British. No party of foreigners, in 
 fact, was allowed to land unless under the close and in- 
 cessant supervision of an armed guard — a most unsatis- 
 factory method of drinking in first impressions of a 
 strange country! 
 
 It was not, indeed, until the Spanish colonies became 
 republics, and Brazil a monarchy, that was brought about 
 the removal of the barriers that had been set up in the 
 face of the foreigner. (_JEven for some decades after the 
 independence of the continent had been achieved, the old 
 theory of the exclusion of the foreigner persisted in one 
 or two remote regions, notably in Paraguay. 
 
 The actual starting-point of the careers of the Eng- 
 lishmen in the mainland of South America is, of course, 
 somewhat vague and difficult to determine. We have al- 
 ready referred to those who accompanied Pizarro and 
 Pedro de Mendoza. They doubtless played their part 
 manfully, but not in a fashion that left a permanent rec- 
 
EARLY BRITISH ADVENTURERS 105 
 
 ord behind them. The earliest of the English who 
 achieved this were Jesuits. It is known that there were 
 several English priests at Cordoba, among them being 
 Thomas Falconer and Thomas Brown. At least one 
 saint of the early Brazilian Church — or of the company 
 of Jesuits in Brazil — can claim English birth. It ap- 
 pears that one of the most conscientious self-scourgers 
 and wrestlers with the devil among the Jesuits in Brazil, 
 was actually born in London in the reign of Queen Eliza- 
 beth. This was the friar Joao d 'Almeida, whose original 
 name was John Martin, and who is said to have been kid- 
 napped by a Portuguese merchant when he was ten years 
 of age. Seven years after this he was taken out to Brazil, 
 and entered the company of Jesuits, his superior being 
 the famous Father Anchieta. 
 
 The great repute for sanctity of which Joao d 'Almeida 
 soon became possessed was not lightly won. It is diffi- 
 cult to conceive a soul that could have been a deeper 
 enemy of its imprisoning flesh. Indeed, the only worldly 
 possessions in which he took the least pride were the in- 
 struments with which he was accustomed to chastise that 
 despised flesh of his. These made up an elaborate col- 
 lection. There was every possible variety of scourge, 
 from whipcord to wire ; there were hair shirts, and many 
 varieties of the most satisfactorily painful wire cilices; 
 there were sharp pebbles and hard grains of maize such as 
 would promote the most comfortable of shoes from their 
 state of ease to perdition, and then there were the nat- 
 ural and welcome allies of the spirit in the shape of mos- 
 quitos, fleas, and similar cordial assistants in the cam- 
 paign against the cursed matter. And all this is to say 
 nothing of the fastings carried out with so bitter a de- 
 termination that the fainting body stumbled while the 
 spirit soared! 
 
 Notwithstanding their mutual hatred, the spirit and 
 body of this remarkable man clung together for no less 
 than eighty-two years. At least let us say this of him. 
 
106 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 that, though his particular methods of attaining to a 
 righteous state were medieval and crude, they had the 
 merits of an undoubted sincerity and of the fullest faith. 
 It is easier to smile at the methods of Friar Joao d 'Al- 
 meida than to test them ! 
 
 The friar was not without honor in his own community. 
 The veneration with which he was regarded increased 
 steadily during his lifetime, until it had attained to a 
 pitch that, at the time of his last and fatal illness, con- 
 vulsed Eio de Janeiro and all the surrounding country 
 with grief, and every possible object that could be treas- 
 ured as a relic of the saintly man was carefully pre- 
 served. 
 
 A far more generally known Jesuit priest of British 
 birth was Father Thomas Fields — or Tomas Filds, as the 
 Spanish chroniclers record the name. This was an Irish 
 Jesuit, one of the foremost in strenuous endeavor of a 
 most notable company, who sailed out from Europe in 
 1587 in order to assist in the great mission work which 
 had been begun among the Indians of Paraguay, 
 
 According to the Jesuit writers. Fathers Charlevoix 
 and Del Techo, the vessel in which this small company of 
 Jesuits was sailing to South America was captured by 
 an English bucaneer when off the mouth of the river 
 Plate. It is said that the fathers were brutally treated 
 by the crew of the vessel which captured them, and it is 
 possible enough that they did suffer considerably at the 
 hands of some rough sea-dogs. At the same time, the 
 most orthodox of modern Jesuits will scarcely deny that 
 these two old historians have strained both their minds 
 and pens just a little in their enthusiastic haste to point 
 a moral! 
 
 It appears that, not content with maltreating the per- 
 sons of their captives, the bucaneers took to scattering 
 some treasured relics that the missionaries bore with 
 them. This was more than the Jesuit fathers could suf- 
 fer, and a struggle was brought about by their endeavors 
 
EARLY BRITISH ADVENTURERS 107 
 
 to save the relics. Enraged, the bucaneers flung Father 
 Ortega, one of the Jesuits, overboard, and he was only- 
 rescued after some hesitation. But then fell the venge- 
 ance which preserved the missionaries from further ill- 
 treatment. With an extraordinary rapidity the chief 
 blasphemer developed a malignant boil in his leg. So 
 rapidly did the growth spread that, although his com- 
 panions amputated his leg, it was not in time, and the 
 miserable nian died in great agony within twenty-four 
 hours. 
 
 In the end Father Fields and his companions arrived 
 safely in Paraguay, and the labors of Fields among the 
 Indians — ^his interminable wanderings through forest, 
 swamp, and lagoon in search of fresh converts to bap- 
 tize — are set down among the most prominent of those in- 
 tensely interesting records which deal with the work of 
 the Jesuit missions. 
 
 In the eighteenth century there were undoubtedly many 
 more British friars, already domiciled in Spain or Portu- 
 gal, who sailed in Iberian vessels to South America. But 
 very few .of these left records behind them. Now and 
 again a corner of the veil is lifted, and we are given a 
 glimpse of the stately departure of the fleet and of the 
 galleons, of the ceremonies, rites, and feastings, and of 
 the occasional passage in a cock-boat across the shining 
 blue waters from one vessel to another. We learn, too, 
 from English passengers how, on the day dedicated to 
 Saint Ignatius, voyaging Jesuits would celebrate a great 
 feast, and would march in procession about a ship hung 
 with white linen and flags, whose masts were decorated 
 with the Jesuit arms and with pictures of Saint Ignatius, 
 while the cannon roared their salutes, and at night the 
 rigging glowed with lanterns, and flashed and banged with 
 fireworks. 
 
 Having dealt with this considerable number of saintly 
 figures, we may now pay some passing attention to a 
 few sinners — not that the slave traders of the eighteenth 
 
108 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 century were considered a whit more sinful than folk 
 who dealt in objects other than human. 
 
 In the eighteenth century, as in Richard Hawkins ' day, 
 a shipload of black labor-instruments was always wel- 
 come. British vessels obtained special privileges when 
 engaged in this trade, and their owners possessed slave 
 establishments of their own in Buenos Aires, where the 
 original building to house slaves was constructed in 1702 
 by an English company that had secured a monopoly for 
 the importation of Negroes. In 1713 the Treaty of 
 Utrecht provided some notable concessions to the English. 
 In addition to the privilege of trading at the famous fairs 
 of Portobello (at which the goods, with the exception of 
 the large amounts smuggled, were bought to supply the 
 whole of Latin America) they were conceded the right of 
 slave-dealing in the whole of Spanish America. 
 
 Some years later, when war broke out between Eng- 
 land and Spain, Zavala, the governor of Buenos Aires, 
 seized the English slave-trading station, which was rees- 
 tablished at the end of a short war. During this period 
 many English vessels visited the port of Colonia for 
 smuggling purposes. 
 
 The slave-trading concession was subsequently with- 
 drawn, but was renewed again in 1784 and in 1791, when 
 ships that brought slaves were permitted to load the prod- 
 uce of the country for their return voyage. This latter 
 somewhat startling innovation caused much tribulation 
 to the Spanish merchants, who had until then enjoyed the 
 monopoly of these shipments, and when an English vessel 
 was loading with hides we find them protesting vigor- 
 ously against the "fatal consequences which must ensue 
 to the national commerce"! Small wonder that the 
 safety-valve of smuggling flourished ! The concession was 
 subsequently added of carrying away the produce of the 
 country in the vessels that had brought slaves. This 
 privilege was resented by the more reactionary of the 
 ofiicials, who endeavored to put a stop to it toward the end 
 
EARLY BRITISH ADVENTURERS 109 
 
 of the eighteenth century, an attempt that had little effect 
 beyond increasing the smuggling traffic, which had from 
 the beginning acted as the safety-valve of South Amer- 
 ican commerce. 
 
 In addition to the reputable British who found them- 
 selves in the South American Iberian colonies at this 
 period, there were a certain number of shadier specimens 
 of that nationality who had taken refuge in some parts 
 of the Southern continent. Decidedly no shelter could be 
 more certain than that of the South American soil for 
 the spendthrift or criminal of a certain standing and of 
 sufficient means to make his way thither. 
 
 Having changed his religion, he would be received with 
 open arms by people, whose views, whatever else they 
 might have been, were at all events sincere and enthusi- 
 astic. Then, having learned to suck up Yerha Mate in- 
 stead of sipping his dish of China tea, and to drink red 
 Spanish wine instead of his claret, yellow Jerez, or purple 
 port, he would accustom himself to the life of the new 
 continent, and become as dead as drying bones to the 
 old. 
 
 In Spanish America the most welcome of all the set- 
 tlers who arrived from overseas during the last few de- 
 cades of the colonial period were the Irish. Their skill 
 in curing meat had brought them considerable reputation 
 among the colonials. This and the fact that their re- 
 ligion was Roman Catholic caused them to receive spe- 
 cial privileges, and they had established themselves in 
 considerable numbers in Argentina before the War of 
 Liberation. 
 
 It may be remarked here that an Irish Lieutenant- 
 Colonel in the Spanish service, Don Carlos Morphi, was 
 governor of Paraguay in 1766. He is said to have been 
 of considerable assistance to the Jesuits in the trials at- 
 tending their expulsion. 
 
 Later, the Irish took up the occupation of shepherds, 
 and — seeing that their foreign birth caused them to be 
 

 110 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 immune from the military duties to which the others were 
 liable — their services were in great request. A species 
 of partnership was usually entered into between the Irish- 
 man and the South American. The former would bring 
 into play his labor and his shepherd's knowledge; the 
 latter would provide the livestock and the land. By 
 this arrangement was laid the foundation of many a 
 South- American — as well as an Irish-South-American — 
 fortune that has to be counted in millions of pounds 
 sterling to-day. 
 
 Infinitely the most salient figure among the Britons of 
 Colonial South America is that of Ambrose O'Higgins, 
 the bare-footed youngster of the county Meath tenant 
 farmer, who rose to be viceroy of Peru. The most clearly 
 O'Higgins 's career is regarded, the more astonishing it 
 appears. The mounting force of such men as — leaving 
 the medievals and ancients out of the question for want 
 of space! — Clive, Napoleon, and Garfield is sufficiently 
 bewildering to contemplate. But the difficulties in the 
 path of these were as molehills compared with the moun- 
 tains that O'Higgins had to surmount. 
 
 Of these. Napoleon's career is that which, for one rea- 
 son only, most nearly approaches that of the ponderous 
 viceroy whose boyhood was spent in running errands at 
 Dangan Castle. But, although the Corsican in his early 
 youth was not over-familiar with the language of his 
 future empire, he was born, and his deeds were achieved, 
 in the midst of his fellow subjects of France. 
 
 O'Higgins lacked even this commonplace advantage. 
 It is true that he had an ecclesiastical uncle in Spain who 
 possessed a certain amount of influence — sufficient at all 
 events to offer the young nephew who had come out to 
 him from Ireland, seemingly without a vocation for the 
 priesthood, the opportunity of proceeding to the Spanish 
 South American colonies as a peddler. 
 
 Conceive, if you can, the gap between the foreign and 
 friendless young hawker, landing on the strange alluvial 
 
EARLY BRITISH ADVENTURERS 111 
 
 flats of Buenos Aires, and the Viceroy of Peru — the 
 holder of an office coveted by every one of those grandees 
 of Spain who were privileged to remain with heads cov- 
 ered in the presence of the Emperor himself — a post 
 which had scarcely ever been held by the most eminent 
 even of the Spanish colonials, and which required the 
 proudest of quarterings as well as a European reputation 
 for statesmanship ! For in no capital were the formali- 
 ties of family and the privileges of blood more rigidly in- 
 sisted on than in the severe and unbending court of Spain. 
 
 Yet the man who struggled across the Andes to Chile 
 and Peru, and set up his humble stall in the shade of 
 the cathedral at Lima, bridged this mighty gap, and won 
 his way to the throne of the most important vice-royalty 
 in the world. 
 
 The main features of Ambrose O'Higgins's life in 
 Spanish South America are well enough known. Wan- 
 dering over the immense tracts of country from Vene- 
 zuela in the north downwards to Central Chile, in order 
 to dispose of his wares, it was this strenuous and itin- 
 erant life which gave him that wide topographical knowl- 
 edge which was to serve him so well in his later official 
 existence. 
 
 O'Higgins prospered in his commercial life, and, hav- 
 ing made sufficient money for his needs, he offered his 
 services to the Chilean Grovernment for the surveying of 
 roads and engineering work in the Andes and in the 
 South. It speaks well for the broadmindedness of the 
 Chilean colonial authorities that they accepted his offer. 
 They had no cause to regret this, and both traveling men 
 and beasts rapidly found cause to congratulate them- 
 selves on O'Higgins's work. It is an extraordinary ex- 
 ample of the workings of fate that at this early period 
 of his official career O'Higgins, serving the royal inter- 
 est, caused those much-needed shelter huts to be erected 
 in the Andes passes — refuges which some fifty years 
 later, after the Chilean defeat of Ramcagua, assisted his 
 
112 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 republican son and his followers to make their escape 
 from the pursuing royal forces ! 
 
 Shortly after this 'Higgins obtained a commission in 
 the Spanish Royal Engineers, and from that point his 
 promotion was assured and rapid. 
 
 A point to be noticed in 'Higgins' remarkable life is 
 that he was no less than forty years of age when he en- 
 tered the Spanish colonial service. Middle-aged, he had 
 already retired from one career, and, according to the 
 ordinary ethics of life, there was no reason why he should 
 not have sat down in peace for the rest of his life in the 
 shade of his poplar and orange trees, surrounded by his 
 vineyards and roses, and the countless flowers and fruits 
 of the beautiful Chilean valleys. 
 
 But 'Higgins never seems to have contemplated any 
 such retirement. He had other views. His mercantile 
 career had led him to the point at which a young Spaniard 
 enjoying reasonable influence might enter the Govern- 
 ment with all his ambitions and ideals shining before him 
 at their highest and freshest. 'Higgins flung away the 
 cares and details of his past, and entered the arena, 
 handicapped by some twenty years. It would be an un- 
 derstatement to say that he caught up with the others 
 hand over fist: from that moment his career was mete- 
 oric ! 
 
 Advancing from rank to rank, he first defeated the 
 fiery Araucanian Indians, and then won the deep esteem 
 of those untamable warriors. In 1777 he obtained his 
 colonelcy, and shortly after he was made brigadier-gen- 
 eral. Among his achievements at this period was the 
 founding of the town of Balenar, a name which he gave 
 to it in honor of his Irish birthplace, Ballinary. He him- 
 self retained close and affectionate connection with this 
 name throughout; for when he was created a count he 
 chose the style of Balenar for his title. 
 
 The astounding velocity of 'Higgins 's upward career 
 was now increased. Reaching the rank of major-general 
 
EARLY BRITISH ADVENTURERS 113 
 
 in 1788, lie was created Marquis of Osorno, and became 
 Captain-General of Chile in 1792, while in 1794 he re- 
 ceived a further military step to the grade of lieutenant- 
 general. 
 
 O'Higgins was now Governor of Chile, and his great 
 abilities began to find their full scope. His most notable 
 work was in connection with administrative reform, the 
 abolition of slavery, the founding of towns, the construc- 
 tion of roads and harbors, and other progressive meas- 
 ures of the kind. 
 
 Occasionally O'Higgins 's liberal policy was startling 
 in its effects, and brought him into conflict with his su- 
 perior, the mighty Viceroy of Peru. But 'Higgins per- 
 sisted in his views, and boldly argued with the King of 
 Spain himself, until the latter, yielding to the sound com- 
 monsense of 'Higgins 's point of view, ended by accord- 
 ing him his warm support. 
 
 The crowning acknowledgment of the great Irishman's 
 services occurred in 1796, when Ambrose 'Higgins was 
 made Viceroy of Peru. This post — the most coveted and 
 exalted beneath those of actual royalty throughout the 
 world — ^he held with great honor until his death in 1801 
 at the age of eighty-one. There is a portrait in existence 
 of Ambrose O'Higgins, when Governor of Chile, that 
 seems to me to reveal most admirably the physiognomy 
 of the greatest British subject who ever set foot on 
 South American soil. The countenance is essentially Hi- 
 bernian: the jaw is massive; the mouth is firm, and the 
 eyes and the expression of the face are characteristically 
 benevolent. 
 
 There are probably more varied lessons to be learned 
 from the career of Ambrose O'Higgins than from those 
 of the majority of great men. For one thing, it would 
 seem to prove that the wiser springs of human nature are 
 not necessarily tainted to their depths by a mistaken 
 form of government. The errors of the Spanish colonial 
 policy are patent, and none attempt to deny that the 
 
114 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 general Spanish administration of the period was cor- 
 rupt to a degree. Yet it was the officials brought up in 
 so unsatisfactory a school who freely ^ recognized Am- 
 brose O'Higgins's merits, and who assisted the man with- 
 out court influence to that exalted place where he could 
 best display his talents. This honest appreciation, more- 
 over, extended from the lower ranks to the highest. The 
 King of Spain himself had corresponded with, argued 
 with, and praised his brilliant viceroy. But he had never 
 set eyes on him, nor listened to the brogue-tinged Span- 
 ish of the chief dignitary of his South American do- 
 minions. O'Higgins' case was that of sheer talent tri- 
 umphant. Judging from the general conception of Span- 
 ish colonial rule, it may have been an anomaly. In any 
 case it affords a warning against the dangerous vice of 
 over-generalization ! 
 
 I have referred to Ambrose 'Higgins as the greatest 
 British subject who ever set foot on South American 
 soil, and this distinction is freely admitted on all hands. 
 But I would go beyond this. To my mind the name of 
 O'Higgins is one of the greatest which has ever shone 
 out of the entire history of South America. It is true 
 that it first appears there a generation or so before such 
 compelling patronymics as Bolivar, San Martin, and those 
 others which the stress of the War of Independence raised 
 high above the masses of the populace. 
 
 But the name of O'Higgins has something which these 
 others lack. It is, in fact, unique. It has a double luster ; 
 because it was borne by two generations with an almost 
 equal brilliancy. It is seldom that a genius such as Am- 
 brose O'Higgins the father, the greatest viceroy of roy- 
 alist Spanish America, bears a man such as Bernardo 
 'Higgins the son, first chief of the New Republic which 
 sprang up from the ashes of his dead father's govern- 
 ment. 
 
 In South American opinion the son usually ranks as the 
 greater of the pair. I think that the chief reason for 
 
EARLY BRITISH ADVENTURERS 115 
 
 this is that Don Bernardo stands for the triumph of the 
 republican principles. But for this very natural wave 
 of sentiment, I think that the verdict would be reversed. 
 
 It is true that Bernardo 'Higgins did not begin where 
 his father left off. On the contrary, the illegitimate and 
 somewhat neglected son of the powerful viceroy was left 
 to carve out for himself the most important step in his 
 career — a fact which makes the double luster all the more 
 brilliant. But at all events he had his father's great 
 name at his back, and his manhood's career was begun 
 among kindred people whose customs and language were 
 his. His father had enjoyed no such advantages as 
 these. 
 
 From the point of view of crucial politics, Bernardo 
 'Higgins may have played the more important part; 
 but from the point of view of actual achievement it seems 
 to me that the palm must go to the father — to Ambrose 
 'Higgins, who governed a country a dozen times larger 
 than the island where he had been born a peasant's 
 child! 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 SOME EIGHTEENTH-CENTUKY BKITISH VOYAGES TO SOUTH 
 
 AMERICA 
 
 Commodore Anson'3 Voyage — Aims of the expedition — Composition of the 
 squadron — Patients of Chelsea hospital deemed an efficient force of ma- 
 rines by the authorities — Official response to protests — Scene at the 
 embarkation of the unfortunate invalid veterans — The force strength, 
 ened by recruits — The squadron sets sail on the 18th of September, 1740 
 — Narrowly misses falling in with a Spanish fleet off the island of 
 Madeira — Subsequent calamities which befel Admiral Pizarro's vessels 
 — Anson's vessels arrive at Santa Catharina, in Brazil — Conduct of the 
 Portuguese governor — His greed and hostility — Anson, proceeding to 
 the south, arrives at the harbor of San Julian — Foul weather separates 
 the squadron — Shipwreck of the Wager — Subsequent adventures of the 
 lost vessel's officers and crew — Fate of the mutineers — The Centurion 
 with a diminished and enfeebled crew arrives at the island of Juan 
 Fernandez — The ravages of scurvy — Within the next two months arrive 
 at long intervals the Tryall, Gloucester, and Anna Pink, all similarly 
 afflicted — Appalling death roll of the squadron — Rest and recuperation 
 at Juan de Fernandez — Species of fish obtained — Anson plants vege- 
 tables and fruits — The island dogs — Agents introduced by the Spaniards 
 for the destruction of the goats — Survivors of these latter — The Cen- 
 turion, Gloucester, and Tryall set sail with little more than a third of 
 their original crews — The squadron begins its aggressions on the Pacific 
 coast — Chivalry displayed by Anson toward his prisoners — How this 
 was appreciated by the Spaniards of both sexes — Incidents at the cap- 
 ture of Paita — ^Seamen's humor — Various prizes — After securing much 
 booty Anson lies in wait for the Manila galleon — Abandonment and 
 burning of the now unseaworthy Gloucester — The Centurion after pro- 
 longed cruising captures the Manila galleon, and immense treasure — 
 She returns home after a cruise of nearly four years — A tale of Captain 
 Campbell, one of Anson's officers — Commodore Byron's voyage in the 
 Dolphin, accompanied by the Tamar — Intercourse with the Patagonian 
 Indians — Some native ideas of generosity — Embarrassing demonstra- 
 tions of friendship — Captain Wallis's voyage in the Dolphin, accom- 
 panied by the Swallow — An incident at Madeira — Description of the In- 
 dians within the Straits of Magellan — Discovery of Pitcairn's Island — 
 Captain Cook's voyage in the Endeavour — Some incidents on the South 
 American coast — Spanish curiosity concerning his discoveries in the 
 Pacific Ocean — Length to which the seclusion of the Spanish colonies 
 
 116 
 
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 117 
 
 was carried — An instance affecting a United States whaler — Capture of 
 the missionary ship Duff — Mutiny of the convicts of the Lady Shore — 
 Missionaries and convicts meet at Montevideo — The convicts' advances 
 rejected — Services subsequently rendered by these to the British sol- 
 diers of the river Plate expeditionary force — The cruise of H.M.S. 
 CornwalUs. 
 
 IN the year 1740 there were circumstances connected 
 with the manning and equipment of a British fleet 
 when commissioning for a long cruise that might 
 well try the patience of the most reasonable commander. 
 This Commodore Anson found out to his cost when pre- 
 paring to beard the power of Spain in her South Amer- 
 ican colonies. 
 
 The task before him was to sail round South America, 
 and, after harrying the Pacific coast, to attack Panama, 
 which fortress, it was planned, should be approached at 
 the same time from the Atlantic by a second, and power- 
 ful, British expedition which was to land at the isthmus 
 and advance along Sir Henry Morgan's road, thus re- 
 peating history in a more respectable fashion ! 
 
 As related by Richard Walter, the chaplain of the Cen- 
 turion, the squadron consisted of five men of war, a sloop 
 of war, and two victualing ships. 
 
 They were the Centurion of sixty guns, four hundred 
 men, George Anson, commander; the Gloucester of fifty 
 guns, three hundred men, Richard Norris, commander; 
 the Severn of fifty guns, three hundred men, the Honor- 
 able Edward Legg, commander ; the Pearl of forty guns, 
 two hundred and fifty men, Matthew Mitchell, com- 
 mander; the Wager of twenty-eight guns, one hundred 
 and sixty men. Dandy Kidd, commander ; and the Try all 
 sloop of eight guns, one hundred men, the Honorable 
 John Murray, commander: the two victualers were 
 Pinks, the largest of about four hundred, and the other of 
 about two hundred tons burthen. 
 
 After this Mr. Walter lets loose a round shot of satire, 
 which the circumstances amply justified. ''Besides the 
 complement of men borne by the above-mentioned ships 
 
118 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 as their crews," he adds, ''there were embarked on board 
 the squadron about four hundred and seventy invalids 
 and marines under the denomination of land-forces. ..." 
 
 These ''invalids and marines," as a matter of fact, had 
 comprised as bitter a pill as it was possible for poor un- 
 desirable humanity to provide for the chastening of a 
 naval commander's spirit. Instead of a smart regiment 
 of foot and three independent companies of a hundred 
 men each such as had been promised for the expedition 
 by the authorities, these latter in the end satisfied their 
 consciences by collecting five hundred out-patients of 
 Chelsea hospital — men who, from their age, wounds, or 
 other infirmities, were incapable of serving further in 
 marching regiments! Anson was aghast at the idea of 
 having this physical refuse of humanity shot upon his 
 ships, and his protest received the support of Sir Charles 
 Wager. But the latter received a stunning broadside of 
 crass officialdom! "He was told, that persons, who were 
 supposed to be better judges of soldiers than he or Mr. 
 Anson, thought them the properest men that could be 
 employed on this occasion." 
 
 The description of these "properest" men is sufficient 
 to take one 's breath away, even after this lapse of nearly 
 two centuries: 
 
 "But, instead of five hundred, there came on board 
 no more than two hundred and fifty-nine: for all those 
 who had limbs and strength to walk out of Portsmouth 
 deserted, leaving behind them only such as were literally 
 invalids, most of them being sixty years of age, and some 
 of them upwards of seventy. Indeed, it is difficult to 
 conceive a more moving scene than the embarcation of 
 these unhappy veterans. ..." 
 
 One can picture Anson, surveying from his quarter- 
 deck the pitiful sexagenarian stream, whose weak and 
 palsied limbs were intended by the admiralty judges of 
 "properest" men to make some shift at hearty and 
 rollicking movements! One can imagine, too, the start- 
 
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 119 
 
 ing eyes and fallen jaw of Colonel Cracherode, who had 
 come aboard to take up direct command of this army of 
 unsound Methusalehs! 
 
 At the last moment two hundred and ten of the rawest 
 recruits were sent to the squadron to take the place of 
 the enterprising invalids who had sufficient strength to 
 drag their deserting limbs away. None of these recruits 
 had yet learned to fire a musket, but they had at least the 
 strength to hold a firearm to their shoulder, which seemed 
 beyond the physical power of many of the first batch! 
 Thus manned, on the 18th of September, 1740, Anson's 
 squadron weighed anchor from St. Helens in the Solent, 
 stood past the tree-covered shore of Bembridge, and tided 
 it down the Channel, joining company for a time with a 
 convoy of one hundred and fifty merchant vessels and 
 their escort of six warships. Presently this great fleet 
 bore off to the west, leaving Anson's ships to make for 
 their first port of call, Madeira. 
 
 Anson's voyage differs from almost every other ex- 
 pedition of the kind, before or since, in that not only 
 were the Spaniards well acquainted with its objects and 
 destination, but they had actually fitted out a squadron 
 of superior strength, and had sent it to lie in Anson's 
 path. So that even when the British fleet was halting at 
 one of its earliest calls in the Bay of Funchal the Span- 
 ish admiral Pizarro with six ships, mounting three hun- 
 dred and four guns, and manned by two thousand seven 
 hundred men, was cruising in the quite near neighbor- 
 hood. 
 
 Many calamities were destined to befall both fleets be- 
 fore they entered a home port again. Of the Spanish 
 vessels only the flagship, the Asia, was ever destined to 
 return to Europe, and that only after the most dreadful 
 sufferings imaginable on the part of the crew : ' ' When 
 by the storms they met with off Cape Horn, their con- 
 tinuance at sea was prolonged a month or more beyond 
 their expectation, they were reduced to such infinite dis- 
 
120 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 tress, that rats, when they could be caught, were sold 
 for four dollars a-piece ; and a sailor, who died on board, 
 had his death concealed for some days by his brother, 
 who, during the time, lay in the same hammock with the 
 corpse, only to receive the dead man's allowance of pro- 
 visions." 
 
 After this it is not surprising to learn that when the 
 Spanish vessels, abandoning at length the attempt to 
 round the Horn, put back into the river Plate they were 
 manned by less than half of their original crews. 
 
 Curiously enough, with the exception of the little Pearl, 
 which once ran within gunshot of the Spanish squadron 
 having mistaken it for her own, the two fleets did not 
 once set eyes on each other. The British vessels pro- 
 ceeded steadily on their course, Pizarro hovering about, 
 and perhaps awaiting a more favorable opportunity in 
 the Pacific Ocean — an opportunity which never came. 
 
 So, seeing that to Anson's squadron the Spanish 
 vessels never materialized themselves from out of the 
 occasional vague wonderings as to their whereabouts, we 
 may have done with them for the present, and follow 
 the British sailors. 
 
 Having taken in a brave store of the golden, full- 
 bodied Madeira wine, Anson proceeded uneventfully to 
 the southwest, and made his landfall on Sunday, the 
 21st December at the Island of Santa Catherina in the 
 south of Brazil. Here the squadron had some reason 
 to expect a friendly reception, if only on account of the 
 excellent relations which prevailed between Great Britain 
 and Portugal. 
 
 But Santa Catharina proved disappointing in almost 
 every respect. In the first place, being midsummer 
 south of the line, the spot abounded with venomous 
 ''muscatos" and equally noxious sandflies. Moreover, 
 the governor of the place, Don Jose Sylva de Pazz, as Mr. 
 Walter terms him, was small improvement on his insects. 
 This personage, indeed, must have been of an extraordi- 
 
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 121 
 
 narily uncivil nature. He placed sentinels everywhere 
 to see that the inhabitants of the place did not trade with 
 the British except at ridiculous and prohibitively high 
 rates. 
 
 This governor of Santa Catharina, as a matter of fact, 
 did not content himself with mere arrogance and in- 
 civility. Being intimately connected in the smuggling 
 trade with the governor of the neighboring Spanish ter- 
 ritory to the south, he took care to send an express to 
 the river Plate, warning the Spanish authorities of the 
 arrival of the British fleet, together with a full descrip- 
 tion of its numbers and condition! It was, in conse- 
 quence, with no regret that the squadron sailed from 
 Santa Catharina on the 18th of January. Mr. Walter 
 has a note on this point : 
 
 **The Island of St. Catherine's has been usually recom- 
 mended by former writers, and on their faith we put in 
 there . . . but the treatment we met with, and the small 
 store of refreshments we could procure there, are suffi- 
 cient reasons to render all ships for the future cautious 
 how they trust themselves in the government of Don Jose 
 Sylva de Paz.'* 
 
 Sailing to the south, the squadron almost immediately 
 fell in with bad weather, an unusual summer phenomenon 
 in those latitudes. It was an ominous introduction, this, 
 to the stormy realms of the Horn itself, but the sailors, 
 knowing nothing of what was before them, sailed on 
 cheerily enough to the Bay of San Julian, the final haven 
 which all Pacific-bound navigators sought before plung- 
 ing into the gray waters of the low latitudes. 
 
 After this the logs of the squadron record a most ter- 
 rible glut of misfortune. Sailing southward, past the 
 entrance to the Magellan Straits, and onwards between 
 the grim rocky shore of Staten Island and the mainland, 
 they had as big a sailful of gales as the staunchest ship 
 could stand, and, all but overwhelmed by the giant seas, 
 were driven to the south and to the east far out of their 
 
122 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 course. Off Cape Noir the Severn, the Pearl, and the 
 Wager, terribly storm-battered, parted company with 
 the squadron. The Severn and the Pearl succeeded in 
 rounding the Horn again and in sailing back to the 
 Brazils, but the Wager left her bones in Latitude 47.S. on 
 the bleak Chilean coast. 
 
 The adventures of the Wager's crew are sufficiently 
 noteworthy in themselves. The mutiny of a number of 
 the men afforded a grim introduction to what was to 
 follow. This culminated in the shooting by the captain 
 of a midshipman named Cozens, a rebellious "sea-law- 
 yer" — it may be as well to explain that a midshipman in 
 those days was frequently a mature personage, who had 
 nothing in common with the smart youngsters turned out 
 from Dartmouth to-day. 
 
 In the meantime the mutineers, who formed by far 
 the larger section of the party, were busied in lengthen- 
 ing the long-boat and preparing it for sea. When this 
 was all but ready the shooting of Cozens gave them the 
 pretext for placing the captain under a guard, vowing 
 that they would take him home with them to England to 
 be tried for murder. This was merely a subterfuge to 
 prevent their commander interfering with their plans, 
 and just before they set out they released him. 
 
 On the thirteenth of October, five months after the 
 shipwreck, the long-boat, rigged as a schooner, and tow- 
 ing the cutter, took its departure. The complement of 
 both boats was nearly eighty, so that they were crammed 
 and loaded to the gunwale with men. As they stood 
 to the south the mutineers had at least the remorseful 
 decency to salute with three cheers the few officers and 
 men who remained on the beach. 
 
 Perhaps the most extraordinary part of the whole af- 
 fair is that this long-boat did actually succeed in passing 
 from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and, safely navigating 
 the waters that had wrecked so many tall ships, sailed 
 
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 123 
 
 safely to Eio Grande in Brazil. But when that bat- 
 tered little boat, three and a half months after it had 
 started, drove its nose at length through the sunny waters 
 on to the Brazilian shore, out of its eighty men only thirty 
 gaunt beings sat within its water-worn planks! 
 
 The captain of the lost Wager and those that remained 
 with him took the barge and the yawl, and set out to the 
 northward along the Chilean coast, in exactly the op- 
 posite direction to that taken by the long-boat. After 
 innumerable disappointments and hardships the officers 
 became separated from their men, and there were left on 
 a desolate shore Captain Cheap, Mr. Hamilton (lieuten- 
 ant of Marines), the Honorable Mr. Byron and Mr. Camp- 
 bell, both midshipmen, and Mr. Eliot, the surgeon. By 
 the help of Indian guides they eventually reached the 
 Spanish settlements, but only after innumerable further 
 adventures and hardships. After a year's detention in 
 Santiago de Chile four of their number were permitted 
 to return to England. 
 
 The remaining officer was Mr. Campbell, who *' having 
 changed his religion, whilst at St. Jago, chose to go back 
 to Buenos Aires with Pizarro and his officers, with whom 
 he went afterwards to Spain on board the Asia; but hav- 
 ing there failed in his endeavors to procure a commis- 
 sion from the Court of Spain, he returned to England, 
 and attempted to get reinstated in the British Navy. 
 
 But in this endeavor the versatile midshipman met 
 with no success. 
 
 We may now return to the main British squadron it- 
 self, or, rather, to that portion of it which remained com- 
 paratively intact. As a matter of fact, the sufferings of 
 the crews of those ships which kept the sea were very 
 little less than those of the wrecked sailors. 
 
 The Island of Juan Fernandez — that rendezvous of 
 the mariners of all ages — had been chosen as the rally- 
 ing point, and the condition in which the vessels struggled 
 
124 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 to its anchorage was remarkable and most pitiable. 
 Scurvy had broken out among all the crews with the most 
 terrible results. 
 
 The first to arrive was the Centurion. How labori- 
 ously and lamely this ship came to her anchorage on the 
 9th of June may be imagined, seeing that she had a skele- 
 ton of a crew that could muster no more than six fore- 
 most men capable of duty in a watch! Since leaving 
 the Solent she had buried two hundred and ninety-two, 
 leaving a remainder of two hundred and fourteen. Two 
 hundred of the dead men had succumbed to the spotted 
 plague of the scurvy, and scarcely a man remained on 
 board who was entirely free from the disease! 
 
 Three days afterwards the Tryall sloop came stagger- 
 ing in. She was sailed by a crew of five, the only be- 
 ings on board who had strength to stand on their legs, 
 and these were Captain Saunders, his lieutenant, and 
 three of the men. Out of her small complement the 
 Tryall had buried forty-two, of which thirty-four had 
 fallen to the scurvy. 
 
 On the 21st of June a ship was seen on the horizon to 
 leeward of the island, with no sail spread but her courses 
 and main-topsail. It was the unfortunate Gloucester, so 
 faint that her spark of life was almost gone ! Assistance 
 in men and provisions were sent out to her from the 
 island, but, owing to the weather, and her tragic condi- 
 tion which let her drift almost where she would, it was the 
 23rd of July before she limped to her anchorage ! The 
 unfortunate Gloucester had only eighty-two men left 
 alive, a quarter of her original complement! 
 
 The victualing ship, the Anna Pink, did not arrive un- 
 til the middle of August, but, owing doubtless to the na- 
 ture of her cargo, she appears to have come in fairly 
 good condition. 
 
 The death roll of the first three ships was not yet at 
 an end, for many of the men died after they had got 
 ashore, and as for the decrepit marines from Chelsea 
 
AMBROSE O HIGGINS 
 
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 125 
 
 Hospital — ^it was practically a case of a clean sheet with 
 them — a wash out! 
 
 There was just one further calamity which the Brit- 
 ish squadron escaped, by a matter of hours only. They 
 suspected nothing of this at the time, although the quan- 
 tity of broken jars, fishbones, and ashes which the men 
 found on their first landing gave them some reason to 
 wonder. As they subsequently found out, an intact Span- 
 ish squadron from Callao had been waiting at the island, 
 and scarcely had their topsails sunk below the horizon 
 when the worn and helpless Centurion came in sight of 
 the land. 
 
 But very soon the benfits of the fresh provisions found 
 on the island became apparent. There were the seals, 
 at first "not much admired, though they afterwards grew 
 into more repute. ' ' There were also the fish, which, says 
 Mr. Walter, furnished delicious repasts, among them 
 cod of a prodigious size: *'We caught also cavallies, 
 gropers, large breams, maids, silver fish, congers of a 
 peculiar kind, and, above all, a black fish, which we most 
 esteemed, called by some a Chimney-sweeper. ' ' 
 
 Then there was the ' ' sea-cra-fish, ' ' as Mr. Walter terms 
 it, very rightly claiming for the island specimens that 
 they were probably the most perfect of their kind in the 
 world : 
 
 ' ' They generally weighed eight or nine pounds a-piece, 
 were of a most excellent taste, and lay in such abundance 
 near the water's edge, that the boat-hooks often struck 
 into them, in pulling the boats to and from the shore. ' ' 
 
 Among his many admirable and thoughful acts, Anson 
 played the Good Samaritan on the Island of Juan 
 Fernandez. He sprinkled its fertile earth with the seed 
 of carrots, lettuces, and other vegetables, and planted a 
 great number of apricot, plum, and peach stones. These, 
 of course, were for the benefit more especially of any 
 British sailors who might find themselves dependent on 
 the hospitality of the uninhabited island. But they 
 
126 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 served for all, as was evidenced by some Spanish prison- 
 ers who were brought to England some years later. 
 These desired to be presented to Anson in order to thank 
 him for his great courtesy toward some relatives of theirs 
 whom he had formerly held as prisoners. In the course 
 of the conversation they told Anson that, before its cap- 
 ture, their ship had touched at Juan Fernandez, and 
 asked him if it were not he who was responsible for the 
 groves of peach and apricot trees which now embellished 
 the island. 
 
 The crews of the squadron found that the goats in 
 which the island formerly abounded had been largely 
 reduced by the dogs introduced by the Spaniards in or- 
 der to destroy a source of provision so convenient to the 
 bucaneers and to the later hostile vessels. Richard 
 Walter has a most interesting statement concerning 
 Alexander Selkirk's custom of marking the ears of those 
 goats he did not want, and letting them go free. He says : 
 
 * ' This was about thirty-two years before our arrival at 
 that Island. Now it happened that the first goat that 
 was killed by our people, at their landing, had his ears 
 slit; whence we concluded, that he had doubtless been 
 formerly under the power of Selkirk. This was, indeed, 
 an animal of a most venerable aspect, dignified with an 
 exceeding majestic beard, and with many other symptoms 
 of antiquity. During our stay on the Island, we met with 
 others marked in the same manner; all the males being 
 distinguished by an exuberance of beard, and every other 
 characteristic of extreme age." 
 
 Surely to do justice to the full romance of this story 
 of the island goats the joint pens of Robert Louis Steven- 
 son and Defoe would be needed! 
 
 In September, the spring of the southern latitudes, the 
 squadron was once again ready for sea. The Anna Pink 
 had been broken up, and her crew had been distributed 
 among the Centurion, Gloucester, and Tryall. Neverthe- 
 less, instead of the nine hundred and sixty-one men which 
 
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 127 
 
 had manned these vessels on their departure from the 
 Solent, they had to be content now with the three hundred 
 and thirty-five survivors. Even so, rested, refreshed, 
 and refitted, the squadron set out in high spirits — spirits 
 which were not lowered when they almost immediately 
 began to fall in with Spanish vessels and to take rich 
 prizes, laden with silver and valuable merchandise. 
 
 Indeed, Anson's cruise off the Pacific coast of South 
 America recalls a voyage of Drake or of one of the early 
 bucaneers, save that all the harsher incidents of the latter 
 were softened and retrieved by the most excellent chiv- 
 alry and courtesy of the British commander. It is pleas- 
 ant to think that these qualities were appreciated to the 
 full by the Spaniards, and that very nearly a century 
 afterwards Anson's name was still held in honor along 
 the Pacific coast! 
 
 The difference in the attitude of his numerous prison- 
 ers on their capture and on their release was almost hu- 
 morously striking. Ladies, taken from a commandeered 
 ship, boarded the Centurion in deep anguish fearful of 
 all that was most brutal and bad at the hands of this 
 raiding heretic ! But when they found themselves in un- 
 disturbed possession of their own apartments on board, 
 and that their sex and susceptibilities were held in com- 
 plete reverence throughout, they took courage, and in 
 the end asserted their will to no small purpose. For 
 when the time came for them to go they refused point- 
 blank to stir until they had been given an opportunity 
 of thanking this very gallant sailor ! And, as every one 
 of the male prisoners found himself under similar obli- 
 gations, the White Ensign, though an enemy's flag, won a 
 prodigious amount of honor along the coasts of Chile and 
 Peru. 
 
 With reference to the capture of Paita, Captain Hall, 
 writing from that place in 1821 remarks: *'Lord An- 
 son's proceedings, we were surprised to find, are still 
 traditionally known at Payta and it furnishes a curious 
 
128 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 instance of the effect of manners on the opinion of man- 
 kind, to observe that the kindness with which the saga- 
 cious officer invariably treated his Spanish prisoners, is, 
 at the distance of eighty years, better known, and more 
 dwelt upon by the inhabitants of Payta, than the capture 
 and destruction of the town." 
 
 It is impossible to follow in detail this voyage of An- 
 son's. As I have said, it may, from the practical point 
 of view, be regarded as one of the early privateer's 
 cruises — bowdlerized! There were ships captured and 
 new prizes manned. There was the landing at Paita in 
 Peru, already referred to, and the sacking and burning 
 of that town under the nose of the hostile forces as- 
 sembled just to the rear of it, who were ' * furnished with 
 trumpets, drums, and standards," and who ''paraded 
 about the hill with great ostentation, sounding their mili- 
 tary music, and practising every art to intimidate us. ' ' 
 
 But the sailors ashore refused to be intimidated by any- 
 thing of the kind. In a rollicking fit they were adorning 
 themselves with all the glittering and foppish clothes, and 
 all the laced hats, they could lay their hands on, being 
 vastly amused at each other's appearance. After a time 
 the performance developed into a sort of pantomime: 
 "Those, who came latest into the fashion, not finding 
 men's cloaths sufficient to equip themselves, were obliged 
 to take up with women's gowns and petticoats, which 
 (provided there was finery enough) they made no scruple 
 of putting on, and blending with their own greasy dress. 
 So that when a party of them, thus ridiculously metamor- 
 phosed, first appeared before Mr. Brett, he was extremely 
 surprised at the grotesque sight, and could not immedi- 
 ately be satisfied that they were his own people." 
 
 This must have been a sight worth seeing, with its 
 background of burning houses, the hostile troops of horse- 
 men hovering in the mid-distance, and the mighty peaks 
 of the Andes to fill in the horizon. 
 
 There were other circumstances of the voyage which 
 
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 129 
 
 produced a more varied species of humor. For instance, 
 when a launch cruising by the shore was overhauled and 
 boarded, its occupants protested that they were but 
 wretched poverty-stricken folk, carrying some cotton in 
 jars. Yet, when discovered, these impoverished people 
 were dining unreasonably well off pigeon pie on silver 
 dishes. This in itself seemed a little out of place, and 
 a closer investigation of the cotton revealed doubloons 
 and dollars to the extent of nearly £12,000 secreted within 
 it! 
 
 By this time Anson had learned of the tragic failure 
 of the expedition on the Atlantic side of the Isthmus of 
 Panama — an undertaking that had promised every suc- 
 cess, until the death of Admiral Vernon threw everything 
 into a confusion which his successors tried in vain to re- 
 duce to order. Anson had learned, too, how fifteen thou- 
 sand splendid British troops had perished on the coast, 
 some in the course of an attack on Carthagena, but the 
 majority from fever and dysentery. There were no Brit- 
 ish troops remaining now on the Isthmus, and that part 
 of Anson's program fell away. 
 
 One of the chief objects of the British squadron was 
 now the great Manila galleon, which they knew was at 
 sea, bound for the Mexican port of Acapulco. This 
 Manila galleon was the kind of craft worthy to haunt the 
 imagination of Drake himself. This was the vessel 
 which carried the merchandise and coin to and fro be- 
 tween the rich Spanish colonies of Mexico and the Philip- 
 pines. 
 
 The squadron cruised off Acapulco, every eye on board 
 straining for a sight of the great lumbering galleon. 
 Hopes and fears rose and fell from February onwards. 
 Once, for a peculiarly anxious period, the squadron had 
 to leave its station to water at Chequetan. At length, 
 despairing of the galleon, the British squadron sailed 
 away to the west on the 6th of May, lamenting not a little 
 that the loss of those military efforts which had been put 
 
130 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 out of their power by the storm and the scurvy, should 
 not have been compensated for in some degree by the 
 blow to Spain such as the capture of the Manila galleon 
 would have produced. 
 
 On the voyage to the west the Gloucester became unsea- 
 worthy, and, her crew having been transferred to the 
 Centurion, she was set on fire and destroyed. Her loss 
 was a blow to the expedition, and, scurvy breaking out 
 again, for a time the prospect became as melancholy as it 
 had appeared before the island of Juan de Fernandez 
 was sighted. 
 
 Fortunately the sailors found relief at the island of 
 Tinian, one of the Ladrones, where many more adven- 
 tures were met with than can be related here. From 
 Tinian the Centurion, alone now, sailed to the Portuguese 
 city of Macao at the entrance of the Canton River. Here 
 the Centurion refitted completely, remaining until the 
 following year, in April of which Anson set out again 
 on a final attempt to intercept the Manila galleon. 
 
 On the 20th of June, those on the Centurion still cruis- 
 ing the South Sea, saw a sail rising up over the horizon to 
 the southeast. It was the Manila galleon! She was a 
 formidable antagonist since she carried five hundred and 
 fifty men and thirty-six guns. But the Centurion's de- 
 pleted crew knew their business, and after an hour and a 
 half's engagement the Nuestra Senora de Covadonga, 
 having sixty-seven dead and eighty-four wounded, struck 
 her colors. 
 
 On board of the prize were found 1,313,843 pieces of 
 eight, and 35,682 ounces of virgin silver. After this the 
 staunch Centurion sailed home, and safely dropped her 
 *'hook" at Spithead on the 15th of June after a cruise of 
 three years and nine months. 
 
 In connection with this famous voyage of Anson's it 
 may be remarked that a fine old sailor, Vice-Admiral 
 Campbell, who died in 1790, served in the Centurion as a 
 midshipman throughout the cruise. When a captain. 
 
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 131 
 
 Campbell served with Sir Edward Hawke in the impor- 
 tant action which ended in the defeat of the Marquis de 
 Conflans in 1759. Having greatly distinguished himself 
 in the battle he was sent home to bear the news of the 
 victory. Lord Anson drove his old comrade to the 
 palace, and the following conversation, as related by 
 John Marshall, will show that Campbell, notwithstanding 
 his high connections, was possessed of a Spartan simplic- 
 ity of manner. 
 
 ''Captain Campbell," exclaimed Anson, hugely de- 
 lighted at the victory, ''the King will knight you, if you 
 think proper. ' ' 
 
 "Troth, my Lord," said Campbell, "I ken nae use 
 that will be to me.' 
 
 "But your lady may like it," protested Anson. 
 
 "Weel then," conceded Campbell, "his Majesty may 
 knight her if he pleases." 
 
 No wonder the Centurion performed the feats she did 
 when so splendid a commander as Anson had at his back 
 such sturdy officers as Campbell. 
 
 Commodore Byron set out in 1764 in the Dolphin for 
 the purpose of making discoveries in the South Seas. He 
 was accompanied by the frigate Tamar, commanded by 
 Captain Mouat. Having made the usual call at Madeira, 
 the two vessels proceeded to Rio de Janeiro, where the 
 Portuguese — following a custom to which they had now 
 become thoroughly addicted — enticed fourteen of the 
 sailors away, and succeeded in kidnapping five of them. 
 
 After this the vessels stood down toward the Magellan 
 Straits, encountering a terrific storm, before which hun- 
 dreds of birds fled, "shrieking through dreadful appre- 
 hension," as a chronicler has it, and which laid the 
 Dolphin on her beam end for a time. 
 
 Just before the ships entered the Straits of Magellan 
 some five hundred Indians were perceived gathered on 
 the shore, and Commodore Byron underwent a sign con- 
 ference with a friendly and gigantic chief of some seven 
 
132 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 feet in height, having one eye boldly painted about in 
 black, while the other was quaintly ornamented with a 
 corresponding circle in white. The Chief's variegated 
 face, as well as the equally bizarre countenances of all 
 the rest, soon lit up with delight at some judicious gifts 
 of beads and ribbons. After this the two vessels entered 
 the Magellan Straits, and it is just possible — though by 
 no means probable ! — that the news of their civility had 
 preceded them, for, an officer on landing in one of the 
 channels was offered a dog by one of these Southern In- 
 dian braves and a few months' old infant by an equally 
 generous squaw! 
 
 There is no doubt that the very friendly disposition of 
 the officers and men had its occasional disadvantages! 
 At a subsequent landing, for instance, they fell in with 
 some very amiable, but quite primitive, Indians, whose 
 most admired food was rotting whale's blubber. Never- 
 theless, they showed themselves extraordinarily grateful 
 for the gift of some biscuit from the ships, and when 
 four of them, inveigled on board the Dolphin, were made 
 to listen to the strains of a violin played by one of the 
 midshipmen their excitement knew no bounds. One of 
 them — probably the most emotional of the four — deter- 
 mined to make some suitable effort at repaying these mo- 
 ments of joy. So he dived over the Dolphin's side, and 
 re-appeared with a quantity of his very best red paint — 
 with which he carefully and solicitously covered every 
 bit of the musical midshipman's face! The beaming na- 
 tive then approached Commodore Byron himself, who 
 only escaped a similar compliment with the greatest diffi- 
 culty and by means of considerable tact. 
 
 Very shortly after this, Byron, having already achieved 
 some good survey work, left the coast of South America, 
 and sailed away to the west. 
 
 In August, 1766, only a few months after Commoodore 
 Byron had brought her safely back into English waters, 
 the Dolphin, commanded this time by Captain Walli.s, 
 
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 133 
 
 again sailed for South American waters. On this occa- 
 sion the Dolphin was accompanied by the sloop Swallow 
 and the storeship Prince Frederick. 
 
 Wallis, steering practically the same course as Byron's, 
 touched at Madeira. At this pleasant port Captain Car- 
 teret of the Swallow soon found that nine of his sailors 
 were missing. His anxiety was relieved by a message 
 from the British consul ashore, who begged him — as much 
 for the modesty of the Madeirense ladies, it was to be 
 presumed, as for the credit of the British navy ! — to send 
 off a boat without delay in order to take off the nine 
 adventurous souls who were seated, perfectly naked, on 
 the large gray pebbles of the beach. 
 
 According to their own confession, when once again on 
 board, the sight of the mountains and vineyards of 
 Madeira had been too much for them! As they argued 
 before their relenting captain, they, having started on a 
 long and perhaps fatal cruise, could scarcely be expected 
 to forego their last opportunity of getting a really im- 
 portant skinful of wine ! So, undressing, they had tied 
 their money in handkerchiefs, and had swum ashore. 
 
 No historian that I know of has attempted to describe 
 the scene at the Madeira hostel when the nine, rollicking 
 and nude, put in their appearance. Such waste of im- 
 pressionist material approaches the criminal! Had any 
 bystander possessed a tenth of the enthusiasm for local 
 color such as the nine Swallows exhibited for the local 
 wine, this artistic gap would never have yawned ! 
 
 Continuing its cruise, the squadron fell in with the stal- 
 wart and curiously painted Indians on the eastern ex- 
 tremity of the Magellan Straits, and the crews of the 
 vessels watched some guanaco hunts, the natives gallop- 
 ing after these animals, and bringing them down by 
 means of the bolas. The intercourse was again friendly, 
 and the sailors, being greeted with shouts of ''English- 
 men, come on shore, ' ' found that the Indians had by this 
 time picked up various English words and phrases. 
 
134 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Once within the Straits of Magellan, too, the squadron 
 fell in with those same primitive Indians — or their very- 
 near brethren — as had been encountered by Byron 's men. 
 On this occasion a little more was learned about these 
 folk who ** smelt as rank as a fox." If one of them, for 
 instance, was given a fair-sized fish, he would kill it by 
 a bite near the gills, and would instantly devour it. 
 
 Once clear of the Straits, Captain Carteret accidentally 
 parted company from the Dolphin and the Prince Freder- 
 ick, and thus the many adventures which befell the two 
 sections of the squadron in the South Seas were experi- 
 enced separately. 
 
 It should be remarked, however, that after leaving the 
 coast of South America, the Swallow discovered Pit- 
 cairn's Island — that home of so much future drama — so 
 called from the name of the young officers who first set 
 eyes on its land. 
 
 The choice of the Swallow, by the way, for such an 
 arduous voyage reflected small credit on the lords of the 
 admiralty of the day. We have it on the authority of 
 Lieutenant John Marshall, the editor of the Eoyal Naval 
 Biography, that previous to this voyage she had been 
 nearly twenty years out of commission. She had been 
 slightly sheathed with wood to preserve her bottom from 
 the worms, but, being nearly thirty years old, she was 
 unfit for foreign service. But all the satisfaction that 
 Captain Carteret could obtain from the authorities on 
 this head previous to his departure was the assurance 
 that "the equipment of the sloop was fully equal to the 
 service she had to perform." 
 
 It was in 1768, about twenty- two years after Wallis's 
 and Carteret's expeditions, that Captain Cook set out in 
 the Endeavour, accompanied by Mr. Banks. So far as its 
 dealings with South America were concerned, the voyage 
 was notable chiefly for the hampering restrictions which 
 were placed on the intercourse between the ship and the 
 shore at Rio de Janeiro, and for the extraordinary hard- 
 
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 135 
 
 ships endured by Banks and his companions on a land 
 march in the snowbound southern extremity of the con- 
 tinent. Seven years later Captain Cook again paid a 
 brief visit to Tierra del Fuego. 
 
 These visits of the famous Captain Cook to the South 
 Seas seriously disturbed the equanimity of the Spanish 
 colonial authorities. They sent a ship in his wake to find 
 out what he had achieved, and, the vessel being ably com- 
 manded, they were enabled to conduct some valuable re- 
 search work themselves — notwithstanding the fact that 
 the actual and inquisitive object of the voyage was a far 
 less lofty one! 
 
 This will show how little the views of the grandees 
 had altered since the days when Hakluyt had occasion 
 to write: ''Whoever is conversant in reading the Por- 
 tugall and Spanish writers of the East and West Indies, 
 shall conamonly finde that they account all other nations 
 for pirats, rovers and theeves, which visite any heathen 
 coast that they have once sayled by or looked on. ' ' 
 
 A curious instance of the length to which colonial au- 
 thorities carried the policy of the seclusion of the colo- 
 nies was afforded by the discovery after the capture of 
 Lima by the patriots of a state paper referring to the 
 visit in the first years of the nineteenth century of a dis- 
 tressed American ship from Boston to the Island of Juan 
 Fernandez. The unfortunate vessel had been badly dam- 
 aged by a storm, and had run short of water and fire- 
 wood. It appeared that, carried away by a criminal 
 access of hospitality, the governor of Juan Fernandez 
 had permitted the distressed crew to repair damages, 
 take in wood and water, and sail away! Here was a 
 pretty kettle of fish ! And the Viceroy immediately .thun- 
 dered a message upon the erring governor, as he re- 
 ported in the state paper : 
 
 ''In my answer to the governor I expressed my dis- 
 pleasure for the bad service which he had rendered to 
 the King, in allowing the strange ship to leave the port, 
 
136 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 instead of taking possession of both her and the crew. 
 ... I expressed my surprise, that the governor of an 
 island should not know that every strange vessel which 
 anchors in these seas, without a licence from our Court, 
 ought to be treated as an enemy, even though the nation 
 to which she belonged should be an ally of Spain. . . . 
 and I gave orders, that if the ship should appear again, 
 she should immediately be seized and the crew impris- 
 oned. . . . Finally, I desired a complete statement of the 
 whole affair to be transmitted to his Majesty." 
 
 The document speaks for itself. The only thing it does 
 not leave quite clear is how many sleepless nights his 
 Majesty suffered on account of this wicked Boston ship ! 
 
 In any case it is sufficiently remarkable that a policy 
 of this sort should have been able to continue as late as 
 the opening of the nineteenth century. 
 
 Before quitting this subject of ships we may refer to 
 a somewhat remarkable meeting of saints and sinners 
 which occurred at the very end of the eighteenth century 
 in the pleasant town of Montevideo on the banks of the 
 river Plate. The contracting parties were the missionar- 
 ies from the missionary ship Dujf and the convicts from 
 the convict ship Lady Shore. It was by a curious coin- 
 cidence that they should both have arrived at Mon- 
 tevideo, since that place was not the destination of either 
 company, the Dujf being bound for the South Sea Islands, 
 and the Lady Shore for Botany Bay. The manner of 
 the arrival of both, too, was sufficiently adventurous. 
 The Buff was captured by French privateers off Mon- 
 tevideo, and the unfortunate missionaries, after suffer- 
 ing many hardships, were finally ejected with a total 
 want of consideration on to the Montevidean shore. 
 The convicts had reversed this process. They had done 
 their own capturing, having first mutinied and killed a 
 number of their guards, and had managed to bring the 
 Lady Shore into Montevideo, at which port they disem- 
 barked. 
 
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 137 
 
 It was a remarkable fate which brought these two sets 
 of people together on the Uruguayan coast. Probably no 
 two communities in the world could have differed more 
 widely. Never, claimed the superintendent of the Buff, 
 had missionaries set out under such special divine pro- 
 tection as those of the Buff, and never before had such a 
 continuous volume of hymns risen up from the deck of 
 a ship. In the dark and noisome cells of the Lady Shore 
 there had been oaths and deep curses, and the blasphemies 
 grew wilder and hoarser as the vessel staggered to a 
 tempest, or glowed motionless in the stagnant tropics. 
 
 What a heaven-sent opportunity for the missionaries ! 
 I hope, and believe, that there are few members of the 
 South American Missionary Society to-day who would 
 not have leaped at it. Here were one hundred and nine- 
 teen males and females in the direst spiritual need, cast 
 up, as it were, at their very door. They should have felt 
 like a husbandman, whose wheat had walked into his barn 
 of its own miraculous accord ! But they did not. 
 
 "We denied them the privilege of visiting us,'' explains 
 Gregory, one of the missionaries, *' which they were at 
 first very forward to do; but Dr. Sumer and I, giving 
 them information that they were prohibited from hold- 
 ing any conversation with our females, we received some 
 abrupt answers, and they departed. ' ' 
 
 They were a very smug set of missionaries, these 
 worthy men of the Buff, and for my own part I have little 
 doubt but that their less sanctimonious friends at home 
 must have afforded every facility and financial subsidy 
 which would encourage them to continue their labor in 
 the most remote South Sea Islands ! 
 
 As to the convicts, there is ample evidence that some of 
 the women among them gave themselves up with devotion 
 to the tending of the wounded in the British expedition to 
 the Eio de la Plata which occurred less than ten years 
 afterwards, and thus earned the deep gratitude of the 
 troops. 
 
138 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 At this period the unceasing energies of the British 
 navy made matters far more uncomfortable for the Span- 
 iards from time to time on the Pacific coast than would 
 appear from any general history. A very salient instance 
 of this is afforded by the voyage of H.M.S. Cornwallis, 
 which sailed from Madras for the west coast of South 
 America on the 9th of February, 1807, and proceeded by 
 way of New Holland, Van Diemen's Land, New Zealand, 
 and Chatham Island. It is worth while culling somewhat 
 extensive extracts from a journal kept on board, since 
 they are unusually eventful, and instructive concerning 
 the episodes of such a cruise. They are as follows : 
 
 ** June 14th, at noon, stood towards Masafuero, but no 
 appearance of any sealers on it. Captain Johnston re- 
 solved to ascertain if it was in possession of the Span- 
 iards, as had been reported at Port Jackson. At 5 p.m. 
 the boat returned, having found only two American 
 sealers, who had been on the island about nine months, 
 and had seen but five sail during that time. ... at 6 p.m. 
 made sail for Juan Fernandez, in expectation of meeting 
 some of the enemy's cruisers. 
 
 ' ' June 16. Stood into Cumberland bay, but not a vessel 
 or even a boat to be seen. . . . 
 
 * ' June 18th. While both officers and men were indulg- 
 ing themselves in golden dreams, an incident occurred 
 which threatened to involve the whole in one general de- 
 struction. It seems that the gunner had deposited a 
 quantity of blank musket-cartridges in his store-room, on 
 the preceding day, after exercise, instead of returning 
 them to the magazine . . . one of the crew, while fitting 
 a flint, snapped his lock, when the whole exploded with a 
 horrible crash. Several of the ship's company were 
 killed, and many dreadfully burnt; the fore cockpit 
 was set on fire, and the decks forced up ... in 20 min- 
 utes, however, by great exertions, the ship was half 
 water-logged, and by 9 p.m. the fire was totally extin- 
 guished." 
 
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 139 
 
 After a fruitless visit to Valparaiso and Coquimbo we 
 arrive at the entry : 
 
 ^' June 27tli, anchored in Gnasco Bay, under American 
 colors ; armed the boats, and sent them with a division of 
 small-arm men, under Lieutenant Barber, to procure cat- 
 tle from the inhabitants. . . . Finding by the report of 
 Lieutenant Barber that water might be obtained ... we 
 succeeded in obtaining 30 tons; but unfortunately lost a 
 very promising young officer, Lieutenant Robson, who was 
 drowned in the surf whilst attempting to swim a line 
 ashore from the launch. 
 
 ''July 2nd, the inhabitants having taken away two 
 empty butts during the absence of the watering party, 
 and Lieutenant Barber having informed Captain John- 
 ston that a quantity of copper was deposited near the 
 beach, and guarded by some horsemen, an armed party 
 proceeded to seize it, by way of retaliation. Having 
 brought off 31 pigs, weighing 6,000 lbs., and secured two 
 Spanish soldiers, we weighed and made sail to the north- 
 ward. 
 
 ''July 8th, a small vessel from Arica was captured by 
 the jolly-boat near Iquique, an island on the coast of 
 Peru. From her, and two brigs which we took about the 
 same time, a few hogs and some refreshments were ob- 
 tained, which proved of great service, as the officers and 
 ship's company had been on two-thirds allowance of all 
 species, except spirits, ever since our departure from 
 Port Jackson." 
 
 After this the Journal deals with a lengthy series of 
 captures, one of which seems to have occurred on every 
 third or fourth day. Among these was the Atlantic, of 
 300 tons, formerly an English whaler, but now armed as 
 a Spanish government vessel — a capture, this, that was an 
 act of retributive justice ! 
 
 One of the last entries of importance on the South 
 American coast is : 
 
 ' ' Aug. 15th, Captain Johnston wrote to the Governor of 
 
140 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Guayaquil, informing him that he had liberated the 72 
 officers and men belonging to the prize gim-vessels, on 
 their parole; also allowed 340 subjects of Spain to go on 
 shore at different times since his arrival in the South 
 Seas, and requesting that the total number might be car- 
 ried to the general account whenever an exchange of pris- 
 oners should be agreed upon between the two nations." 
 
 All of which demonstrates a comfortable and trusting 
 method of waging war which redounds not a little to the 
 credit of both sides ! 
 
 From the hygienic point of view, too, there is no doubt 
 that such a cruise was a vast improvement on the West 
 Indian naval station, where, in those days fever and dis- 
 ease was only too rife. It was Nelson himself, I believe, 
 who, when a youngster, served in the Hinchinbrooke fri- 
 gate off the Mosquito coast, and who, at the end of six 
 weeks, made one of the twenty-seven officers and men, who 
 alone survived out of a complement of two hundred and 
 thirty-five ! 
 
CHAPTER Vn 
 
 THE BKITISH EXPEDITION TO THE RIVER PLATE 
 
 Plan of the expedition — Questions concerning the political situation in 
 Spanish South America — Miranda's work in Europe — Some misconcep- 
 tions on the part of the British — Previous plans for sending British 
 forces to South America — The expedition to South Africa — Details of 
 the voyage — After the capture of Cape Town, Admiral Sir Home Pop- 
 ham sails on his own initiative for the river Plate — When off the 
 mouth of the river, a schooner is captured bearing a Scotsman in the 
 Spanish pilot service — Assistance given by Russel — His reward — A gal- 
 lant feat of arms ends in the capture of Buenos Aires — Conduct of the 
 Viceroy Sobremonte — Major Gillespie's account of the entry of the 
 British army into Buenos Aires — ^Varieties of fellow-countrymen found 
 there — The convicts of the Jane Shore — Improved material and moral 
 standing of these — Strategies employed to conceal the weakness of the 
 British garrison — Eecapture of the city by the South American forces 
 — Curious feature of the action — The capture of the Justinia by cavalry 
 and boats — Admiral Stirling arrives in the river Plate with reinforce- 
 ments — Capture of Montevideo — Landing of numerous British traders 
 — The "Southern Cross Gazette" — General Whitelocke's army — The ad- 
 vance on Buenos Aires — An utterly incompetent commander-in-chief — 
 British troops sent to certain slaughter into the streets — Capitulation 
 of the expedition — Political objects directly and indirectly attained by 
 the invasion — A minor result in England of the undertaking — Some 
 records of the prisoners of General Beresford's army who remained in 
 South America — El Guapo Beresfdr — ^An experience of the authors — 
 The outcome of a day's shooting in Misiones. 
 
 THERE can be no doubt whatever that a consider- 
 able amount of misapprehension attended the 
 despatch of the British expedition to the river 
 Plate. It is a tragic commonplace of our wars that the 
 services of the Intelligence Department have seldom kept 
 pace with the deeds of the soldiers in the field. 
 
 In 1805 it is certain that information had blundered 
 concerning the attitude and ambitions of the colonists of 
 Spanish South America. But on this occasion there was 
 
 141 
 
142 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 more excuse than usual for a blunder of the kind. For 
 years, the South American patriot, General Miranda, had 
 been working with an unceasing ardor in London and 
 Paris, imploring military assistance to fling off the bur- 
 den of Spanish rule, and promising the enthusiastic co- 
 operation of the South Americans. Undoubtedly here 
 again the deep-rooted European ignorance of South 
 American affairs played its part. Miranda was speaking 
 for the North of the continent, for Central America, and 
 for Mexico. He held no proxy from the Argentines and 
 from the South. 
 
 Much of the affair was concerned with mistaken ideas 
 as to bunting ! The British proposed to offer the South 
 Americans the Union Jack in the place of the yellow and 
 red of Spain. But the South Americans, although anx- 
 ious enough to fight by the side of the Union Jack, had 
 other ideas. They had it in mind to toss up the old Span- 
 ish flag and to let it explode in mid-air like a rocket, when 
 it should send out quite new stars and brand-new patterns 
 of colors, which should be the property of the South 
 Americans alone. But even the South Americans them- 
 selves were sufficiently vague as to the details of their 
 future. 
 
 It was only known in England that the discontent in 
 the South was growing, and this was not the first occasion 
 on which a proposal had been broached to send a British 
 expedition to South America. In 1793 an expedition had 
 actually come to a rendezvous at the island of Saint Hel- 
 ena, but the enterprise was abandoned at the last moment. 
 Addington is said to have had a scheme of the kind in 
 mind in 1801, and in 1804 Pitt in conjunction with Lord 
 Melville had actually provided a force, under Sir Home 
 Popham, to sail with Miranda to the banks of the Orinoco 
 River and to raise in South America the flag of revolt. 
 The unfavorable military and naval situation which pre- 
 vailed at the beginning of 1805 was alone responsible for 
 the stoppage of the plan. 
 
BRITISH EXPEDITION TO RIVER PLATE 143 
 
 When Sir Home Popham, the organizer of the expedi- 
 tion, set sail on the last day of August, 1805, with his 
 fleet and with a convoy of fourteen Indiamen acting as 
 transports for troops, his destination was the Cape of 
 Good Hope. The South American scheme was fated not 
 to develop until later in the day, and then in an irregular 
 fashion ! 
 
 On the way to South Africa, as was usual enough, the 
 fleet called at San Salvador — ^now more generally known 
 as Bahia — in Brazil. Here provisions were laid in, and 
 a member of the expedition explains that ''the two serv- 
 ices were furnished here with 66 pipes of sound port, at 
 £24 each." 
 
 But almost immediately there arose lament from sailors 
 and marines and soldiers. The story of Anson's expedi- 
 tion and of half-a-dozen others was repeated. The Portu- 
 guese were determined to make hay so long as the sun 
 shone on the British vessels in their bay. The prices of 
 all things went soaring upwards at a most merciless pace. 
 Even the pilot of the port, plunging headlong into the 
 commercial fray, opened a grog shop, and before the fleet 
 left he had made no less than five thousand dollars profit 
 out of the extempore and shrewd venture ! 
 
 A certain amount of trouble occurred too, on account 
 of the villainous, and occasionally murderous, habits of 
 the local boatmen, who have never enjoyed the best of 
 reputations. The humorous side of the picture was in 
 part supplied by the Brazilian soldiers, whose cartouche- 
 i boxes were found to contain maize instead of ammuni- 
 tion ! Finally, to conclude with the events at Bahia, Dr. 
 Emmerson, of the medical staff, an excellent musician, 
 offered to play the organ at one of the numerous churches. 
 After some hesitation the offer was accepted, when Dr. 
 Emmerson made the roof ring with ''Britons, Strike 
 Home!" "Britannia Rules the Waves!" and "God Save 
 the King!" to the open astonishment and admiration of 
 the Brazilians, it is said. 
 
144 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 After this the British fleet sailed for Table Bay; and 
 the troops took possession of Cape Town. It was from 
 this point that the expedition set sail for the river Plate 
 on the 14th of April, 1806. 
 
 It is generally supposed that Sir Home Popham acted 
 entirely on his own initiative in thus endeavoring to add 
 to the laurels the force had already won. This is possi- 
 ble enough, since in any case he was aware of Pitt's pre- 
 vious intentions toward South America, and how they 
 had been frustrated through no fault of the minister's. 
 This may well have encouraged him to an attempt the 
 success of which would have marked him as one of the 
 great leaders of his age. 
 
 However that may be, the fleet sailed from Table Bay, 
 called at St. Helena, and at the beginning of June the 
 vessels were creeping in cautiously toward the land, the 
 blue of the ocean changing to yellow and brown as they 
 entered the mouth of the mighty river. 
 
 Near Montevideo was captured a schooner, which hap- 
 pened to have on board one of the Royal Spanish pilots 
 of the Rio de la Plata. The appearance and speech of 
 this latter were entirely Spanish, and at first he pro- 
 fessed to understand not a word of English; but per- 
 sistent questioning elicited the fact that there was very 
 little of the real Spaniard about him, and he admitted at 
 length in his native tongue that he was a Scotsman of the 
 name of Russel, who had been residing in Buenos Aires 
 for fifteen years= Russel consented to give his services 
 to the expedition, and he rendered valuable assistance. 
 But I much fear that in after life he must have regretted 
 the day he fell in with the British fleet. For after the 
 departure of the British army of occupation from South 
 America, Russel was imprisoned by the Spaniards for his 
 share of the atfair, and when he subsequently made his 
 way to England in the hope of obtaining some recom- 
 pense he found himself disappointed in his expectations. 
 He left his native island again in a bitter frame of mind, 
 
BRITISH EXPEDITION TO RIVER PLATE 145 
 
 and doubtless drowned his grief in double quantities of 
 those strong waters of which, it appears, he was too fond 
 for his own good at the best of times. 
 
 The details of this first expedition are simple, but 
 sufficiently stirring. That a landing party of under 
 seventeen hundred men, all told, should have attempted 
 the conquest of a city of more than forty thousand in- 
 habitants, surrounded, moreover, by thousands of active 
 horsemen in the open country, is sufficiently surprising 
 in itself. That it succeeded is a tribute to the daring of 
 the soldiers and the fine qualities of those typical British 
 sailors who, as the force approached the town in a deluge 
 of winter rain, harnessed themselves to the guns, drag- 
 ging them through the morasses, and themselves swim- 
 ming across the swollen streams that impeded their prog- 
 ress from time to time. 
 
 It was a gallant feat in the face of gallant enemies, for, 
 had the Viceroy Sobremonte chosen to undertake a spir- 
 ited defense of the town, he would have found himself 
 valiantly supported, as subsequent events proved. But 
 Sobremonte, the Viceroy of Buenos Aires, the keystone of 
 the defense, fled incontinently, and exhibited himself as 
 a ludicrous and terrified figure that opened the eyes and 
 minds of the South Americans for good and all! Un- 
 doubtedly some bitter sentiment prevailed in Buenos 
 Aires when the inhabitants watched the entry of the ludi- 
 crously small force that had surprised the town. The Ar- 
 gentine patriot Belgrano has recorded his chagrin as a 
 spectator of this, and has also left behind him a striking 
 testimonial to ''the brave and honourable Beresford, 
 whose valour in this perilous enterprise I admire, and 
 shall always admire." 
 
 Major Gillespie, one of the officers of the expedition, has 
 an interesting account of many meetings, on the army's 
 entry into Buenos Aires, with countryfolk, whose presence 
 they had not suspected : 
 
 "The night had not closed before we were accosted by 
 
146 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 several of our countrymen, over whose individual his- 
 tories there hung much obscurity. Some, we were told, 
 had been supercargoes, or consignees, who had abused 
 their trust, and had thus become everlasting exiles from 
 their country and their friends, while others were com- 
 posed of both sexes, who by a violation of our laws, had 
 been banished from their protection, and whose crimes, 
 in a part of them, had been still more deepened in their 
 die, as perpetrators of murder. These were some of the 
 convicts of the Jane Shore, who had become citizens by 
 their religion ; a most essential preliminary in this conti- 
 nent, to personal safety and prosperity. As we could not, 
 under our circumstances, discriminate their shades of 
 guilt, I can only speak of them as a body of unfortunates 
 ... all of that list, except one dissolute female, were 
 settled in decent employs, and doing well, and all of them 
 contended in their good offices to us. The partial serv- 
 ices of a few towards our distressed soldiers while in 
 prison will atone for many weighty sins. ' ' 
 
 Compare these acknowledgments with the cold con- 
 tempt poured on the convicts' advances by the mission- 
 airies of the Duff! 
 
 It is a curious story, that of the British occupation of 
 Buenos Aires. The preservation of individual friend- 
 ships between British and Argentines, the strategies em- 
 ployed by the garrison to conceal the real weakness of 
 their numbers, the gradual gathering and organization of 
 the hostile forces outside the city, the passage of the 
 Argentine army across the Rio de la Plata, the final as- 
 sault and desperate defense which ended in the inevitable 
 capitulation of General Beresford's little force — all these 
 events formed part of a moving period. 
 
 Argentine historians frankly admit that their General 
 Liniers offered Beresford terms of surrender which were 
 not afterwards carried out to the full — owing, they claim, 
 to the fact that Liniers offered more than lay in his power 
 to concede. From his negotiations with this officer 
 
BRITISH EXPEDITION TO RIVER PLATE 147 
 
 Beresford had reason to suppose that the British force 
 would be permitted to return to England. But this was 
 not complied with, and he and his men were interned. 
 
 General Beresford and Colonel Pack, assisted by two 
 South Americans, and an American of the name of White, 
 subsequently escaped to Montevideo. Padilla, one of the 
 two South Americans, afterwards assisted in the editing 
 of the Spanish edition of the ''Southern Cross," the pub- 
 lication established by the British in Montevideo. 
 
 It is, of course, impossible to enter here into the sep- 
 arate events of the campaign, but one very curious inci- 
 dent must be remarked in the action which resulted in the 
 recapture of Buenos Aires by the Argentines. The Jus- 
 tinia, a small 26-gun British vessel, had approached very 
 near the shore in order to assist in the defense of the city. 
 A sudden and extraordinary retreat of the tide — ^which is 
 here largely at the mercy of the winds — left her high and 
 dry. On this a cloud of South American cavalry galloped 
 out over the mud, and captured her. 
 
 It might well be supposed that a feat such as the board- 
 ing of a vessel by cavalry was unique. But this is not so. 
 
 There are at least two other instances of craft being 
 attacked by cavalry in the Spanish colonies. The first 
 occurred in 1799, not on the mainland, but on the north 
 shore of the island of Puerto Eico. Some boats from the 
 British warship Trent, sighting a Spanish felucca ashore, 
 pulled in toward the land to capture her and to endeavor 
 to get her afloat. 
 
 As the Trent's barge drew quite near, a strong body of 
 Spanish cavalry came pounding down to the shore, and 
 formed up on the beach. Then, seeing that the British 
 still persisted in the attempt, the barge was actually at- 
 tacked by a swarm of troopers who rode straight into 
 the sea, and behaved in what the sailors termed a very 
 creditable manner, until the Trent's launch, coming up to 
 the assistance of the barge, rounded an intervening point 
 of land, and perceived what was afoot. The launch then 
 
148 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 opened fire upon the Spanish cavalry with grape, canister, 
 and musketry, when, as the chronicler has it, "they 
 scampered off in the greatest confusion, many of the 
 horses throwing their riders, to the great amusement of 
 every Briton present." 
 
 So this spirited and amphibious action appears to have 
 ended in an appropriately jocular fashion! 
 
 The second represents probably the most remarkable 
 feat ever accomplished by cavalry against boats. This 
 took place in the Northern campaign of the War of Lib- 
 eration, and was witnessed by a number of British offi- 
 cers in the patriot service. It happened that a flotilla 
 of small Spanish gunboats was stationed on the Apure 
 Eiver, and was impeding an important march of Bolivar's 
 men. One of the most famous of the Northern leaders, 
 General Paez, brought three hundred of his lancers up to 
 the bank, and spurred his horse into the water, bidding 
 his men follow him. In a moment the three hundred 
 were swimming toward the gunboats — literally gunboats, 
 these, not the large craft which to-day steam under that 
 name — flogging the water and shouting in order to scare 
 away the Spanish allies in the shape of crocodiles. Spear 
 in hand, the men made for the boats, and, leaping from 
 their horses' backs over the gunwales, actually suc- 
 ceeded in capturing them. 
 
 All this, however, has taken us somewhat far afield from 
 the British expedition to the river Plate. 
 
 After Buenos Aires had been recaptured by the Argen- 
 tines, and Beresford had been taken prisoner. Sir Home 
 Popham remained on the spot, to blockade the mouth of 
 the river, and to await the reinforcements which it was 
 certain that the news of the capture of Buenos Aires 
 would cause to be sent from England. 
 
 This news had created no small stir in London. In- 
 deed, the manner of its announcement was designed to 
 cause a sensation. A million dollars, the booty taken 
 from the Southern city, entered London in wagons, each 
 
BRITISH EXPEDITION TO RIVER PLATE 149 
 
 of which was drawn by six horses, profusely decorated 
 for the occasion. The first of these wagons was covered 
 with the royal standard of Spain, which had been cap- 
 tured from the fort of Buenos Aires, and flaming banners 
 proclaimed the treasure that was thus borne along in tri- 
 umph. 
 
 This rather dramatic display aroused all the political 
 and commercial interest that could be desired. But it 
 was not until after the catastrophe which ended in the 
 capitulation of the British Army of Occupation that Ad- 
 miral Stirling arrived off the river Plate to take charge 
 of the naval operations. He was in command of a fleet 
 which conveyed important British reinforcements, at the 
 head of which was General Auchmuty. 
 
 The news of the fall of Buenos Aires naturally threw 
 the plans of this second expedition out of gear. Mon- 
 tevideo was besieged, and after a courageous defense was 
 stormed by the British. So prominent a part, be it said, 
 did the sailors play in this siege, that the flag-ship, the 
 Diadem, was frequently left with only thirty men on 
 board! Then on the 10th of May, the frigate Thisbe 
 brought out Lieutenant- General Whitelocke to assume the 
 post of commander-in-chief. Eather more than a month 
 later powerful forces arrived from England, and with 
 them came Admiral Murray to take over the command 
 of the now formidable British fleet. 
 
 Simultaneously with the forces of war arrived the mes- 
 sengers of commerce. Convoyed by the frigates, mer- 
 chants and clerks sailed out in shoals, bearing samples of 
 bales and beers, cutlery and cloths. To the ten thousand 
 or so of the inhabitants of Montevideo, and to the British 
 army of occupation, was now added, explains Mr. J. P. 
 Robertson, who was present at the time, **two thousand 
 merchants, traders, adventurers; and a dubious crew 
 which could scarcely pass muster, even under the latter 
 designation." Establishing themselves at Montevideo, 
 they began to prepare themselves for the commerce which 
 
150 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 should follow the flag. In the meantime they occupied 
 themselves as best they could. They wondered at the 
 queer muddy tinge of the waters of the estuary; they 
 read the ** Southern Cross" the gazette, printed in Span- 
 ish and English, that announced the liberal policy of the 
 British to the South Americans ; then they formed them- 
 selves into rather awkward volunteer squads and helped 
 to garrison Montevideo while Whitelocke and his splendid 
 army of eleven thousand picked men sailed up the broad 
 stream to carry Buenos Aires by assault. 
 
 The merchants, left behind at Montevideo, waited for 
 the message which was to bid them follow in the track of 
 the conquering army. It never came. In its place ar- 
 rived tidings which were at first received with blank 
 amazement and reasonable incredulity. The British 
 army, after having been deprived of an opportunity of 
 entering the city at the heels of the retreating enemy 
 forces, had been sent with fixed bayonets into the streets 
 of Buenos Aires, and, unflinchingly obeying the command 
 to advance into the obvious death traps, had been shot 
 down in heaps by the defenders from the roof-tops ! A 
 capitulation had followed, almost as disgraceful to White- 
 locke as had been his conduct of the action ! 
 
 Presently it became evident that this news was only too 
 true, and that the merchants would have to pack up their 
 goods — in preparation for a departure, not for Buenos 
 Aires, but for Europe ! Soon enough the fleet returned, 
 bearing thousands of officers and men, wounded and 
 whole, bitter and enraged, and, still at their head, the 
 complacent and crass Whitelocke ! 
 
 The sentiments which animated many of the South 
 Americans after the capitulation may be gathered from 
 the following extract from a British officer's diary: 
 
 "As for myself, I had not been two hours in Buenos 
 Aires, when I was visited by two young gentlemen, sons 
 of Signior Terrada, whose kind hospitality I had expe- 
 rienced before our departure into the interior, who in- 
 
BRITISH EXPEDITION TO RIVER PLATE 151 
 
 sisted on my accompanying them and making their house 
 my home, while I remained, and they very considerately 
 brought a domestic to bear my luggage, which they were 
 surprised to find, was reduced to a hand parcel. The 
 reception from that family was welcome and liberal, and 
 I was happy to learn that the whole were safe and in 
 health, although three of them had served in the various 
 conflicts that had recently taken place, in defense of their 
 city. The expressions of gratitude for British generos- 
 ity were made by both parents upon my entering into the 
 house, when they intimated that my conductors had been 
 taken prisoners, by Sir Samuel Auchmuty on his storming 
 the Retiro, and that the treatment they had received 
 while they were in that unfortunate situation was noble 
 and humane. I can attest the tender delicacy shown by 
 every member of their household, and I have reason to 
 think that it was uniformly the same in every other, by 
 none of them even hinting at the disastrous events which 
 had so lately befallen our army, in which young soldiers 
 might have been prone to exult, nor was a single topic 
 proposed by them, but a few general enquiries concern- 
 ing the past, the repetition of some stories, and the urg- 
 ing of a disclosure, in what way they could provide for 
 my personal comforts through the voyage to Europe, by 
 money, cloathing, or necessaries. ' ' 
 
 After this the remains of the unfortunate expedition 
 sailed away northwards to the British Isles. In instances 
 of individual gallantry and enterprise it had been as fruit- 
 ful as any other. It left behind it the corpses of many 
 brave men, and much beyond — a new spirit of confidence 
 on the part of the colonials, an extraordinary absence of 
 bitterness, and a few cannon shot in the tower of San 
 Domingo church, which became an institution in them- 
 selves, and which — when in course of time they fell out 
 — ^were replaced by dummies of wood, carefully painted ! 
 
 The expedition, moreover, had exhibited the sterling 
 qualities of Generals Beresford, Auchmuty, Crauford, 
 
152 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 and numerous other senior officers. But the force of all 
 this courage and resource had been completely neutral- 
 ized by the conduct of a commander-in-chief, whose sole 
 claim to distinction appears to have been interest in high 
 places, and whose subsequent ignominious dismissal from 
 the army was itself considered by many as too light a 
 sentence. 
 
 Reverting to the political significance of this expedi- 
 tion, it may be said to have been threefold, including : the 
 desire to place the river Plate provinces under the British 
 flag, that of assisting the South American colonials, and 
 that of embarrassing the Spaniards. As the irony of 
 fate would have it, although the British failed in the 
 first, they succeeded — completely if indirectly — in the 
 second and third. For it was the British invasion that, 
 exposing the weakness of Spain and the powerful re- 
 sources of the colonials, assisted materially in bringing 
 about the revolution, and the independence of Spanish 
 South America. 
 
 The full moral effects of the expedition became clear a 
 few years later, when the influence which General Crau- 
 f ord had exercised over the enlightened Argentine patriot 
 Belgrano bore fruit, and materialized as one of the fac- 
 tors in the founding of the new nation. 
 
 Bartolome Mitre has it that the British, ''having sur- 
 rendered, as prisoners conquered all hearts to their ideas, 
 implanting in them the fertile germs of independence and 
 liberty." 
 
 Here is a note by Hadfield : 
 
 ''The late Lord Holland, in his posthumous 'Memoirs 
 of the Whig Party during My Time' . . . has a very 
 singular chapter on the secret history of these expedi- 
 tions. His lordship, who was a member of the Cabinet at 
 the time, says that Whitelocke's was but one of a series 
 of South American expeditions, and that it was originally 
 destined for Valparaiso. It was fortunately 'detained 
 by subsequent events in Buenos Aires, and the worst part 
 
BRITISH EXPEDITION TO RIVER PLATE 153 
 
 of our plan was thus concealed from the knowledge, and 
 escaped the censure, of the public' Had the then Min- 
 ister, Lord Grenville, remained in office, he would have 
 sent against Mexico Sir Arthur Wellesley, who, in that 
 case, might probably have never become Duke of Welling-- 
 ton." 
 
 What tiny straws suffice to show which way blow the 
 ironical winds of fate ! The ordinary student learns very 
 little from the average history book concerning this dream 
 of a wider dominion that was all but realized, yet at the 
 time the idea appears to have sunk in deeply enough. As 
 early as January 1, 1807, a little book of selected Spanish 
 prose appeared, concerning which the editor remarks in 
 the preface: **The numbers that will doubtless hasten 
 to the Spanish Colonies in the hope of future fame, or 
 of future wealth, will soon find it essentially neces- 
 sary to have a previous knowledge of the language, man- 
 ners, and customs, by which these Colonies are distin- 
 guished. ' ' 
 
 These were words of wisdom, and the precaution was 
 admirable. But the editor had overlooked one contin- 
 gency. By the time the second edition had appeared the 
 colonies had ceased to be! 
 
 Of those prisoners of General Beresford's army who 
 remained in the Northern provinces of Argentina only 
 the scantiest records are extant. But traces of them crop 
 up now and then. Some ten years later, for instance. 
 General Miller on his way through Santiago del Estero 
 was a guest of the governor of that province, who as- 
 sured him that he entertained a strong liking toward Eng- 
 lishmen, adding that in his escort were two soldiers, once 
 in the British army, who rode like Gauchos, but had a 
 weakness for the bottle. 
 
 On this occasion, too, Miller was besieged with inquir- 
 ies concerning the later career of the general they termed 
 the handsome Beresford — el guapo Beresfor — for whom 
 they appear to have entertained the greatest esteem. 
 
154 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 One and all were emphatic in their assertion that it was 
 he who first taught them to be soldiers. 
 
 Mr. J. P. Robertson, too, mentions having met in Para- 
 guay with an old Scottish sergeant of Beresford's army, 
 who had almost forgotten his own language, and at the 
 same time had only acquired a smattering Spanish and 
 Guarani! There are, moreover, numerous other in- 
 stances of the kind. 
 
 Even to this day some curious links with the past flash 
 out now and again in the Northern provinces of Ar- 
 gentina. I myself have been confronted with one or two 
 in the most expected fashion. On one occasion, for in- 
 stance, when shooting in the province of Missiones on the 
 borders of Paraguay, I was accompanied by an elderly 
 peon, who, for a Gaucho, possessed a remarkably philo- 
 sophical turn of mind. 
 
 I have commented on this peon in another place, but he 
 is worthy of the repetition of a few lines here. Shoot- 
 ing, he held, was all very well. Birds were good for the 
 digestion, and they were provided for that purpose. But 
 when the game was of another kind — ^when men shot 
 their neighbors — it was a pity. He shook his head in 
 grave reproach, for he was a remarkable peon. There 
 had been too much of that in the past, he said. Now that 
 the railway had come, it would be different. After this 
 he branched off into some quite minor details of natural 
 history, about which the average Gaucho very seldom 
 troubles himself. 
 
 I found out subsequently that his name was Stuart, 
 a discovery that let in a flood of light on his personality, 
 and that sent a picture of a remote red-coated ancestor 
 to the mind. May it not savor of complacent pedantry if 
 I quote here the sentiments which this unusual Gaucho 
 inspired at the time ! 
 
 **It seemed to me, now that I knew it, that faint symp- 
 toms of the origin had showed in the man's thoughts and 
 natural bent. The love of nature for its own sake, the 
 
BRITISH EXPEDITION TO RIVER PLATE 155 
 
 curiosity as to causes and results, the welcoming of peace 
 and order, the unusual sense of comradeship that his 
 presence engendered — it seemed to me now that I could 
 read in these some remnants of the instinct bequeathed 
 by an ancestor of whom all physical traces had been lost. 
 ''He has not a few counterparts throughout the land; 
 their features grown as dusky as his, sunk into the ruck 
 of humblest humanity, and knowing no other life but 
 that of their fellows. Poor Stuart! Such is the ob- 
 vious pitiful comment — ^possibly misapplied. There is 
 no law in happiness, after all. His life may be at least 
 as contented as that of his superiors — the equals of his 
 ancestor." 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 BRITISH GUIANA AND THE FALKLAND ISLANDS 
 
 The pioneers of Guiana — Sir Walter Raleigh's opinion of the country — His 
 suggestions for its colonization — Guiana from the modern point of view 
 — Its agricultural and pastoral industries — Wars of the British, 
 French, and Dutch — Complications of the struggle — Bush Negroes — 
 Danger of these armed bands — Warfare between the blacks and the 
 planters — Occasional triumph of the former — Further struggles of the 
 European powers — War with the United States — The emancipation of 
 slaves — Popular excitement attending this action — Humane but hasty 
 procedure — Questions affecting the labor of the colony — Life in Guiana 
 — Some naval records — An incident connected with a notorious duellist 
 — The Falkland Islands — Early neglect — Attempts at colonization — 
 Captain McBride's opinion of the islands in 1776 — A depressing de- 
 scription — Occupation by a Buenos Aires garrison — The battle of the 
 Falkland Islands — Sentimental importance now attaching to the 
 colony. 
 
 AS these pages are designed to show the work of 
 the British in Iberian South America and not 
 within the bounds of the British Empire, any be- 
 yond a scanty reference to British Guiana and to the 
 Falkland Islands would be out of place. 
 
 The early days of Guiana are associated not only with 
 the voyages of Sir Walter Raleigh, but also with the bold 
 colonizing attempts in 1604 and 1609 respectively of 
 Charles Leigh, Robert Harcourt, Roger North, and John 
 Christmas. Indeed, the number of voyages which the 
 English undertook to this northeastern shoulder of the 
 continent in the early seventeenth century is not a little 
 remarkable. 
 
 Raleigh, filled with enthusiasm for Guiana, had boldly 
 claimed for it that : ' * Those commanders and chief taines 
 that shoot at honor and abundance, shall finde there 
 more rich and beautiful cities, more temples adorned with 
 
 156 
 
BRITISH GUIANA 157 
 
 golden images, more sepulclires filled with treasure, than 
 either Cortez found in Mexico, or Pizarro in Peru: and 
 the shining glory of this conquest will eclipse all those 
 so f arre extended beames of the Spanish nation. ' ' 
 
 *'Her Majestie may in these enterprize," he suggests 
 further, ''employ all those souldiers and gentlemen that 
 are younger brethren, and all Captaines and Chieftaines 
 that want employment . . . after the first or second 
 yeere I doubt not but to see in London a Contractation 
 house of more receipt for Guiana, than there is now in 
 Sivill for the West Indies." 
 
 It soon became evident, however, that the hoards of 
 wealth, which were reported to be glittering in such un- 
 heard of quantities somewhere among the forests inland, 
 were not to be lightly won : though the fable of El Dorado 
 persisted for many generations. In the meantime, since 
 a more practical foundation was necessary for settle- 
 ments, a process occurred such as has often been brought 
 about before and since. The brilliant hopes of diamonds 
 and gold yielded to the more strenuous certainties of agri- 
 culture — in this case sugar and tobacco. 
 
 Companies and private persons took up plantations; 
 cattle were introduced in fairly important numbers ; com- 
 munications were more regularly opened up with the 
 West Indies, and under Captain Marshall and some others 
 considerable progress was made toward prosperity. 
 
 In the meantime the disturbed state of England was 
 responsible for the arrival in Guiana of many immigrants 
 hailing from both the Cavalier and Eoundhead ranks. 
 
 In the latter half of the seventeenth century began that 
 wearying and complicated series of wars by which in the 
 end the fruits of so much labor was lost by British, 
 French, and Dutch. 
 
 It is impossible here even to attempt to go through the 
 intricate lengths of the struggles which must have seemed 
 interminable to the harassed colonists of those days. In 
 the course of the conflicts England fought Holland, then 
 
158 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 the English and French fought Holland; after this the 
 English and Dutch fought France, and after a consider- 
 able time the French and the Dutch fought England ! 
 
 This will give a broad outline of some of the chief 
 ramifications of the wars which laid waste the Guiana 
 plantations. In the intervals, when peace reigned be- 
 tween the three nations, and when there might have been 
 some hope of the agricultural restoration of the country, 
 a new and serious danger arose in the roving bodies of 
 bush Negroes. The number of African slaves who had 
 succeeded in making their escape into the forests in the 
 confusion attending the various invasions increased until 
 their pressure became a grave threat. Armed bands of 
 these Negroes took to lurking continually on the outskirts 
 of the plantations, raiding, murdering, and burning when- 
 ever the opportunity arose. As the attempts of these 
 bush Negroes grew bolder, the domestic slaves would fre- 
 quently revolt and join their wild ranks. To the terrible 
 punishments meted out to them when captured the Ne- 
 groes retaliated in their own gruesome fashion, and after 
 a time a regular war broke out between the blacks and 
 the planters, and on more than one occasion the latter, 
 together with some regular soldiers, were driven to the 
 coast before a stand could be made. On one occasion, 
 indeed, in 1763, the neighboring Dutch colony of Berbice 
 had to be entirely abandoned for a time, owing to the 
 triumphant onsweep of the victorious Africans. 
 
 In 1780, England was face to face in Guiana with the 
 hostile powers of France, Holland, and Spain, but the 
 end of many confused operations found the island power 
 with more territory than she had possessed at the be- 
 ginning. The war with the United States in 1812, how- 
 ever, brought down a hornets' nest of American priva- 
 teers on the coast. 
 
 The emancipation of slaves, which occurred in 1834, 
 was attended by much popular excitement, and the re- 
 sentment of the plantation owners at the loss of the labor 
 
BRITISH GUIANA 159 
 
 on which they depended for the working of their fields 
 seemed in one sense to be justified by the behavior of the 
 blacks, who rose in insurrection, and were not put down 
 until many wild scenes had been enacted. 
 
 It was a great and humane work, the freeing of the 
 Negro Guiana slaves. But it seems possible to hasten 
 even toward good deeds at too great a pace. A more pro- 
 longed process of emancipation than the four years al- 
 lowed for the knocking off of the perfectly unjustifiable 
 fetters would almost certainly in the end have benefited 
 not only the financial standing of the plantations but the 
 subsequent condition of the slaves. 
 
 As it was, the feckless African flung up his industrial 
 mission at the first opportunity, and the chaotic labor 
 situation of the colony was only remedied by the intro- 
 duction of workers from the East Indies, China, and, 
 rather curiously, Madeira, from the humanity of which 
 diminutive island some of the earliest of the Brazilian 
 settlements had been formed. But these, let if be said, 
 are by no means the only sources from which the labor 
 of modern British Guiana is drawn, for its cosmopolitan 
 population is now, in its own way, one of the most re- 
 markable in the world. 
 
 All that need be said about British Guiana in this place 
 is that it stands apart from the rest of the continent as a 
 British possession, and, for this reason, breathes out the 
 atmosphere of the West Indies rather than that of the 
 mainland. 
 
 Those who visit Guiana may know at once that it is a 
 British colony not only from the speech of the inhabi- 
 tants, but from the type of buildings and the manner in 
 which the streets of the towns are laid out. In such re- 
 spects there is little doubt but that the Briton — ^notwith- 
 standing that the hub of his empire is in the foggy 
 North — understands from an old-standing and world- 
 wide experience better than any other nation how to 
 adapt his habits and homes to the tropics. 
 
160 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 The old naval records concerning Guiana abound in 
 incidents that savor of Marryat. The easy-going colo- 
 nial existence evoked a conviviality that in turn gave 
 birth to cocktails, and similar inventions upon which the 
 tropical thirst might prey. All this was responsible for 
 a certain hospitable recklessness which nothing but the 
 modern god of Moderation has tended to diminish ! 
 
 Although the more important circumstances of British 
 Guiana do not enter into this book, we may deal with a 
 chance incident which is not without interest. Life in 
 the colony in the first years of the nineteenth century 
 seems to have been unpleasantly enlivened by the pres- 
 ence of a notorious duelist of the name of Blair, who, 
 a dead shot, haunted that British possession as well 
 as the West Indies, marking down his victims and kill- 
 ing his men. One of the incidents of this man's career 
 is suggestive of the pages not only of Marryat but of 
 Lever. 
 
 It occurred when the officers of his Majesty's sloop-of- 
 war Pheasant were dining ashore at the house of a Mr. 
 Maxwell, a resident of Bridgetown. After dinner Blair 
 unexpectedly put in an appearance. Without a doubt this 
 sinister person had already worked out hi$ plan, for al- 
 most immediately he began to tell the Bfitish officers in 
 a most insulting fashion of a French privateer then fitting 
 out at Guadeloupe which, he asserted offensively, would 
 drive any British sloop-of-war from the station ! For a 
 time the British officers kept silence, out of respect for 
 their mortified host. This did not fit in with Blair's pro- 
 gram, and the professional duelist continued his aggres- 
 sions, until Captain Robert Henderson told him, quite 
 briefly, that, unless he ceased, he would throw him out 
 of the window. On this Blair left abruptly, and in a 
 few minutes arrived his invitation to come out and be 
 shot. Henderson, as the challenged, had the choice of 
 weapons. He chose pistols: distance, across a handker- 
 chief, the antagonists to be foot to foot! When he and 
 
BRITISH GUIANA 161 
 
 his second arrived on the ground, it was, and remained, 
 undarkened by the shadow of the bully ! 
 
 The blow to Blair's prestige must have been consider- 
 able. Had he lived in a work of fiction he would have 
 sunk at one full swoop, and would have been put out of 
 harm's way forever. Alas for the injustices of mere 
 fact ! This was not so. Blair appears to have lost little 
 time in learning to ruffle his feathers again, for he suc- 
 ceeded in sending a bullet through many a better than 
 he after that, his last victim being an officer of high rank 
 at Demerara. 
 
 The Falkland Islands are supposed to have been sighted 
 by Davis in 1592 and more closely visited by Eichard 
 Hawkins in 1594. The name which the latter gave to 
 them, Hawkins' Maidenland, was only in accordance with 
 the spirit of the age which devoted itself to bringing 
 bouquets of nomenclature to the virgin queen. But this 
 effort of brave old Richard's savors of a more daring 
 tenderness than the majority. 
 
 The first regular British colony, founded in 1766, was 
 ejected in 1770 by a powerful Spanish force after the 
 exchange of a few cannon shot, sent to and fro for the 
 sake of appearances rather than for anything else, since 
 the British were in no position to offer an effective re- 
 sistance. The following year, however, they were re- 
 stored by Spain to England. 
 
 There were some attempts to colonize the islands in 
 1774 and in 1776. In the latter year Captain McBride 
 rendered a depressing account of them. He says : 
 
 ''We found a mass of islands and broken lands, of 
 which the soil was nothing but a bog, with no better pros- 
 pect than that of barren mountains, beaten by storms al- 
 most perpetual. Yet this is summer; and if the winds 
 of winter hold their natural proportion, those who lie but 
 two cables length from the shore, must pass weeks with- 
 out any communication with it. ' ' 
 
 As a matter of fact, this description was very far from 
 
162 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 doing justice to the island, which, notwithstanding its 
 rather desolate situation, has proved itself an admirable 
 center for sheep-raising. 
 
 In 1820 a Buenos Aires frigate visited the Falkland 
 Islands. She was commanded by a Mr. Jewitt, whose 
 title appears to have been ''Colonel of the Marine of 
 the United Provinces of South America." He formally 
 took possession of the islands in the name of the Patriot 
 Government of Buenos Aires, and it is on this account 
 that Argentina argues the irregularity of our tenure of 
 the islands. There is no doubt, as a matter of fact, that 
 the Buenos Aires Government did hold possession of 
 these islands for a time, for when H.M. sloop Clio visited 
 them in 1833 a garrison of twenty-five Buenos Aires 
 troops were found at the spot, as well as some settlers, 
 who retired in company with the garrison. 
 
 Some time after this the group was given the dubious 
 state of a penal settlement, but in 1852 this establishment 
 was done away with, and soon afterwards the beginning 
 of the present prosperity of the island began to set in. 
 
 These islands, of course, have recently attained to a 
 sentimental importance in history such as they never be- 
 fore possessed; for it was the naval battle of the Falk- 
 land Islands that avenged the destruction of Admiral 
 Craddock's squadron and vindicated the supremacy of 
 the white ensign, that was never more glorious than when 
 it sank, unconquered beneath the waves of the Pacific. 
 
CHAPTEE IX 
 
 BRITISH FIGHTEES IN THE CAUSE OF SOUTH AMERICAN 
 INDEPENDENCE 
 
 (i) 
 
 Attitude of the British Government — Sympathy extended toward the South 
 Americans — Visions of state — Docxunent drawn up by the South Ameri- 
 cans — 'Some striking clauses — Instances of Latin foresight — Alliances 
 and the Panama Canal as viewed at the beginning of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury — ^Procedure of the United States and of Great Britain — ^Miranda 
 ' and recruiting facilities — An Irish writer in the "Caracas Gazette" — 
 The most notable British eye-witnesses of the war — Admiral Coch- 
 rane, General Miller, Captain Basil Hall, and an anonymous chronicler 
 — Social opportunities enjoyed by these — Bolivar and San Martin — Dif- 
 fering circumstances of the Northern and Southern campaigns — War- 
 like ethics of the tropics and of the temperate latitudes — Ferocity of 
 the Northern campaign — ^Types of leaders — ^The British legion reproved 
 for giving quarter — Merciless methods employed by the Spaniards — 
 Revenge of the South Americans — Sir George McGregor — Fine perform- 
 ances of his volunteers — Colonel English recruits in England — Force 
 raised by Major Beamish — ^Death of that officer — Arrival of General 
 English with two thousand seasoned British troops — General Devereux 
 obtains two thousand men in Ireland — ^Some notable officers — Effects 
 of the climate and food on the newcomers — Beef or sugar-cane as ra- 
 tions — Sickness and death in the ranks — Lamentable conditions of the 
 corps — Creature and climatic pests — Early relations between the Brit- 
 ish and South American troops — The British distinguish themselves in 
 their first action — Removal of mutual misconceptions — Battle of Boy- 
 aca — Prestige of the British legion — Attempted detention of General 
 English's force at Trinidad — General Urdineta — Colonel Blossett's duel 
 — Contemporary opinion of General English — General Devereux — His 
 methods of recruiting — Composition of his force — Arrival of the corps 
 in South America — Consequences of a reckless sale of commissions — 
 General Devereux lands in South America — Humorous contemporary 
 description of his arrival — Father O'Mullin — Incidents at the official 
 reception — Devereux's character — His subsequent conduct — Story of 
 the Irish legion — Conduct of the British and Irish legions at the battle 
 of Carabobo — The two corps are united — Prowess of Captain Rush — 
 Death of Captain Chamberlayne — Feat of an Irish officer — "Town 
 
 163 
 
164 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Taker" — ^The secret treasure-chamber of Barcelona Cathedral — The 
 jewels of St. Lawrence — Stories spread by the priests concerning the 
 British — A tailed race of cannibals — British sailors in Bolivar's fleet 
 — Admiral Brion — An eccentric naval commander-in-chief — His con- 
 duct and uniform — Some British naval officers — Bolivar's relations 
 with the British troops — Temperament and peculiarities of the Libera- 
 tor — His activity and bravery — Abstemious habits — Mrs. English — 
 Episode at her ball — Privileges obtained by certain officers. 
 
 EVEN before the actual outbreak of the War of In- 
 dependence the sentiments of the British cabinet 
 toward the South American patriots were plainly 
 of the most friendly nature. Canning was deeply at- 
 tached to their cause, and Pitt had more than once been 
 on the eve of active intervention, although in 1806 Mr. 
 Fox protested that the liberation of South America was 
 not part of his government's program. 
 
 Notwithstanding this, the keenest interest was taken by 
 the British in the doings of the patriots, both in Europe 
 and in South America. Sympathy was extended in the 
 most genuine fashion, although it must be admitted that 
 some of the anticipations were by no means altogether 
 disinterested. There were serious hopes, for instance, 
 that the South Americans, once freed from the yoke of 
 Spain, might turn to Great Britain, and incorporate them- 
 selves in that liberal empire. It was a stupendous dream. 
 Had something beyond half measures been taken to ma- 
 terialize it — and the sending of an incapable commander 
 in charge of a British force is surely a half measure — the 
 history of the temperate portions of South America might 
 have been different, although, as subsequent events have 
 proved, it would not have run so natural and so Latin a 
 course. But, so far as the entire continent was con- 
 cerned, that is another story altogether, and here un- 
 doubtedly the vision was very thin and dim. Captain 
 Cochrane has an interesting reference to a document 
 which was drawn up on the(^2nd of December, 1797, by 
 the representatives of South America. This contained 
 various proposals, and was entrusted to the famous 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 165 
 
 South American, Miranda, to place before the British 
 cabinet. 
 
 This document was a striking instrument, and it clearly 
 proves the intellect and ambitious foresight of those who 
 combined to draw it up. One of its early clauses stipu- 
 lated that Great Britain should render to the South Amer- 
 icans a specified amount of military assistance toward the 
 attainment of their independence in return for a payment 
 of thirty millions sterling. /X)ther clauses related to a 
 commer-cial treaty between Great Britain and South 
 America, a connection between the Bank of England and 
 those of Lima and Mexico, and a project of alliance be- 
 tween the United States and South America. But, in 
 the light of the affairs of to-day, the most salient clauses 
 concerned a defensive alliance between Great Britain, the 
 United States of America, and South America, and the 
 opening of the navigation between the Atlantic and Pa- 
 cific oceans by cutting across the Isthmus of Panama, and 
 the guarantee of its freedom of the British nation ! 
 
 Surely this document needs no comment. They were 
 very remarkable men, those Latin Americans who worked 
 in the midst of a political chaos for the freedom of their 
 continent, and whose genius is slowly revealing itself like 
 true ears of corn now that the chaff of a century is blow- 
 ing away ! - 
 
 The British Government must have been not a little im- 
 pressed by this, for it would appear that in 1798 they 
 made an actual offer to provide money and ships, pro- 
 viding that the United States would provide ten thou- 
 sand troops. The United States avoided a definite reply, 
 and the matter, in consequence, fell through. 
 
 There is no doubt that it was a not unusual vacillation 
 in the first place, and an altered European political and 
 militant situation in the second, that prevented the offi- 
 cial participation of the English a few years later. On 
 the other hand, every private encouragement was given. 
 British ministers in London clapped the visiting South 
 
166 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Americans on the back ; Miranda was given permission to 
 recruit in Trinidad and Barbados, while in England muni- 
 tions were made ready, and volunteers prepared them- 
 selves for action. 
 
 Curiously enough, too, an Irishman of the name of 
 Burke wrote in 1811 a series of stirring articles in the 
 ''Caracas Gazette," urging the establishment of a free 
 constitution for Venezuela. These, one imagines, must 
 have been translated from English into the Spanish 
 tongue. 
 
 In dealing with the British soldiers and sailors who 
 fought on the patriot side on the actual outbreak of the 
 war there can be no attempt to catalogue, still less to de- 
 scribe, the infinitely numerous deeds and events in which 
 they were concerned. The aim of these chapters is 
 merely to show what type of men these were, with what 
 types of men they were brought into contact, and to ex- 
 hibit something of the tragedies and occasional quaint 
 humors of the South American campaigns. 
 
 The first cursory study of Admiral Cochrane 's life 
 alone would demonstrate the impossibility of dealing with 
 the historical side proper of these subjects in anything 
 short of bulky volume form. If these notes, therefore, 
 appear of an unduly fragmentary nature this must be 
 their excuse. 
 
 Of all those British who participated in, or witnessed 
 and chronicled, the events of the revolutionary wars in 
 the south of the continent, perhaps the most notable from 
 the standpoint of their associations and breadth of view 
 were Admiral Cochrane, General Miller, and Captain 
 Basil Hall. Moreover, the experiences of each of the 
 three form the natural complement of those of the other 
 two. Admiral Cochrane, as commander-in-chief of the 
 patriot Pacific fleet, represented the young South Amer- 
 ican navy ; Miller held high command in the patriot land- 
 forces, and Captain Basil Hall, as a most able and intelli- 
 gent officer in charge of a British warship on the South 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 167 
 
 American coast, had, as a spectator, rare opportunities 
 of which he took the fullest advantage. 
 
 Among the most graphic chroniclers of the Northern 
 campaign was the British ex-naval ofiQcer who anony- 
 mously wrote his ** Recollections of a Service of three 
 years in Venezuela and Colombia." 
 
 This may appear as a somewhat arbitrary selection out 
 of the multitude of British who distinguished themselves 
 to a greater or lesser degree in the patriot cause. But 
 very few of the other gallant men possessed, in addition 
 to their knowledge of the war, the civil and social expe- 
 rience in South America of those I have named. Each 
 of these was brought into contact not only with nearly 
 every leading figure of the young South American com- 
 munities but with the generals of the decaying Spanish 
 cause as well. 
 
 Three of these, moreover, obtained a certain insight 
 into the politer domestic life of the Pacific coast of that 
 day, and each of the three knew the two greatest char- 
 acters of the militant revolution — ^the gallant San Mar- 
 tin, of the South, reserved and diffident almost to the 
 point of shyness in the hours of his greatest victories; 
 and the equally brave Bolivar, of the North, self -cen- 
 tered and with brilliant virtues slightly tinged with 
 theatrical elements, who entered the liberated cities to 
 the noise of cannon, the pealing of bells, and the blar- 
 ings of brass instruments, and who rejoiced in such 
 triumphal processions as that when his carriage was 
 drawn by one of the fairest bevies of young girls imagin- 
 able dressed in festal white. 
 
 As a matter of fact, these distinctions in the tempera- 
 ments of the two greatest South American leaders were 
 eminently appropriate to their circumstances. Bolivar 
 flamed out as the emotional child of the brilliant tropics. 
 San Martin represented the restraint and comparative 
 phlegm of the white race of the South. To lead the en- 
 tire continent even of to-day, the cooperation of a Bolivar 
 
168 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 and of a San Martin would be every bit as necessary as 
 it was then. 
 
 From the British point of view the campaign of the 
 North differed widely in the manner of its conduct from 
 that of the South. The British who fought under Bolivar 
 amid the tropical plains, streams, mountains, and for- 
 ests of Colombia and Venezuela either formed a separate 
 corps of their own, or made up the entire complement of 
 the officers of an Indian regiment. In the South, on the 
 other hand, under San Martin, the British who came out 
 to play their part in the War of Independence took serv- 
 ice in the ordinary way with such South American regi- 
 ments as were already in being. 
 
 In either case the volunteers had committed themselves 
 to a sufficiently strenuous life. But, whereas in the South 
 the British found themselves surrounded by men with 
 whom they had from the start a great deal in common, 
 and in the midst of pleasant conditions of nature to which 
 they rapidly became accustomed, those others who fought 
 in the neighborhood of the Equator found themselves in 
 less fortunate case. 
 
 Apart from the circumstances of climate and diet to 
 which the British troops took a considerable time to ac- 
 custom themselves, the ferocity with which the campaign 
 was waged in the North had no parallel in the South. 
 The Northern generals were of all sorts and conditions of 
 men. There were one or two who possessed an intellect 
 almost comparable with that of Bolivar ; though no other 
 possessed his genius. There were brave and chivalrous, 
 if completely unlettered, guerilla leaders such as Paez. 
 But there were many others who rose like dusky foam 
 to the top of a critical situation by mere brute force and 
 an unscrupulous intrigue of which even the most ignorant 
 can be capable. Moreover, since the ordinary Northern 
 troops were almost entirely of Indian and Negro blood, 
 with a mere sprinkling of white officers, the measures in 
 retaliation for the atrocities initiated by the Spaniards 
 
GENERAL SAN MARTIN 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 169 
 
 were only too thorough. On more than one occasion the 
 British legion was officially reproved for not having par- 
 ticipated in the slaughter that was decreed by the exigen- 
 cies of a war of extermination to follow a victory. 
 
 Certainly nothing could have raised the passions of 
 the Northern people more effectually than the Spanish 
 methods. That they were not the work of the better class 
 Spanish regulars will be evident when the nature of these 
 deeds is considered. From the earliest days of the war 
 it had been agreed that no quarter should be offered or 
 accepted on either side. The massacre of surrendered 
 garrisons was, therefore, an affair which was accepted 
 as a matter of course. To what lengths this calculated 
 policy was carried may be gathered from some sentences 
 of an intercepted letter from General Morillo to the king 
 of Spain : They refer to the royalist entry into Bogota : 
 "Every person, of either sex, who was capable of read- 
 ing and writing, was put to death. By thus cutting off 
 all who were in any way educated, I hoped to effectually 
 arrest the spirit of revolution." 
 
 But there were more terrible methods of repression 
 practised even than these. British officers have testi- 
 fied to the sight of South American women whose ears 
 and noses had been cut off; others had lost their eyes or 
 their tongues, while others again had had the soles of 
 their feet pared off. It is needless to dig deeper into 
 this catalogue of horrors. The South Americans had 
 their revenge, and in one place alone a pile of over seven 
 thousand dried Spanish skulls bore witness to this ! 
 
 It seems clear, nevertheless that such practices were 
 foreign to the true inclinations of the dwellers in the 
 Northern States. Captain Cochrane, who entertained a 
 high regard for the Colombians, remarked of them: 
 * ' They have certainly a desire to adopt Eiiglish manners 
 and customs, and give a decided preference to everything 
 English. This may be thus accounted for : first, that for 
 a long period England was the country that furnished 
 
170 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 them, through Jamaica (by means of the contraband 
 trade) with all the comforts or luxuries of life, and conse- 
 quently gave them a relish for everything English, and 
 engendered a kindly feeling toward the inhabitants of a 
 country which supplied all their wants ; and, secondly, be- 
 cause the natural turn of a native Colombian much more 
 assimilates with the character of an Englishman than that 
 of any other nation in Europe ; for he is reserved, thought- 
 ful, and fond of commercial pursuits. Though polite and 
 desirous to oblige on first introduction, yet, like an Eng- 
 lishman, he requires time, and a knowledge of your char- 
 acter, before he becomes intimate, and then you find him 
 to be an excellent and valuable friend. ' ' 
 
 The first British troops who seem to have taken part 
 in the Northern War of Liberation comprised a small 
 body of men brought out by Sir Gregor McGregor. 
 These, when they had once accustomed themselves to the 
 climate, performed such admirable services that more of 
 their kind were in great demand in Colombia. On this 
 a gentleman of the name of English, who is said to have 
 been in the British commissariat service and who was in 
 Colombia at the time, made an agreement with the patriot 
 government to raise a new corps in England. Having 
 been given the rank of colonel in the Colombian service, 
 he departed for this purpose, in which he was eventually 
 successful. 
 
 In the meantime a Major Beamish, a retired British 
 officer, had busied himself in Ireland in raising a small 
 corps for the Colombian service. Entirely of his own 
 initiative he got together, armed, and equipped three 
 hundred men, and, having purchased a vessel of two hun- 
 dred and eighty tons, he set out with them for Colombia. 
 As fortune would have it, this enterprising officer died 
 suddenly of apoplexy on the voyage; but his contingent 
 arrived safely at its destination, on the 28th of August, 
 1818, and subsequently played a gallant part in the cam- 
 paign. 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 171 
 
 In due course Colonel English, now promoted to the 
 rank of general, arrived at the island of Margarita with 
 a force of two thousand splendid British troops drawn 
 from the Peninsula veterans of the regular army. A 
 little later a Mr. Devereux, who was given the rank of 
 general in the Colombian army, raised some two thou- 
 sand raw recruits in Ireland, and caused these to be 
 transported, in unfavorable circumstances, to Colombia. 
 
 Such are the main facts concerning the arrival of the 
 British forces. Ma.ny of the officers engaged had dis- 
 tinguished themselves in previous campaigns. Some of 
 the most prominent of these were Rooke, Ferrier, Mackin- 
 tosh, Sir Gregor McGregor, Lyster, Sandes, Pigot, Keen, 
 Hamilton, Wilson, Manby, Woodberry, Blossett, Stop- 
 ford, Davy; to say nothing of Francis MaQeroni, Murat's 
 aide-de-camp, who became an Englishman, and was with 
 Sir Gregor McGregor at the capture of Puerto Bello, 
 ultimately becoming a general in the Colombian service. 
 
 Having now dealt with these main features, we may 
 turn to some of the details of the men and actions. On 
 the landing of the first British contingent on Venezuelan 
 soil the prospects of the newcomers appeared anything 
 but rosy. So abrupt was the change of food and climate 
 that the effect of these circumstances was in the first 
 place disastrous to the British troops, though for the 
 most part these were splendid and war-seasoned men. 
 
 The officers were a fine set, almost entirely obtained 
 from the regular British army, who had been attracted 
 by the offer of a corresponding rank in the Colombian 
 army to that which they held in their own. But the 
 health of not even the most seasoned of the veterans of 
 the rank and file could withstand the rations which were 
 served out to them, and to which the native troops were 
 accustomed. These consisted purely and simply of three 
 pounds of beef distributed each day — and not a single 
 grain of anything beyond, whether in the shape of salt, 
 bread, or vegetables! 
 
172 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 This was the fare to which the soldiers had to accus- 
 tom themselves in the grazing country. When in the 
 sugar-cane districts, they found that a similar lack of 
 variety obtained ; for here a regime of sugar-cane served 
 for every meal, although it must be admitted that from 
 time to time a few plantains were forthcoming by way 
 of special gratification! 
 
 The effects of this extraordinary diet, and of the- 
 numerous privations suffered, soon became evident. Dy- 
 sentery and other forms of sickness played havoc with 
 the ranks of the British. In consequence of this when 
 they first attempted to take part in the strenuous marches 
 of the patriot forces the results were lamentable. Day 
 after day men fell out of the ranks to die by the roadside : 
 others were mounted on horses, to the backs of which 
 their weak condition only just enabled them to cling. A 
 contemporary asserts that the unfortunate corps '*soon 
 appeared more like a field hospital than a battalion fit 
 for duty in front of an enemy, and served only as a 
 laughing stock and ridicule for the other troops, who 
 were inured to the climate and bad fare. ' ' 
 
 All this was to say nothing of the insect pests, jiggers, 
 thorns which tore the uniforms wholesale from the men's 
 backs, and small, fierce fish which bit entire mouthfuls 
 from their legs as they forded shallow streams. There 
 was the mountain sickness, too, the Soroche, which in the 
 loftiest altitudes frequently ended fatally. 
 
 Soldiering in Venezuela and Colombia held many ex- 
 periences which were disconcerting to a degree, and here 
 the matter was rendered worse by an ignorance of those 
 precautions which a tropical climate demands of the new- 
 comer. As a result of all this a battalion which had 
 landed three hundred and fifty strong could, after two 
 or three months, muster no more than one hundred and 
 fifty men! And these were sorry-looking specimens of 
 humanity, clad in a few rags and tatters. 
 
 Thus, curiously enough, the actual first entry into South 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 173 
 
 America of the British troops who were destined to win 
 for themselves so high a reputation there was achieved 
 under the most unpromising auspices. Before the es- 
 tablishment of the subsequent cordial relationship be- 
 tween them and the South Americans, a sentiment of 
 mutual depreciation obtained; for in the first place the 
 British mistook the sound strategy of the continuous 
 patriot retreats for an aversion to meet the enemy. 
 
 This condition of affairs continued until the British 
 went into action against the Spaniards for the first time. 
 When the engagement was over they had lost a third of 
 their number in killed and wounded, their commander, 
 Colonel Rooke — a fine officer, who had been aide-de-camp 
 to the Prince of Orange at Waterloo — ^being among the 
 latter, and subsequently dying of his hurts. Of the re^ 
 maining officers, Lieutenant Kaisley was killed, and Lieu- 
 tenant M'Manus was wounded. 
 
 But, mauled though it had been, the affair had been a 
 triumph for the small British force. Backed by their 
 now admiring patriot allies, they had fought their way 
 with the bayonet inch by inch uphill, and, together with 
 General Paez's cavalry, had with reckless gallantry 
 turned a threatening defeat into victory. And it was 
 now for the first time that they themselves saw the real 
 fighting qualities of the South Americans. The roar of 
 battle had drowned the mutual misconceptions for good 
 and all. 
 
 **And what do you think of the British now?" asked 
 Doctor Foley of Greneral Ansuartagui, who had recently 
 taken to an open expression of doubt as to whether these 
 Northern troops were even worth their daily three pounds 
 of beef. 
 
 "They're worth their weight in gold," confessed the 
 General frankly, and from that moment his attitude to- 
 ward the British changed as completely as did that of 
 his compatriots. 
 
 The battle of Boyaca, which took place on the 7th of 
 
174 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 August, consolidated the reputation of the British, whose 
 ranks had now received some reinforcements. In order 
 to make good the numerous casualties suffered it was fre- 
 quently found necessary to incorporate South American 
 troops in the Albion battalion. In connection with this, 
 Captain Cochrane remarks: ''The British had become 
 at length such good marchers, that they always formed 
 the advance-guard of the army, being now complained of 
 as marching too fast, instead of too slow as formerly. 
 Such was the esprit de corps, that the very natives in- 
 corporated in this battalion thought themselves above the 
 other soldiers, and called themselves English, and swore 
 in English by way of keeping up their title. ' ' 
 
 As a matter of fact, the British influence at this period 
 rapidly permeated all grades of society, and was notice- 
 able even in that the Iberian Viva! was superseded for a 
 considerable time by Hip ! Hip ! ! Huzzah ! ! ! 
 
 In Colombia too it may be said that the British mer- 
 chants showed at least as much enterprise as elsewhere. 
 Many of them provided important amounts of warlike 
 stores, hoping to be reimbursed when the fall of the city 
 of Angostura should endow the patriot coffers with im- 
 mense treasure. But Angostura, once captured, proved 
 a hollow plum! Loss and disappointment were inevit- 
 able in other directions, too, so long as the patriot cause 
 had not definitely prevailed, and the fluctuations of war 
 continued. 
 
 As a matter of fact, a number of the earliest flight of 
 these mercantile swallows who came in person found that 
 they had arrived before the true South American sum- 
 mer had set in ! Numbers, understanding nothing of the 
 climate, died of sickness, while others underwent perils 
 of another order. Thus, when the Spanish General 
 Morillo recaptured Cartagena, he seized all the British 
 and foreign merchants, and would have shot them all, 
 but for the interference of the British admiral on the 
 West India station. Surely experiences such as these 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 175 
 
 justified a considerable financial profit — which did not 
 always materialize. 
 
 When General English arrived in Venezuela he was 
 in charge of two thousand troops of as fine a quality as 
 had ever left England. Having found himself financially 
 unable to cope with his important contract, he had handed 
 this over to a Mr. Herring, a prominent London mer- 
 chant, who had completed his share of the bargain in a 
 most liberal and praiseworthy fashion. At the end of a 
 voyage carried out in well-appointed vessels the men 
 landed on Venezuelan soil finely uniformed and equipped. 
 
 The voyage had not passed without incident, for at 
 Trinidad, the local authorities, at the instance of the gov- 
 ernor of the island. Sir Ealph Woodford, had made an 
 attempt to detain the expedition. As a result a sea-en- 
 counter ensued between some small local vessels and the 
 expeditionary ships, assisted by a Venezuelan corvette 
 officered and manned by Englishmen, which ended in the 
 discomfiture of the former. 
 
 On its landing in Venezuela, General English's force 
 appears to have suffered in the same way as the rest 
 from the local climate and food. General Urdineta, more- 
 over, under whose command they were placed, took very 
 little pains to render himself popular with the newcomers, 
 and appears to have been cordially disliked. 
 
 It was undoubtedly largely owing to the behavior of 
 this general that in the early days of their arrival the 
 British troops suffered some slights, and that their re- 
 monstrances on the subject of arrears of pay were frig- 
 idly received. It was on account of this that Colonel 
 Blossett fought a duel with, and wounded, a Venezuelan 
 brigadier-general, and thus was one of the first to mani- 
 fest a spirit that compelled respect. 
 
 General English himself appears to have faithfully 
 carried out all his duties; but he does not seem to have 
 possessed the temperament of a born soldier. A con- 
 temporary opinion of him was that, ''as an officer he was 
 
176 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 destitute of energy, and experience ; as a man he was gen- 
 erous and open-hearted. All that can be said of him in 
 reference to his conduct as commander of the British 
 legion is, that he mistook his profession, for which in- 
 deed he was physically unfitted." 
 
 The character of Devereux, who raised the chief Irish 
 legion, appears to have been rather complex. It is said 
 that, the son of an Irishman who suffered the extreme 
 penalty of the law for his participation in the Irish re- 
 bellion, he began his career in mercantile pursuits in the 
 United States. In 1815 he went to Cartagena, and dis- 
 cussed with Bolivar the project of raising an Irish legion ; 
 but no steps appear to have been taken in this direction 
 until General English had succeeded in recruiting his 
 formidable force in England. 
 
 On this Devereux returned to Venezuela and secured a 
 contract signed by Bolivar. He then proceeded to Dub- 
 lin, and, having announced his mission with some pomp, 
 he was given a public reception. He met with no dif- 
 ficulty in raising recruits, for the cause in which he 
 pleaded appealed to the Hibernian element of romance. 
 In a very short time he had assembled two thousand men. 
 Scarcely any of these, however, had the advantage of 
 knowing anything whatever about military life, and as a 
 fighting force they represented completely raw material. 
 
 Officers, too, were obtained almost entirely from the 
 civilian ranks of the higher classes, although some junior 
 officers in the British army parted with their commis- 
 sions in order to purchase others in the Venezuelan ser- 
 vice. It is said that from the sale of these commissions 
 Devereux obtained no less than sixty thousand pounds, 
 which he retained for himself. 
 
 Devereux did not accompany this force to South 
 America, and, after suffering many privations on the 
 voyage, it was landed at the island of Margarita, only to 
 have its ranks withered by yellow fever, of which seven 
 hundred and fifty men perished in a short time. 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 177 
 
 A species of disillusion other than climatic awaited the 
 officers of the unfortunate corps. In his enthusiasm for 
 the Venezuelan cause, and for easy coin, Devereux had 
 sold no fewer than one hundred and sixteen colonel's 
 commissions ! Here, then, were the one hundred and six- 
 teen Venezuelan colonels — many of them mere youths — 
 arrived on Venezuelan soil, only to discover that their 
 new government, ignorant of their commissions, refused 
 them their rank, to say nothing of its attendant pay ! It 
 was the same with numerous officers of other grades. 
 The chagrin and chaos of the raw army can be imagined. 
 Many of the disappointed officers, having secured a little 
 money by the sale of their personal effects, took passage 
 for the "United States, and departed for good. Some 
 are even alleged to have died of starvation. 
 
 When General Devereux himself came out to South 
 America the ferment had died down, and despair and 
 death had already sadly reduced the ranks of the legion. 
 Devereux and his self-appointed staff arrived in a char- 
 tered coal-brig. The description of this arrival as given 
 by the naval author of **Eecollections of a service of 
 three years ... in the Eepublics of Venezuela and Col- 
 ombia," although it savors a little of bitterness, is worth 
 giving here : 
 
 ''I went on deck and was saluted by a jolly-looking old 
 fellow with a nose of a deep rubicund tint, who was walk- 
 ing the deck, and who asked me fifty questions in an in- 
 stant. This personage proved to be no other than Father 
 'Mullin, an Irish Catholic priest, who had been induced 
 to join the retinue of Devereux, at the recommendation 
 of the celebrated orator, Mr. Daniel O'Connell (whose 
 son accompanied the leader as aide-de-camp) under the 
 title of Chaplain to the Irish Legion, and private con- 
 fessor to its promoter. Father 'Mullin, with much 
 ceremony and circumlocution, informed me that General 
 Devereux was on board, and requested me to go below 
 into his cabin to see him. ' ' 
 
178 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 He found the General in despair, presenting a very un- 
 military attitude, as he was under the impression that 
 the ship had been seized and that he was about to be 
 arrested. Having been reassured, he was further com- 
 forted by the news that an official reception was being 
 prepared for him on the following day. This is our naval 
 author's account of what followed: 
 
 ''Next morning, at the time appointed, I went again to 
 the General, who was far from ready. This arose from 
 the time he took to equip himself for the occasion, and 
 the total ignorance of himself and suite of the method of 
 arranging military appointments, the General and most 
 of his staff (as he termed them) never having been at- 
 tached to any army. . . . The General's dresses were all 
 soldered up in tin cases, that the luster of the lace and 
 bullion might not be diminished by the damp during the 
 voyage. He was busily engaged in opening them when 
 I entered the cabin ... at length all was clear, and we 
 beheld a most magnificent French field-marshal's uni- 
 form, so bedizened with lace that it seemed as if the 
 owner had considered personal appearance of far more 
 consequence in a war-of-extermination than discipline or 
 strength of numbers. ' ' 
 
 Alas ! On his way to the banquet which had been pre- 
 pared Devereux's horse endeavored to roll at the edge 
 of a pond, and Devereux's brilliancy lost its first bloom. 
 At the banquet itself he found himself in his element; 
 for oratory was one of his strongest points, and he now 
 found ample opportunity for its display. He spoke for 
 nearly two hours, and frequently interrupted the officer 
 who translated his words by such expressions as ''Tell 
 *em, I '11 destroy every Spaniard in South America ; tell 
 'em that!" ''Say, that all Ireland is up in their cause, 
 in consequence of my representations; tell 'em that!" 
 At last the translator gave up his task with the despair- 
 ing remark : ' ' You must wait till you can tell them your- 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 179 
 
 self, General, for I never talked so much before in my 
 life." 
 
 Undoubtedly the manner of Deverenx's arrival was on 
 a par with much else connected with himself and his un- 
 disciplined troops. That this very sudden general was 
 an adventurer, there can be no doubt. But that he was 
 totally specious, as has been alleged, seems very improb- 
 able. What would have been easier for a thoroughgoing 
 scoundrel than to have gone off with the money he had 
 made from the sale of commissions, and never to have 
 sailed to South America at all? 
 
 At a later period, moreover, Devereux showed himself 
 capable of actions such as might wipe out a good many 
 illicit safes of commissions. When Mrs. English, the 
 widow of the General, was grossly insulted by General 
 Barino, the then Vice-President of the State, Devereux, 
 hotly resenting the attempted ill-treatment of his coun- 
 trywoman, called out the villainous high official, with the 
 result that he himself suffered a brutal imprisonment for 
 forty-seven days, until a public court-martial instantly 
 acquitted him. 
 
 Such acts as these plainly show that General Devereux 
 must have possessed many good points, and that prob- 
 ably one of his worst failings consisted of too fervid an 
 imagination ! 
 
 The rest of the story of the Irish legion may be told in 
 a few words. The first military feat undertaken by that 
 which remained of the corps was the capture of the town 
 of Eio de la Hacha. Here, finding a large stock of bever- 
 ages and food, they gave up all idea of learning to submit 
 to discipline, and took to plunder and excesses. In the 
 end a number of them made their way to Kingston in 
 the island of Jamaica, where they continued their wild 
 conduct, and became a source of considerable trouble to 
 the authorities. Of the entire number some three hun- 
 dred returned to Ireland, and a hundred and fifty re- 
 
180 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 mained with the patriot armies, becoming trained into 
 excellent soldiers, and eventually being incorporated with 
 the British legion. 
 
 Of the various actions in which the British fought, the 
 most notable was the decisive battle of Carabobo, which 
 took place on the 24th of June, 1821. The strength of 
 the corps on this occasion was about six hundred, two 
 hundred of its number having been distributed to stiffen 
 the ranks of the native battalions. Beyond these were a 
 hundred of the Irish legion, and some native troops offi- 
 cered by British. 
 
 In the course of this engagement the British, under 
 Colonel Mackintosh, and the Irish, led by Colonel Ferrier, 
 going to the aid of a patriot battalion which was on the 
 point of falling back, swept forward into the midst of the 
 Spaniards in an irresistible bayonet charge. In this 
 Colonel Ferrier, bearing the regimental colors, fell most 
 gallantly at the head of his men. This charge, united to 
 a furious onslaught by General Paez's cavalry, restored 
 the fortunes of the day, and with this patriot victory died 
 the last hope of the Spaniards in the North. 
 
 After the battle the British and Irish legions were 
 united, and were distinguished by the name of ' ' The Regi- 
 ment of Carabobo." The corps received the thanks 
 of Bolivar and of the Colombian Congress — thanks 
 that were well earned, as the casualty list showed, 
 for the British lost two-thirds of their number in this 
 action. 
 
 It is, of course, impossible to enter here into more 
 than one or two of the individual feats of the men who 
 helped to make a fine record in the British military an- 
 nals. Perhaps one of the most salient instances of per- 
 sonal prowess was that given by Captain Rush, who in the 
 action of the 28th of April slew no less than eleven of the 
 enemy with his own hands. 
 
 The tragic death, too, of Captain Chamberlayne, one 
 of Bolivar's aides-de-camp, is worthy of more than a 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 181 
 
 passing word. Left with a handful of men to defend 
 the city of Cumana against a large Spanish force, he 
 held out in the Casa Fuerte in the center of the town until 
 the want of provisions combined with an incessant bom- 
 bardment made the spot completely untenable. The rem- 
 nants of the garrison could resist no longer; but Cham- 
 berlayne was determined not to yield himself alive. In 
 his company was a very lovely girl from Caracas, to 
 whom he was devotedly attached. The girl, whose affec- 
 tion was as ardent as his, chose to die with him. 
 
 Chamberlayne placed a pistol to her head, another to 
 his own, and it was over the dead bodies of the pair that 
 the Spaniards rushed in to massacre the surviving mem- 
 bers of the garrison. 
 
 A more cheery topic is that of the jovial and daring 
 young Irish officer, who, moved to a mad freak, was re- 
 sponsible for a premature capitulation of Caracas. Hav- 
 ing privately borrowed three general's uniforms (from 
 which it will be obvious that generals were not rare in 
 the Northern patriot army!) he dressed himself in one 
 of them, and a couple of servants in the other two. 
 Then, slipping away from Bolivar's headquarters, he 
 rode to Caracas, displayed a flag of truce, and demanded 
 of the governor the surrender of the city, on the pretense 
 that Bolivar's army had advanced to within three miles 
 of the place. The governor, deceived by this bold front, 
 capitulated, and the Irish officer rode back in triumph 
 to Bolivar, with the document of surrender, sealed and 
 signed, in his hand. A comrade of this ingenious offi- 
 cer says of him: *'Our Lieutenant acquired by this ad- 
 venture the name of 'The towntaker.' He was a brave 
 young man, though thoughtless. He rose rapidly in the 
 army; but, not long after I left the country, was killed, 
 at the recapture of Maracaibo by the royalists." 
 
 The hands of the British were, in general, so free from 
 loot during this campaign that the spoil which these 
 shared with their South American comrades at the taking 
 
182 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 of the cathedral of the town of Barcelona must be con- 
 sidered as the fruit of a rare lapse. The chief treasure 
 was concealed in a secret chamber beneath the altar, and 
 the story of its discovery suggests the pages of Edgar 
 Allan Poe or Robert Louis Stevenson: *'0n tapping 
 round it, we judged by the hollowness of the sound, that 
 there was a closet behind it ; and continuing our search, 
 we found three spring-bolts rather clumsily attached to 
 the frame, upon the touching of which the altar-piece 
 flew open, and disclosed a spacious room, filled with boxes 
 of various dimensions. Colonel Blossett, who thought 
 that this apparent concealment, coupled with other in- 
 dications, implied the existence of a hidden treasure, im- 
 mediately jumped into the room with such violence that 
 myriads of spiders and ^n enormous cloud of dust came 
 tumbling about his ears. After shaking himself, to get 
 clear of this disagreeable annoyance, he assiduously com- 
 menced operations. ... In a niche we also found one of 
 the most valuable relics of the place, at least to the 
 monks. This was the body of a man of gigantic stature, 
 curiously preserved in a case with a glass cover. It wore 
 a loose dress of white satin, in the Roman form, and 
 round its neck was a golden collar of great weight, set 
 with emeralds and pearls, to which was fastened a chain 
 of the same metal, each link being elegantly chased. On 
 its wrists and ankles were bracelets similar to the collar, 
 to each of which the chain was also fixed; and a crown 
 adorned its head, whereon its name was enameled at full 
 length. This was shown by the priests as the remains of 
 St. Lawrence, the patron saint of the city, to whom the 
 cathedral was dedicated. To him were all miracles as- 
 cribed, and for him, and in his name, were all contribu- 
 tions levied.'* 
 
 It appears that the ladies of the town were, justly 
 enough, not a little incensed at the spoliation of their 
 patron saint. 
 
 ''Here!" exclaimed one, **they have stripped poor St. 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 183 
 
 Lawrence, and everybody knows that he was a good old 
 soldier ! ' ' 
 
 **Very true," replied an officer, ''but you know that all 
 soldiers are liable to lose their baggage in time of war." 
 
 Nevertheless, since it was the British who were re- 
 sponsible for the loss of this particular baggage, it is to 
 be feared that the act did not render them more popular 
 in the eyes of the priests, who from the day of their 
 first landing had regarded them with aversion, and who 
 had assiduously spread unfavorable reports concerning 
 them. They even went the length of instilling into their 
 flock theories to the effect that the British were canni- 
 bals — cannibals, moreover, whom nature had adorned 
 with a tail. It was on this account that, for some time 
 after their landing, the officers of the legion noticed so 
 many searching glances cast toward their figures, fol- 
 lowed by the baffled look of one who fails to see with his 
 eyes that which his mind had confidently predicted ! 
 
 It is not generally realized that at one period of the 
 War of Independence there were no less than two thou- 
 sand British seamen serving in Bolivar's fleet and in the 
 river gunboats. These men were frequently utilized in 
 land fighting, and made up a most efficient force. 
 
 Certainly none of the merit of such services as they 
 performed was to be ascribed to Admiral Brion, the first 
 commander of Bolivar's navy. Brion, a native of 
 Curagoa, was of Dutch origin, and, until he entered the 
 Venezuelan service at the age of forty, he had had no 
 experience whatever of naval matters. Indeed, the only 
 reason why he attained at one leap to his high com- 
 mand was that his wealth had in the first instance en- 
 abled him to provide out of his own pocket the squadron 
 he commanded! 
 
 Brion seems to have been honestly and enthusiastically 
 devoted to the cause. On the other hand, he gave only 
 too abundant proofs of his foolishness, pig-headedness, 
 and utter incompetence. Brion, in fact, was a crank 
 
184 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 whose eccentricity verged at times on madness. What 
 can be thought, for instance, of a naval commander who, 
 when he caught sight of a hostile fleet in a position which 
 would have made its defeat easy, contented himself with 
 firing a salute of twenty-one guns, and with hoisting a 
 demijohn of wine and a live turkey at the yardarms of his 
 vessel, and then sheered off! 
 
 The uniform which Brion chose for himself was not of 
 the kind to impress naval spectators with the technical 
 and sober eflSciency of its wearer. On his own quarter- 
 deck he was usually attired in ''an English hussar jacket 
 and scarlet pantaloons, with a broad stripe of gold lace 
 down each side, a field marshal's uniform hat, with a 
 very large Prussian plume, and an enormous pair of 
 dragoon boots, with heavy gold spurs of a most incon- 
 venient length. ' ' 
 
 Brion invariably displayed a deep prejudice against 
 all Europeans, and did his best to thwart the British in 
 the Venezuelan service. His command, however, was not 
 of long duration. He was succeeded by Padilla, a native 
 of Kio de la Hacha, and a brave and practical seaman. 
 Among those of the British who distinguished themselves 
 in this Venezuelan naval service were Chitty, Bingham, 
 Noel, Cobham, and Russel. All these were in command 
 of warships of various kinds, but I have named them thus 
 curtly, being uncertain as to what precise rank they held 
 in a navy that was of necessity of a somewhat improvised 
 kind. 
 
 Bolivar's relations with the British troops in general 
 were of the most cordial description throughout. The 
 Liberator was outspoken in his admiration for the legion, 
 and at a banquet would frequently drink reverently to 
 the memory of the dead, more especially to that of Rooke, 
 whom he had especially esteemed. 
 
 Bolivar's ardent and tropical temperament frequently 
 led him into performances of a theatrical nature which 
 to the colder Northern mind might easily obscure his real 
 
GENERAL BOLIVAR 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 185 
 
 generosity and frank good fellowship. If there were 
 times when Bolivar loved to pose before his troops in a 
 glittering uniform, no one had a better right. Even the 
 fainting emotion which he sometimes indulged in the 
 face of rapturous public applause was a perfectly harm- 
 less weakness. That he was an excellent comrade in 
 times of stress has been proved by many Englishmen in 
 his service. When Colonel Rooke, for instance, was 
 robbed of his baggage on the plains of the Apure, it was 
 Bolivar who gave him half his own wardrobe, scanty 
 enough though it was on the march. A circumstance, too, 
 that won the Liberator the respect of many soldiers was 
 that he was a quite unusually good shot, and a fine swim- 
 mer. When the circumstances warranted such peaceful 
 exercises, moreover, he was noted for the excellence of 
 his dancing. 
 
 Another of his ofBcers, Colonel Mackintosh, was em- 
 phatic concerning Bolivar's exertions on the march: 
 ''On the expedition to New Granada in 1819, we had a 
 number of rapid mountain torrents to pass : in order to 
 cross those which were not fordable, we dragged along 
 two small canoes, fastened to the tails of horses, by means 
 of which we were sometimes enabled to make a bridge; 
 at other times they were used to carry over the troops, 
 arms, etc., whilst those soldiers who had learnt the art 
 of swimming, swam through the water. Upon all these 
 occasions, Bolivar was very active, himself setting the 
 example of labor, and frequently working harder than 
 any common soldier. On passing rapid rivers where 
 there were fords, he was constantly to be seen assisting 
 the men over, to prevent their being carried away by the 
 force of the torrent ; and carrying on his own horse am- 
 munition, arms, and pouches." 
 
 At the battle of Boyaca, Bolivar was clad in a some- 
 what overpowering full dress of scarlet and gold. But 
 this did not prevent him, his trumpeter by his side con- 
 tinually sounding the advance, from plunging at the head 
 
186 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 of a single squadron of cavalry four leagues in advance 
 of his army, by which means he secured a large number 
 of prisoners which could have been obtained by no other 
 means. 
 
 It may be remarked that this famous South American 
 leader, for whom the British fought with genuine en- 
 thusiasm, was extremely temperate in his habits, smoking 
 very rarely, and never indulging in spirits. The more 
 lukewarm among his admirers have asserted that this 
 sobriety of his was in a sense obligatory, since a too gen- 
 erous allowance of wine was wont to throw him into a 
 state of excitation from which it took him many days to 
 recover. However this may have been, Bolivar had no 
 fear of London bottled porter, of which he frequently 
 carried with him a stock when on the march. 
 
 Mention has been made of Mrs. English, who accom- 
 panied General English on his expedition to South 
 America, and who, after her husband's death, continued 
 in that continent. This lady appears to have been of a 
 most resolute and estimable character, and after an un- 
 pleasant experience or two at the hands of some of the 
 less reputable of the native leaders, she appears to have 
 won the respect of all. Her house subsequently seems to 
 have formed one of the centers of Anglo-South American 
 society at Bogota. 
 
 It was in the course of a ball and supper at Mrs. Eng- 
 lish's house that a joyful and dramatic episode occurred. 
 The Vice-President of the new State was present, and in 
 the midst of the entertainment General Paez's English 
 aide-de-camp. Major Withen, arrived in hot haste with 
 the news that Puerto Cabello had been captured and that 
 the freedom of Colombia had finally been achieved. The 
 bearer of this despatch — signed by Colonel Woodberry — 
 had covered a distance between Puerto Cabello and Bo- 
 gota in twenty days, a feat never before achieved ! 
 
 It is possible enough that the British legion may have 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 187 
 
 been accompanied by others of its officers' wives, but, if 
 so, I have come across no record of them. 
 
 When the War of Liberation came to an end not a few 
 of these British warriors turned their swords into local 
 plowshares — or their more modern equivalent. Colonel 
 Manby, for instance, proposed to occupy himself in sub- 
 stituting gas for the few feeble paper lanterns which glim- 
 mered from a street corner or two of Bogota of the early 
 nineteenth century. Colonel Johnston, in association 
 with a Mr. Thompson, obtained a grant of the richest 
 rock-salt mines in the North, at Zipaquira, which they in- 
 tended to work on the European plan, while Colonel 
 James Hamilton was given the sole right of navigating the 
 Orinoco River by means of steam vessels. Other officers, 
 moreover, obtained grants of land. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 BRITISH FIGHTERS IN THE CAUSE OF SOUTH 
 AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 
 
 (n) 
 
 Bernardo O'Higgins — State circumstances affecting his birth — Relations 
 between the great viceroy and his son — A haphazard early existence — 
 Meeting with Miranda and San Martin — The consequences of parental 
 neglect — On his father's death Bernardo O'Higgins arrives in Chile — 
 His life as a country gentleman — On the outbreak of war he espouses 
 the patriot cause — The battle of Rancagua — Admirable qualities of 
 Bernardo O'Higgins — Their value to the State — Captain Mehegan'a 
 book — Liberal methods of the Dictator — He maintains his dignity to the 
 end — Juan Mackenna — Early history — His arrival in South America — 
 Made Governor of Osorno by the Viceroy O'Higgins — Subsequent pro- 
 motion — Mackenna joins the patriots — Josg Miguel Carrera — A stormy 
 petrel — Animosity between Mackenna and Carrera — Problems of lead- 
 ership — Carrera banishes Mackenna across the Andes — He fails O'Hig- 
 gins at the battle of Rancagua — Flight of the South Americans into 
 Argentina — Carrera's intrigues in Mendoza are frustrated by Mackenna 
 — Mackenna is killed by Carrera in a duel — The Carreras — Benjamin 
 Vicufia Mackenna — Assistance rendered by the British community of 
 Mendoza — Lord Cochrane — Some characteristics of the great sailor — 
 Stormy career of this marine comet — At the request of Bernardo O'Hig- 
 gins he takes charge of the Chilean navy — His exploits in the Pacific 
 Ocean — The capture of the Esmeralda and of the Corral forts — Fric- 
 tion between Cochrane and San Martin — Bernardo O'Higgins mediator 
 — Cochrane's family — A battle episode — An incident in which Lady 
 Cochrane figured — William Miller — After serving in the British army 
 he sails to South America — Shortly after his arrival in Buenos Aires 
 he receives a commission in San Martin's army — His experiences in 
 the Pampa — Mendoza society — Miller joins his regiment in Chile — His 
 brother officers — A heterogeneous but genial group — After distinguish- 
 ing himself in his first action he is given command of a company of 
 marines — The frigate Lautaro's officers and crew — Captain O'Brien — 
 Death of this gallant sailor — Enthusiasm of the Lautaro's scratch crew 
 — Its curious composition — Fine achievements of the young navy — 
 The Chilean proves himself an admirable sailor — Satisfactory relations 
 between officers and men — Miller's marines — Proofs of devotion given 
 by this body — Miller visits Santiago — Gaieties of the capital — St. An- 
 drew's day — Lord Cochrane presides in Highland costume — Entertain- 
 
 188 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 189 
 
 mentd provided by the British fleet — The first cricket in Chile — Social 
 functions — Lady Cochrane and Senora Blanco as hostesses — Charm of 
 the Chilean ladies described by a contemporary admirer — ^The Chilean 
 fleet sets sail from Valparaiso — Admiral Guise — Miller's various wounds 
 — Some fallen British officers — Colonel Charles — Various posts held by 
 Miller — The Montonero cavalry — Motley appearance of the corps — Its 
 value as a fighting force — A dangerous feu de joie — Warfare in the 
 rainless Peruvian deserts — Elaborate strategy devised by Miller — In- 
 genious methods by which the Spaniards were outwitted — Local super- 
 stitions — Amenities between Miller and the Spanish leaders — On the 
 conclusion of the war Miller is made prefect of Potosi — His departure 
 from South America — Esteem in which he was held — ^Miller returns to 
 South America eight years later — His vicissitudes in altered circiun- 
 stanees — His death — Honors accorded to his body. 
 
 IN dealing with the struggle in the South of the con- 
 tinent we are confronted at the outset with an 
 anomaly. Strictly speaking, Bernardo O'Higgins, 
 the son of the famous Irish Viceroy of Peru, being a 
 Chilean and no British subject, has no place in these 
 pages. But, whatever his nationality, it is impossible to 
 pass without remark by so great an historical figure as 
 that of Bernardo 'Higgins. 
 
 A viceroy of Peru, holding so many of the privileges of 
 royalty, was subject to a corresponding number of the 
 restrictions of his high state. No viceroy, for instance, 
 was permitted to marry a lady who resided within his 
 viceregal territories. But for this law, it is probable 
 enough that Bernardo O'Higgins would have been born in 
 wedlock, for his mother, Isabel Riquelme, belonged to one 
 of the aristocratic families of Chile. She undoubtedly 
 proved an admirable mother, and a deep affection existed 
 between that lady, her son, and her daughter Rosa. 
 
 It was owing to the irregular circumstances of his fam- 
 ily that so little is known about Bernardo 'Higgins 's 
 quite early days. Even the date of his birth is surpris- 
 ingly vague, and it is generally conceded that it may have 
 occurred at any period between the years 1775 and 1780. 
 The biographies of very few eighteenth-century men of 
 his eminence contain so shrouded a birthday as this ! 
 
190 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 The Viceroy Ambrose O'Higgins publicly recognized 
 Bernardo as his son. At the same time it must be ad- 
 mitted that his care for his offspring was of a desultory 
 species. As a boy of fifteen the latter was sent to Spain, 
 and from there he went on to England, remaining some 
 time at a school at Richmond. 
 
 At this very early stage of his existence he was ap- 
 parently left entirely to his own devices. Usually, his 
 father's agents supplied him with a sufficient amount of 
 money, but there were times when he suffered from a 
 temporary neglect, and when funds ran low. After four 
 or five years of this comparatively haphazard existence 
 he sailed for Spain. 
 
 It is curious to reflect that it was this very free-lance 
 life imposed by the merely casual attention bestowed on 
 him by Don Ambrosio which brought Bernardo O'Higgins 
 into contact, in England and Spain, with South American 
 patriots such as Miranda and San Martin. In fact, had 
 it not been for this parental neglect, it is morally certain 
 that he would never have formed those connections nor 
 drunk in those progressive ideas which eventually caused 
 him to play so great a part in the subsequent overthrow 
 of that mighty empire, of which, at the time, his father 
 was the greatest administrator. 
 
 After experiencing numerous vicissitudes and occa- 
 sional privations in Spain, Bernardo O'Higgins, having 
 learned of his father's death, when he himself was twenty- 
 four years of age, set sail for Chile, and very nearly 
 ended his days at Cape Horn, where the vessel in which 
 he was a passenger struck a rock, and lay for a time in 
 the greatest peril. Eventually he arrived home in safety 
 in the Chilean winter of 1802. 
 
 He now found himself in possession of hacienda of con- 
 siderable importance bequeathed him by his father, and, 
 entering the militia, he lived for a time the life of a 
 Chilean country gentleman. During this period it ap- 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 191 
 
 pears that his views were looked on with suspicion by 
 the Spanish authorities. 
 
 When the War of Independence broke out Bernardo 
 O'Higgins definitely ranged himself on the patriot side. 
 In the stress of the early, and frequently disastrous, con- 
 flicts he had ample opportunity to prove his courage as 
 well as his resource. One of the most notable instances 
 of this occurred at the battle of Eancagua, where his 
 forces — deserted by his treacherous ally Carrera^ — ^were 
 hemmed in by a greatly superior Spanish force. An in- 
 furiated struggle raged, and the Spaniards attacked al- 
 most without cessation for thirty-six hours. In the heat 
 of the bitter struggle each side hoisted the black flag, a 
 somber standard that waved a grim message to the fight- 
 ers that no quarter was to be given or expected ! 
 
 The Chilean magazine had exploded; ammunition had 
 given out, and the houses of the town amid which they 
 fought were blazing fiercely. Even then Bernardo 
 'Higgins did not despair. He hastily caused a number 
 of horses, mules, and cattle to be collected. Side by side 
 with a gallant comrade, Eamon Freire, he placed himself 
 at the head of a remnant of scarcely more than two hun- 
 dred of his men. Then, driving the livestock furiously 
 before them to confuse their enemies, the survivors 
 charged out of the burning town, and cut their way 
 through the ranks of the Spaniards. 
 
 On this occasion 'Higgins received a bullet through 
 the leg, the first of the wounds he was destined to receive 
 in the patriot service. 
 
 It is clear that, in addition to his qualities of courage 
 and statesmanship, the lovable character of Bernardo 
 'Higgins assisted in winning for him the great influence 
 he possessed. It seems frequently to have been his lot 
 to play the part of a mediator. He had this temperament 
 of his to thank, early in the campaign, for his appoint- 
 ment as commander-in-chief of the Chilean forces — an 
 
 O 
 
192 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 appointment whicli, as one who had received no military 
 education, he accepted only after some demur. He does 
 not seem to have been one of the objects even of the many 
 hatreds of Jose Carrera, while, the frequent involuntary 
 umpire in the disputes between Cochrane and the Argen- 
 tine leader San Martin, he achieved the seemingly im- 
 possible in retaining the affection of both. 
 
 A master mariner. Captain John J. Mehegan, has quite 
 recently produced a book, ' ' 'Higgins of Chile. ' ' In ac- 
 tual volume it is a small literary egg, but it is very full 
 of yolk! In this interesting little work the author has 
 followed the career of Bernardo 'Higgins with the en- 
 thusiastic closeness of a genuine admirer. A couple of 
 paragraphs from his preface will bring the career of 
 Bernardo 'Higgins, when at its zenith, very near to our 
 own days: 
 
 * ' Many an adventurous seaman from the shores of the 
 Mersey and Thames joined 'Barney's Navy,' and helped 
 to break the Spanish power in the South Pacific ; and the 
 writer in his early days met a few of these 'sheer hulks' 
 who, under the cheering influence of hot grog, would 
 thaw out, unseal their usually taciturn organs of speech, 
 and recount their adventures and experiences while en- 
 gaged in the service of the 'Irish Dago.' " 
 
 As dictator of the new State — the era of presidents had 
 not yet been arrived at in South America — Bernardo re- 
 vealed those great qualities of government with which 
 history has made the world sufficiently familiar. In many 
 respects his methods resembled those of his father, the 
 viceroy. The liberal mind of the latter had frequently 
 nonplussed the Spanish authorities: the progressive 
 measures of the son frequently brought him into collision 
 with the more conservative elements of the new Chile — 
 the elements, in fact, which most closely resembled those 
 of the old Chile. 
 
 It was the manner in which his progressive policy was 
 opposed by the conservative section that led to Bernardo 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 193 
 
 O'Higgins's retirement from power. This momentous 
 step lie carried out of his own initiative, and the ceremony 
 with which he divested himself of the insignia of his rank 
 and proclaimed himself a private citizen was characteris- 
 tically simple and dignified. Indeed, the sunset of 
 Bernardo 'Higgins 's career was every whit as impres- 
 sive as its midday hour. More remarkable still, his hold 
 upon the people's affection was as strong. 
 
 Colonel John Mackenna, who played a very prominent 
 part in the War of Liberation, came out to South America 
 under quite different auspices from those of his British 
 comrades in arms. This, however, was merely owing to 
 the fact that he arrived in that continent fifteen years or 
 so before the fateful campaign began. 
 
 Mackenna, who was born in 1771 at Clogher in the 
 county of Tyrone, began his military career in Spain. 
 Of a good family, he was received as a cadet in the Irish 
 regiment in that country, and served with some distinc- 
 tion in Morocco and against the French in the Peninsula. 
 
 He had attained to the rank of captain when it occurred 
 to him that South America promised greater things. 
 There, for instance, was looming the tremendous figure 
 of a countryman who had set out with not a tithe of 
 Mackenna 's advantages, 'Higgins, the Viceroy of Peru. 
 
 To the dismay of his parents Mackenna determined on 
 the venture, and, at the end of 1796, having been recom- 
 mended to Don Ambrosio 'Higgins, he set sail for 
 Buenos Aires. From that port he pricked along west- 
 wards through the hot summer dust of the flat Pampa, 
 crossed the Andes, and sailed northwards from the port 
 of Valparaiso to Lima. 
 
 'Higgins, finding that Mackenna was a man very much 
 after his own heart, made him governor of the town of 
 Osorno, and there, among the beautiful forests, moun- 
 tains, and streams of Southern Chile, Mackenna labored 
 with strenuous success at the problems of road-construc- 
 tion and of the repair and upkeep of the fortifications 
 
194. BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 erected to defend the district against the attacks of the 
 warlike Araucanian Indians. He was afterwards given 
 charge of Valdivia, and so satisfied were the authorities 
 with his services that he was promoted to the rank of 
 colonel, and was made Governor of Valparaiso. 
 
 When the Civil War broke out Mackenna had every 
 material inducement to continue in the service of the 
 royalists. 
 
 But his convictions lay so strongly with the other side 
 that his material interests went by the board. He em- 
 braced the patriot cause, became a comrade of Bernardo 
 'Higgins, and together with him shared the vicissitudes 
 of the early Chilean campaign. 
 
 Very soon Mackenna found himself involved in the 
 confusion brought upon the patriot army by that arch- 
 conspirator and most unreliable of stormy petrels, Jose 
 Miguel Carrera. Carrera, one of three brothers who 
 afterwards suffered execution in Argentina, though he 
 fought as a leader on the Chilean side, had in reality 
 only one cause, and that was his own. On more than 
 one occasion his intrigues obtained for him the temporary 
 command of the patriot forces, but his character never 
 permitted him to retain this post for any length of time. 
 His adventurous disposition, moreover, was not of the 
 type which shows to the best advantages on the field of 
 battle, for in the face of the enemy he more than once 
 failed to lend to his comrades at a critical moment aid 
 which would have averted defeat and gained a victory. 
 
 From the start of the war Mackenna set himself with 
 resolution to oppose Carrera 's most unscrupulous moves, 
 with the result that a bitter animosity sprang up between 
 the pair. In the early days of the revolution, however, 
 when Mackenna was adjutant general and Carrera was 
 commander-in-chief, these sentiments had of necessity to 
 be suppressed. 
 
 At this juncture of the War of Liberation undoubtedly 
 Carrera stands for the evil genius of Chile, and Mackenna 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 195 
 
 and Bernardo O'Higgins for its good, though baffled, 
 angels. The latter pair fought strenuously side by side, 
 struggling hard to repair on the battle-field the harvest 
 of errors sown by the incapacity of Carrera. 
 
 Seeing that this condition of affairs could have no other 
 end but that of the ruin of the patriot cause, Mackenna in- 
 tervened, and his remonstrances with the Junta — the au- 
 thorities of the very youthful State of Chile — resulted in 
 'Higgins being named commander-in-chief of the forces 
 in the place of Carrera. The latter accepted the situa- 
 tion, since no other course was open to him at that mo- 
 ment, but he remained in the neighborhood of the armies, 
 poised like a hawk to pounce upon the first opportunity of 
 snatching power that should come his way. 
 
 After this the joint efforts of 'Higgins and Mackenna 
 stemmed for a time the royalist tide. But before long 
 the plotting of Carrera again proved successful. Hav- 
 ing obtained the control of the State, he endeavored to 
 make his precarious position more secure by banishing 
 Mackenna to Argentina across the Andes. 
 
 With the destinies of Chile in the irresponsible hands 
 of Jose Carrera and of his brothers Juan and Luis, a 
 crisis in the affairs of the young State was not long to be 
 delayed. At the fierce battle of Eancagua, Jose Carrera 
 left the gallant 'Higgins in the lurch, and although he, 
 with the remnant of his heroic deserted force, succeeded 
 in cutting a bloody way through the encircling Spaniards, 
 the result was a complete victory for the Spanish general 
 and a triumph for the royalist arms. 
 
 After the battle of Eancagua the patriot cause appeared 
 entirely lost. The capital was again occupied by the tri- 
 umphant Spaniards, while the remnant of the Chilean 
 force, accompanied by a number of brave ladies, struggled 
 over the Andes into Argentina, losing many of their 
 number in the course of the strenuous journey — a casualty 
 list which would have been increased but for the succor 
 and provisions which Mackenna sent to the stricken fugi- 
 
^ 
 
 196 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 tives from Mendoza, the town of his exile at the foot of 
 the eastern slopes of the Andes. 
 
 Jose Carrera — who had not delayed his flight until the 
 end of the battle of Rancagua — had arrived in Mendoza 
 with the rest of the fugitives. There he endeavored to 
 continue his intrigues; but he found that the sins of his 
 past were coming out into the daylight to roost! The 
 great Argentine, San Martin — who had received the rest 
 with the most cordial hospitality — looked upon him coldly, 
 and there was his enemy Mackenna on the spot — a witness 
 whose word was honored, and whose testimony could not 
 be doubted. Incensed that his plots should be thus baffled, 
 Jose Carrera picked an open quarrel with Mackenna, 
 chose Admiral Brown as his second, and in the duel that 
 followed Mackenna fell. 
 
 Undoubtedly this was one of the worst of the many 
 pieces of mischief which Carrera succeeded in doing to 
 the patriot cause ; for the history of the Carrerra brothers 
 would seem to be one of outrage that continually mounted 
 in audacity, and that was only checked by the execution 
 at different dates of all three. 
 
 But Mackenna, although he fell in this way, had at all 
 events bequeathed his race to the Chilean nation, as is 
 proved by the existence of Benjamin Vicuiia Mackenna, 
 one of the most famous of Chilean authors and statesmen, 
 who was born in 1831. 
 
 Preparations, moreover, for the campaign continued 
 without a break at Mendoza under the vigilant supervi- 
 sion of General San Martin. The great Argentine his- 
 torian, General Bartolome Mitre, states that the English 
 were the first of the youthful foreign communities to 
 volunteer assistance. According to this authority, they 
 raised a corps of riflemen, on the condition that the offi- 
 cers should be elected by themselves. This they did, be- 
 cause, in their own words ''appreciative of hospitality 
 and the rights of man, they could not view with indiffer- 
 ence the danger which threatened the country, and were 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 197 
 
 prepared to take up arms, and, if necessary to yield up the 
 last drop of their blood in its defense." 
 
 In the part played by the British in the War of In- 
 dependence in the Pacific one of the most notable figures 
 is that of Lord Cochrane. Now in a sense — and in one 
 sense only — this book resembles heaven. The more ma- 
 terial fame a man has enjoyed in his life, the less notice 
 he can receive in these pages ! In spite of objections to 
 the celestial claim, the procedure is inevitable, if a mere 
 repetition of popular history is to be avoided. 
 
 This applies to Cochrane more than to any other Brit- 
 ish fighter in the patriot cause. So much has already 
 been written about this most gallant and mercurial noble- 
 man that he must appear here merely in a few passing 
 glimpses — ^which is only fitting in a personality of his 
 elusive and extraordinary daring. Indeed, the peculiarly 
 Irish genius of the great Scotsman, which I have drunk 
 in eagerly from the period of boyhood's literature, some 
 years ago led me into an error that was due to absent- 
 mindedness rather than to ignorance. For not until the 
 Scottish papers came down upon my error with richly 
 justified severity was I made aware that I had written, 
 in a cotton- wool-headed moment ''the Irishman, Lord 
 Cochrane!" To what extent Dundonald himself would 
 have relished this tribute to his resource I do not know. 
 
 Much, I suppose, would have depended on his mood, 
 the normal frame of which left him in a condition spoiling 
 for a fight ! 
 
 In his moments of action Cochrane was a magnificent 
 comrade. In the rush of a boarding party, the heat of a 
 hand-to-hand fight, and the steady irresistible advance 
 over the slippery decks, there was no living man whom 
 the ordinary sailor would rather have had by his side. 
 Had he reserved this mood for the turmoil of actual bat- 
 tle it would have been well for him and his friends. It 
 was precisely his inability to shake it off in times and 
 places that should have been devoted to peace that put 
 
198 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 many people — including himself — to much inconvenience 
 in various parts of the world. 
 
 Before Bernardo O'Higgins had invited him to come 
 out to the Pacific in order to found the Chilean navy, 
 Cochrane had already achieved sufficient to cause his 
 name to be regarded with a wholesome dread by his 
 political enemies at home. But he had done more than 
 that. His combative methods in Parliament had imbued 
 his own co-legislators with a dread that was almost 
 equally profound, and, when he had once been removed 
 from the chamber by the force of many arms, there were 
 doubtless a number of the more timid who heaved a sigh 
 of relief on the Westminster bank of the Thames. 
 
 Bernardo O'Higgins had made no mistake in his man. 
 Lord Cochrane arrived in Chile in November, 1818, and, 
 a marine comet, was followed by an adventurous tail of 
 British and North American seamen. In four years or so 
 he had completely swept away the Spanish navy, that 
 had never even dreamed that a fleet flying any other flag 
 but its own could ever come into existence in the Pacific 
 Ocean. The great admiral's exploits on this coast are, 
 of course, world famous. The two most salient of these 
 are probably the daring and ingenious cutting-out of the 
 Spanish forty-gun frigate Esmeralda from under the guns 
 of Callao Castle, and the storming of the Coral forts in 
 Southern Chile, one of the most astonishing feats ever 
 accomplished by a squadron's landing party. 
 
 Beyond this were dozens of other performances of a 
 kind that could never have been achieved by a sailor of 
 less determination and initiative than Cochrane. All this 
 was to have been expected, and Cochrane received full 
 honors and acknowledgments from the Chilean people, for 
 whom he entertained a cordial affection. 
 
 On the other hand, there can be no doubt that Coch- 
 rane 's leisure moments were devoted with too much en- 
 thusiasm to the adjusting of grievances — real or imagin- 
 ary — such as required, if the former, little beyond diplo- 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 199 
 
 matic handling to be smoothed out of existence. With 
 all his admirable and gallant qualities, too much leisure 
 did not suit one who has been called "a kind of destroy- 
 ing angel, with a limited income, and a turn for politics ! ' ' 
 
 It was lamentable, for instance, that Cochrane should 
 have fallen foul of San Martin. But, in any case, the 
 policy and temperaments of the two great men were 
 diametrically opposed. San Martin — ^whose valor was 
 blended with a shrewd and calculating caution of a Scot- 
 tish type — ^was more than once content to hold back his 
 arm and to let the forces of nature work irresistibly in 
 his favor. Cochrane, on the other hand — ^with a fire and 
 impatience that was essentially Latin! — became chafed 
 into a frenzy of irritation at a policy of impassivity which 
 was entirely foreign to his nature. Hence a mutual dis- 
 trust, and, only too often, a bitter correspondence. 
 Hence, too, an infinity of worries to the wise friend of 
 both, Bernardo O'Higgins, whose part it frequently was 
 to pour balm on the troubled spirits. 
 
 When Lord Cochrane sailed out to Chile it had been his 
 intention to remain there for the rest of his life. To this 
 end he had brought out with him agricultural implements, 
 seeds, and other objects. He also brought out his charm- 
 ing wife and his young son. 
 
 Of the innumerable, and well known, incidents which 
 might be repeated here did space permit is the one which 
 has this boy Tom^ — then a youngster of ten — for a hero, 
 when, his face covered with the brains of a marine killed 
 by a cannon ball, he tranquilly assured his father in the 
 midst of a naval engagement, ' * Indeed, Papa, the shot did 
 not touch me ; indeed, I am not hurt. ' ' But to attempt to 
 dive into the too great sea of such anecdotes would be to 
 get out of one's depth immediately. 
 
 As a hostess Lady Cochrane 's success was immediate 
 and great in a land famous for the fascination of its 
 women. Lady Cochrane 's popularity, moreover, was not 
 confined to the upper classes. Here is an episode, told 
 
200 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 by John Miller, which occurred during Colonel (after-, 
 wards General) Miller's stay at Huacho: 
 
 ' * On the day after his arrival there, and whilst he was 
 inspecting the detachments in the Plaza, Lady Cochrane 
 galloped on to the parade to speak to him (Miller). The 
 sudden appearance of youth and beauty, on a fiery horse, 
 managed with skill and elegance, absolutely electrified the 
 men, who had never before seen an English lady : ' Que 
 hermosa!' 'Que graciosa!' 'Quelinda!' 'Que guapa!' 
 'Que airosa! es un angel del cielo!' were exclamations 
 that escaped from one end of the line to the other. The 
 lieutenant-colonel, not displeased at this involuntary hom- 
 age, paid to the beauty of a country-woman, said to the 
 men, 'This is our Generala.' Her ladyship turned her 
 sparkling eyes toward the line, and bowed graciously. 
 The troops could no longer confine their expressions of 
 admiration to half-suppressed interjections; loud vivas 
 burst from ofl&cers as well as men. Lady Cochrane smiled 
 her acknowledgments, and cantered off the ground with 
 the grace of a fairy. ' ' 
 
 In such delightful company as that of Lady Cochrane 
 we may well leave her gallant husband for a time. 
 
 William Miller, who was bom in 1795, had seen a con- 
 siderable amount of service with the British army in the 
 Peninsula and in North America, and had traveled Eu- 
 rope rather extensively in a private capacity, before he 
 sailed for Buenos Aires in 1817 in order to take up arms 
 in the cause of South American freedom. He chose the 
 South of the continent in preference to Colombia for the 
 reason that the former as yet was almost unvisited by the 
 foreign soldiers as well as mere adventurers who had 
 flocked in great numbers to the latter country. 
 
 Once landed on the rich alluvial soil of Buenos Aires, he 
 found himself in the midst of a community of his own 
 compatriots who had already firmly established them- 
 selves in that budding city. Although strongly tempted 
 by the lucrative commercial vista which was already re- 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 201 
 
 vealing itself in that spot, he determined to persist in his 
 chosen career of the sword. His closest friends in 
 Buenos Aires appear to have been people of the name of 
 Mackinlay, and a Mr. Dickinson, who presented him to 
 Pueyrredon, the supreme director of the new republic. 
 
 As a result of this he received in due course a cap- 
 tain's commission in the army of the Andes which, com- 
 manded by the famous Argentine general, San Martin, 
 was then in Chile. Before this, however, he had ridden 
 for long distances over the pampa, and had obtained con- 
 siderable experiences of the life of the plains. It was 
 there that he learned the ways of the Gaucho children of 
 the prairies, and watched them in their every-day tasks 
 when they galloped to ** round up" the cattle, or, having 
 lassoed and slain one of the herd, would roast its carcase 
 above the wood fire that blazed amid the green grasses 
 and scarlet verbena of the pampa, and, having cut away 
 long strips of the cooked flesh, would place the ends in 
 their mouths, and would slice the pieces clear from the 
 main strip by slashes of their long knives. 
 
 He would see them, too, in their festal lace and silver, 
 thrumming their guitars to love songs or chanted epics, 
 when a single mocking word would send the great sword- 
 knife whipping out from its sheath, and the poncho would 
 go curling rapidly round the left arm of each antagonist 
 as a shield. Undoubtedly he learned much in these first 
 weeks of his in South America which was of great use to 
 him in his subsequent campaigns. He learned much, too, 
 from his hospitable Argentine hosts, and galloped after 
 deer and ostrich, and shot duck, partridge, pigeon, and 
 quail to his heart's content. 
 
 Occasionally, of course, he met with that rough-and- 
 ready criticism such as the raw Gringo must expect at 
 the hands of the hardened rider of the plains. Thus, on 
 his way across the plains to the Andes, having refused 
 the offer of a cigarette, he had to submit with what grace 
 he could to his postilion's audible verdict on himself as 
 
202 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 given to the postilion of the next stage. It was curt, but 
 eloquently pitying, "He knows nothing — can't even 
 smoke ! " At Mendoza, that pleasant town in the shadow 
 of the great Andes, famous for its poplars, vineyards, 
 and peach groves that abound on the banks of its irrigat- 
 ing streams, Miller saw much of the local society. A 
 genial man of the world, the Argentines found him sim- 
 patico, and took him without reserve into their hearts. 
 Thus he was enabled to take part in the evening parties, 
 the Tertulias, of the place, and to admire the infinite grace 
 of the daylight minuets, walked on plain earthen floors 
 by the men of Mendoza and the ladies, these latter fre- 
 quently attired in a riding habit, a long whip in their 
 hand. 
 
 Miller, having crossed the Andes by the pass of TJspal- 
 lata — until quite recent years a feat much easier to de- 
 scribe than perform — joined his regiment, the Buenos 
 Aires artillery. From the very first moment he appears 
 to have got on well with his fellow officers — a gallant, but 
 curiously heterogeneous set of men. Miller has left a 
 record of some of these, and it is sufficiently instructive. 
 There was Francisco Dias, a most polished ex-officer of 
 the Spanish navy, who spoke English fluently, and was 
 familiar with French literature. There was Juan 
 Apostol Martinez, a very cheerful and most ridiculously 
 eccentric captain, who hated Spaniards and priests to 
 such a degree that he played every conceivable prank on 
 these whenever the opportunity offered, and even fought 
 three duels with Dias on this account. There was a 
 "^ Frenchman who had been educated at the ecole polytech- 
 nique at Paris, and who had afterwards been page to 
 King Jerome Bonaparte ; there was Beltran, a monk who 
 had unfrocked himself to fight in the cause of South 
 American independence, and who proved himself a gal- 
 lant officer; and there was the adjutant, Talmayancu, 
 an educated and lively Araucanian Indian, who was fond 
 of playing practical jokes on the sentries at night! 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 203 
 
 Surely these suffice to prove the extraordinarily mixed 
 composition of the corps! As to the others, let Miller's 
 testimony be given in his own words : * ' There were some 
 very fine young men amongst the other officers of the 
 corps, and all were extremely obliging. Most of them 
 played on the guitar, or sang, and good fellowship reigned 
 throughout the camp." 
 
 Having once become thoroughly at home among these 
 new comrades of his. Miller, having obtained leave, rode 
 down to the port of Valparaiso, where he was delighted 
 to see the white ensign floating over the waters of the 
 Pacific. Here he was most cordially received by Com- 
 modore Bowles on board H.M.S. Amphion. Thus we find 
 him established on the Pacific slope where he was des- 
 tined to win fame and honor. It is impossible, of course, 
 to give more than the merest outline of his career here. 
 
 Of its more salient features it may be said that Miller 
 was fortunate enough to distinguish himself in the first 
 important encounter with the royalist forces, and in this 
 action, heroically assisted by Ensign Moreno, he saved 
 two of the guns of the Buenos Aires artillery. Shortly 
 after this he was detached with a company of infantry to 
 act as marines on board the newly purchased old East- 
 Indiaman of 800 tons, the Wyndham, now known as the 6 
 Lautaro frigate in the Chilean service. 
 
 The Lautaro may serve as a typical specimen of the 
 material out of which the young Chilean navy was being 
 forged at that time. Here, then, is the ship's company 
 of the frigate Lautaro of the young Chilean navy. Her 
 officers were for the most part British. Her commander 
 was Captain 'Brien, formerly a lieutenant in the British 
 navy, in which service he had already distinguished him- 
 self in the action which ended in the capture of the 
 United States frigate Essex. 
 
 O'Brien was one of the most gallant officers who ever 
 trod a warship, to say nothing of the deck of an old East- 
 Indiaman converted into a frigate! He died in the 
 
204 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Lautaro's action with the Spanish frigate Esmeralda, 
 when, having leaped on board the enemy's ship at the 
 head of the willing stream of his men, the two vessels 
 swung apart, and O'Brien, fighting to the last, was un- 
 avoidably left to face the Esmeralda's men with no more 
 than thirty devoted followers. 
 
 All this was only ten hours after her capstan had been 
 manned for the first time in the Chilean service by the 
 Lautaro's new and scratch crew! And this crew in 
 some ways was one of the most remarkable that ever 
 manned a warship. The expert division was represented 
 by a hundred foreign seamen. Beyond these were one 
 hundred and fifty Chileans, many of whom had never 
 before boarded a sea-going vessel, but whose enthusiasm 
 had been so keen that many of them swam to the ship from 
 the shore in order to make certain of being included in the 
 crew! 
 
 Such was the Lautaro and her crew, and it was this 
 latter type of sailor that, under Cochrane and his sub- 
 ordinate officers, speedily piled up a record of deeds such 
 as any of the old maritime nations of the world would 
 have been proud to claim for their own. 
 
 When, whether by capture or purchase, the Chilean 
 fleet increased to more formidable proportions, it was 
 still officered in the main by Englishmen, although a 
 considerable sprinkling of North Americans and other 
 nationalities now assisted, and Captain Dias, Miller's 
 former comrade in the Buenos Aires artillery, being 
 clearly an amphibious person, is once again seen on the 
 waters in command of the little twenty-gun ship 
 Chacabuco. 
 
 Efficiency soon began to oil the springs of the fleet, and 
 the Chileans, gaining experience, showed themselves even 
 finer sailors than their first commanders had dared to 
 hope. Officers and men — though they frequently failed 
 to understand each other's lay or nautical speech — began 
 to swear by each other's merits. Their ships became 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 206 
 
 those fortunate things that are known in the British 
 navy as ''happy ships." When at the top of their busi- 
 ness, the crews aimed their guns and boarded with ar- 
 dor ; when off duty, the officers would dance on the quar- 
 ter deck, the men in the waist and on the forecastle. 
 
 Miller saw to it that his marines kept in the forefront 
 of this progress of efficiency, and they repaid his efforts 
 to the full. On one occasion he was sent ashore with a 
 flag of truce which the Spaniards violated, and had it not 
 been for the intervention of some honorable royalist 
 officers, and for the angry threats of retaliation hurled 
 against the Spanish commander by his comrades afloat, 
 it is probable that his life would have been sacrificed 
 to the vindictiveness of the Spanish general Sanchez. 
 When he eventually returned in safety to his own vessel. 
 Miller found that his marines had gone aft in a body, and 
 had begged the commodore to allow them to land and 
 to rescue their officer, an attempt which must have meant 
 certain death to them ! 
 
 After much successful cruising Commodore Blanco, ac- 
 companied by Miller, set out for the Chilean capital of 
 Santiago, and met with a regular triumphal reception as 
 they approached the city. Incidentally in the course of 
 this journey Miller reveals that even among the very 
 gallant and warm-hearted Chileans there were pressed 
 men. ''The approach," he relates, "was rendered inex- 
 pressibly delightful by the cheering welcome. . . . Even a 
 party of recruits, tied hand to hand, halted and uttered 
 their vivas as heartily as did their escort." 
 
 After this Miller was plunged head over ears into the 
 gaieties of Santiago, even then a town of arch-hospitality, 
 at which delightful place even then, as Miller remarks, 
 Chileans and foreigners associated together perhaps 
 more than in any other great town of South America. 
 
 At the end of November, 1818, Lord Cochrane arrived 
 at Valparaiso to take over the supreme command of the 
 Chilean navy. This was followed by a season of that 
 
206 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 festivity which is so dear to the Chilean heart, and balls 
 and entertainments of all kinds abounded. As a return 
 for the numerous affairs of the kind given by the 
 Chileans, Lord Cochrane in the full costume of a High- 
 land chief presided at an elaborate banquet held on St. 
 Andrew's day. Miller's brother renders a diplomatic 
 account of the convivial revelry on that occasion : 
 
 ''Extraordinary good cheer was followed by toasts 
 drank with uncommon enthusiasm in extraordinary good 
 wine. No one escaped its enlivening influence. St. An- 
 drew was voted the patron saint of champagne, and many 
 curious adventures of that night have furnished the sub- 
 ject of some still remembered anecdotes." 
 
 Now, were vulgar slang permitted in a work of this 
 nature, surely the verdict on this wise and guarded ac- 
 count would be " 'Nuff said!" It breathes out a remin- 
 iscent exhilaration which in itself is most graphic. No 
 doubt these good fellows of tried gallantry let them- 
 selves go to their hearts' content, and, each being pro- 
 foundly satisfied with the Veritas (or veritate for the 
 classic-minded) in vino that he found in the other, the 
 budding friendship between the Chileans and British 
 must have attained its intimate majority then and there. 
 This undoubtedly was one of the first of those innum- 
 erable Chileno gatherings upon which the Andes frowned 
 on from above, and the blue Pacific smiled at from be- 
 low! 
 
 The officers of the two British warships Andromache 
 and Blossom, just then in Valparaiso Bay, lost no time 
 in associating themselves with these festivities. The 
 first regular race course on the Pacific coast was im- 
 provised ; a level space in the neighborhood of the town 
 was cleared of its cactus and scrub, and then followed 
 cricket matches, and the bang of the leather ball against 
 those queerly shaped old bats of the early nineteenth 
 century. 
 
 But let the contemporary chronicler from whose pages 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 207 
 
 I have already quoted sum up the doings at Valparaiso at 
 this period: 
 
 ''The intercourse between Valparaiso and the capital 
 was incessant. A grand ball at one place drew numbers 
 of the beau monde from the other. Tertulias, or routs, 
 and dances were given nearly every evening at Val- 
 paraiso. The two presiding belles were Lady Cochrane 
 and Mrs. Commodore Blanco, both young, fascinating, 
 and highly gifted. The first was a flattering specimen of 
 the beauty of England, and the second was perhaps the 
 most beautiful and engaging woman of Chile. ... In the 
 bright galaxy of Chilena enchantresses are to be recorded 
 the names of Dias-Cajigas, Cotapos, Vicuna, Perez, 
 Caldera, Gana, Barra, with a hundred more, all calculated 
 to produce ineffaceable impressions. In the midst of 
 these gay scenes the outfit of the squadron was com- 
 pleted." 
 
 On the 14th of January, 1819, all was ready, and the 
 following ships put out to sea: O'Eiggins, 50 guns. 
 Vice- Admiral Lord Cochrane, Captain Forster ; San Mar- 
 tin, 56 guns. Captain Wilkinson ; Lautaro, 48 guns. Cap- 
 tain Guise ; Chacabuco, 20 guns. Captain Carter. Miller, 
 it may be said, was appointed to the command of all the 
 troops of the squadron serving as marines. 
 
 The Chilean navy was now fairly launched upon the 
 waters, and the deeds it performed are too well known 
 to need recapitulation here. When it had done its work 
 no Spanish flag flew, afloat or ashore, along the Spanish 
 coast. 
 
 The casualties among the British officers on such stren- 
 uous service, as may be imagined, were not slight. From 
 Lord Cochrane himself down to the junior ranks scarcely 
 one emerged from the campaign unwounded. Miller's 
 escapes from death were especially numerous, one of the 
 narrowest of these being when he was injured by a 
 chemical explosion which blew the nails from his finger- 
 tips and his face out of all recognition for the time being- 
 
208 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 At Pisco he was wounded in four places, one ball perma- 
 nently disabling his left hand, and another of the four 
 entering his chest, fracturing a rib, and passing out at 
 the back. On this occasion his life was again despaired 
 of; yet he contrived to win his way back to health, to 
 suffer a grazed head at Corral, and a terrible dose of 
 mutilation at Chiloe, where a grapeshot passed through 
 his left thigh; a four-pounder crushed his right instep, 
 and a bullet inflicted a flesh wound. Three of his trusty 
 marines bore him to safety under a murderous fire, two 
 of them persisting in this duty even after they them- 
 selves were wounded, and once again Miller recovered! 
 
 Then, too, the land campaign was responsible for the 
 loss of such fine fellows as Lieutenant Gerard, a gallant 
 young Scotsman who had formerly belonged to the Brit- 
 ish rifle corps ; another Scotsman of the name of Welsh, 
 a deeply esteemed young surgeon whose loss was de- 
 plored throughout every branch of the Chilean forces. 
 
 But undoubtedly one of the most lamented of all these 
 losses was that of Colonel Charles, a peculiarly gallant 
 and chivalrous soldier who, having passed through the 
 Royal Academy at Woolwich, served in the artillery in 
 the Peninsula, and having been made aide-de-camp to 
 Sir Robert Wilson, traveled and campaigned in Turkey, 
 Germany, and Italy. On his arrival in South America, 
 therefore, Charles was already a person of some distinc- 
 tion, and had received orders and decorations from Rus- 
 sia, Austria, and Prussia. His quite unusual intrepidity 
 and charm made a deep impression on the west coast of 
 South America, and, had he not fallen at Pisco — almost 
 at the same moment when his close friend Miller was 
 so severely wounded — it is probable that his name would 
 still be ringing to and fro between the foot hills of the 
 Andes. 
 
 To return to General Miller, it may be said that none 
 of his British comrades on land enjoyed such high com- 
 mand and varied experiences of South American war- 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 209 
 
 fare as he. Certainly he had no reason to complain of 
 any monotony in his career. His initial appointment to 
 the Buenos Aires artillery was followed, as we have seen, O 
 by a transference to the marines. He was subsequently 
 promoted by General San Martin to the lieutenant- 
 colonelcy of a black corps, the eighth battalion of Buenos 
 Aires. After this, having commanded a battalion of the 
 Peruvian legion, he served as chief of the staff of the 
 Peruvian army, the temporary command of which de- 
 volved on him, and at this period he received from Boli- 
 var a letter of appreciation and of personal thanks for 
 his services. After two or three temporary cavalry 
 commands Miller was appointed to the post of command- 
 ant-general of the Peruvian cavalry, and we may pause 
 for a few lines at this appointment, since it was one of 
 the most notable he held. 
 
 The Montoneros, or irregular cavalry of Peru, knowing 
 either Miller's personality or repute, welcomed him with 
 enthusiasm. Miller, too, was already familiar with the 
 military virtues, as well as with the outward appear- 
 ance, of his new troops. 
 
 The most ardent admirer of the Montonero cavalry 
 might have suffered some qualms concerning their pres- 
 tige as they paraded before Miller. A pipe-clay mar- 
 tinet would have sunk into an apoplectic trance on the 
 spot. Scarcely any two out of the whole division of 
 Montoneros were alike in uniform, accoutrements, or 
 arms. This strong individuality of the riders seems to 
 have affected even the mounts, for while some rode horses 
 others sat astride mules! 
 
 As to the men, their athletic bodies were garbed in 
 every conceivable blend of patriot uniform, captured 
 Spanish kit, and countryside costume; though not one 
 of them was lacking his lasso or his poncho. Their arms 
 were almost as varied as their uniforms, comprising al- 
 most every known weapon, from lances, swords, pistols, 
 muskets, and bayonets to daggers and long knives. 
 
210 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 But Miller knew that these rough-and-ready cavalry- 
 men could fight — and their enthusiasm was heightened by 
 the fact that they were aware of his knowledge ! As the 
 commandant-general rode down the motley lines, the 
 Montoneros let loose a spontaneous feu de joie as ir- 
 regular as themselves. No doubt as he heard the bullets 
 whistling past him Miller appreciated the compliment 
 acutely ! The reckless fellows had no concern with blank 
 cartridge ! But they succeeded in not hitting their popu- 
 lar general. 
 
 It was in operations among the sandy wastes of the 
 Peruvian coastal desert that Miller was enabled to give 
 his strategic genius full play. Frequently his force was 
 obliged to penetrate into completely rainless deserts 
 similar to that of Huantajaya, which used to be locally 
 famous on account of the behavior of one of its young 
 women when on a visit to Tarapaca, where a few quaint 
 streams are wont to trickle. If to begin a story with the 
 words : ''there was a young lady of Huantajaya'* — prom- 
 ises (falsely) a continuation in Limerick verse, it cannot 
 be helped. The young lady did exist, and on seeing for 
 the first time one of these streams, she was horrified at 
 the sight of so much precious water running to waste. 
 **Save it !" she cried, flinging herself down, and endeavor- 
 ing to scoop some of the fluid up in her hands. "You 
 heretics of Tarapaquenos, save it!" 
 
 The methods by which Miller continually deceived the 
 Spanish leaders as to the actual strength of his force was 
 frequently entertaining in the extreme — to all but the 
 commanders of the opposing army. There would be 
 numerous jugglings with uniforms. Trumpeters would 
 sound at night in desolate valleys where no others but 
 themselves rode, and dozens of camp-fires would blaze, 
 warming nothing but the dry Peruvian air! Spanish 
 prisoners just previous to their release would witness the 
 cleverly staged march past of a great patriot army, in 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 211 
 
 which each man did duty many times over. At night, 
 too, these prisoners would hear the reiterated commands 
 to prepare fresh billets for expected troops, and each 
 such order was followed by the noise of an arriving 
 squadron. This was sometimes carried to such a pitch 
 that the patriot rank and file themselves were sometimes 
 completely deceived as to the actual strength of the army 
 with which they were marching! Miller's brother gives 
 some interesting details concerning the use made of in- 
 tercepted official royalist letters : 
 
 ''The originals were kept, and others counterfeited, 
 and sent in their stead. Other letters were written in 
 cipher, or in a mysterious style, for the express purpose 
 of being intercepted, and which made Manzanedo doubt 
 the fidelity of his own officers. Cordova and Kodriguez, 
 two distinguished and influential priests, were particu- 
 larly useful in the execution of these stratagems. Cor- 
 dova willingly acted as secretary. . . . He was of a 
 jovial turn ; and often, when half the night had been con- 
 sumed in despatching letters in various directions, he 
 and Miller would pass the remainder in hearty laughs 
 at the strangeness of their productions, and in speculat- 
 ing with great glee upon the probable results." 
 
 The result of all this was the complete outwitting of 
 the Spaniards, whom Miller would frequently keep in 
 check by a mere handful of men posing as a formidable 
 army! No doubt, too, Miller's impish genius made the 
 most of those mysterious, rainless, and arid hills and 
 valleys where, some said, lights would flicker at night, 
 and the voices of the slaughtered ancient Peruvians would 
 sound again across the still air! 
 
 Miller, moreover, succeeded in winning the esteem of 
 the Spaniards, who respected his chivalry, and when the 
 occasion arose, courtesies were frequently exchanged be- 
 tween him and the royalist leaders. So liberally were 
 these amenities of warfare cultivated that the Spanish 
 
212 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 general Valdez, when he learned once that Miller had no 
 cigars, sent the patriot commander a box of his own 
 Havanas ! 
 
 When the War of Liberation had been victoriously con- 
 cluded the South Americans made it abundantly clear 
 that they did not look upon General Miller in the light of 
 a mere soldier of fortune. He was named prefect of the 
 province of Potosi, and was thus given authority over a 
 population of some three hundred thousand people. The 
 scope of this civil and military authority, moreover, was 
 extraordinarily wide. Miller's office included the posts 
 of superintendent of the mint, director of the bank, vice- 
 patron of the Church (who had the power of displacing 
 clergy from their office, and without whose ratification no 
 clerical appointment was valid) and involved the filling 
 of over a hundred civil appointments ! 
 
 Miller held this post with all success until reasons of 
 health made it urgently necessary for him to return to 
 England. His parting from his colleagues, both civil 
 and military, was of the most affectionate description, 
 and it was with a deep sense of mutual esteem that Mil- 
 ler and the inhabitants of Potosi took leave of each 
 other. After this Miller, bearing high and cordial testi- 
 monials from General Bolivar, rode down from the moun- 
 tains to the plains of Buenos Aires on his way to Europe. 
 His material rewards, although not munificent, were not 
 to be despised. He had received five thousand pounds 
 from the Peruvian Government, and a grant of land from 
 Argentina. 
 
 It is said that an English merchant, traveling in the in- 
 terior of Peru at that period, made a point of announcing 
 himself as a countryman of Miller, because the usual an- 
 swer was, ''A countryman of Miller's must have the best 
 house and the best fare that an Indian village can af- 
 ford." 
 
 It is in one sense regrettable that Miller's public career 
 cannot be closed with this triumphal homecoming of his 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 213 
 
 to England. But after eight years he returned to Peru 
 again, and this time found the new State in the throes 
 of its internal dissensions. Becoming involved in these, 
 he was banished from the country in 1839. This af- 
 forded a tragic contrast to the manner in which his first 
 departure had been effected. Decidedly it was not the 
 fate anticipated by one of whom General Bolivar had 
 said that, ''South America will always claim as one of 
 her most glorious sons. ' ' But Bolivar's own lot was very 
 little brighter than Miller's. The changes in Peru had 
 been rapid! 
 
 Miller subsequently obtained an appointment as British 
 consul-general and commissioner in the Pacific, and, again 
 returning to Peru, he endeavored, without success, to 
 make good his financial claims against the Peruvian 
 Government. 
 
 In 1861 he felt that his end was near, and, having been 
 taken on board H.M.S. Frigate Naiad, he died, as he had 
 earnestly wished, under the British flag. Notwithstand- 
 ing his difiiculties with the Government, his popularity 
 with the Peruvians seems to have been practically unim- 
 paired, for during his illness he was publicly prayed for 
 — a very unusual circumstance in the case of a non-Eoman 
 Catholic — and, buried in the British cemetery at Lima, 
 he was accorded a public funeral. He appears, indeed, 
 to have been genuinely mourned. 
 
 No people have proved themselves more generous than 
 the South Americans in the erection of monuments to 
 their heroes. O'Higgins, Cochrane, Mackenna, Brown, 
 and the rest have been very freely honored in this way. 
 But Miller lacks his adequate measure of commemorative 
 stone — probably for the reason that his services were 
 spread over several frontiers and that no country can 
 take undivided charge of his fame. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 BRITISH FIGHTERS IN THE CAUSE OF SOUTH AMERICAN 
 INDEPENDENCE 
 
 (m) 
 
 Captain Hall— His friendship with San Martin— San Martin's lofty atti- 
 tude — Expression of his views to Captain Hall — Sentiments of a great 
 South American patriot — His philosophical temperament — A deck- 
 washing episode — Incidents at the fall of Lima — The British fleet on 
 the Pacific coast — Popularity of the officers — Part played by them — 
 Benavides — Some incidents of a sinister career — The renegade's escape 
 from death at the hands of a firing-party — Further betrayals — Bena- 
 vides becomes a leader of the fierce Araucanian Indians — Increase of 
 his power — He succeeds in capturing British and North American 
 whaling ships — His windfalls in men and munitions — Preparations to 
 invade Chile — How cavalry trumpets were made — Captain Hall is sent 
 to negotiate for the rescue of the British and North American seamen 
 — Captain Hall's adventures among the Araucanian Indians — Experi- 
 ences at a native orgy — Description of the savage chief Penel^o — A 
 dangerous interview — Execution of Benavides — Adventures of Captain 
 Roberton — His feud with the Italian desperado Martilini — His home 
 on the island of Mocha — His capture by Martilini and subsequent es- 
 cape — Martilini, captured by a French vessel, is sent as a prisoner to 
 France — Roberton is imprisoned by Bolivar — His escape — Subsequent 
 movements of Roberton and Martilini — Cruelties attending a Spanish 
 imprisonment — Further atrocities committed by Benavides — Colonel 
 O'Carrol and Lieutenant Bayley as victims — Captain Brown finds shel- 
 ter on a British warship — The manner in which Colonel Ferguson's 
 life was saved — Colonel O'Connor — Dr. Moore — Colonel O'Leary — 
 Colonel Wilson — His remarkable journey — A justly popular officer — 
 The Scottish captain of the Spanish brig La Vigie — a. determined sailor 
 — Improvised ammunition — ^A daring escape — Admiral Brown — His 
 early career — He establishes a packet service between Buenos Aires and 
 Montevideo — Founder of the Argentine navy — Some naval facts. 
 
 CAPTAIN HALL, as an unprejudiced eye-witness, 
 is one of those who have borne the most con- 
 vincing testimony to the real greatness of San 
 Martin — ^who, by the way, has been referred to by Had- 
 
 214 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 215 
 
 field as of Irish descent, a claim which would seem doubt- 
 ful. A warm friendship appears to have sprung up be- 
 tween the two men. As Hall watched the chivalry and 
 self-effacing genius of San Martin, his admiration deep- 
 ened for the man who solemnly declared that when his 
 task in the field should be concluded he intended to retire 
 from the scene of his glory into private life, and who, to 
 the astonishments of the skeptical world, fulfilled his in- 
 tentions to the letter! 
 
 San Martin, for his part, spoke very freely to Captain 
 Hall. Decidedly he did not permit his quarrels with 
 Cochrane to influence his cordial relations with other 
 Englishmen. His own aide-de-camp was the very tall 
 and stately General O'Brien, who subsequently became 
 the Uruguayan consul-general in London. Incidentally 
 it may be remarked that O'Brien obtained at least one 
 priceless curiosity as a reward of his services; for Mr. 
 W. BoUaert relates that in 1859", when in London, that 
 the General showed him the large and rich umbrella- 
 shaped canopy which used to be held over Pizarro when 
 he went in state. This was given to O'Brien when the 
 South Americans entered Lima in triumph. 
 
 In the course of one of his conversations with Captain 
 Hall, San Martin revealed very fully the reasons for the 
 policy which he was then carrying out in Peru. The 
 nature of this conquest of Peru, he maintained, differed 
 entirely from that of Chile. It was not a war of con- 
 quest and glory ; it was a war of new and liberal princi- 
 ples-^ainst prejudice, bigotry, and tyranny. No doubt 
 San Martin's mind was running at the time upon the 
 heated criticism of the impetuous Cochrane, to whom this 
 species of campaign was gall and wormwood. ** People 
 ask," said San Martin to Captain Hall, **why I don't 
 march to Lima at once ; so I might, and instantly would, 
 were it suitable to my views — ^which it is not. I do not 
 want military renown — I have no ambition to be the con- 
 queror of Peru — I want solely to liberate the country 
 
216 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 from oppression. Of what use would Lima be to me, if 
 the inhabitants were hostile in political sentiment ? How 
 could the cause of independence be advanced by my hold- 
 ing Lima, or even the whole country, in military posses- 
 sion? Far different are my views. I wish to have all 
 men thinking with me, and do not choose to advance a 
 step beyond the gradual march of public opinion. ' ' 
 
 Surely these words, delivered in San Martin's usual 
 quiet tones, would in themselves be sufficient to stamp 
 their speaker as one of the world's great men. Like his 
 brilliant colleague, Bolivar, San Martin was at least as 
 much of a philosopher as a soldier. He was keenly alive 
 to the value of local influences, and fully appreciated the 
 distinctions which geographical situations must impose 
 on policy. He was one of the few of his age and race 
 who realized the perils which lay in the path of too head- 
 long attempt at indiscriminate progress. It was in ref- 
 erence to this that he wrote : 
 
 ''If all Europe enjoyed the liberty of the English na- 
 tion, the greater part of the Continent would writhe in 
 chaotic agony; on the other hand, the English nation 
 would consider itself enslaved were it governed by the 
 Constitution of Louis XVIII. It is right that the Amer- 
 ican peoples should be free ; but it is also right that they 
 should enjoy their liberty in that proportion which is 
 best suited to their needs. A departure from this rule 
 would mean the triumph of their enemies." 
 
 The quotation of a last reference to San Martin by 
 Captain Hall will show that the General possessed the 
 temperament, as well as the words, of a philosopher — a 
 combination that is probably rarer than would be im- 
 agined. When the final capitulation of Lima was at hand, 
 San Martin took up his quarters on a yacht which was 
 lying oif Callao. "I had occasion," explains Captain 
 Hall, ''to visit him early one morning on board his 
 schooner, and we had not long been walking together 
 when the sailors began washing the decks. 'What a 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 217 
 
 plague it is,' said San Martin, 'that these fellows will in- 
 sist upon washing their decks at this rate. ' — * I wish, my 
 friend,' said he to one of the men, 'you would not wet 
 us here, but go to the other side.' The seaman, how- 
 ever, who had his duty to do, and was too well accus- 
 tomed to the General's gentle manner, went. on with his 
 work, and splashed us soundly. *I am afraid,' cried San 
 Martin, *we must go below, although our cabin is but a 
 miserable hole, for really there is no persuading these 
 fellows to go out of their usual way. ' ' ' 
 
 Obviously, though San Martin could lead troops and 
 win battles, he was no swashbuckler ! 
 
 When the last Spanish stronghold in South America, 
 Lima, the ancient capital of the viceroys, was about to 
 fall, the inhabitants showed themselves in dire dread of 
 the anarchy that they feared would follow the capitula- 
 tion. San Martin was very soon able to prove to them 
 how complete was his hold over his men, and how rigidly 
 he maintained the ethics of law and order. It appears, 
 nevertheless, that the anxiety of the Limanians had not 
 been without foundation; for, in anticipation of its fall, 
 several bands of desperate characters had been hanging 
 about the outskirts of Lima. 
 
 When Captain Hall and three companions were riding 
 toward Lima, they saw one of these gangs, a dozen strong, 
 pull three travelers from their horses and strip them of 
 their cloaks. After this, they formed in line across the 
 road, and, brandishing their cudgels, awaited the Eng- 
 lishmen. 
 
 *'We cantered on, however," says Captain Hall, ''right 
 against them, with our pistols cocked and held in the 
 air. The effect was what we expected: an opening was 
 made for us, and the robbers, seeing their purpose frus- 
 trated, turned about, and became suddenly wonderfully 
 good patriots, calling out, 'Viva la Patria! Viva San 
 Martin!' " 
 
 Perhaps the British commanders on the Pacific coast 
 
218 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 at the beginning of the nineteenth century merely repre- 
 sented typical average specimens of the naval officer of 
 that period. If so, the service was as fortunate in her 
 men of these days as it has been before, and since. 
 
 John Miller has left us an interesting note concerning 
 the esteem with which the British were regarded on the 
 Pacific. He says: 
 
 ' * Another powerful reason for their preponderating in- 
 fluence was the strict observance of the laws of neutrality 
 by the English naval commanders, and the honorable, 
 straight-forward, courteous, and manly frankness with 
 which English naval officers conducted themselves. 
 Captains Sir Thomas Staines, Bowles, Shirreff, Falcon, 
 Sir Thomas Hardy (now Bear- Admiral), the Hon. Sir 
 Robert Spencer, Porter, and many other officers are still 
 remembered, and frequently mentioned by South Amer- 
 icans in terms of the warmest regard. ' ' 
 
 The part played by these officers on the South Amer- 
 ican station was sufficiently varied. Occasionally a cap- 
 tain was called upon to serve as an ambassador between 
 the contending forces. This occurred in 1814 when Cap- 
 tain Hillyar, of H.M.S. Phoebe, sailed from Callao to Val- 
 paraiso with proposals to the Chileans from the Viceroy. 
 Captain Hillyard then shepherded the patriot delegates 
 to Talca, at which place a meeting with the royalists was 
 arranged, and a short-lived truce was concluded on the 
 5th of May. 
 
 One of the most sinister figures of the War of Libera- 
 tion on the Pacific coast was that of Benavides. In fact, 
 this creature of incarnate ferocity, bold animal courage, 
 and unmitigated villainy was of a type such as is very 
 seldom met with outside the pages of those melodramatic 
 novels which are designed first to thaw the shillings from 
 the public's pocket and then to freeze the blood! 
 
 Benavides 's career was remarkably well filled with in- 
 cident. From the word. Go! he plunged headlong into 
 iniquity. A deserter from the patriot cause, he was cap- 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 219 
 
 tured by the Chileans at the battle of Maipu. Sentenced 
 to be shot", in company with two or three other renegades, 
 he retained sufficient presence of mind to feign death 
 when severely wounded by the firing squad. Even when 
 a sergeant gashed the supposed corpse across the neck 
 with his saber, Benavides gave no sign, though the shock 
 was severe enough to cause him to carry his head to one 
 side for the rest of his life. 
 
 Having recovered from his terrible wounds — by a 
 species of superfluous miracle — Benavides managed to 
 ingratiate himself with San Martin, and to obtain par- 
 don and reinstatement in the Chilean forces. But con- 
 stancy had no place in Benavides 's unquiet spirit. Very 
 soon afterwards he deserted again to the royalist cause, 
 and took up his abode among the terrible Araucanian 
 Indian warriors, who at that time were hostile to the 
 Chileans. 
 
 The wild Araucanians found in Benavides a leader to 
 their taste, and they followed him in many a bloody in- 
 cursion into the civilized Southern provinces of Chile. 
 Sometimes the Spanish flag would wave over these re- 
 lentless marauding bands, as they plunged out of the 
 Southern evergreen forests, but more often the standard 
 that floated over the massacres was one of Benavides 's 
 own devising. 
 
 After a time, his power increasing, Benavides began 
 to cast a longing eye on the sea. An ambitious rogue, 
 he foresaw that the conquest of the Pacific waters (Coch- 
 rane had not yet risen on the horizon) might extend his 
 chieftainship into something really approaching a king- 
 dom. It is at this point, then, that he is brought into 
 contact with the British and Americans. 
 
 Whalers frequently came to an anchor off the moun- 
 tainous and wooded coasts of southern Chile, and Bena- 
 vides determined that a whaler he would have ! He suc- 
 ceeded even beyond his expectations. First of all he 
 surprised and captured the American ship Hero; then, in 
 
220 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 a similar fashion, he took possession of the American brig 
 Herselia. His good fortune did not end here. Soon 
 afterwards he captured the British whaler Perseverance, 
 and, finally, the American brig, Ocean, bearing thousands 
 of muskets destined for the patriots, fell into his clutch ! 
 
 Here was Benavides, already more than half way to- 
 wards the realization of his wildest dreams ! He had his 
 ships, a formidable supply of arms for his Araucanians 
 as well as for the British and North American sailors 
 whom he had ruthlessly pressed into his service, and the 
 gratified Spanish authorities at Chiloe had sent him a 
 detachment of officers and men as well as a number of 
 field-guns ! 
 
 Benavides now began to prepare his army for the 
 serious invasion of Chile. He combined an unusual de- 
 gree of ingenuity with sheer savagery. Having first of 
 all murdered the captain of the Perseverance for an at- 
 tempt at escape, and cut the body of a sailor to pieces for 
 the same crime, he set himself to commandeer part of his 
 new fleet's equipment for the benefit of his land forces. 
 Sails vanished into small pieces — to become trousers for 
 his army ! Welded by the reluctant hands of his hapless 
 ships' carpenters and new recruits, harpoons grew into 
 lances and halberts. Almost every essential of his army 
 was obtained in the same way : even cavalry trumpets in 
 abundance were obtained by stripping the copper from 
 the bottoms of the ships. 
 
 It was the captain of the Herselia who had given this 
 last idea to Benavides. A shrewd fellow, he took ad- 
 vantage of the glow of incautious pride with which the 
 possession of the trumpets filled the dreaded chieftain, 
 and contrived, with a number of others, to escape in two 
 whale boats, and to bear the news of his comrades' dis- 
 tress to Valparaiso. 
 
 We are now brought once more into the company of 
 our most admirable Captain Hall, who was ordered south 
 in order to attempt the rescue of these British and North 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 221 
 
 American subjects, but not to embroil himself with Bena- 
 vides — a sufficiently difficult commission! 
 
 When Hall arrived off Benavides's headquarters he 
 found that this worthy, accompanied by some thirteen 
 hundred men, including the British and North American 
 seamen, had marched to the northeast from that spot. 
 Although Hall landed and proceeded in search of him, he 
 was not able to light upon Benavides himself, who was 
 engaged in his own species of warfare. The British and 
 American sailors shortly afterwards made their escape; 
 but it was not Hall's fate to return to his ship without 
 an adventure, although this was of a quite different order 
 to any that he had expected. 
 
 It appeared that a chief of the name of Peneleo, an 
 ally of the patriots, had taken prisoner some of Bena- 
 vides 's Indians, and, having slaughtered one of the men 
 before his wife 's eyes, was about to carry off the widow. 
 As the chief's camp was in the neighborhood. Hall de- 
 termined to endeavor to rescue the unfortunate woman, 
 although he had been warned that his quest would be 
 fruitless, as Peneleo ''had scarcely anything human about 
 him. ' ' 
 
 Arrived at the Indian camp. Captain Hall and one of 
 his officers found themselves in the midst of a native 
 orgy, and, incidentally, in a tight corner. His descrip- 
 tion of the event is worth quoting : 
 
 ''On our entering the court-yard of their quarters, we 
 observed a party seated on the ground, round a great tub 
 full of wine ; they hailed our entrance with loud shouts, 
 or rather yells, and boisterously demanded our business ; 
 to all appearance, very little pleased with the interrup- 
 tion. The interpreter became alarmed, and wished us 
 to retire ; but this I thought imprudent, as each man had 
 his long spear close at hand, resting against the eaves of 
 the house. Had we attempted to escape, we must have 
 been taken, and possibly sacrificed, by these drunken sav- 
 ages. As our best chance seemed to lie in treating them 
 
22g BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 without any show of distrust, we advanced to the circle 
 with a good-humored confidence, which appeased them 
 considerably. One of the party rose and embraced us in 
 the Indian fashion, which we had learned from the gen- 
 tlemen who had been prisoners with Benavides. After 
 this ceremony, they roared out to us to sit down on the 
 ground along with them, and with the most boisterous 
 hospitality insisted on our drinking with them ; a request 
 which we cheerfully complied with. Their anger soon 
 vanished, and was succeeded by mirth and satisfaction, 
 which speedily became as outrageous as their displeas- 
 ure had been at first." 
 
 The orgy grew rapidly wilder, until the appearance of 
 Peneleo himself put the crowning touch to the picture. 
 He was rather more drunk tRan the rest : 
 
 **A more finished picture of a savage cannot be con- 
 ceived. He was a tall, broad-shouldered man; witli a 
 prodigiously large head, and a square-shaped bloated 
 face ; from which peeped out two very small eyes, partly 
 hid by an immense superfluity of black, coarse, oily, 
 straight hair, covering his cheeks, and hanging over his 
 shoulders, rendering his head somewhat of the size and 
 shape of a beehive." 
 
 Peneleo, surly and hostile, was in a dangerous mood: 
 his spear stood only too conveniently to his hand, and 
 it was a matter of touch and go whether the questions the 
 naval officer asked about the captive woman would not be 
 their last. As for the woman herself, she seemed recon- 
 ciled to her lot! From the glimpse they obtained of 
 her, Peneleo 's peculiar and sinister charm appeared al- 
 ready to have wiped away her tears and the memory of 
 her late husband ! It may have been this that saved the 
 lives of the ofiicers, and let them out of a very serious 
 scrape. 
 
 As for Peneleo 's chief, Benavides, he met with his 
 deserts on the 12st of February, 1822, when he was at 
 length brought to justice, and his lurid career ended. 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 223 
 
 He was dragged from the prison at Santiago in a pannier 
 tied to the tail of a mule, and was hanged in the Plaza. 
 
 Even the more disciplined of those Southern Indians in 
 the Chilean service were not always the most amiable 
 persons to meet. On one occasion when some English 
 ships were visiting the port of Talcahuano, they landed 
 a force of marines who went through some manoeuvers in 
 company with the Indians. When the marines had fin- 
 ished, the Indians began their exercises. An eye-witness 
 remarked of them that: 
 
 **The lances which they use in real combat are from 
 eight to ten feet in length, pointed with iron about two 
 feet long ; but for fear of their doing any mischief, these 
 lances were left behind at Conception, and in their stead 
 they were armed with long sticks or branches of trees. 
 They first formed themselves into a line, and their officers 
 rode round and round them at full gallop, probably as in 
 actual warfare, to remind them of the exploits of their 
 ancestors, and animate them to heroic exertion. 
 
 *' Meanwhile, the Indians were sounding the note of 
 defiance, a sort of tremulous, soft, melodious cry, pro- 
 duced by shaking the flat hand upon the mouth, while 
 they utter the tones. Next, the command being given to 
 advance to the charge, they drove their horses forward 
 at full speed, with protruded lances." 
 
 Afterwards these Indians, having, according to their 
 usual custom, drunk, not wisely but too well, became 
 truculent to a degree. According to the narrator : 
 
 ''When they arrived that same evening at Conception, 
 they galloped about the streets till late at night, fighting 
 among themselves and terrifying the peaceable inhabi- 
 tants. There seems to be a strange mixture of pride and 
 meanness in the character of these Indians. The three 
 Indian officers who dined in the ward room, complained 
 that they were not asked into the cabin, and yet these 
 same men asked some of our officers to give them money.** 
 
 From all this it will be evident that the temperament 
 
224 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 of this branch of the famous Araucanian warrior tribes 
 was sufficiently complex. Such episodes suggest the old 
 story: that the natives took from the white man his 
 worse, rather than his better, traits. 
 
 Undoubtedly the hero of some of the most extraordi- 
 nary adventures of the war was Captain Roberton, who 
 came out in company with Captain Guise — Cochrane 's 
 second in command and eventual successor — to join the 
 Chilean navy. The experiences of this daring sailor 
 were of the kind such as are very seldom to be met with 
 outside vivid and rather out-of-date blood-and-thunder 
 paper covers. 
 
 In the course of his career Roberton became involved 
 in a blood-feud with an Italian desperado of the name of 
 Martilini, once a boatswain in a patriot vessel, who had 
 deserted to the enemy. On their first meeting Martilini 
 was wounded by Roberton. Shortly after this, with the 
 permission of the Chilean Government, Roberton took 
 up his abode on the uninhabited island of Mocha. There, 
 amid the southern Chilean forests, where the fuchsia and 
 the beautiful waxen petals of the copihue flower light up 
 the aisles of vegetation, he set up a correspondingly ro- 
 mantic household, of the kind classified as irregular. 
 Presently Martilini appeared off the island in the pirate 
 ship Quintamlla. Roberton, caught at a disadvantage, 
 was torn away from his leafy bower, and, flung in irons 
 on board the Quintanilla, was reserved for an end of tor- 
 ture and death such as is romantic only in print. He 
 was preserved from this fate by one of the violent storms 
 of those latitudes, which caused his captors to release 
 him, and to seek the aid of his expert seamanship. The 
 gale having subsided, Roberton made use of his tem- 
 porary freedom to escape, and, once clear of the Quin- 
 tanilla, sent her commander a message that promised a 
 taste of his vengeance on the first opportunity. 
 
 But this never seems to have arisen. Calms and gales 
 both played their share in preventing a further meeting 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 225 
 
 between the two enemies, though Roberton pursued his 
 quest with the most grim resolution. After a time mis- 
 fortune dogged the career of both. Spurred on by some 
 mad freak of intoxication — or mere grapeless irresponsi- 
 bility — Martilini planked three or four roundshot into 
 the side of a French brig-of-war that he was passing, 
 trusting to the breeze to carry him safely away from the 
 unprepared French vessel ! A sudden calm enveloped the 
 Quintanilla — ^just in the way that a lurking enemy leaps 
 from an ambush! The result of this was that he was 
 borne away as a prisoner to France. 
 
 It was somewhere about this period that Eoberton, 
 rashly venturing into the thorny wildernesses of politics, 
 fell foul of Bolivar, and — as a fatefuUy ironical conse- 
 quence ! — ^was confined in one of those very dungeons in 
 Callao for the abolition of which Bolivar, in a greater 
 degree, and he himself, in a lesser, had struggled so 
 arduously. Eoberton, having no taste for a Callao 
 dungeon, escaped in a manner characteristic of him. 
 Snatching his opportunity, he came charging out, knocked 
 down each sentry that opposed his exit, dashed through 
 the main guard with the velocity of a stone shot from a 
 catapult, dived into the sea, swam out to a merchantman, 
 and got clear away. 
 
 Unfortunately I have no record of the ultimate fate of 
 Roberton and of Martilini. Roberton made his way 
 southwards again to his loved island of Mocha, in the 
 verdurous shades of which he may, or may not, have spent 
 the rest of his days. As for Martilini, it is recorded that 
 in 1828 he was again in command of a privateer in the 
 Pacific. I have a shrewd suspicion that if ever Roberton 
 saw the other's topsails above the edge of the waters, he 
 betook himself to some intricate forest nook with his 
 senora, until a clear horizon told him that he might safely 
 return to the lovely ruca that was his romantic — ^but 
 draughty — ^home ! 
 
 The fate of those British officers in the South American 
 
226 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 service whom the royalists succeeded in capturing was 
 occasionally of the worst. Captain Esmonde, for ex- 
 ample, was very scurvily treated in the dungeons of 
 Callao. An act of poetic retribution, however, followed, 
 for it was on this account that his brutal jailer, who de- 
 sired to establish himself well with the patriots at the 
 end of the war, failed to regain his Peruvian estates. 
 There are several instances, too, of a captivity in irons 
 sufiSciently lengthy to lay the bones of the sufferers bare. 
 But Benavides and his band of Araucanian freebooters 
 went far beyond anything committed by the royalist regu- 
 lars in the way of atrocities. Among other barbarities 
 inflicted on Colonel 'Carrol, Lieutenant Bayley, and 
 other officers who fell into the hands of these, was that of 
 having their tongues cut out. 
 
 There were occasions, naturally, when the British Pa- 
 cific squadron found itself influenced by motives of hu- 
 manity rather than by the icy reasoning of pure neu- 
 trality. Thus when Captain Brown of the Argentine 
 navy — ^who had been captured when in command of the 
 Maippo brig, and who had for a year lain under sentence 
 of death — escaped to a British warship, he found sanc- 
 tuary there; notwithstanding the angry protests of the 
 viceroy, who ''proved by precedents commencing in the 
 year of our Lord 1499, and ending Anno Domini 1808, 
 that the British commander had overstepped the boun- 
 daries marked out by international law." 
 
 On another occasion the life of Colonel Ferguson, one 
 of the British aide-de-camps whom Bolivar delighted to 
 have on his staff, in his Southern campaign, was only 
 saved owing to the chance presence of a boat's crew of a 
 British man-of-war. Kemarking the unusually fair skin 
 of one of a party of patriot prisoners drawn up for execu- 
 tion on the beach, one of the sailors ran up to him, and, 
 discovering that he was an Irishman, brought his officer 
 in haste to the spot. In this case the Spanish authorities 
 must have been in a complaisant mood, for, as a result of 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 227 
 
 the officer's intercession, they did not hesitate to com- 
 mute the sentence on the spot. Ferguson appears to 
 have been a very gallant officer, and met his death when 
 defending Bolivar during the outbreak of a conspiracy in 
 September, 1828. 
 
 Some other officers of Bolivar's, who do not come 
 within the scope of the operations previously referred 
 to, may be mentioned here. Among these was Colonel 
 O'Connor, a gallant Irish, who raised a regiment at 
 Panama, and brought it to Peru, where he became notice- 
 able for his bravery. 
 
 Bolivar — whose devoted body-surgeon was Dr. Moore, 
 an Irishman — showed his predilection for the British by 
 the manner in which he employed them on his staff. An- 
 other of his aides-de-camp, by the way, was Colonel 
 O'Leary, who from the age of seventeen had fought in 
 the cause of South American independence, being pres- 
 ent at every engagement of importance that was fought 
 in Colombia, in the course of which campaign he received 
 several wounds. He was frequently entrusted with im- 
 portant diplomatic missions. 
 
 A third British aide-de-camp was Colonel Belford Wil- 
 son, who, educated at Westminster and Sandhurst, was 
 among the finest and most promising of the British com- 
 batants in South America. His qualities were fully ap- 
 preciated by Bolivar, who singled him out for various 
 special missions, one of these being the bearing of the 
 Constitution drawn up for the new Republic of Bolivia. 
 In the course of his journey Wilson covered the eighteen 
 hundred miles between Lima and Chuquisaca in nineteen 
 days, and returned by a slightly longer route in the same 
 number of days ! 
 
 Wilson, it may be said, was exceptionally popular with 
 all his brother officers, of whatever nationality they might 
 be. One of his actions may be quoted as giving a clue 
 to the secret of this general esteem. Having been made 
 colonel at a very youthful age, he refused for a time to 
 
228 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 receive the rank, pleading that this very early promotion 
 was unfair to his comrades. In the end it was only in 
 obedience to Bolivar's express orders that he gave way 
 on the point. 
 
 To turn for a moment to the opposite pole of affairs, 
 among the four British subjects who fought on the Span- 
 ish side in the War of Independence was a very deter- 
 mined Scotsman who commanded the royalist brig La 
 Vigie. He espoused the Spanish cause, it appears, not 
 on account of any political convictions, but in order to 
 avenge some losses he had sustained at the hands of the 
 patriots. 
 
 The name of this adventurous seaman does not appear 
 to have emerged from the chaos of events with which it 
 was associated, but his deeds made a sufficient impres- 
 sion at that time. In the course of a gallant but most 
 uneven fight with the Chilean warship Congreso, com- 
 manded by Captain Young, having used up every shot in 
 his locker, he continued to blaze away marline-spikes, 
 nails, and bits of iron, until he had cleared his vessel of 
 the last hope of anything in the way of a missile ! Then, 
 under a heavy fire, he made for the shore in a boat. 
 
 A search party of marines from the Congreso followed 
 him, and came upon him concealed in a house. On this 
 the intrepid Scotsman knocked down the officer of marines 
 and two of the privates, and escaped at the expense of a 
 severe bayonet wound. After this meteoric outburst of 
 deeds his personality fades away into the unknown. 
 
 Presumably some day or other the status of many of 
 the lesser lights among the historical personages of South 
 America will become fixed. Decidedly the process will 
 be anything but a simple one in view of the extraordinar- 
 ily sharp divergences that are revealed in the contem- 
 porary opinions. 
 
 Admiral Brown affords one of the numerous instances 
 of this, even though his personality is too important to 
 be included among those lesser lights I have referred to. 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 229 
 
 The leading figure among the sailors of the young Argen- 
 tine navy, he is spoken of in terms of unstinted admira- 
 tion not only by the Argentine and Chilean chroniclers 
 of the period, but also by all the British who happened 
 to be residing at the time in the neighborhood of the 
 river Plate. 
 
 Yet at this same period Brown is referred to by the 
 Rev. R. Walsh, a most enlightened and liberal-minded 
 clergyman resident in Brazil, in a totally different man- 
 ner. Walsh terms Brown a pirate, and alludes to him 
 thus in no abusive sense, but with the calm detachment 
 proper to an uncontrovertible fact ! 
 
 William Brown, who became an admiral in the Argen- 
 tine service, adds one more to the long list of Irishmen 
 who fought in the patriot cause. Born in county Mayo in 
 1777, he went to sea in his early boyhood, and after many 
 strenuous years the ship in which he was serving, the 
 Eliza, was wrecked at Ensenada at the mouth of the Rio 
 de la Plata. So far as Brown was concerned, this was a 
 blessing, very much in disguise, for it led him to the 
 threshold of his future career. 
 
 The young Irishman determined to remain where fate 
 had cast him. In a remarkably short time his enterprise 
 had established a packet service between Buenos Aires 
 and Montevideo, and he had become the owner of the 
 schooner Industria. 
 
 Then the War of Independence broke out into full 
 flame, and the new Buenos Aires authorities, casting 
 about them for a man who should found and fight a navy, 
 offered the post to Brown. He accepted without hesita- 
 tion, was given captain's rank, and devoted himself to his 
 task with enthusiasm. 
 
 Brown's first squadron was inevitably of an impro- 
 vised order, but it was with such materials as he had got 
 together that he destroyed the greatly superior Spanish 
 fleet off Montevideo in May, 1814, and thus brought about 
 the surrender of the city. After this, seeing that there 
 
230 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 remained scarcely anything for him to do in the Atlantic, 
 Brown prepared a squadron with which to harry the 
 Pacific coast. This consisted of the 20-gun brigantine 
 Hercules, commanded by his brother Michael, in which he 
 sailed as commodore, and the 16 gun-brigantine Trini- 
 dad, commanded by his brother-in-law, Walter Chitty. 
 These were followed by a subsidiary squadron compris- 
 ing the Halcon and the lugger Urihe, manned entirely by 
 Chilean refugees and Argentines. The first three vessels 
 flew the Argentine flag, but the little Urihe, thirsting to 
 avenge the disaster of Eancagua, sported the black flag 
 in token of war to the death. But this grim standard 
 was destined never to float over the waters of the Pacific ; 
 for the stormy water of Cape Horn swallowed it up with 
 the vessel that bore it. 
 
 The remaining vessels boldly proceeded to blockade 
 Callao, making various captures and causing great alarm 
 all along the Pacific coast. After this they set sail for 
 the north, and in the middle of February, 1816, they ap- 
 peared off the port of Guayaquil. Having stormed the 
 fort which guarded the mouth of the port, the expedition 
 sailed up the river, and engaged the main fort of San 
 Carlos. Here the Trinidid ran aground, and, finding her- 
 self helpless, was obliged to surrender. Brown, who 
 chanced to be on board that vessel, had already stripped 
 himself naked, and had plunged into the sea in order to 
 swim to the Halcon, when he perceived that those who re- 
 mained on the Trinidad were being slaughtered by the 
 Spaniards. 
 
 Brown turned in the water, and swam back to the Trini- 
 dad. He clambered up the ship's side unperceived, and 
 in stealthy haste made his preparations. Then, stark- 
 naked, a sword in one hand and a lighted torch in the 
 other, he rushed to the magazine, and threatened to blow 
 up the ship and all on board unless the Spaniards gave 
 quarter to his men. The appalled Spaniards held their 
 hands, and the gallant Brown and his men were taken 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 231 
 
 ashore as prisoners. Brown himself was immediately 
 exchanged for the Governor of Quayaquil, who had been 
 captured just previously. 
 
 It may be said that Brown's vessel, the Hercules, was 
 eventually taken in charge by a British man-of-war, and 
 was condemned at Antigua on account of a violation of 
 the navigation laws. 
 
 The remainder of Brown's career was concerned with 
 the internal wars of a later period of South American 
 history, and we shall meet with him again in another 
 chapter. 
 
PAET III 
 
 SOUTH AMERICA IN THE EAELY PART 
 OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
CHAPTEE XII 
 
 THE FIEST BRITISH RELATIONS WITH THl NEW 
 REPUBLICS 
 
 Naval chroniclers — Shrewdness of their comments — Respective situations on 
 the Atlantic and on the Pacific — Popular captains — Petition of British 
 residents — The Lima theater — Captain Basil Hall — A friend of San 
 Martin — His intercourse with the Argentine Liberator — Pen-pictures 
 of the Pacific coast — H.M.S. Briton — Some experiences of her ships' 
 company — A humorous episode at Piura — H.M.S. Cambridge transports 
 British consuls to South America — Tragic end of one of these officials — 
 Various episodes related by the chaplain of the Cambridge — Some 
 notable names and characters ashore — ^Sunset is delayed for an hour 
 when Bolivar dines on board the Cambridge! — Some local biils-of-fare 
 — Profuse hospitality of the South Americans — Part played by British 
 merchants — Episode at an official ball at Valparaiso — One of the trage- 
 dies of a defimct regime — ^Manner in which Bolivar was received at a 
 ball given by a British merchant — Bolivar's coimtry house near Bogota 
 — ^Views of an ex-official of the suppressed Inquisition — Petition of a 
 cock-fighting monk — His letter to Lord Derby — Growth of British popu- 
 lation in Valparaiso — Missionary and scholastic enterprise — A bur- 
 lesque mutiny and its consequences — Experience of an American mer- 
 chant on the Pacific coast — Judge Prevost and his unfortunate joke — 
 Some mining incidents — Interest evinced in London — Bolivar as an ex- 
 pert — End of the "boom" — Surveying on the South American coast — 
 The voyage of the Chanticleer — Death of Captain Foster — Improvement 
 in sea food — Origin of the term "Gringo" — ^A Chilean explanation. 
 
 WE are largely indebted to that small band of 
 British naval men stationed on the Pacific 
 coast at the time of the War of Independence 
 for a knowledge of the more intimate — and consequently 
 more interesting — details of the social and political 
 events. 
 
 The reason why so few accounts have come down to ns 
 in the English language of the events, manners, and 
 customs of the river Plate countries in the earliest years 
 of their independence, is neither political nor commercial. 
 
 235 
 
236 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 It is sheerly geographical, and consists in the muddy 
 shoals — at that time innocent of any dredger — which 
 caused the visits of British warships to be comparatively 
 rare, and thus failed to remedy the lamentable lack of 
 naval note-takers. 
 
 It was these shrewd naval observers who marked how, 
 when the establishment of the patriot government had be- 
 come assured in any district, the costume and customs 
 of the inhabitants altered as if by magic. They noted 
 how the primitive local garments of the ladies, and the 
 cloaks of the men disappeared, to give place to European 
 fashions. They have referred, too, to the assured and 
 confident air that now followed the former appearance 
 of trouble and distrust. They watched the quick growth 
 of national pride, the phenomenal springing up of com- 
 merce, and the rapid founding of the schools, libraries, 
 and centers of arts. 
 
 They noticed with admiration, too, that, wherever the 
 patriot flags were unfurled, two institutions — ^bull-fight- 
 ing and slave-trading — immediately died away. Indeed, 
 there were not lacking those who asserted that the un- 
 usually brutal exhibitions of bull-fighting at Lima formed 
 part of the viceregal plan for the mental treatment of the 
 colonists. But those from whom these statements eman- 
 ated were almost certainly carried away by their anti- 
 royalist sentiments. 
 
 It is, of course, impossible to refer individually even to 
 those of the most notable group of British naval officers 
 who served in the Pacific at this period. Nevertheless, 
 Captain Thomas Brown who sailed out in 1823 in the 
 42-gun frigate Tartar to South America deserves some 
 special mention for the extraordinary popularity that he 
 enjoyed on the part of both Spaniards and South Ameri- 
 cans. 
 
 Before the departure of the Tartar from the South 
 American station, Captain Brown received from Bolivar 
 a portrait of himself which he had taken the trouble to 
 
FIRST RELATIONS WITH NEW REPUBLICS 237 
 
 send all the way from Alto Peru, where the Liberator 
 was then engaged. At Callao, on the other hand, that 
 gallant and stern soldier General Rodil, Spain's last hope 
 in South America, and Bolivar's greatest enemy, refused 
 Brown leave to purchase ship 's stores, adding that, as a 
 mark of his friendship and esteem, the British captain 
 must consent to accept as a gift anything that his ship 
 required. What more varied and striking testimony of 
 a true popularity could there be ! 
 
 Another British commander whose personality cannot 
 well be overlooked was Captain Bowles, who played a 
 sufficiently important part on the Atlantic station. A 
 testimonial was drawn up at Buenos Aires on the 24th of 
 March, 1814, **to express to you the very high esteem with 
 which your conduct has impressed us, and to offer you our 
 most grateful thanks for the constant and efficacious pro- 
 tection you have afforded to the British interests." 
 
 This is signed by ** John Nightingale, George Dyson, R. 
 Montgomery, Robert Orr, G. T. Dickson, John M'Neill, 
 James Brittain, James Barton, H. Chorley, J. Thwaites, 
 Joshua Rawdon, J. Boyle, W. Wanklyn, W. Stroud." 
 And to a document in connection with a presentation 
 made to this officer six years later in Buenos Aires were 
 attached the signatures, '^Rich. Carlisle, G. T. Dickson, 
 WiU. Cartwright." 
 
 In those early and troublous days of South America, 
 when it was inevitable that the foreigner should suffer 
 from time to time between the grinding wheels of patriot 
 and Spaniard, the presence of a British vessel in a port 
 was undoubtedly a comfortable feature to the new Brit- 
 ish settlers on the South American coast. 
 
 At the foot of a petition that ** before the Indefatigable 
 leaves these seas she may be replaced by another vessel 
 of war, if it be not incompatible with his Majesty's 
 service," drawn up in Valparaiso on the 27th of March, 
 1815, occur eight signatures which presumably are those 
 of some of the most prominent British merchants then 
 
238 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 in the town. These are: Colon Campbell, Jno. Jas. 
 Barnard, N. Crompton, George Cood, Andrew Blest, John 
 Blest, T. Beetenson, and James Ingram. 
 
 These British naval men were, of course, the only spec- 
 tators who obtained a clear and impartial view of the 
 social situation before and after the revolution. Many 
 of the changes came about with a surprising suddenness. 
 So far as the theater was concerned, for instance, the 
 transformation of the audience seems to have been as 
 dramatic as anything which occurred on the stage. Here 
 is the description of one of these naval eye-witnesses, of 
 the Lima theater : 
 
 '*In the evening there was a play, but the people we 
 had been wont to see there before the revolution were 
 all gone; and their places occupied by Chilian officers, 
 and by English, American, and French merchants, to- 
 gether with numberless pretty Limenas, a race who smile 
 on all parties alike. The actors were the same, and the 
 play the same, but everything else — dress, manners, lan- 
 guage — ^was different: even the inveterate custom of 
 smoking in the theater had been abolished by a public 
 decree." 
 
 To my mind, as I have already said, the most outstand- 
 ing of the records of the Pacific coast during the last 
 period of the War of Liberation and the first few years 
 of the independence are those of Captain Basil Hall. 
 Hall reveals himself as an admirable type of the British 
 sailor, and it is clear that his kindly geniality won for him 
 as much popularity as his firmness gained him respect. 
 
 Enjoying as he did the intimate friendship of San 
 Martin, the great Argentine would unbosom himself to 
 him of his hopes and fears, plans and ideals. Much has 
 been written of late of San Martin, and it is a little diffi- 
 cult to understand why Hall's first-hand and intimate 
 testimony has been so seldom referred to. The British 
 sailor's admiration for San Martin was by no means 
 universally shared at the time it was evoked. There 
 
FIRST RELATIONS WITH NEW REPUBLICS 239 
 
 were many who doubted — and, after all, this doubt was 
 not so unnatural a thing in those who did not know the 
 General — the sincerity of San Martin's statements that 
 he desired all for his country, nothing for himself. But 
 Hall was not among those who doubted. His fervid pen- 
 picture of the Liberator was justified to the full by sub- 
 sequent events, when San Martin, having achieved his 
 great work, voluntarily descended from his pinnacle in 
 the full blaze of publicity, and entered private life — and, 
 incidentally, an oblivion, from the tragedy of which his 
 name was not drawn until more than half a century later. 
 
 Captain Hall has provided a set of pictures of the 
 life of the Pacific coast which are in many respects unique. 
 Moreover, whether he were chatting with San Martin, 
 being entertained ashore, protecting British interests, ne- 
 gotiating between royalists and South Americans, or fac- 
 ing a hostile Spanish mob at Callao, as was once his lot, 
 he appears to have risen to the occasion with the most 
 admirable equanimity. 
 
 The complications which the British naval officers on 
 the South American station had to face during the first 
 year or two of the War of Independence were not light- 
 ened by the fact that we were at the time at war with the 
 United States. 
 
 In the course of this the United States frigate Essex 
 worked considerable damage to the British whale fishery 
 in the Southern seas, and at the end of 1813 H.M. frigate 
 Briton, 38 guns, was ordered to the Pacific to endeavor 
 to meet with the American vessel. 
 
 The Briton did not meet with the Essex (this vessel, 
 after a desperate resistance, having already been cap- 
 tured by the Phoebe and Cherub), although she spoke with 
 some of the whaler captains who had been victims of the 
 American frigate's raid, and, among some green bushes 
 at Chatham Island, found the tomb of a Lieutenant 
 Cowen, one of the Essex's officers, who had fallen in a 
 duel with a brother officer named Gramble. 
 
240 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 The Briton's company saw a good deal of the Pacific 
 coast. When lying off Callao, they saw much of the good 
 people of Lima, and this is what Lieutenant John Shil- 
 libeer, in command of the marines, has to say of them: 
 *'The ladies being pretty, and possessing a more 
 than ordinary share of interesting vivacity, we were 
 led so imperceptibly to the point of departure, that it 
 had arrived before we could have hoped it had half 
 elapsed/' 
 
 This is well meant, but almost as involved as the morals 
 of a lady who, at the Northern port of Piura, came off 
 with a number of others to visit the Briton. In 1814 the 
 rage for collecting souvenirs from visiting warships had 
 not reached its height, so her action in pocketing a certain 
 amount of the Briton's silver proved that her ideas an- 
 ticipated the times. She was obviously confused when 
 the Captain's steward retrieved from her capacious 
 pockets a silver knife and other objects of the kind. 
 Nevertheless, there seem to have been circumstances 
 which made this appropriation rather out of the ordinary. 
 **It may be urged in extenuation of her fault," gravely 
 explains Shillibeer, **that Lord Anson, at his visit there, 
 had played a trick or two on the family from which she 
 was descended." 
 
 Could Anson only have foreseen one of the results of 
 his famous voyage! 
 
 In 1823 H.M.S. Cambridge set out for South America, 
 having on board four British consuls, Messrs, Rowcroft, 
 Nugent, Parish, and Hood, who were appointed respec- 
 tively to Lima, Valparaiso, Buenos Aires, and Mon- 
 tevideo. Each of these officials was provided with two 
 vice-consuls. Doubtless the South American squadron 
 was not ill-pleased when British consuls were appointed 
 to the Pacific coast, for, until the advent of those useful 
 agents, all official matters and commercial difficulties 
 which cropped up between the South Americans and the 
 British had to be adjusted by the British naval com- 
 
FIRST RELATIONS WITH NEW REPUBLICS 241 
 
 mander-in-chief, who thus, whether he would or not, 
 became a Jack-of-all-trades, ashore as well as afloat. 
 
 All the consuls reached their destinations safely, but 
 Mr. Eowcroft met his end under tragic circumstances very- 
 soon after he had taken up his post. He had been din- 
 ing on board the Cambridge, and was anxious to return 
 to Lima after nightfall. He had been warned that this 
 attempt would be dangerous, since the uniform of the city 
 of London cavalry which he wore somewhat resembled 
 that of a Spanish officer, for which it might easily be mis- 
 taken in the dark. But the unfortunate official deter- 
 mined to set out, and the predicted catastrophe occurred. 
 The patriot guard, making certain that it was a Spaniard 
 advancing toward them, fired, and Eowcroft died the 
 next morning from his wounds. 
 
 It may be remarked here that, although Great Britain 
 had appointed her consuls to most of the new republics 
 as early as 1823, some time was destined to elapse before 
 the weight of full diplomatic relations was added. The 
 first envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to 
 be appointed was Mr. Alexander Cockburn who was sent 
 to Colombia in 1826. After this Sir E. Ker Porter was 
 appointed charge d'aif aires to Venezuela in 1835; in 1837 
 Mr. W. Wilson proceeded in a similar capacity to Bolivia. 
 
 The diplomatic equipment of the entire continent soon 
 followed, with the result that South America was no 
 longer regarded as a collection of experimental groups of 
 humanity but as a gathering of friendly states, each of 
 which was rapidly growing in importance. 
 
 To the chronicles of Miller, Cochrane, and Hall might 
 well be added those of the chaplain of H.M.S. Cambridge, 
 who modestly writes under the initials H. S. His pages 
 are few and small, but they are filled with most interest- 
 ing matter. Among the personages he met was the Span- 
 ish General Eodil, who came to dine on board the Cam- 
 bridge shortly after the fall of Callao — a stronghold which 
 he had defended with a tenacity in the face of hopeless 
 
242 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 odds such as none but a man of his extraordinary de- 
 termination and courage could have exhibited. It was 
 Rodil who, for month after month, maintained the spirit 
 of the diseased and starving garrison. His methods were 
 occasionally relentless and bloodthirsty ; but he himself at 
 all times set the highest example of courage and watch- 
 fulness. His activities were ceaseless by day and by 
 night, and he was invariably to be found at the point of 
 danger. When the inevitable end drew near, Rodil ate 
 and slept on the parapets, never once entering his quar- 
 ters, while his beard, for want of shaving, grew long upon 
 his face. What an heroic figure would have been Rodil 's, 
 had he served a victorious cause ! 
 
 It is the chaplain of the Cambridge who relates how, 
 at the hauling down of the Spanish ensign at Callao, Cap- 
 tain Simpson, of the Peruvian navy, stood near the in- 
 domitable Rodil, and remarked that the Spanish gen- 
 erial's face remained impassive, and that he even smiled 
 slightly — as well he might in the consciousness of a duty 
 so heroically, if ruthlessly, done. 
 
 It is he, too, who gives us a wealth of such instructive 
 paragraphs as the following: "We reached Santiago 
 about two o 'clock. Lord Byron and I drove to the house 
 of the agent for the Chilean Mining Association, where 
 we found a hearty welcome and invitation to fix our abode 
 during our stay in the place. We dined at the English 
 inn, and in the evening went to visit at the house of 
 Admiral Blanco. Here I met with Martin de la Vega, 
 an old man of eighty-four, who dances at all the tertulias ; 
 he is chaplain in the army ; and before I had known him 
 half an hour, he told me, I am the man mentioned by 
 Captain Hall, in his book on South America. ' ' 
 
 Here is another fragment that introduces a number of 
 sufficiently notable names: ''This evening I rode up to 
 Lima in the stage coach which has been lately established, 
 in company with Grillespie. I established myself in Mrs. 
 Walker's hotel, near the Church of San Augustin. The 
 
FIRST RELATIONS WITH NEW REPUBLICS M3 
 
 next morning I called on General O'Higgins, who very 
 obligingly invited me to dine with him. General Sands, 
 an Englishman, who has been nine years in the Colombian 
 service, and Mrs. Houston were of the party. Gen. 
 O'Higgins 's mother, a pleasant lively old woman, and his 
 sister, a lady apparently about fifty, dined with us. The 
 conversation was various and most agreeable, and the 
 dinner sumptuous, and dressed much in the English 
 stile." 
 
 On one occasion, when Bolivar was dining on board 
 H.M.S. Cambridge, the boats had been ordered at sunset. 
 So agreeable did the entertainment prove that the British 
 commander, possibly bearing Joshua in mind, gave orders 
 that the sun was not to set until half an hour after its 
 usual time. And the sun obeyed — so far as the ship's 
 routine was concerned! When the Liberator in his 
 gorgeous uniform descended the gangway at the hour of 
 official sunset the dusk had fallen, and the stars had be- 
 gun to shine ! On this occasion his appearance was thus 
 described: ''His countenance seems open, and his con- 
 versation lively and unassuming ; but his whole figure and 
 face are those of a man worn out with care and toil." 
 
 Bolivar made evident his appreciation of the Cam- 
 bridge's entertainment by a slight testimonial which he 
 sent on board the next day. Ten bullocks and fifty sheep ! 
 Even in those days there was nothing niggardly in South 
 American courtesies ! 
 
 Indeed, this generous species of hospitality was illus- 
 trated in a remarkable fashion even at a dinner given by 
 the local priest. Here the meal was ushered in by vermi- 
 celli soup and boiled fowl; after which came "two dishes 
 of boiled meats, beef, tongue, and a fat ham, all mixed to- 
 gether, and surrounded with vegetables, pumpkin, cab- 
 bage, and potatoes." To top up this profusion arrived 
 a roast turkey and a dish of baked cream ! One is con- 
 strained to believe that this was not the good cura's 
 normal fare ! Let it be added that at a dinner at another 
 
244 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 establishment two turkeys were brought to the table, the 
 one hot, and the other cold, both ornamented with sweet- 
 meats and gold leaf. 
 
 It must not be imagined that the civilian element had 
 played no part in the stirring events of the day. Mr. 
 John Miller, who wrote the ' ' Memoirs of General Millar, ' ' 
 freely acknowledges the various services rendered by the 
 British mercantile community of the Pacific coast to the 
 South Americans. He cites the case of some English 
 merchants who joined the patriot cavalry in the charge at 
 Maipii — the most conspicuous of these being Messrs. 
 Samuel Haigh and James Barnard. He mentions, too, 
 cases of private benevolence and friendly offices. 
 
 But it was another matter, protests Mr. Miller, when it 
 came to hard and fast business — ^when the justice of the 
 respective claims of the patriot or royalist causes were 
 apt to become diminished in importance before the per- 
 sonal considerations involved in the questions of per- 
 centage and profit. This may well have been so. The 
 community would not have been the first to drown senti- 
 ment in financial success ! 
 
 The attention of the average person who troubles him- 
 self about this period is so apt to be taken up by the 
 spectacle of the patriot victories and of the triumphant 
 vindication of their rights that one is apt to forget that, 
 the more brilliant the light, the darker the shade. Much 
 has been heard of the Spanish haughtiness and arrogance ; 
 but there was the other side of the picture. Captain Hall 
 gives us a pathetic glimpse of this in his description of 
 an elaborate official ball at Valparaiso — an entertainment 
 at which the Chilean ladies appeared in the most magnifi- 
 cent toilettes. But Captain Hall happened to look into a 
 side chamber, where lurked the skeleton of the feast. 
 This is what he saw: 
 
 **I was struck by the appearance of several lady-like 
 young women standing on chairs and straining their eyes, 
 as they looked over the heads of the servants and musi- 
 
BRITISH SOUTH AMERICANS 
 
 A BRITISH SOUTH AMERICAN ON HIS RANCHO 
 
FIRST RELATIONS WITH NEW REPUBLICS 245 
 
 cians to catch a glimpse of the strangers in the ballroom, 
 from which they appeared to be excluded. Seated on a 
 sofa in the corner near them were two stately old ladies, 
 simply though elegantly dressed, who did not appear to 
 sympathize with their children in eagerness about the 
 ball, but sat apart quietly conversing together. In their 
 countenances, which retained traces of considerable 
 beauty, there dwelt a melancholy expression; while their 
 demeanor indicated an indifference to all that was pass- 
 ing. On enquiry, it appeared that they were old Span- 
 iards, who, under the former administration of the coun- 
 try, had been persons of wealth and consequence, but 
 whose existence was now scarcely known." 
 
 While on the subject of these entertainments, we may 
 skip a few years, and remark on one which took place in 
 Peru. On New Year's day of 1825 an English merchant 
 in Lima gave a ball in honor of Bolivar and of the battle 
 of Ayacucho. This was a very full-dress affair, a strong 
 band being in attendance, and bunting flying freely. At 
 one end of the ballroom was a full-length portrait of 
 Bolivar, done on canvas, while a similar likeness of Sucre 
 adorned the opposite wall. 
 
 When Bolivar entered the room there was considerable 
 acclamation, the orchestra striking up the Colombian na- 
 tional air. It is to be hoped that this portrait of Bolivar 
 was a success, for the sake of the Liberator, for to be 
 confronted all the evening by a libellous replica of one- 
 self must be depressing even to a person of such indomi- 
 table spirit as Bolivar! Considering the almost certain 
 absence of any really capable artist in those stirring 
 times, one is inclined to fear the worst. Bolivar, how- 
 ever, could not have been much disconcerted, for after 
 supper he waltzed with a young lady of Lima. 
 
 It may interest admirers of Bolivar to learn that the 
 General possessed a very pretty country house at the 
 foot of a picturesque ravine in the neighborhood of 
 Bogota. In this pleasant, verandaed building, set in the 
 
246 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 midst of the forest, and surrounded by gardens laid out 
 in the French style, Bolivar was wont to entertain his 
 friends at numerous dinner parties. Here, according to 
 a contemporary authority, he appeared to great advan- 
 tage, "evincing the good humor and urbanity of his dis- 
 position, though never descending from his finished, gen- 
 tlemanly manner." 
 
 Occasionally when the old order came into collision 
 with the new, the result was tragic, as when, for instance, 
 the old Spaniards found themselves deprived not only of 
 their property and social position but of their homes. 
 Just as often the upshot had its ludicrous side. Delu- 
 sions were apt to be shattered on either side. The pop- 
 ular notion, for instance, that the officials of the Inquisi- 
 tion were of necessity callously hypocritical as well as 
 cruel in the exercise of their grim duties is not always 
 borne out by a closer acquaintance with these men. A 
 minor instance of this occurred at Lima, just after the 
 abolition of the Inquisition at that place. One of the ex- 
 priests of that much dreaded institution happened to find 
 himself in company with some Englishmen who were din- 
 ing, and after an acquaintance had been struck up he 
 turned to an acquaintance, and exclaimed in genuine dis- 
 tress : * ' Oh ! What a pity it is that such fine rosy-look- 
 ing, good young men, should all necessarily and inevitably 
 go to the Devil!" 
 
 Another curious character of the Pacific coast at this 
 period was a monk who was passionately addicted to cock- 
 fighting. Having made the acquaintance of the chaplain 
 of H.M.S. Cambridge, he begged the latter to write to 
 Lord Derby, whose breed he had heard was the best in 
 England, in order to ask for four fighting-cocks and as 
 many hens ! 
 
 In the end he himself compiled a letter to Lord Derby, 
 and demanded the favor in a collection of most ingenu- 
 ous sentences. Whether the epistle ever reached Lord 
 Derby I do not know. 
 
FIRST RELATIONS WITH NEW REPUBLICS 247 
 
 All this time, of course, society was consolidating it- 
 self in the more important towns of the Pacific coast. 
 The South Americans rapidly adapted themselves to the 
 liberal notions of existence which now prevailed, and the 
 intercourse between them and the British continually de- 
 veloped. The importance of the immigration of these 
 latter may be gathered from the fact that in 1823 the 
 British population of Valparaiso, which at the time con- 
 tained some ten thousand inhabitants, amounted to no 
 less than a thousand. In the meantime a Mr. Thompson, 
 a missionary, founded Lancasterian schools at Buenos 
 Aires, Montevideo, and Santiago. He subsequently, 
 about 1821, founded a fourth at Lima. It is noteworthy 
 of remark here that, although he met with considerable 
 opposition in Peru, he received the hearty support of the 
 clergy and monks. 
 
 Lancastrian schools were established, too, in Colom- 
 bia and Venezuela almost before the North was liberated, 
 one of the first being at Cartagena. 
 
 An even bolder flight of enterprise was initiated in 
 1823, when another missionary caused the New Testa- 
 ment to be translated into Quichua, the language of the 
 ancient and modern Peruvian Indians. 
 
 No picture of this kind, of course, could be without its 
 reverse. A quaint Northern instance of the confusion 
 and mental giddiness into which too powerful and rapid 
 a dose of liberty had flung the inhabitants of many of the 
 districts is related by a naval officer with some humor: 
 
 **0n Christmas Eve, at the time we were sailing up 
 the river, the whole army of the State of Guayaquil, con- 
 sisting of one regiment, marched out of the town, and 
 having taken up a position half a league off, sent in a 
 message at daybreak to the Governor, to say that they 
 were determined to serve under no other flag than that 
 of Bolivar ; and unless they were indulged in this matter, 
 they would instantly set fire to the town. The Governor, 
 with the good sen^e and prudence of utter helplessness, 
 
248 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 sent his compliments to the troops, and begged that they 
 would do just as they pleased. Upon the receipt of this 
 civil message, one half of the regiment were so much 
 pleased with having the matter left to their own free 
 choice, and being rather anxious, perhaps, for their break- 
 fast, which was waiting for them, agreed to relinquish 
 the character of rebels, and come quietly back to their 
 allegiance. ' ' 
 
 It is on such Gilbertian foundations as these that many 
 Englishmen build up their conception of South America 
 of to-day ! For, all that, it is true enough that the early 
 nineteenth century provided plenty of instances of the 
 kind throughout the continent. That the temperament 
 of the South American need not of necessity be mercurial 
 was discovered somewhat to his cost by a North Ameri- 
 can merchant who in the early 1820 's landed thirteen 
 arrohas of sugar at the port of Chorillos on the Peruvian 
 coast. To his dismay he found that the peasants em- 
 ployed to carry the goods from the beach to the town in- 
 sisted on pocketing a proportion of the sugar. Nothing 
 would stop them. The scandalized merchant beat the 
 men with his fists until he had to cease for the simple 
 reason that his knuckles were worn out. They took his 
 blows with perfect stolidity, accepting them in tacit ex- 
 change for the sugar, of which they continued to pocket 
 what they considered their share with a calm and un- 
 breakable resolution? They made no attempt to molest 
 their employer, and the American may well have thought 
 himself fortunate in emerging from the situation with the 
 loss of nothing beyond one out of his thirteen arrohas of 
 sugar. 
 
 Among the other incidents of the early days of libera- 
 tion there is an amusing story told of a certain Judge 
 Prevost, a jocular agent from the United States, who 
 was in Buenos Aires in the 1820 's — that period of giddily 
 rapid governmental transition. Judge Prevost made a 
 habit of stepping on to the balcony of his house every 
 
FIRST RELATIONS WITH NEW REPUBLICS 249 
 
 morning and of demanding of the first person who would 
 chance to pass beneath, ''Who governs to-day?" Little 
 things lead to men's undoing, and it was the coincidence 
 of meeting a brother wag — ^who replied, "Quien sabef" 
 (who knows?) — one fine morning that led to his abrupt 
 departure from Buenos Aires. It was Prevost's delight 
 to tell this story: it never failed in its reception. Un- 
 fortunately for himself he told it once too often, and it 
 reached the ears of a governor who was lacking in humor, 
 and who was determined to let the official from the United 
 States know who was governing that morning ! So poor 
 Judge Prevost had orders to depart forthwith, and four 
 hours later found himself bound for Chile in the good 
 vessel Enterprise, the property of a Mr. Samuel Haigh — 
 who has already been mentioned for his gallant assistance 
 to the Chilean cause — ^who was himself traveling in the 
 ship at the time. 
 
 After this smart reminder of that of which the age was 
 still capable, it is time to return to the practical and 
 commercial side of the situation. No sooner was Peru 
 in the hands of the South Americans and its industries 
 and commerce open to the world than an intense excite- 
 ment manifested itself in the London mining market. 
 The mines of Peru — ^where, incidentally, an Englishman 
 of the name of Green was already superintending the 
 brand-new coinage at the Lima mint — were calling, with 
 the magical name of Potosi written in glittering letters in 
 the sky high above all the rest ! 
 
 On 'change in London Town bankers and merchants 
 nodded together with the ponderous and chastened wis- 
 dom of the financier, their eyes filled with the yellow gold 
 of Peru that filtered through the London sunshine, and 
 with the silver that blinked more dully through the mist. 
 
 To do them justice, the inhabitants of young independ- 
 ent South America tumbled to the situation with a rapid- 
 ity which augured well for their future careers as busi- 
 ness men. In their eyes it is possible that the mines were 
 
250 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 of rather less import than the company of important and 
 eager gentlemen who were reported to be hastening to 
 the spot from London, bearing extraordinary powers and 
 authorities to deal in mines on a scale such as mines had 
 never been dealt in before! 
 
 So those who had mines prepared to sell them then 
 and there, and those who had none prepared to sell some 
 one else's — and frequently succeeded in the attempt! 
 Never, too, was there such a furbishing up of old and 
 exhausted mines, of which, the rights lay by the law of 
 the land at the disposal of the first comer ! Local com- 
 panies were formed with the object of securing every 
 mineral field which might be bought for a song, and 
 every effort was made to receive the mine buyers with 
 forethought and suitable attention ! 
 
 In due course the commissioners arrived. Once upon 
 the scene, several of these turned out to be old friends 
 of the local mine-magnates — Englishmen who had taken 
 part in the revolution and who, having convinced the Eng- 
 lish capitalists of their knowledge of the Peruvian min- 
 ing world, now returned to the scene of their former ex- 
 ploits, some of them traveling en prince this time, ac- 
 companied by secretaries, technical advisers, and valets. 
 
 In London, fed by ardent reports from South America, 
 the speculation in these matters grew more and more in- 
 tense. Had the worthy investors known the language of 
 to-day, they would have declared that their market was 
 booming. The shares of one or two of those institutions 
 which had sent out the most elaborate commissioners ac- 
 tually rose to one hundred times the amount of their 
 original value, and had all the appearance of being about 
 to continue to soar at the same pace for an indefinite 
 period. 
 
 In the meantime Bolivar himself had taken a hand in 
 this Peruvian mining enterprise. It is a little difficult 
 for the casual historian to associate the romantic figure 
 of the Liberator of half South America with any dealings 
 
FIRST RELATIONS WITH NEW REPUBLICS 251 
 
 of the kind. But when the occasion arose Bolivar showed 
 himself as fully alive as any one else to the value of min- 
 ing scrip. First of all he rescinded the law which al- 
 lowed the first comer to take possession of unworked 
 mines — a decree which was subsequently revoked in turn ; 
 then he put up for sale the whole of the unappropriated 
 mines of Upper Peru. The whole of the unappropriated 
 mines of Upper Peru, gentlemen, in one lot ! Going — go- 
 ing— ! 
 
 ''A million dollars!" bid a syndicate from Buenos 
 Aires. *' Twelve hundred thousand!" capped a rival. 
 *'A million and a half!" offered Captain Andrews, a 
 London commissioner. Bolivar, having cast a wary eye 
 over the local market, shook his head. He could do bet- 
 ter than that in London, he believed. He named his own 
 commissioners, who should make for the financial hub 
 of the world. But they got no farther than La Plata. 
 By that time the news had arrived that the London min- 
 ing balloon had burst with a most painful and costly 
 pop! 
 
 Thus in 1825 the South American market knew its first 
 panic in London. After the crisis the mining values of 
 Peru gradually found their right levels, and a number of 
 properties which had been considered as sound were 
 found almost worthless, while, on the other hand, many 
 which had been held as of little account provided with a 
 most gratifying surprise those people who happened to 
 be financially interested in them at the time when they 
 consented to reveal the value of their contents. 
 
 At this period a great amount of survey work was ac- 
 complished by British vessels on the South American 
 coast. It is, of course, impossible to follow the details of 
 their enterprise, and a few records of a single expedition 
 may serve well enough to illustrate the rest. 
 
 In 1828 Captain Henry Foster sailed in H.M.S. sloop 
 Chanticleer on a scientific mission to the Southern At- 
 lantic — a voyage which has been graphically described by 
 
252 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 the surgeon of the vessel, Mr. W. H. B. Webster. Ar- 
 riving at Montevideo, they found the Portuguese garrison 
 besieged by the Gauchos, and the surgeon on the occa- 
 sion of a landing-party found himself unexpectedly look- 
 ing down the muzzle of a carbine which a suspicious 
 Gaucho was pointing directly at him. The man must 
 have been a formidable person to meet, as, beyond his 
 carbine, he was provided with a lasso, a cutlass, and a 
 brace of pistols! After a conversation of signs, the 
 mind of the Gaucho seems to have been relieved, for he 
 made a polite bow, and vanished. 
 
 After this the Chanticleer sailed down to Cape Horn, 
 and in the name of King George the Fourth annexed some 
 territory, made friends with the Fuegian Indians, and met 
 with H.M.S. Adventure, commanded by Captain King. 
 At a later period of the cruise the Chanticleer found her- 
 self off the Brazilian convict island of Fernando Noronha, 
 and the officers bore testimony to the civility and good- 
 nature of the convicts who had the free run of the island. 
 
 The voyage ended in a tragedy. Having completed 
 some valuable astronomical observations at Panama, Cap- 
 tain Foster was returning in a canoe to his ship. Pro- 
 ceeding down the historical river Chagres, he leaned 
 against an awning, which gave way, precipitating him 
 into the water. A young officer and his coxswain in- 
 stantly plunged together after him, but the swift cur- 
 rent of the stream had sucked the Captain beneath, and 
 the grim Chagres Eiver had yet one more catastrophe to 
 add to its long list. 
 
 At the time of the Chanticleer's voyage science had al- 
 ready begun to play some part in alleviating the fare of 
 the sailor and in minimizing the risk of scurvy — a work 
 in which Captain Cook had already shown such zeal. 
 From the modern point of view progress was compara- 
 tively insignificant, as will be evident from a remark of 
 the Chanticleer's surgeon: *'It is not very long ago that 
 I was shewn in Sir Ashton Lever's museum a piece of 
 
FIRST RELATIONS WITH NEW REPUBLICS 253 
 
 dried salt-beef ; the shreds of which it was composed ex- 
 actly resembled ropeyarn, and, having been round the 
 world, it was very properly treasured up as a curiosity.** 
 
 One can picture the shudderings of the advertising 
 manager of a present-day food extract on being con- 
 fronted with an uncompromising description of this kind. 
 But even at that period it was said to be possible to cook 
 a joint of Donkin's preserved meat in London and to eat 
 it fresh at Cape Horn. Sailors themselves alleged that 
 it might be taken right round the world, and be as good 
 as ever. This in itself does not seem to suggest a rope- 
 yarn texture. No doubt they were easily satisfied in 
 those days, and the explanation lies in the **as ever." 
 
 Before forsaking the subject of the sea, we may touch 
 on a topic, which at first would seem to have no connec- 
 tion with it ! The term * * Gringo ' * is, of course, applied 
 with impartial generosity alike to the European in gen- 
 eral, or to the North American. But it was made to apply 
 in the first place more especially to the Britisher. It cor- 
 responds more or less with the "rooinek" of South Amer- 
 ica, and has its softer and friendlier counterpart in the 
 ''new chum" of our own colonies. 
 
 When in Chile, on several occasions I heard the origin 
 explained of this word of scanty compliment. Accord- 
 ing to my informants of the Pacific coast, it appears that 
 the primary source of this was the musical propensities 
 of a boat 's-crew of a British ship anchored off a Chilean 
 port. The men, it appears, when pulling ashore, across 
 the blue waves, trolled out the ballad "Green grow the 
 rushes, 0!" in a lusty chorus that in part remained in 
 the ears of some Chilean Guazus who happened to be 
 listening ashore. Hence the contraction of the first 
 words into "Gringo." 
 
 I can only give this story as it was told me by Chilean 
 and Englishman alike. Unfortunately there was no date 
 attached — ^which omission in itself need not necessarily 
 make the tale improbable ! 
 
254 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Senor Lucio V. Mansilla, however, in his work on * ' Ro- 
 zas" maintains that "Grringo" is not an Americanism, for 
 wanderers such as the gipsies were known by this name 
 in Spain. Other foreigners were distinguished by simi- 
 lar nicknames. Thus the Spaniard was known as the 
 Godo, and the Italian as the Carcamdn, while the general 
 term for a foreigner unused to the saddle was Mattur- 
 rango. 
 
CHAPTEE Xni 
 
 EABLY TEAVELEKS AND TEADEES IN THE EEPUBLICS 
 
 Social conditions in the new South America — The influence of concessions 
 — Occupations followed by the first British settlers — ^Wild scope of 
 their energies — Some early hotels — Scottish milkmaids — ^Varied circum- 
 stances of the pioneers — South America as a Latin continent — Eole 
 played by the British — Some questions of shopkeeping — Past and pres- 
 ent position — The road to Chile — Experiences of some Cornish miners — 
 A combat with a condor — Travel in the Andes — Isolated miners — 
 Method of conveyance in the Colombian mountains — The Sillers and 
 his revenge — Turbulent priests at Mendoza — One interpretation of the 
 advantages derived from the Eevolution — ^The exchange of commodities 
 between Britain and South America — Some ill-fated shipments and in- 
 congruous objects — Origin of a quaint local custom — ^How a Scotsman 
 vindicated his veracity — British pastoralists on South American soil — 
 The Indian peril — Methods of attack employed by the aborigines of the 
 Pampa — Measures of defense — ^Northern natives — Ravages committed by 
 them during the War of Independence — Havoc wrought in the town of 
 Santa Marta — A naval day ashore — Experiences of a shooting party — 
 The historical lake of Guatavita — Plans for the securing of its treas- 
 ure — ^The etory of the Spanish soldier and the golden images — A curi- 
 ous Northern custom — Rough sport — An early nineteenth-century Co- 
 lombian dinner — Christmas festivities at Bogota — Procedure substi- 
 tuted in 1823 for the medieval entertainment — ^Appearance of the 
 Northern traveler — The sons of generals Miranda and Wilson — Cap- 
 tain B. J. Sullivan — The river voyage of Lieutenant W. Smyth and 
 Mr. F. Lowe — Preparations for crossing the continent by stream — 
 Departure at the last moment from the Samarang — Assistance re- 
 ceived from the Peruvian Government and the British community — 
 Start of the expedition — Colonel Althaus — Major Beltran and Lieuten- 
 ant Azcarate — Difficulties in connection with the escort — ^An alteration 
 of the route is found necessary — The Huallaga River — A launching 
 ceremony — The native crews — Aboriginal humor — Prevalence of Brit- 
 ish goods — An advance agent of imagination — The Ucayali River — 
 Sojourn at a mission establishment — Leave taken from the Peruvian 
 officers — How the lack of funds was remedied — Incidents on the final 
 voyage — Arrival at ParS. 
 
 265 
 
256 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 OWING to the nature of its population the tend- 
 ency of South American society has always 
 worked toward the foundation of a small but bril- 
 liant aristocracy at the head of a disproportionately large 
 untutored populace. In the south of the continent the 
 important immigration from Europe has had the effect 
 of supplying the republics of the temperate latitudes with 
 a bourgeoisie of weight and influence. But in the first 
 quarter of the nineteenth century no such body had come 
 into existence in any part of the continent. 
 
 It was largely owing to a misconception of these social 
 conditions that the policy of the first British relations 
 with the South Americans had very soon to be amended. 
 London financiers and merchants drew their impressions 
 of the South American from such personalities as Mir- 
 anda, Bolivar, San Martin, and Eivadavia, and there were 
 many who seemed to consider that these extraordinarily 
 gifted men were merely average specimens of South 
 American humanity ! 
 
 The inevitable disillusion followed expectations such as 
 these. Besides the honorable men of the new republics, 
 there were those others — whose total absence from any 
 state would automatically unveil a solid Utopia? And for 
 such as these no mine in the continent was as profitable 
 just then as the dazzling field for the nimble-witted in- 
 troduced by the British hunt after industrial concessions ! 
 After this the British commercial men — ^like the burned 
 child who forgets the pleasant warmth of the fire in the 
 pain of a burn — held aloof for a time, until matters be- 
 gan to adjust themselves to the actual and practical exist- 
 ence of affairs. 
 
 It is clear enough, too, that those British pioneers who 
 first settled themselves in the liberated states had not 
 gaged the depths of the national forces of their adopted 
 lands. t<A. study of the occupations carried on by the Brit- 
 ish for the first few years after independence had been 
 achieved is instructive. At this period we find that they 
 
EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 257 
 
 had taken over almost every occupation and profession — 
 with an enthusiasm, indeed, that might have applied to 
 our own colonies. That they should have given the initial 
 impetus to finance and wholesale commerce, and that they 
 should have embarked in agriculture and stockbreeding, 
 was inevitable. 
 
 Those doctors, too, who came out to assist in the war of 
 Liberation, and who remained to continue their work in 
 the Southern Continent must have been welcome visitors. 
 The state of Spanish medical science at that age may be 
 gaged from Eichard Ford's description at an even later 
 period of the circumstances of the peninsula, where **A11 
 Spaniards are very dangerous with the knife, and more 
 particularly if surgeons," and where the wight who falls 
 ill is especially unfortunate, as, ''whatever his original 
 complaint, it is too often followed by secondary and worse 
 symptoms, in the shape of the native doctor ' ' ! 
 
 That the British doctor himself of the early nineteenth 
 century is evidenced by a letter of San Martin's, written 
 from Mendoza, when he was beginning to formulate his 
 plans for the invasion of Chile. In this he remarks that 
 ''Doctor William Colisberry, who also attended me in my 
 illness at Tucuman, assures me that I have not six months 
 to live" — a prognostication which, had it been fulfilled, 
 must have altered the whole course of South American 
 history ! 
 
 But the energies of the British extended far beyond 
 such professions as this. We find them as hotel, eating- 
 house, and reading-room proprietors. They are seen as 
 laundry-folk, market-gardeners, shop-keepers, artisans, 
 and coachmen. They founded periodicals in Spanish as 
 well as in English, and they frequently served as the 
 crews of the river schooners. 
 
 We know that at Montevideo as early as the 1820 's, a 
 "respectable ordinary" was kept by a Mr. Caulfield, at 
 which most of the English and American merchants 
 boarded. At that time no doubt beef was the most pop- 
 
258 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 ular meat in that establishment, for Mr, W. H. B. Web- 
 ster, the surgeon of H.M. sloop Chanticleer, relates that 
 the price of the finest beef in the town was Id. per lb., 
 though 8d. per lb. was demanded for very indifferent 
 mutton. 
 
 At this period, too, an Englishman kept a hotel at 
 Santiago in Chile, which was frequently crowded to over- 
 flowing by the Cornish miners and others who arrived in 
 such numbers when the first short mining boom of this 
 part of the Pacific coast was at its height. 
 
 Scarcely, moreover, were the Spaniards driven from 
 Lima — and before they were expelled from the neighbor- 
 ing part of Callao — ^when one reads of Walker's hotel, 
 near the Church of San Agustin, in the Capital of Peru, as 
 well as of Oliver's hotel in the same town. In this last 
 building, by the way, a British naval chaplain has placed 
 it on record that he married one of the first English 
 couples to undergo that ceremony in Spanish South Amer- 
 ica. Undoubtedly there was more love than learning in 
 the match, for each of the couple had perforce to be con- 
 tent with making a humble mark in place of a signature. 
 Nevertheless, that is no reason why their descendants — 
 the name of the original couple not being given — should 
 not be millionaires to-day! 
 
 This particular occupation was well enough, but so en- 
 thusiastic was the general enterprise that in 1820 a colony 
 of Scottish milkmaids was introduced into Buenos Aires 
 in order that the luxury of butter should abound at that 
 place. Despite many set-backs, owing to the wild state 
 of the cows, the Scottish lassies eventually succeeded in 
 producing much butter — only to discover that the con- 
 temporary local preference for oil remained perfectly 
 unshaken ! 
 
 Many of these experiments, as a matter of fact, were 
 persisted in, in spite of the warnings of many who real- 
 ized the futility of round pegs in square holes. Several 
 contemporary writers urged with considerable reason that 
 
EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 259 
 
 South America of the early nineteenth century was no 
 place for the British working man or small tradesman, 
 nor would be until some generations had passed away. 
 Many returned home to resume their lives in more settled 
 surroundings, and to feast their eyes upon a sight for 
 which a Cornish mine captain in the midst of the Andes 
 once expressed his longing : * ' Them things that do wear 
 caps and aprons !" 
 
 Yet, curiously enough, of those who decided to stay on 
 and to risk all an astonishingly large proportion made 
 their fortunes. How many British have there not been 
 in South America who spoke English like a peasant and 
 Spanish like a foreign lord ! Men who owned their many 
 square leagues and the allegiance of scores of retainers, 
 whose services they received with the dignified Spanish 
 calm that had become their second nature. 
 
 But in gaining all this they had lost their birthright — 
 a possibility which none of them had foreseen when they 
 first set foot in the Southern continent. The process was 
 gradual and imperceptible, and its conclusion invariably 
 saw the man a devoted citizen of the republic whose soil 
 he now claimed as his own. As for sons and grandsons, 
 every breath that they drew was Latin, and very rightly 
 Latin — although I fear that in one or two instances the 
 preference was accentuated by an uneasy consciousness 
 of their ancestor's modest social position in Europe; 
 which is a pity, seeing that this latter was usually a very 
 fine fellow. It was here, of course, that the secret lay — 
 the key to the situation which had not been grasped by any 
 Anglo-Saxon foreigner in the early ages of the era of in- 
 dependence. South America, being essentially a Latin 
 continent, had to develop on Latin lines. There are more 
 roads than one to a state of advanced civilization. The 
 Englishman, when he beckons, makes an upward gesture ; 
 the Iberian curves his fingers in the oriental downward 
 sweep : but the result is the same. 
 
 When it had become plain enough that these new states 
 
260 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 did not intend to adopt the Anglo-Saxon ideals, it must be 
 put to the credit of the British that they realized the ap- 
 propriateness of the choice, and set themselves content- 
 edly enough to fill those particular roles which the exigen- 
 cies of industries, politics, and temperament allotted to 
 them. 
 
 Thus in course of time the number of British shop- 
 keepers, officials in the pay of the republics, and other 
 persons whose occupations became more or less super- 
 fluous, diminished while on the other hand, the demands of 
 finance, transport, wholesale commerce, and the land at- 
 tracted an ever-increasing flow of men of this nationality. 
 
 Indeed, the respective situations of the British shop- 
 keepers in South America of a hundred years ago and of 
 to-day are worthy of a rapid interlude. It may be that 
 one of the chief errors of those worthy retail adventurers 
 who sallied out to the Southern ports at the beginning of 
 the nineteenth century was that their enterprise was be- 
 fore its time — for now that the Southern republics have at 
 length, after the countless vicissitudes inseparable from 
 the process of such a consummation, taken their proper 
 place among the great nations of the world, have not such 
 vast organizations as Harrods, Maples, Mappins, and 
 other establishments that can only exist in company with 
 a high state of civilization and many dollars, now planted 
 themselves in the soil of the new lands, attracted there as 
 irresistibly as an asbestos moth would be to a nourishing 
 flame ! 
 
 But we have advanced a century beyond the openings of 
 British trade with South America. In the early nine- 
 teenth century one of the first spots to attract the British 
 in any numbers was Central Chile. This was mainly on 
 account of the mining ventures which have already been 
 alluded to. But at that period the experiences on the road 
 to Chile were as varied and as rough as even the most en- 
 thusiastic traveler in search of local color could have de- 
 sired ! 
 
EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 261 
 
 Owing to their complete mastery of their craft, it has 
 been the lot of Cornish miners to travel in many parts of 
 the world. But they can have known few stranger jour- 
 neys than that across the dusty summer grasses of the 
 Argentine Campo. As the coaches, bound and strength- 
 ened with rawhide from wheel to roof, sped across the 
 alluvial plains, the men who came from the long narrow 
 streets of whitewashed Cornish cottages must have won- 
 dered at much that they saw. As for their grim guardian 
 angels of Gauchos, who galloped tirelessly by the side of 
 the coaches, and who regarded with amazed contempt 
 these strange creatures from abroad who possessed two 
 legs, and who yet did not know how to sit a horse — they 
 and their families at the fortified post-houses were not the 
 least curious of the many new sights the miners saw. 
 Captain Head relates the remark of one of them, as they 
 went from east to west: 
 
 **They be so wild as the donkey," said one of the Cor- 
 nish party, smiling; he then very gravely added, ''And 
 there be one thing, sir, that I do observe, which is, that 
 the farther we do go, the wilder things do get !" 
 
 It was this Cornishman, or another of his party, who 
 some time later, when in the Andes, rode up to a condor 
 who had gorged himself to such a degree on the carcass 
 of a horse that he was unable to flap his heavy body away. 
 Determined that he would break a spear with so unusual 
 an antagonist as a condor, the miner descended from his 
 horse, and closed with the gigantic bird. 
 
 "No two animals can well be imagined less likely to 
 meet than a Cornish miner and a condor," observes Head, 
 ' ' and few could have calculated, a year ago, when the one 
 was hovering high upon the snowy pinnacles of the Cor- 
 dillera, and the other many fathoms beneath the surface 
 of the ground in Cornwall, that they would ever meet to 
 wrestle and 'hug' upon the wide desert plain of Villa- 
 Vicencia. ' ' 
 
 It was a case of St. David and the Condor, and after a 
 
262 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 tremendous struggle victory rested with the man from 
 the land of leeks, who triumphantly bore away some of 
 the great carrion bird's wing feathers as trophies of the 
 day! 
 
 The accounts of these early crossings of the Cordilleras, 
 which are fairly numerous, dovetail their various facts, 
 the one with another, in a most interesting fashion. We 
 have a relation, for instance, by one of the first English- 
 men to pass the Andes of the accouchement of his wife in 
 the bleak and terrific upper-world of peaks, chasms, snow, 
 and condors — one of the most trying experiences, not only 
 for the wife but for the party, which can possibly be con- 
 ceived. In a later book another traveler tells how he 
 met an English lady traveling with a young family among 
 the Andes heights. Her eldest — a boy of seven, who had 
 ridden the whole way — ^was the actual child who had first 
 seen the light in that wild spot. He was certainly the 
 first Englishman — I do not know if there has been a 
 second — born in the shadow of Aconcagua ! 
 
 Numbers of the Cornish miners were occupied in the 
 Venezuelan mines, of which so much was hoped at the 
 beginning of the nineteenth century. At one of these, 
 the Quebrado Mine, no fewer than three hundred British 
 miners and laborers, and artisans were employed. 
 
 There would seem to be very few of the mountainous 
 mineral nooks of South America into which these Cornish 
 miners have not penetrated at some time or two. An epi- 
 sode in support of this is related by Mr. H. C. Ross 
 Johnson at a much later date. Writing in 1868, he 
 tells how, when traveling in the very remote Argentine 
 province of Catamarca, he quite unexpectedly came 
 across a Cornish mine captain and six Cornish foremen 
 miners. 
 
 They had been engaged for four years, at a temptingly 
 high rate of pay. Their lives must have been monoto- 
 nous in the extreme ; for since the date of their arrival at 
 the spot, three years before Mr. Ross Johnson met with 
 
EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 263 
 
 them, they had not been five miles from the lonely moun- 
 tain mine in which they worked ! 
 
 Although many of the early British travelers suffered 
 dangers and hardship in the passage of the Argentine- 
 Chilean Andes, they were at all events spared a sensa- 
 tion which is related with considerable emphasis by more 
 than one Englishman who penetrated into the Colombian 
 mountains. These were apt to be carried in a chair 
 strapped to the back of a powerful native mountaineer, 
 known as a sillero. The experience of these travelers as 
 they sat like portmanteaus on the backs of the moun- 
 taineers panting across precipices of a sickening depth 
 could have been no enviable one. 
 
 It is related that in the course of the "War of Independ- 
 ence a Spanish officer, who was being carried in this way, 
 caused himself no little brutal amusement by digging his 
 spurs into the unfortunate sillero, until the man, goaded 
 to desperation, jerked him from the chair into the depths 
 of a tremendous abyss, after which the sillero fled into the 
 wilds for refuge. 
 
 It was natural enough, owing to the confusion attending 
 the replacing of one rule by another, that the lesser events 
 should be described by the British spectators rather than 
 by the distraught local actors. It is to these British trav- 
 elers that we are indebted for much of the local color of 
 the first quarter of the nineteenth century. It is they who 
 have described the decay in the authority of those priests 
 who, disgracing their cloth, crowded into the cock-pits, 
 each with his fighting cock under his arm. It is they, too, 
 who have told us how a number of the most ignorant of 
 these priests, bitterly resenting the freedom accorded to 
 the British in Mendoza, managed for a time to secure the 
 governor of that province when he was in bed. After 
 this, taking advantage of the lapse of lay authority, they 
 burned in the public plasa a copy of the Constitution of 
 the new and objectionably tolerant republic ! 
 
 But such reactionary spasms were fleeting. The popu- 
 
264 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 lace on the whole was not slow in appreciating the ma- 
 terial and moral benefits derived from the revolution, al- 
 though these were sometimes judged in a sufficiently crude 
 manner. 
 
 A British officer who traveled over large stretches of 
 the north of the continent just after the conclusion of the 
 War of Independence used to ask many of the people with 
 whom he came into contact what was the chief benefit they 
 had derived from the revolution. He relates that the 
 answer was invariably the same, *'I can now procure 
 English goods at one third of the price at which they 
 could be purchased during the dominion of the Span- 
 iards.'* From which it appears that the highest affairs 
 of state can have the most homely significance ! 
 
 The method by which British trade was opened with 
 the Pacific coast of South America was simple enough. 
 Goods suitable for the Chilean market were consigned 
 from London or Calcutta to agents in Valparaiso or San- 
 tiago. The payment for these might be made in the or- 
 dinary way by bills or specie. Another method of liqui- 
 dating the amounts of these imported goods was by the 
 shipment of copper in return. In this way a British ves- 
 sel would discharge her cargo at Valparaiso and would 
 proceed to Coquimbo in the North to fill up with copper, 
 the shipment of which had been arranged for by the mer- 
 chants in Valparaiso or Santiago who had purchased the 
 European or Indian goods. 
 
 A similar exchange of commodities developed through- 
 out the continent. Buenos Aires and Montevideo sent 
 horns, hides, tallow, and other products of a pastoral 
 country. Brazil sent coffee and sugar ; Peru and Bolivia 
 sent their minerals and drugs, and in fact every one of 
 the new states contributed according to its capabilities — 
 which depended largely on the industry of its people and 
 the political tranquillity of the state. 
 
 On the other hand, the importation of the machinery 
 and goods, which had been so sternly shut out by the 
 
EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 265 
 
 Spanish laws of the Indies rapidly had its effect on the 
 industries of the continent and helped to change the face 
 of many a landscape. That there were instances of over- 
 enthusiasm and want of judgment goes without saying. 
 Melancholy traces of these were left in such objects as 
 massive pieces of mining machinery stranded in some 
 lofty and difficult pass of the Andes. Occasionally, too, 
 the geographical conditions of the various districts were 
 misunderstood — as when skates were sent to tropical 
 Brazil ! 
 
 It must be admitted that the finish of much of the early 
 nineteenth century ware sent from England to South 
 America was entirely inappropriate to its surroundings. 
 Walsh, for instance, relates that at a supper in a balcony 
 of the glowing uplands of Brazil, a rather mystic enter- 
 tainment — doubtless illuminated by fire-flies — at which 
 six young female slaves, robed in white, attended, the 
 Staffordshire Punch-jug bore upon its honest face the 
 blunt legend, ' ' To all good fellows. ' ' 
 
 No doubt, too. Captain Head, resting in a hut in a re- 
 mote corner of the then wild Pampa, and watching the 
 onslaught of a cloud of locusts on his belongings, took 
 some comfort from the assurance that ornamented a mug 
 in the rancho : 
 
 "No power on earth 
 Can make us rue, 
 If England to her- 
 Self proves true." 
 
 The meetings which had occurred from the dawn of 
 South American history between the upper classes of the 
 Anglo-Saxons and of the Iberians had been facilitated by 
 the knowledge, tastes, and inclinations which they pos- 
 sessed in common. But when, with the increased oppor- 
 tunities of travel, the lower orders of the British con- 
 trived to penetrate into the continent, their collision with 
 the humbler South Americans could not well fail to be 
 
266 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 productive of a good deal of misunderstanding and mu- 
 tual wonder. 
 
 Such as these, of course, possessed in the first instance 
 scant opportunity of studying the life of the better-class 
 South Americans, or of being struck with some of the 
 curious customs which the more cultured travelers re- 
 marked. One of these habits, though trivial enough, was 
 quaint. This was the friendly flipping of bread pellets at 
 meals, which, in the second decade of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury, appears to have been indulged in with an enthusiasm 
 that, having peppered the persons of all the guests, left 
 the floor littered with the bread missiles. This was looked 
 upon as a very curious and notable South American habit, 
 until it was discovered that the custom had been intro- 
 duced a few years before by some rather rowdy young 
 Englishmen! But nowhere else, apparently, had these 
 banqueting battles been taken up so whole-heartedly since 
 they flourished in London in the days of James II! 
 
 Of the more humble immigrants they were enterprising 
 folk, those who plunged into the midst of a people, whose 
 language they did not understand, and whose customs 
 they had to pick up as best they could. Yet there were 
 many who set out in this way, single-handed, and who 
 carved a career for themselves, notwithstanding the dis- 
 advantage of having to slash first of all in the dark ! But 
 the drawbacks of this racial solitude must have been 
 heavy. 
 
 In such circumstances traveler's tales are apt to be 
 double-edged. Many an itinerant expounder has flattered 
 himself that he has been dispensing useful information, 
 when all that he has taught his hearers is the conviction 
 that he himself is a liar! Something of this kind hap- 
 pened to an old Scotsman who had long been settled in 
 Corrientes when the first British war steamer to ascend 
 the Parana River halted at that subtropical port. Many 
 years before in an incautious and expansive moment he 
 had told the Corrientinos of English coal — of the black 
 
EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 267 
 
 stones that would burn and blaze. As a result, his repu- 
 tation for veracity had shrunk thinner than the legs of 
 the herons on the Parana. But when the black diamonds, 
 nestling in their bunkers under the white ensign actually 
 came up the river, his opportunity arrived with them. 
 He boarded the vessel, secured some lumps of coal, took 
 them ashore, piled and lit them, and, watched the flames 
 burn away the doubt of many years from the faces of his 
 apologetic, excited, and gratified friends. This story is, 
 I believe, absolutely true. 
 
 Later, when the pastoral value of the Southern half of 
 the continent became evident, arrived young men of the 
 type of those who proceed to our own colonies. With 
 them arrived cleaner stallions, straighter-backed bulls, 
 and meatier and woolier rams. 
 
 Very soon these British newcomers made themselves 
 at home to an extent in which none of their predecessors 
 had succeeded. They fraternized with South American 
 landowner and with Gaucho alike, and a mutual respect 
 was rapidly established. The Englishman, for his part, 
 became attached to these immense plains of alluvial soil 
 in a fashion that is seldom seen outside the bounds of 
 his own empire. In the early days — and until the middle 
 of the nineteenth century — ^he had not only hardships to 
 contend with, but the Indian peril as well. 
 
 South America lacks a Fenimore Cooper, which is re- 
 grettable, having regard to the wild scenes conjured up 
 by the Indians of the Southern pastures of the continent. 
 In many respects these resembled the redskins of North 
 America. Their war-whoop was similar, but rendered 
 yet more barbaric by striking the yelling lips with the 
 hand, thus breaking up the sound. Their lances were 
 of a prodigious length, and their horsemanship was such 
 that entire companies of them would sweep to the attack, 
 and present the appearance of mere riderless horses, the 
 dusky warriors clinging out of sight beneath the bellies 
 of their mounts. At other times they would play such 
 
268 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 circus-like tricks as that of standing upright on the backs 
 of their galloping horses. 
 
 A number of the British pioneers lost their lives at the 
 hands of these savages, and many a British-owned home- 
 stead went smoking up to the skies after their raids. A 
 fairly effectual method of defense was that of digging a 
 deep and wide ditch round a threatened estancia house. 
 Bred in the unbroken level of the Pampa, the Indian 
 horses had never acquired the art of leaping, and the 
 rifles of half a dozen resolute men stationed behind a 
 sufficiently important ditch frequently sent hundreds of 
 marauding Indians to the rightabout, for the Pampa war- 
 rior, afoot, somewhat resembled a non-swimmer in the 
 sea, and had no stomach left for fight or play ! 
 
 In the forest and mountain country of the north of the 
 continent the aborigines were, of course, of quite another 
 type. Here, although there is no record of any aggression 
 on a national scale, the Indians appear to have broken out 
 into lawlessness on one or two occasions as the northern 
 War of Liberation was drawing to a close. Sometimes 
 their ravages were sufficiently serious. Captain Coch- 
 rane, who in 1823 visited Santa Marta, an important town 
 in Colombia, found that it had quite recently been occu- 
 pied for three weeks by insurgent Indians, who had cre- 
 ated enormous damage, with the result that the popula- 
 tion of the place had been reduced from eight thousand 
 to a few hundreds, and that the commerce of the city 
 had been completely destroyed for the time being. "I 
 dined," says Captain Cochrane, ''with Mr. Fairbank, the 
 principal merchant of the place, from whom I heard many 
 particulars of the ravages committed by the Indians, the 
 traces of which I beheld in half-destroyed doors, wain- 
 scots and beams, and felt in the total want of most of the 
 usual accommodations of civilized life. Those marauders 
 had drunk all the spirits in his cellars; but his vin de 
 Bordeaux and champagne being too delicate for their un- 
 sophisticated palates, they had amused themselves by 
 
EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 269 
 
 smashing a portion of the bottles to atoms, and with the 
 remainder of the wine, on account of the scarcity of water, 
 they had boiled their meat in large kettles suspended over 
 bonfires made of the furniture of the proprietors, before 
 the doors of their houses. ' * 
 
 Surely the only comment possible is that these were 
 very liquid pearls, and very dusky swine ! 
 
 In such troublous times the British consulates have 
 often proved havens of refuge, and have occasionally 
 served as storehouses. William BoUaert, for instance, 
 writing in 1860, says that one of the most interesting 
 sights of Panama was the patio, or courtyard, of the Brit- 
 ish consulate, piled up with bars of silver from Peru and 
 Chile, on their way across the Isthmus. 
 
 Captain Cochrane has been quoted more than once in 
 these pages, but I must refer to him just once again, and 
 at some length, in order to show the pleasant breeziness 
 of some naval men's day ashore near Cartagena. 
 
 *'0n the 8th," says Captain Cochrane, *'Mr. Eennie, 
 Mr. Isaacs, Mr. Miers, and myself, made a picnic shooting 
 — party with the officers of the Isis. We slept on board 
 the frigate the evening before, and started at daylight 
 next morning, having taken a hasty breakfast previously ; 
 and landing at Senor Lazaro de Herrera's estate, we 
 divided into parties, and commenced operations. At nine 
 o 'clock we all assembled to a second breakfast, with a very 
 motley show of game, the best being three quails, shot by 
 my companion Mr. Eennie, and myself. . . . After our 
 breakfast, which was infinitely better than our sport, 
 we turned into our hammocks, and slept until one o 'clock, 
 when Mr. Eennie succeeded most effectually in dispelling 
 sleep by a series of practical jokes. He placed a small 
 donkey, as a bedfellow, beside Mr. Miers, who was aroused 
 by the ungentle caresses of the animal ; which, displeased 
 at its novel situation, began to kick, and awoke Mr. Miers 
 from his gentle slumber, amidst the laughter of all his 
 companions, who did not fail to make a few jokes on the 
 
270 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 occasion, which were received with much good temper. 
 Mr. Rennie's next feat was to awaken Mr. Isaacs, which 
 he did most completely, by shooting a pigeon which was 
 roasting (roosting?) over that gentleman's hammock. 
 We now all rose, finding that no chance of being allowed 
 to repose any longer was left us. I bought all the pigeons 
 I could procure, and proposed a pigeon-match for the 
 amusement of the party. This was acceded to : and, after 
 a general competition of skill, it was decided in favor of 
 the first lieutenant of the Isis, as the best sliot. At two, 
 we sat down to dinner, being joined by Captain Forrest ; 
 and in the cool of the afternoon we again started in search 
 of game. I saw a great many large snipes, but could not 
 kill any. Returning homewards, my guide led me to a 
 spot which was sometimes the resort of wild-deer; at 
 the moment, fortunately for me, one was grazing there, 
 which I killed with buck-shot, hitting her in the neck. I 
 carried her down in triumph, and was allowed by general 
 acclamation to be the most fortunate man of the day. 
 The principal spoil of the rest of the party consisted of 
 Muscovy ducks, tame cocks, barn-door fowls, etc., which 
 they had shot, because they could procure no sport in 
 the field, and therefore took their revenge on the domestic 
 poultry. Everything was however paid for, and the cot- 
 tagers requested us to return and visit them again at 
 some future period. We then embarked; and, on reach- 
 ing the ship, sat down to a good supper in the gun-room of 
 the Isis, where we canvassed our exploits, and determined 
 a day of pleasure and conviviality." 
 
 Could any episodes have been more refreshing to the 
 war-worn and rather tragic soil of Cartagena? 
 
 These other episodes connected with the north of the 
 continent have at least the added merit of local color. It 
 is probable enough that a certain amount of the legend 
 of Manoa and its wonderful waters was founded on the 
 Colombian mountain lake of Guatavita, a spot which had 
 been held very sacred by the Indians before the advent of 
 
EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 271 
 
 the Spaniards. Here twice a year, the Cacique of the 
 tribe would be paddled to the middle of the lake, and 
 among the other ceremonies which took place his body 
 was powdered with gold dust, after which he plunged 
 into the water. 
 
 This lake was inspected with some curiosity by the 
 first British travelers in that region, with the idea of 
 draining off its waters, and thus securing the enormous 
 amount of treasure which, it was reputed, lay at the bot- 
 tom of the lake. No steps of this kind appear actually to 
 have been taken at the time. The travelers, however, 
 were shown the sepulchers of two of the ancient Caciques, 
 and also a cave in the rock, which was said to have been 
 connected with this worship, and its entrance to have 
 been guarded by two life-size figures of gold. It was re- 
 lated that a Spanish soldier, having lit by accident on 
 the spot, had got the length of cutting off a golden finger, 
 when he was attacked by the Indians, and, bleeding from 
 his wounds, only escaped with the greatest difficulty. 
 When he returned with a strong party to the spot, the 
 golden figures had vanished, having probably been flung 
 into the lake. 
 
 It is possible, of course, that this story is as flimsy as 
 that of Manoa itself. On the other hand, it seems to 
 contain nothing that is essentially improbable. 
 
 Of the many bizarre customs of the north of the con- 
 tinent the following one witnessed by an Englishman 
 was certainly not the least strange. That it afforded a 
 sufficiently rough sport will be gathered from his account : 
 
 *'In the evening, attended high mass; and afterwards 
 witnessed an imitation of bull-fighting, in the front of 
 the church. A man, the tallest and most powerful in the 
 place, was selected, on whom was fixed, and well secured, 
 a large ox-hide, with enormous horns, hollowed and filled 
 with brimstone and other combustible materials; a pair 
 of eyes, and large and round as a saucer, and a tail of 
 most tremendous length. The moon had not risen, and 
 
272 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 the night was dark, when the burning composition in 
 the horns was ignited, and the sport commenced. The 
 fiery bull attacked all the assembled world — such shriek- 
 ing, such running, such scampering ; all was confusion and 
 uproar! Some bolder than the others faced the blazing 
 bull, held up roanas before him, and shook flags in front 
 of the flaming horns; some dexterously avoided the 
 thrusts made at them ; others, less fortunate, were falling 
 beneath the force of the furious animal, who would fre- 
 quently have set fire to his prostrate antagonist, but for 
 the friendly interference of some companion, who would 
 on such an occasion seize the bull by his convenient lengfli 
 of tail, and swing him round from his fallen foe, before 
 he could satiate his revenge." 
 
 The following note, too, will give an idea of an early 
 nineteenth century Colombian dinner : 
 
 *'The first course consisted of soups, fish, roast and 
 stewed meats, poultry, etc; likewise numerous made 
 dishes, interspersed with vegetables, olives, melons, etc; 
 until not an inch remained to put another dish on; the 
 table actually groaning under the weight of eatables. 
 This is the principal course, and takes up a considerable 
 time. The soups are removed the moment they are done 
 with, and large made-dishes of meat placed in their room. 
 A bottle of wine, generally vin de Bordeaux, is placed to 
 every person, with a decanter of water, wine-glass, and 
 tumbler; and white wine is distributed here and there 
 about the table ; every one drinks when he likes, which I 
 think is much better than our English custom, which may 
 force a man who is eating curry to drink Madeira. After 
 it is seen that every one declines eating more of the course 
 on the table, champagne is handed round, and then a gen- 
 eral rising takes place ; you adjourn to another room, or 
 walk about the garden, until the table is cleared, and the 
 second, or dessert, course is arranged. This move is cer- 
 tainly agreeable at so large a party, and you return with 
 renewed appetite, to attack the second course on its being 
 
EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 273 
 
 announced, which generally takes rather more than half 
 an hour. We found the table elegantly replenished, and 
 ornamented with flowers ; it consisted of tarts, puddings, 
 creams, all kinds of preserves, and sweetmeats (in which 
 latter the natives excel) ; likewise every variety of fruit 
 in the greatest profusion : wines were placed at moderate 
 distances, as before." 
 
 Various descriptions have been given by British trav- 
 elers of the festivities which took place at Bogota between 
 the 24th and the 30th of December, partly in honor of the 
 season, and partly to commemorate the victories by which 
 the independence of the nation had been won. Imitations 
 of medieval tournaments were given in appropriate — and 
 presumably stifling — costume. A queen of the tourna- 
 ment was elected, who presented the prizes for sports of 
 a medieval nature such as tilting the ring, and charging 
 a wooden figure, swung on a pivot, which, if not fairly 
 struck with a lance, flew round to strike the discomfited 
 rider on the back. In addition, more modern amusements, 
 such as cutting off the Turk*s head, were introduced. 
 
 It happened that in 1823 a scarcity of funds produced 
 a lack of knights. So, in the place of the tournament, a 
 quieter entertainment was held, which was signficant of 
 the spirit of the times. Senor Triana, the director of 
 the Lancasterian school, brought forward twelve pupils 
 for public examination. These, standing up to the fire of 
 questions, are said to have acquitted themselves very well 
 in the subjects of the Old and New Testament, Spanish 
 grammar, and arithmetic. 
 
 There is no denying that this particular procedure, ad- 
 mirable though it was, was a little too restrained in its 
 atmosphere to be natural to the flaming tropics, where 
 declamation and costume were only appreciated on a pro- 
 nounced scale. In the early days of the Independence to 
 meet even a typical Northern traveler was to imagine 
 oneself on the boards of an opera house. Here is a de- 
 scription of these by a contemporary English visitor : 
 
274f BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 * * They generally wore red or blue pantaloons, with long 
 boots, spurs with immense rowels, broad-brimmed hats, 
 and the wrapping cloaks called mantillas, or in their stead 
 capotes, or roanas, which completely envelop the wearer, 
 like the cloaks of our military. They go well armed, hav- 
 ing pistols in their holsters and swords by their sides, 
 which precautions have become habitual, through the 
 effects of protracted war, and were necessary on account 
 of the disturbed state of the country. ' ' 
 
 Notwithstanding these romantic perambulations the 
 country showed itself fully prepared to enter into com- 
 merce. Perhaps one of the most striking testimonies to 
 this effect is to be found in one of the first concessions 
 granted by the free state of Colombia. This concerned 
 the famous pearl oysters for which so many tall ships 
 had plowed the waves, and for which so many bucaneers 
 had slain, and fought, and bled. Now, the exclusive right 
 of fishing for pearl oysters with machinery, for ten years, 
 was given to Messrs. Eundell, Bridge, and Eundell, of 
 London! An eloquent change of address! This, at the 
 time, was considered by an expert to be a concession 
 inferior in value to none except that for the then proposed 
 cutting of the Panama Canal ! 
 
 After this we may turn to a minor incident which illus- 
 trates further the spirit of the age. The son of the fa- 
 mous General Miranda must have inherited his father's 
 temperament and convictions in no small degree, for a 
 British traveler who was in the neighborhood of Caracas 
 in 1823 relates that, as he was breakfasting at an inn he 
 was joined by two young men, the sons of Generals Mir- 
 anda and Wilson. Wilson was on his way to take up his 
 post as aide-de-camp to General Bolivar, while Miranda 
 was about to set up a printing press which was to devote 
 itself to the cause of liberty. 
 
 The great amount of survey work achieved by British 
 officers of the South American coasts in the early years 
 of the nineteenth century has been referred to. Some 
 
EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 275 
 
 notable performances of this kind, too, were made on the 
 great river systems, and, as these come within a different 
 category, they may as well be noticed here. 
 
 Much admirable survey work was effected on the Pa- 
 rana River by Captain B. J. Sullivan, of H.M.S. Philomel. 
 Commander M'Kinnon states that this officer was on 
 board the Alecto, when she was returning from the up- 
 river expedition against Eosas. The little war-steamer 
 came rushing down the swift stream at a furious pace, but 
 Sullivan ' ' coolly stood on the paddle-box, and conned the 
 vessel by a motion of his hand to the quarter-master." 
 
 One of the most enterprising journeys across the con- 
 tinent was that undertaken in 1834 by two young naval 
 men, Lieutenant W. Smyth and Mr. F. Lowe, who arriving 
 in H.M.S. Samarang at Callao, took to discussing the in- 
 terior of Peru with an English and some Peruvian resi- 
 dents of the port. 
 
 It was said to be possible, by penetrating inland to the 
 banks of the Pachitea Eiver, to enter the Ucayali stream, 
 thence to emerge into the Maranon, and eventually by 
 means of the Amazon to open up a direct route to the At- 
 lantic. The seamy side of the trip was represented 
 chiefly by the inevitable hardships of the road, and by 
 the reported presence of cannibals on both banks of the 
 Pachitea River. 
 
 Neither of these prospects sufficed to deter the two 
 Samarang officers, who, encouraged both by their captain 
 and the British consul-general at Callao, determined to 
 make the attempt. The Peruvian authorities promised 
 assistance, andkall that remained was to obtain the con- 
 sent of Commodore Mason, the senior officer of the station. 
 
 The Samarang was due to sail for home on the 25th of 
 August, and, as luck would have it, Commodore Mason's 
 ship, the Blonde, only arrived just in time. In the end 
 it resolved itself into a question of minutes as to whether 
 the two young officers would sail to England in the usual 
 way in the Samarang, or whether they would have the op- 
 
276 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 portunity of undertaking one of the most adventurous 
 journeys possible across the continent. 
 
 The Samarang was already under sail when the Com- 
 modore's permission arrived! As they themselves put 
 it, Smyth and Lowe had only just time to scrape together 
 a few traps, and to bundle down into the last boat for the 
 shore ! 
 
 The two Samarangs had need of all their unbounded 
 enthusiasm, for they soon discovered that this land cruise 
 of theirs was not to be all plain sailing. The young Per- 
 uvian Government was very willing to assist, but its 
 means at the time were phenomenally limited, and the first 
 instalments of mules and other necessaries rapidly ab- 
 sorbed all the oflScers' available private store of cash. 
 But here the newly formed British community very dis- 
 interestedly stepped into the breach to the extent of sub- 
 scribing sixty pounds. 
 
 In the end the two set out, accompanied by some Peru- 
 vian officers, who were instructed to render them every 
 assistance as far as the frontier. The senior of these 
 was a Colonel Althaus, whose name as a gallant patriot 
 soldier is, I find, referred to on several occasions in the 
 memoirs of British officers in the revolutionary cause. 
 Indeed, he is more than once alluded to as a most genial 
 companion, with an exceptional fund of humor which kept 
 his comrades continually amused, and which caused him 
 to receive unusually kind treatment from the Spanish 
 officers into whose hands he once fell as a captive for a 
 time. But on this occasion Althaus 's services appear to 
 have been of a very mediocre order. Probably the ob- 
 jects of the expedition interested him too little and its 
 worries too much. It was after having successfully ne- 
 gotiated the high and snowy levels of the neighborhood 
 of the Cerro de Pasco that the troubles with the reluctant 
 Indian carriers became acute, and Althaus separated him- 
 self from the party, and abandoned the expedition. His 
 juniors, however, Major Beltran and the naval lieutenant 
 
EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 277 
 
 Azcarate, more than compensated for this loss by the 
 staunchness and good-comradeship they displayed from 
 start to finish. 
 
 At the lofty mining town of Cerro de Pasco they came 
 across some mining machinery which had been erected 
 by an English company in 1827. The company had failed, 
 but considering this remarkably early enterprise, it surely 
 deserved a better fate ! After this, it may be mentioned 
 in parenthesis, occurred a certain disappointment in the 
 expected escort, for instead of two hundred soldiers only 
 nine made their appearance. And these — perhaps to ren- 
 der their numbers more formidable — ^were accompanied 
 by their wives and children ! 
 
 In the end — owing to the reduced circumstances of the 
 party and the continued desertions of the Indians — ^the 
 route originally chosen had to be given up, and it was 
 decided to make for the Huallaga Eiver instead. There 
 was no more question now of mountain sickness, snow, 
 and barren peaks. Passing downwards through coffee 
 plantations and pleasant vegetation, they embarked at 
 length on the lovely little stream of the Chinchao, with 
 the keen delight of sailors setting foot even in the frailest 
 of canoes. 
 
 The Chinchao almost immediately led into the Hual- 
 laga, and the party soon found itself negotiating the rap- 
 ids of that important stream. At one of the tiny river 
 ports the two British naval officers organized a ceremony 
 such as those waters had never witnessed before. The oc- 
 casion was the launching of a new canoe to hold the Peru- 
 vian officers. Thanks to the festal exertions of the en- 
 tire party, the canoe took the water fluttering with British 
 and Peruvian colors, while the drums and pipes of the 
 Indians sounded at their very loudest ! 
 
 After this laudable joviality it was a little disconcerting 
 for the expedition to find that the new Indian crews re- 
 fused to start unless they were accompanied in the canoes 
 by their wives, children, dogs, cats, and a number of pots 
 
278 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 and pans. But there was nothing for it, and so it was 
 with the gunwales of its canoes almost submerged by this 
 unwelcome and heterogeneous load that the party went 
 on its way downstream, the genial Indians presently kill- 
 ing for food some red-bearded monkeys which, owing to 
 the unshaven state of Smyth and Lowe, they insisted on 
 calling the Englishmen's countrymen ! 
 
 It is more instructive to note that even in these remote 
 Indian settlements on the banks of the various streams 
 printed cottons, green baize, ribbons, cutlery, glass beads, 
 and other objects of the kind were to be met with, all of 
 British manufacture. In fact, * 'we never entered a place, 
 that was more than a small village," say the joint authors, 
 "in which we did not meet with some of the manufac- 
 tures of our own country. ' ' 
 
 It is on reading such phrases as these that it is difficult 
 to refrain from the condition of a laudator temporis acti! 
 
 At the next halting place of importance the party found 
 itself received with an amazing amount of pomp and cere- 
 mony. This, it eventually appeared, was owing to the 
 strategy of a messenger sent in advance, who had little 
 faith in the half-savage inhabitants. As a precautionary 
 measure against their wilder instincts he had announced 
 that a general, his aide-de-camp, a saint, and a priest were 
 about to arrive ! The prospect of this militant, ecclesias- 
 tical, and haloed galaxy completely overawed the vil- 
 lagers, and when the officers of the expedition saw the 
 wealth of fowls, fish, and plantains which awaited them 
 they forgave the fertile imagination of their messenger ! 
 
 In due course the party emerged upon the broad, glassy 
 stream of the Ucayali, and both the Samarang officers 
 justly congratulated themselves on being the first English- 
 men to float on these waters. Soon after this the expedi- 
 tion became the guests of a notable Peruvian missionary. 
 Padre Plaza, who used his very important influence over 
 the Indians in their favor. 
 
 This solitary mission station at Sarayucu, a few miles 
 
EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 279 
 
 up a tributary stream of the Ucayali, was the limit of the 
 Peruvian officers' journey, and it was with a sincere mu- 
 tual regret and an exchange of cheers that Beltran and 
 Azcarate separated themselves from their British com- 
 rades, who started on their long journey downstream, 
 their quaint craft adorned at all points with live speci- 
 mens of the rarer birds and monkeys such as the two had 
 been able to collect. 
 
 The remainder of the journey down the great network 
 of the Amazon basin streams was safely effected. No 
 cannibal attacks were encountered, and, indeed, it was 
 only when the party began to approach the more impor- 
 tant Brazilian centers toward the Atlantic coast that a 
 vital but prosaic inconvenience began to be felt — ^the lack 
 of funds. It seemed something of an anomaly that an ex- 
 pedition which had braved climate, cataracts, and canni- 
 bals, and had penetrated the heart of the continent from 
 west to east should be held up for the sake of a few dol- 
 lars ! It was so, however, and the situation was only re- 
 lieved by the sale of a double-barreled gun, a valued gift 
 of Captain Paget 's of the Samarang. 
 
 On the proceeds of this gun they continued their 
 journey to Para — and even had a few coppers to spare 
 for a canoe ornamented with a silver-gilt crown which 
 they encountered on its way upstream on a religious beg- 
 ging expedition, a craft which came gliding along the 
 tropical stream with flag flying and to the pomp of drum 
 beats and the music of hymns ! 
 
 After this they floated down without further incident 
 of note to Para where, having occupied eight months on 
 the journey, they met with a most cordial welcome from 
 the officers of H.M. sloop Dispatch which happened to 
 be lying in the port, as well as from the British merchants 
 of the place. Thus ended a small but notable expedition, 
 the value of whose surveys was freely and fully acknowl- 
 edged by the Peruvian Government. 
 
 It was some ten years later that the upper reaches of 
 
280 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 the second greatest river system of the continent were 
 opened to foreign traffic. In 1845 a treaty was entered 
 into between Great Britain and Paraguay, which gave 
 British subjects the right to navigate the Paraguayan 
 rivers. Incidentally, it permitted them to reside in any 
 part of Paraguay — their area of residence had previously 
 been confined to the town of Asuncion — and to marry 
 Paraguayans : a privilege of which they had not legally 
 been considered as worthy until then ! 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE BRITISH IN BEAZIL (l) 
 
 Influence of the Spanish occupation on the policy of Brazil — Some at- 
 tempt at settlement in the North — ^Irrigating port regulations — 
 Bahia as a place of call — The court of Portugal — Political situa- 
 tion in the Peninsula — Dilemma of the regent, Prince Joao — 
 — The result of vacillation — Eventual adoption of the British 
 proposals — Advance of Junot — Flight of the court — Arrival of the 
 royal fleet at Bahia — The event described — Enthusiasm of the Brazil- 
 ians — The British vessels — Inconveniences endured by the royal party 
 and the court on the voyage — ^Assistance rendered by the sailors in a 
 delicate situation — ^The manufacture of garments at sea — Prince 
 Pedro's clothes — Arrival of the royal party at Rio de Janeiro — Joy of 
 the inhabitants — The British fleet in Brazilian waters — Arrival of Sir 
 W. Sidney Smith — Opening of the Brazilian ports — Concessions to for- 
 eigners — Erection of an English church — Differing views of the local 
 ecclesiastics — A subtle bishop — Testimony of English and American 
 clerics — Mercantile collections and consular fees — Enterprise of the 
 British merchants — An overflow of imported goods — Want of judg- 
 ment and its results — Consequences of climatic ignorance — Incidents 
 of some naval cruises — Loss of the Agamemnon — Contemporary mid- 
 shipmen's quarters. 
 
 THE influence of the Spaniards on the policy of 
 Brazil lasted for a considerable time after the 
 Portuguese Empire had thrown off the dominion 
 of Spain. Notwithstanding the genuine friendship which 
 existed between the British and Portuguese in Europe, 
 several armed collisions between the two nations occurred 
 in Brazil. The British occasionally joined the expedi- 
 tions of the Dutch West India Company, that had been 
 formed for the conquest and colonization of the north of 
 Brazil, and in 1629 we find an Irishman of the name of 
 James Purcel in command of a settlement established on 
 the Island of Tocujos. 
 After a desperate resistance the place capitulated on 
 
 281 
 
282 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 terms that were extraordinarily liberal. Not only were 
 its defenders permitted to evacuate the place and to re- 
 tain their property, but it was agreed that they should be 
 provided with a free passage to Portugal ! This attempt 
 does not seem to have been a solitary one, and the Portu- 
 guese were loud in their complaints that the quantity of 
 tobacco grown by these unwelcomed settlers was suffi- 
 ciently important to injure the trade of Para. 
 
 Perhaps it was the bitterness engendered by this which 
 rendered the events of the next collision between the two 
 races so much more embittered. This occurred during 
 the very next year, and the scene of hostilities was again 
 the Island of Tocujos, to which some two hundred Eng- 
 lish had repaired under the command of one Thomas, an 
 old soldier, who is said to have served with distinction in 
 the Low Countries. Thomas was captured and cut to 
 pieces by his enraged opponents, after which the fort sur- 
 rendered. A later expedition under a leader of the name 
 given as Roger Fray — which, as Southey reasonably ex- 
 plains, is probably the Portuguese rendering of Fryer or 
 Frere — met with no better success. 
 
 Even in the South, where no such attempts were made, 
 Brazilian ports, generally speaking, remained inhospita- 
 ble places, and British sailors, including the famous Cap- 
 tain Cook, met with every obstacle which could be put in 
 the way of intercourse with the shore. 
 
 Landing parties were only permitted under a Brazilian 
 guard, and arrests of travelers under the most flimsy pre- 
 texts were frequent. In fact, the Brazilian colonial au- 
 thorities made a conscientious attempt to give their ports 
 a sufficiently unpleasant name to render them unpopular 
 in the eyes of the undesired foreigner ! 
 
 These Brazilian ports, more especially that of Bahia, 
 were visited by a number of British vessels bound for 
 India. Just as Pedro Alvarez Cabral, bound for the 
 shining East, had lit by accident upon Bahia, and thus dis- 
 covered Brazil, so the British East Indiamen of a later 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 
 
 era found that the set of wind and tide made it to their 
 advantage to sail first to the southwest skirting the Bra- 
 zilian shore, until they had attained to a point most fa- 
 vorable for them to shape their course for the east. 
 
 These would frequently put in at Bahia, and less often 
 at Eio de Janeiro; but it was seldom indeed that their 
 reception at either of these ports was spoken of with any 
 enthusiasm by the seafarers. It was not until Brazil be- 
 came a kingdom that this situation changed. When the 
 change occurred, however, it was a sufficiently momen- 
 tous one, connected, indeed, with nothing less than the ad- 
 vent to Brazil of the Portuguese court. 
 
 In order to start at the beginning of Great Britain's 
 share in the kingdom and empire of Brazil, it is necessary 
 to flit in the winter of 1807 to the north across the inter- 
 vening ocean to where the court of Portugal, with the re- 
 gent Prince Joao at its head, was fluttering uneasily on 
 the westernmost fringe of Europe. 
 
 In this heyday of Napoleon's power no refuge — saving 
 moral surrender and an alliance with the French — re- 
 mained except across the seas, for the advancing soldiers 
 of France lay between Lisbon and Europe. England, the 
 old ally, a gray-skied but hospitable, lay to the north. 
 But the political disadvantages of a flight to a foreign 
 country were too weighty, and its effect upon the Por- 
 tuguese peasantry could not fail to be lamentable. 
 
 To the south, six thousand miles across the ocean, lay 
 Brazil, the majestic colony that represented a continent 
 in itself. It was true that until then Brazil's principal 
 fame in the northerland had been on account of the trea- 
 sures she had yielded up. For centuries Brazil had been 
 milked; even then she had never been found dry either 
 of produce or affection. The loyalty of the Brazilians 
 had flourished like a wallflower on its stone, with no out- 
 ward evidence of support and encouragement. In its 
 terrible stress the little kingdom of Portugal had been 
 cheered by the cries of devotion which had gone up from 
 
284 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 this tropical and neglected colony. The refuge of Brazil, 
 moreover, had been strongly recommended by England, 
 and at that period British recommendations were not, 
 after all, hints which it was advisable to ignore. 
 
 These circumstances had helped to settle the mind of 
 Joao, perched on the cliffs in the neighborhood of Lisbon 
 like a doubting seabird meditating flight. Had the matter 
 been less urgent it is certain that Brazil would have 
 whistled in vain for a king, for at the best times Joao's 
 mind strongly resented the operation of being made up, 
 and probably no ruler ever possessed a temperament less 
 suited for governing. 
 
 As it was, the prince regent had vacillated giddily for a 
 time between the demands of the French and the British. 
 Once, judging the French peril to be the nearer of the two, 
 he had acceded in despair to the terms of that nation, and 
 had begun to carry out the stipulated measures against 
 the British. He discovered almost immediately that, so 
 far as his own interests were concerned, he had fallen into 
 a grievous error. Junot was already advancing light- 
 heartedly toward Lisbon, and the regent was thunder- 
 struck to hear of a French proclamation in the face of his 
 submission, to the effect that "the House of Braganca no 
 longer reigned!" 
 
 Joao, his plans veering all round the compass, turned in 
 haste to England for aid, and announced his intention of 
 embarking under the protection of the British fleet. But 
 the measures, instigated by France, that he had already 
 taken against the British residents in his kingdom had 
 raised the anger of that nation. Lord Strangford, her 
 ambassador, had demanded his passports, and had em- 
 barked on board the Hibernia, one of the vessels of the 
 British fleet commanded by Sir Sidney Smith, which im- 
 mediately began a rigorous blockade of Lisbon. 
 
 On the 27th of November after some hurried negotia- 
 tions. Lord Strangford landed, and learned from Joao of 
 his renewed resolution to fall in with the British plans, 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 285 
 
 and to move his court to Brazil, Poor Prince Joao's 
 mind, unstable at the best of times, must have become 
 completely confused by the rapidity of these changes of 
 plan. On the one day he had sacrificed the time-honored 
 alliance with England, and imagined that he had defi- 
 nitely bound himself to France. Almost on the next he 
 had sought the arms of England again; and now, at two 
 days' notice, he, his family, and his court were to be up- 
 rooted from their native soil, and were to be sent down 
 below the Equator to the great colony which, it was said, 
 was all aflame to receive them. 
 
 I'ortunately for himself, Joao had never suffered from 
 a surfeit of dignity; had this been so, his discomfiture 
 must have been still more acute. But at this crisis one 
 of his actions — a typical one — toward the advancing Ju- 
 not, now again an enemy, reveals the curious complica- 
 tions of his mind. At the last moment, yielding to one of 
 the impulses of his weak and kindly nature, he ordered 
 a confidential servant to prepare quarters and a meal for 
 the French general, in order that the latter should find 
 himself comfortable on his arrival ! 
 
 The scene of the royal departure from Europe was, in 
 its way, as dramatic as any other of that very stirring 
 period. Joao had selected the 29th of November as the 
 day for that fateful event. The interval for preparation 
 between that and the 27th, it must be admitted, was not 
 long. But even here a certain amount of procrastination 
 was evident, for, judging by the rate of his previous prog- 
 ress, Junot might be expected to arrive on the very day 
 of the court's departure, or, at the latest, on the following 
 morning. 
 
 From the days when the keels of ships first clove the 
 Southern Atlantic, the Brazilian port of Bahia has offered 
 a favorable landfall for navigators. So that, since chance 
 and its geographical position had already led to it so 
 large a number of humbler explorers, it was only natural 
 that Bahia should have been the first of the Brazilian 
 
286 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 ports to witness the arrival of the fleet conveying the 
 royal party. 
 
 The approach of the ships is easy to picture, for the 
 scene here is, in its way, one of the most romantic in South 
 America. There has been little outward change from 
 that day to this in the verdure-covered promontory, jut- 
 ting out into the blue waters on one side of the bay, and in 
 the bay itself with the pink and white and yellow houses of 
 the town at its edge shining brilliantly in the strong sun- 
 light against the background of vivid blue, into which 
 pricked upwards here and there the feathery green heads 
 of the palms. There were the lower tiers of the port 
 buildings, backed by the little cliffs, on the summit of 
 which the houses and the serried churches of the main 
 town reared themselves. 
 
 Without a doubt every point of vantage was agog with 
 spectators. Sallow-complexioned officials, merchants, 
 and planters were gazing eagerly across the glittering 
 waters, while the crowds of stout, big-bodied Negro men 
 and women — the Negresses of Bahia still hold the proud 
 reputation of being the largest owners of avoirdupois in 
 the world ! — stood with mouths agape and their wide-open 
 eyes displaying an unusually liberal circle of white about 
 the pupils. They were all fervent folk these, whatever 
 their shade of color, and in the eyes of the general popu- 
 lace the royal personages had been invested with a mystic 
 and almost holy glamour that made the sight of them in 
 the flesh seem an unearthly privilege. 
 
 Thus when the canvas of the advancing vessels stood 
 out high and clear against the horizon a boundless en- 
 thusiasm prevailed ashore. Some ran to seek out bunt- 
 ing until every colored rag in the city floated lazily in 
 the hot air. Others ran to fire saluting guns, to compete 
 with those which were already banging away from the 
 little marine fort set in the waters of the bay — for rejoic- 
 ing without good, honest noise has always seemed chas- 
 tened joy to the Brazilian. Yet others, amid the shout- 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 287 
 
 ing of tlie crowds, hurried to let loose the flights of cere- 
 monial rockets so dear to the Iberian heart, whether by 
 day or by night. 
 
 It was in the face of all this that the fleet sailed up and 
 dropped anchor in the bay. The British had proved 
 themselves faithful watchdogs. The four trim and 
 stately warships of that nation which had served as escort 
 throughout the voyage were to be distinguished from the 
 rest, if for no other reason than that their canvas shone 
 strangely white by comparison. The ships were three 
 fine 74 's, and a 98, and on the flagship, the Marlborough, 
 floated the broad pennant which Sir Sidney Smith had 
 specially authorized Captain Moore to fly, when past 
 Madeira, to give him greater weight for his important 
 mission. 
 
 Had the overjoyed Brazilians been in a more critical 
 mood they would have noticed that in the matter of out- 
 ward appearances and rigid nautical pomp the Portu- 
 guese vessels suffered not a little by comparison. These, 
 having started ill-prepared and in haste, were now soiled 
 and untidy naval ducklings. 
 
 The interiors of their hulls were in no better case. 
 There, most decidedly reigned no evidence of intrinsic 
 glory. In some respects the voyage had proved probably 
 the most unique undertaken by any ordinary people, to 
 say nothing of royalty. So fevered had been the em- 
 barkation at Lisbon that many ladies found themselves 
 without a single change of garment with which to face 
 these thousands of miles of travel! And — a horror of 
 horrors that at all costs had to be kept from the worship- 
 ing Brazilians! — this applied not only to ladies of high 
 degree but to the female members of the royal party it- 
 self. 
 
 In mid-ocean, when the state of affairs could no longer 
 be borne with equanimity, appeals had been made from 
 the royalty-freighted Portuguese vessels to the Marlbor- 
 ough. Captain Moore had shown himself sjnupathetic in 
 
288 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 this delicate situation, and had rendered such assistance 
 as he could. But even in their most thoughtful moments 
 British naval commanders do not — or, at all events, are 
 not supposed to — carry spare outfits for ladies. Never- 
 theless, his men seem once again to have more than justi- 
 fied their willing and handy reputation. Cloths, sheets, 
 and blankets were produced, and these eventually took 
 the place of many silks and satins. 
 
 Whether Jack actually went the length of assisting 
 with the needle, I do not know. Yet I can imagine a 
 boatswain's mate, surrounded by sewing satellites, tack- 
 ling even such tender technicalities as these with a calm 
 resolution before which the sangfroid of even the sewing- 
 machine pirate in ** Peter Pan" would pale ! As for the 
 bed-sheet-suit in which Prince Pedro and many others 
 landed on Brazilian soil, I would wager ten dozen of the 
 finest Bahia oranges that these were stitched together by 
 one of the watches of the British vessels ! 
 
 In any case the proceedings on shore could have left 
 the royal party very little leisure to reflect on their impro- 
 vised garments. For Joao, whose exit from Portugal had 
 of necessity been as rapid and furtive as that of a hunted 
 rabbit, found himself welcomed in this glorious tropical 
 country with even greater acclamation and more joyous 
 pomp than any ordinary crowned hero of a hundred 
 fights! Thus the strange, and occasionally comforting, 
 vicissitudes which attend the lives of princes as well as 
 those of lesser folk must have been brought strongly 
 home to him. 
 
 A month later the four British guardian ships escorted 
 the Portuguese royal vessels still further to the south, and 
 after nine days at sea the fleet sailed through the narrow 
 channel between the stately mountain peaks into the en- 
 trancing and dreamlike harbor of Rio de Janeiro, and 
 cast anchor before the houses of the town. 
 
 It was one of the most lovely spots in all South America 
 that the court of Portugal, somewhat awed and amazed 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL ^89 
 
 at the aspect of the tremendous coast, landed at the time 
 of year when the fierce summer's sun rays were just be- 
 ginning to give way to the rains of autumn. 
 
 Here was a magnificent opportunity for an epigram 
 from the royal lips, or, failing a full-blown epigram, some 
 lesser utterance which might at least have set a princely 
 seal on an event which was actually of first class histori- 
 cal importance. But there exists no evidence that he 
 did not fail to miss the opportunity ! Perhaps — ^like many 
 ordinary travelers before and since that event — ^he was 
 fully and honorably occupied in gaping at the majesty 
 of the scene. In any case he did not forget to adorn Cap- 
 tain Moore's breast with the Portuguese Order of the 
 Tower and Sword, as a token that the British squadron's 
 task, now completed, had been successfully performed. 
 
 It soon became evident, however, that this duty was 
 merely a preliminary to a long spell of duty for the 
 British fleet on the Brazilian station. Almost immedi- 
 ately afterwards Sir W. Sidney Smith came out in the 
 Foudroyant of 80 guns to take over the chief command, 
 and the British vessels, serving Brazilian interests, were 
 rather jealously nursed by the Brazilian authorities. 
 
 In the meantime, having escorted the royal personages 
 and seen the court safely established at Kio de Janeiro, 
 we may as well take a turn ashore with the rest, and follow 
 in the footsteps of the able Lord Strangford, the first of 
 the corps of ambassadors to follow the royal family to 
 its new capital. In its new and kingly circumstances it 
 was clearly out of the question that the old colonial plan 
 of secluding and guarding from foreign interference the 
 trade of Brazil could be continued. The ports had been 
 declared open; a new treaty was discussed and signed, 
 and, egged on by Lord Strangford, the Portuguese began 
 to make half -reluctant efforts to clear the great land of 
 Brazil of its honored dust of centuries. 
 
 An important feature of this treaty was that it accorded 
 ecclesiastical rights to the British for the first time in the 
 
290 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 history of Portugal or Brazil. It permitted the British 
 to build a church of their own, provided that its exterior 
 architecture were in the form of a private house, and that 
 no bells should sound above its still dubiously regarded 
 roof. 
 
 This concession was destined to raise a pretty flutter 
 in the local ecclesiastical dovecot. As fate would have it, 
 the papal nuncio was in Rio at the time it was made, and 
 this nuncio cast a very jaundiced eye on the quite modest 
 exhibition of liberality. Having failed to get it rescinded, 
 he bethought himself of some counter-blasts. There was 
 the Inquisition, which for the last half century had been 
 in disuse in Lisbon, and which had never even been intro- 
 duced into Brazil ! If the heretic church, why not the In- 
 quisition by its side ? It was an ideal moment, urged the 
 earnest nuncio, for the reestablishment of that much 
 needed tribunal. What could be more effective in the 
 way of corrective medicines, he may have added, than a 
 stout and straining rack, a trusty **boot," or a really re- 
 liable spiked * ' Virgin, ' ' with a few odd thumbscrews and 
 minor persuaders to fill up the gaps! But even such 
 tempting offers as these proved of no avail, and the mor- 
 tified cleric had, perforce, to watch the obnoxious building 
 rising under his very nose ! 
 
 The bishop of Rio de Janeiro, on the other hand, took 
 quite a different view of this first English church to be 
 erected in Iberian South America. He openly admitted 
 that he had no objection whatever to its presence. *'The 
 English, ' ' he argued with an authority that was perhaps 
 half grave and half jocular, ''have really no religion, but 
 they are a proud and obstinate people. If you oppose 
 them they will persist, and make it an affair of infinite 
 importance ; but if you concede to their wishes, the chapel 
 will be built, and no one will ever go near it. ' ' 
 
 This was probably a very subtle bishop. His own point 
 of view, at all events, seems to have been justified by the 
 remarks of the Rev. R. Walsh, a pleasant writer, who 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 291 
 
 was chaplain of tlie embassy at Rio some twenty years 
 later. 
 
 ''This argument," complains Walsh, *'had its weight, 
 and the Brazilians say he was right, for the event has 
 verified the prediction." 
 
 The expenses of this new church were met in a fashion 
 of which examples are to be remarked in the British "fac- 
 tories" at such places as Lisbon, Oporto, Madeira, and 
 elsewhere. By a voluntary tax on their own goods the 
 British merchants provided funds for the building and 
 upkeep of the church, the stipend of the chaplain, and for 
 purposes of general charity. 
 
 This brings us to the topic of the British mercantile 
 community, which was now established at Rio, having the 
 advantage of a special judge, a Juiz Conservador, whose 
 business it was to attend solely to their affairs, and to 
 see to it that justice was done them. 
 
 Whatever their chasteners may say of the enterprise of 
 the British merchants of the present day, their ancestors 
 showed no lack of the quality then. No sooner were the 
 commercial doors of Brazil flung open than the traders 
 rushed through with all the enthusiasm of a modern queue 
 besieging the early doors of a theater. Not only did they 
 board every available ship and come bobbing merrily 
 southward over the Equator, but they sent their goods 
 with more zeal than discrimination. As to their wares, 
 they came and still they came, in brig, barquentine, and 
 full-rigged ship, until private houses were impressed into 
 the service to act as auxiliaries to the choked warehouses, 
 and the eyes of the people of Rio grew very round and 
 still more brilliant at the astonishingly high and pleasant 
 rents that their stones and mortar now brought them in. 
 
 As for the customs-house, its building was overflowed 
 and swamped in the very early days of the commercial 
 rush, and very soon the despairing officials abandoned the 
 attempt to cope with their task. Truth to tell, at that 
 period the first result could be achieved by quite modest 
 
292 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 shipments, and the second by even the faintest pressure 
 of hard work ! But the results were unfortunate for the 
 shippers. As the forest of masts thickened over the 
 bright waters of the bay, so did the heaps of strewn mer- 
 chandise extend further along the beach. According to 
 an eye-witness, these were some of the objects which lit- 
 tered the shore : salt, casks of ironmongery and nails, salt 
 fish, hogsheads of cheese, hats, small mountains of vari- 
 ous-sized crates, hogsheads of earthen and glassware, 
 cordage, bottled and barreled porter, paints, gum, resin, 
 tar, and an almost infinite catalogue of other objects. At- 
 tached to these first shipments were what might be termed 
 some side-harvests of profit for those shrewd folk who 
 understood the art of profiting from other people's mis- 
 fortunes. For vast quantities of goods damaged by rain 
 and sun, and vast quantities that were not, were sold, os- 
 tensibly for the benefit of the underwriters, but in reality 
 for that of the overjoyed Portuguese and Brazilians who 
 bought them for a song ! 
 
 That some of these objects should have realized a small 
 price was natural enough. Some of the manufacturers 
 had permitted their enthusiasm to outrun their geographi- 
 cal and climatic knowledge. Thus the aspect of those pa- 
 thetic consignments of stoves and warming pans would 
 have moved the soberest Brazilian to violent hilarity had 
 he had the faintest understanding of their purpose. But 
 when it came to steel skates, such as actually arrived in 
 considerable numbers in the first ships, all comment ends 
 — what was to be said to these ! 
 
 But trust a new land to improvise uses for even the 
 most unpromising objects ! Very soon the warming pans 
 found themselves very much in their element, for, handled 
 by perspiring Negroes, they were used to skim the scum 
 from the surface of the boiling sugar. The skates served 
 occasionally as door-latches; but their steel was more 
 frequently fashioned into knives, and often employed for 
 far more heated purposes than the innocent maker of the 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 293 
 
 skate had ever suspected! Far more appropriate were 
 some invitation cards decorated with the rose, the sham- 
 rock, and the thistle, which, distributed for the official 
 opening of the senate house, caused a natural and puzzled 
 flutter of delight among the British community until it 
 was discovered that the simple and unsophisticated reason 
 for their employment — like that given by the man called 
 Brown for his wearing of the Macpherson kilt — was that 
 they happened to have been bought ready made, and paid 
 for! 
 
 But these land affairs have caused us to overshoot the 
 course of the navy. Most of this time Sir W. Sidney 
 Smith, in command of the British fleet, was acting the part 
 of marine guardian angel in the harbor of Rio de Janeiro, 
 while Joao, appreciating the security thus offered, played 
 the part of a solicitous mother fowl toward his defenders. 
 The officers of the British fleet on the Brazilian coast were 
 apt to complain that the station was too inactive a one. 
 It is certain that the regent dreaded the British vessels 
 putting out to sea. Occasionally, however, they would 
 slip out, and that fine 64 ship the Agamemnon continued 
 to indulge in at least one important cruise in spite of the 
 prince's anxiety. 
 
 On this cruise she correctly ascertained the situation 
 of the rocks of Martin Vaz and the Island of Trinidad. 
 On this latter island the Agamemnon had an unexpected 
 find. Here they discovered seven men of the crew of an 
 American whaler, who had existed on the island for 
 eighteen months. They had been landed in order to effect 
 a cure for scurvy, and their vessel, lacking a good anchor- 
 age, had been blown away from the spot in a gale. So 
 here they were, seven exact models of Robinson Crusoe, 
 clothed from head to foot in hairy goatskins, and each 
 with an eighteen months ' growth of beard of his own. 
 
 These seven exiles were staunch-hearted fellows, for 
 they refused to be taken off by the Agamemnon, feeling 
 certain that their own vessel would return to fetch them. 
 
294 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 One can only hope that their faith was suitably rewarded. 
 
 As for the Agamemnon herself, in 1809, the following 
 year, this fine vessel. Nelson's favorite ship, was wrecked 
 to the south of Brazil on an island in the neighborhood of 
 the river Plate. 
 
 There was a greater difference between the tropical 
 cruising of the early nineteenth century and of the early 
 twentieth than the average landsman realizes. Salt junk 
 and weevil-haunted biscuits have come down with popular 
 tradition, of course. But there was far more than that. 
 Here, for instance, is Mr. Walsh's description of the mid- 
 shipmen's quarters on board of H.M. frigate Galatea, 
 in which he was invited to dine, and where he appears 
 to have spent a very enjoyable hour or so : 
 
 ''They were divided into two messes, the larboard and 
 the starboard. These were little recesses boarded off on 
 each side of the mainmast, lighted by bull's-eyes, but so 
 faintly that it was necessary to have candles at mid-day. 
 It was so intensely hot, that we were all obliged to strip, 
 and dine in our trousers and shirts. ' * 
 
 Nevertheless Walsh found among their good company, 
 none of those mannerisms such as had been depicted by 
 Congreve and Smollet. So, you modern landsmen, when 
 you next picture one of these fine frigates heeling her 
 stately pile of canvas to the trade wind, or standing up 
 in the breathless air straight as a pillar of pearl, remem- 
 ber that the life of her midshipmen down below was not all 
 beer and skittles — to say nothing of ice, electric fans, and 
 fresh air I 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE BRITISH IN BEAZIL (ll) 
 
 An entertainment on board H.M.S. London in Rio Harbor — Symbolical 
 decorations — A feat in toasts — ^Prince Joao honors Sir W. Sidney 
 Smith — Withdrawal of the regular fleet — ^Lord Beresford arrives with 
 a British squadron — Life on the Brazilian station — An American 
 critic on the court at Rio — ^The opera — A mixed chorus — Joao VI and 
 a mercantile captain — Incidents during the visit of the Emperor Pedro 
 II to an American passenger steamer — Unexpected welcome on the part 
 of the City of Pittsburg's steerage passengers — Some difficulties of 
 British naval commanders on the Brazilian coast — ^Imagined grievances 
 — Necessity for tact — Incidents at Rio and at Maranhao — A lesson 
 at Pernambuco — Arrival of Lord Cochrane — Difficulties of his situa- 
 tion as commander-in-chief of the Brazilian navy — His crews — The 
 fleet in Rio harbor — Commander James's description of Cochrane — 
 Alleged recruiting methods of the latter — Opinion of the British officers 
 — Capture of Bahia — Pursuit of the Portuguese fleet — ^Local disturb- 
 ances at Para — The riot crushed by Captain Grenfell — Piinishment of 
 the ringleaders — Terrible fate of a number of prisoners — ^Various ex- 
 planations of the tragedy — Cochrane's relations with the Brazilians — 
 He is created Marquis of Maranhao — Extraordinary findings of the Rio 
 prize court — Cochrane's return to England — The manner in which he 
 reimbursed himself. 
 
 WHILE in Rio Harbor Sir W. Sidney Smith de- 
 termined to celebrate his Britannic Majesty's 
 birthday with all fitting honors. The Lon- 
 don, profusely decorated and beflagged, and with her 
 quarterdeck hung with the royal standards of England 
 and Portugal, was the scene of an elaborate entertain- 
 ment. Prince Joao honored the occasion with his pres- 
 ence, and by way of a flattering attention that part of the 
 deck reserved for him was covered with French flags. 
 So that — ^whatever those ridiculous Frenchmen might be 
 doing with his country in Europe ! — Joao could at least 
 enjoy the satisfaction of saying that he had stamped on 
 their colors in Rio Harbor ! 
 
 295 
 
296 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 In the course of the toasts at the subsequent banquet 
 the prince regent set himself a high standard in the way 
 of optimism when he began with: ''The King of Eng- 
 land! May he live till time shall be no more!" There 
 seems, unfortunately, to exist no record as to how far 
 this graceful feat of enthusiasm was rivaled in the suc- 
 ceeding toasts. 
 
 When the entertainment was drawing to a close Joao 
 performed one of those peculiarly graceful acts of which 
 his paradoxical character was capable from time to time. 
 It was the hour of sunset, and the flags were about to be 
 lowered. He seized the opportunity to request that the 
 Portuguese standard which had been floating on the Lon- 
 don might be brought to him. Six seamen bore the flag 
 to him, and he commanded that it should be laid on the 
 deck. Then he turned to the Admiral, and addressed a 
 short speech to him : 
 
 "Admiral, your advices which I received by despatch 
 gave me information that Portugal had in part been taken 
 possession of by the French ; such intelligence convinced 
 me I was betrayed ; but to you. Admiral, I and my family 
 owe our liberty, and my mother her crown and dignity. 
 We are this day come on board the London to celebrate 
 his Britannic Majesty's birthday; and on this joyful oc- 
 casion my royal standard has had the honor to fly at the 
 masthead of the London in conjunction with that of Eng- 
 land. It now lies on the deck ; and permit me to return 
 you and the officers thanks for all the services which you 
 and they have conferred on myself and family. Accept 
 this standard from me, and from henceforth quarter the 
 arms of my house with those of your own : it will remain 
 a memorial for your posterity that your exertions pre- 
 served us from falling into the snare which Buonaparte 
 had laid for our destruction." 
 
 Whatever Joao may have lacked in dignity, none can 
 deny that this high honor to the British admiral was 
 fittingly and royally bestowed. When Sir W. Sidney 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 297 
 
 Smith left the Brazilian station, after some eighteen 
 months of command there, it was as a Knight Grand 
 Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword. He was 
 succeeded in his post by Admiral de Courcy. 
 
 There were occasions, of course, when the Brazilians 
 had an opportunity of seeing that sea-power is not a 
 mere matter of bunting, awnings, and trim uniforms, 
 but that it was a possession for which the greatest price 
 of all had to be paid. For instance, when on a windy 
 summer's day of 1812 the Java frigate engaged the 
 superior force of the United States ship Constitution, and 
 fought on until she was little more than a heap of wreck- 
 age on the water, with nearly half her crew out of 
 action, when no option remained but to strike. It was 
 shortly after this that the astonished inhabitants of Bahia 
 saw the tragic boat come ashore which held the gallant 
 Captain Lambert of the Java, who died in a hospital from 
 his wounds a few hours later. 
 
 As we are now back again on the warm blue waters 
 of the Brazilian coast we may as well remain there until 
 we have done with the part played by the British fleet 
 in the early days of royal Brazil. In those days, as has 
 already been explained, the king of Portugal was scarcely 
 ever without the attendance of British battleships and 
 frigates. It is true that, on the exile of Napoleon to 
 Elba the regular squadron was withdrawn from Rio, and 
 the land stores sold, but the subsequent visits of the 
 British ships continued almost without intermission. 
 
 In 1816 Lord Beresford appeared in the harbor of 
 Eio in command of a British squadron which was to 
 convey Joao back to his European throne. But when 
 it came to the point of actual departure the vacillating 
 king demurred, and the persuasions of neither the British 
 ambassador nor of Lord Beresford could move him to 
 embark. 
 
 On the whole, life on the Brazilian station could scarcely 
 fail to be languorous. Those of the officers who appre- 
 
298 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 ciated landscape had their fill of its beauties. There 
 was a certain amount of shore entertaining, shooting, 
 and deep-sea fishing. From time to time there would 
 occur a national festivity in which it was necessary for 
 the ships to take part, when the ships' guns would reply 
 to those of the batteries, when the bunting afloat would 
 vie with the elaborate triumphal arches ashore, and when 
 the illuminations at night would prick out dazzling, fairy 
 ships against the soft and dim purple of the tropical 
 night. On these occasions such North Americans as were 
 present would regard with rather a jaundiced eye such 
 proceedings in honor of an intrusive royalty on the 
 republican soil of the Americas. According to Mr. 
 Brackenbridge, one of these critical spectators: *' Kings 
 are very slow in adopting of the age in which they live. 
 They are almost as hard to civilize as are North American 
 Indians. I saw a great many of the nobles running to 
 and fro, and from the richness of their decorations I 
 judged of very high orders, such as gentlemen of the 
 bedchamber, grooms of the stole, and royal rat-killers. 
 I wish I could speak with respect of these things, but from 
 my soul I cannot." This, however, is by the way. 
 
 There was, too, that rather curious institution, the new 
 Rio opera, or rather ballet. Since this was one of the 
 first theaters ever erected in South America, it would 
 be unfair to judge it severely. Nevertheless, the varie- 
 gated complexions of these ladies of the ballet, sliding 
 up the color scale from deep black to a cafe~au-lait tint, 
 with an occasional startling fairer flower in the ranks, 
 must have been fully appreciated by the festal inhabi- 
 tants of the various gunrooms when ashore on leave. 
 Rio of the early nineteenth century was not the Rio of 
 to-day ! 
 
 Royalty itself in Brazil suffered some experiences 
 which would have occasioned " some mild horror in the 
 European society of that period. For instance, the cap- 
 tain of a British mercantile vessel who bore tidings from 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 299 
 
 politically disturbed Portugal was admitted to the pres- 
 ence of the King in order that the latter might learn 
 the news. When the interview was over Joao VI ex- 
 tended his hand in order that a respectful kiss might 
 be pressed upon it. But the honest sailor, who under- 
 stood nothing of such civilities, grasped the royal hand 
 in his own (presumably) tarry fingers, and pumphandled 
 it with painful cordiality. But the King, though shaken, 
 accepted the catastrophe in a philosophical spirit ! When 
 his courtiers would have intervened he bade them let the 
 strange man have his way. 
 
 A later contretemps of a somewhat similar order is 
 related by Messrs. Kidder and Fletcher. In 1852 a fine 
 new United States passenger steamer was on its voyage 
 to California by way of the Straits of Magellan. During 
 this vessel's stay at Eio de Janeiro the Emperor Pedro 
 II was invited on board, and a brilliant reception was 
 prepared for him. The Emperor and Empress arrived 
 in due course, accompanied by a numerous suite in 
 full court dress. Bunting waved ; music sounded ; flowers 
 glowed ; the Emperor was greatly interested in the vessel, 
 and the visit promised to be an unqualified success. 
 Judge, therefore, of the dismay of the American charge 
 d'affaires and the City of Pittsburg's captain, when the 
 Emperor insisted on inspecting the forward deck, where 
 reclined a host of perfectly unpolished steerage passen- 
 gers who were on their way to the gold-fields. The re- 
 mainder of the scene is best described in the author's 
 own words: 
 
 ''The Emperor's attention, however, could not be di- 
 verted to a different point ; and the Captain, fearing and 
 trembling, was led to the forward-deck. There, upon the 
 taffrail, sat representatives of the New York 'Mose,' the 
 Philadelphia 'Killer,' and the Baltimore 'Plug-Ugly.' 
 The Captain's heart sank within him: he was proud of 
 his ship, proud of his illustrious guest, but he had very 
 little to be proud of in some of his passengers — espe- 
 
300 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 cially the unkempt and unterrified, who were even more 
 picturesque after their voyage than upon election-day. 
 The Emperor now approached the sovereigns — ay, near 
 enough to have them 'betwixt the wind and his nobility.* 
 Then occurred a scene, rich beyond description, which 
 could never have taken place with others than Americans 
 for actors. One of the unshaven, whose tobacco had, up 
 to this time, occupied the greater portion of his mouth 
 and thoughts, suddenly tumbled from the taffrail, dis- 
 charged his quid into the ocean, and, hat in hand, yelled 
 forth in a well meaning but terrific voice, 'Boys, three 
 cheers for the Emperor of the Brazils!' In a twinkle of 
 an eye every Calif ornian was upon his feet; and never, 
 in their oft-fought battles for the 'glorious Democracy,' 
 did they send forth such round and hearty huzzas as they 
 did that day to D. Pedro II. The suddenness, the ear- 
 nestness, the good intention, and the enthusiasm of the 
 whole procedure were most mirth-provoking. The Cap- 
 tain's fears subsided: his pons asinorum was crossed, 
 and he took breath and laughed freely. The Emperor 
 returned the impromptu salute with great respect, and 
 for the occasion, with becoming gravity." 
 
 As the internal politics of Brazil tended to grow more 
 involved, the situation of the British naval commanders 
 naturally became proportionately difficult, more espe- 
 cially when some of the provinces began to rebel against 
 the central power at Eio de Janeiro, and when the Bra- 
 zilians were occupied in severing the ties which bound 
 them to Portugal. A short digression is necessary in 
 order to explain the general situation which prevailed 
 at that time. 
 
 In the early years of the nineteenth century the Spanish 
 and Portuguese South American colonies were respec- 
 tively undergoing very different species of metamorpho- 
 sis. Those of Spain were occupied in transferring them- 
 selves into republics, while the great country of Brazil was 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 301 
 
 learning to be a kingdom. At this period British sym- 
 pathies were, by force of circumstances, rather curiously 
 distributed. In Spanish South America their leanings 
 toward the patriot cause were sufficiently patent — not- 
 withstanding a rigid neutrality of action — to cause con- 
 siderable irritation among the remnants of the Spanish 
 power in Peru. 
 
 In Brazil, on the other hand, when friction arose be- 
 tween the new kingdom and the mother country, the 
 Brazilians were wont to complain that the attitude of the 
 British was unduly favorable toward the Portuguese. 
 Here again, there seem to have been no actual grounds 
 for complaint. At the same time, apart from any side- 
 issue of sentiment or policy, it is only natural that the 
 sympathies of the British fleet should have lain with 
 our most ancient ally — and this notwithstanding the work 
 which Cochrane had achieved. 
 
 This sense of grievance, however, had by no means 
 departed when an international incident made it neces- 
 sary for the British fleet to blockade Eio Harbor. The 
 presence of the men of war on this stern mission caused 
 no little indignation. 
 
 *'We must seize all your ships in our harbor," ob- 
 served an indignant inhabitant of Eio to Walsh, ** con- 
 fiscate all your property in the country, and fit out your 
 merchantmen as privateers to cruise against your com- 
 merce in other places." 
 
 These frank views are at all events instructive as to 
 the contemporary Brazilian idea of the relative naval 
 forces of Brazil and Great Britain! 
 
 Indeed, the post of a British commander on the Bra- 
 zilian station in the first quarter of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury called for no little tact. This was most of all the 
 case in the North, where the ordinary complications were 
 added to by the periodical rebellions against the central 
 authority of Rio de Janeiro. In the course of such actual 
 
302 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 warfare questions were continually cropping up con- 
 cerning the protection of the British residents, many of 
 whom enrolled themselves in a cavalry corps. 
 
 An instance of this occurred in 1824 at Maranhao when 
 the house of a Mr. Hesketh, an English merchant, was 
 forcibly entered by the local authorities. As a hint con- 
 cerning the unwisdom of such procedure, his Majesty's 
 sloop of war Eclair, which happened to be at the port, 
 shifted her berth so as to approach the shore and con- 
 trol the place with her guns. In the meantime an apology 
 was obtained from the local rebel authorities for the 
 occurrence. But the Junta felt itself outraged at the 
 action of the British, and seriously debated as to whether 
 it should not confiscate the Eclair 's rudder in punish- 
 ment of this too close and too unceremonious an ap- 
 proach ! The discussion, however, does not seem to have 
 touched on the topic concerning the ways and means by 
 which this was to have been effected. 
 
 A few months later Captain Johnstone of the Eclair, 
 now in command of the 42-gun frigate Doris, found him- 
 self off rebellious Pernambuco when that port was being 
 blockaded by a squadron from Rio de Janeiro. Here he 
 found it necessary to take strong steps to prevent a repe- 
 tition of a formal but groundless accusation to the effect 
 that he had been supplying the royal vessels with pro- 
 visions. Seeing that his categorical denial was received 
 in an unsatisfactory fashion, he decided that the most 
 efficient retort would be one which affected the pockets 
 of his detractors. So he ''up with his anchor" and sailed 
 to Bahia to complete the provisioning of his frigate, thus 
 depriving the inhabitants of Pernambuco of the transac- 
 tion and its profit ! 
 
 We may conclude this naval section with the adven- 
 tures of Lord Cochrane, who arrived in March, 1823, to 
 take charge of the scanty fleet of the newly constituted 
 Brazilian Empire in its struggle against the superior 
 squadrons of the now hostile Portuguese. 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 303 
 
 Cochrane threw himself with his accustomed energy 
 into the task of building up an efficient fleet. A number 
 of trading vessels were converted into warships, and 
 the Eio dockyards awoke to the sound of hammerings. 
 Cochrane 's present task was infinitely more difficult than 
 the one he had just completed. As commander-in-chief 
 of the Chilean navy, he had often had to put up with 
 makeshifts in the way of vessels and equipment ; but he 
 had invariably found himself supported by single-minded, 
 enthusiastic, and heroic crews. 
 
 In Brazil he found himself at least as well off in vessels. 
 It was when the question of recruiting crews came about 
 that the chief difficulties arose. The Brazilians not hav- 
 ing yet learned to take an interest in their seas — or any 
 one else's! — Cochrane had to depend for the manning of 
 his marine upon such chance element as he could light 
 on. Once afloat, the sympathies of many of these seemed, 
 at the very least, to lie as much with the Portuguese 
 as with the Brazilians — a condition of disinterestedness 
 by no means laudable in a fighting force ! 
 
 From the start the adventurous admiral had a good 
 deal of trouble even with such crews as he possessed. 
 A number of these were entirely unwilling to come to 
 blows with the Portuguese, and in several cases — notably 
 one in which an attempt was made to prevent the bring- 
 ing up of ammunition to the deck during an action 
 — certain of the dissatisfied elements made no attempt 
 to conceal the direction in which their sympathies really 
 lay. 
 
 In the end Lord Cochrane 's resolute character pre- 
 vailed, and he obtained as much control as it was pos- 
 sible to assume over his heterogeneous crews. Then, 
 pursuing his usual energetic policy, he prepared himself 
 for the attack. His first object was the port of Bahia 
 to the north, where the Portuguese naval and military 
 headquarters were now situated. For this purpose he 
 assembled a fleet consisting of the Pedro Primeiro, an 
 
304 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 80-gun ship, ten lesser vessels, and four armed mer- 
 chantmen. 
 
 As Cochrane lay in the bay of Rio de Janeiro on the 
 eve of his departure it happened that H.M.S. Tartar was 
 at anchor there too. Commander James, who was on 
 board the British ship as a junior officer at the time, 
 describes the appearance of the tall, red-haired Coch- 
 rane as he came over the side to pay a visit, accompanied 
 by his flag-captain, Crosby. 
 
 Those who are curious concerning Cochrane 's uniform 
 when in the Brazilian service may like to know that his 
 surtout coat was surmounted by an embroidered collar 
 and a pair of large epaulettes that supported silver stars. 
 Over his right shoulder hung a broad, light-blue sash, 
 while on his head was a gold-laced, cocked hat with a 
 large cockade, and at his side he wore a strong and 
 serviceable sword. 
 
 I have already alluded to the great difficulty which 
 Lord Cochrane was experiencing at the time in obtaining 
 efficient crews. Some of the methods which he, or his 
 subordinates, employed in the endeavor to overcome this 
 appear to have earned for him the resentment of his 
 fellow countrymen. That this was not unjustified, may 
 be gathered from Commander James's remarks. The 
 date of the episode was the 1st of April, 1823 : 
 
 *'Lord Cochrane had boats cruising round the ship 
 last night, and no doubt all over the harbor, to entice 
 the men to run. We observed one several times pass 
 this ship; and observing one coming we lowered a boat 
 and examined him. At the same time we caught one 
 of our men on the cue of going overboard. The fellow 
 said he was going to join Lord C. as his surgeon to-mor- 
 row, and made up a poor story. The lieutenant who 
 went in the boat told him that if he caught him enticing 
 any of the men away he would shoot him and Lord C. 
 too. Our sentries, loaded with ball, have orders to fire 
 at any one they might see swimming from us. If Lord 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 305 
 
 C. really employed the boats, it shows him to be a mean 
 fellow, as Captain Brown observed." 
 
 No doubt the infinite resource of such strong charac- 
 ters as that of Cochrane does not always add to the 
 welfare or ease of mind of their neighbors ! 
 
 At Bahia a few skirmishes took place, after which the 
 Portuguese fleet took refuge under the guns of the forts, 
 Bahia was now declared in a state of siege, and soon 
 afterwards some fresh British officers and men arrived to 
 assist Cochrane in his task. Of these officers the most 
 notable were Captains Grenfell and Taylor. 
 
 Bahia was now closely invested from the land side as 
 well as from the sea. Eventually the Brazilians attacked 
 the place from the land side and entered the city, while 
 the Portuguese abandoned the spot, and their great fleet 
 of seventy men-of-war, transports, and merchantmen 
 stood out for the open sea. Cochrane permitted the 
 armada to pass, and then pursued it relentlessly, cutting 
 out prizes daily from the hapless fleet as it went on its 
 northward flight, until the might of Portugal became a 
 thing of the past in Brazil. Indeed, so persistent was 
 Captain Taylor in his attendance on the fleeing vessels 
 that, capturing a prize from time to time, he pursued 
 them to the very mouth of the Tagus. 
 
 In the meantime some serious outbreaks occurred at 
 Para, where numbers of Brazilian soldiers got out of 
 hand, and, breaking out into open rioting, endeavored to 
 take advantage of the political situation. Having taken 
 possession of the forts and barracks and military stores, 
 they armed all those who would join them. Then, under 
 cover of shouts of "Death to the Europeans! Long live 
 independence and the Emperor Pedro!" they made for 
 the palace of the governor, whom they deposed, and 
 elected one of their own companions in his stead. 
 
 Gangs of these ruffians then filled the streets in a 
 determined search for the plunder which was their real 
 object. They kept possession of the town for two days, 
 
306 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 when a naval contingent, under Captain Grenfell of Lord 
 Cochrane 's squadron, appeared on the scene. An en- 
 counter ended in the defeat of the rioters, of whom large 
 numbers were captured. The next day Captain Gren- 
 fell armed the inhabitants and dragged into the town 
 eight pieces of artillery, manned by the Englishmen. 
 The rebellious soldiers were ordered to lay down their 
 arms and surrender, which at the sight of the cannon 
 they did. They were then marched in two columns to 
 the palace square, headed and flanked by volunteers, the 
 artillery, and marines. 
 
 Arrived at the square, they were arranged in columns, 
 and the artillery had orders to fire should the prisoners 
 resist the sentence passed. A body of cavalry, forty or 
 fifty strong, who had not yet surrendered, galloped up 
 at this moment, with the intention of charging and throw- 
 ing the infantry into confusion. But when they saw the 
 gunners drawn up, and the pieces in readiness to be 
 discharged, they wavered, halted, and then laid down 
 their arms. 
 
 There were now five hundred disarmed men on the 
 field. The rebellious soldiery were completely overawed, 
 and everything was as still as death. A council of war 
 and a court-martial followed. Stern measures were de- 
 cided on, and five of the ringleaders were sentenced to 
 be executed on the spot. 
 
 These latter at first refused to take the affair seriously, 
 and there were many who held the trial to be a mock 
 one, but they were soon disillusioned and profound dis- 
 may took the place of incredulity. When the time given 
 them to prepare themselves for death had expired, the 
 five were led to the front and executed before the assem- 
 bled people. Decidedly this first stern act of justice of 
 independent Brazil would never have been enacted under 
 the nervous rule of Joao VI, who could never bear to 
 sign the death warrant of a man, however criminal his 
 deed! 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 307 
 
 About two hundred and fifty of the prisoners were 
 now sent on board a prize ship that was lying in the 
 harbor. Then occurred a terrible, and in many respects 
 inexplicable, thing. During the first night of their con- 
 finement it is said that the sentry heard a great noise 
 from the quarters where the prisoners were lodged. He 
 ordered them to be quiet, but his voice was disregarded 
 and the uproar continued. Moreover, it appeared that 
 they were trying to force the hatches under which they 
 had been battened down. In order to intimidate these 
 prisoners, the sentry fired a shot or two, and in a short 
 time all became quiet. 
 
 The next morning on opening the hatches it was found 
 that only four were alive of the two hundred and fifty, 
 and that the dead were mutilated in the most horrible 
 way! 
 
 A good deal of mystery seems to surround this affair. 
 One very improbable account runs to the effect that the 
 unfortunate men went suddenly mad and killed each 
 other in their delirium. Another relates that the Bra- 
 zilians wished to murder some Portuguese prisoners who 
 were with them, but had killed their own countrymen, it 
 being too dark to distinguish one from the other clearly, 
 and that this had led to a general battle. It is obvious 
 that much has remained untold, since it is hardly con- 
 ceivable that out of two hundred and fifty combatants 
 every man, with the exception of four, should have suc- 
 ceeded in killing the other! Yet, according to these 
 accounts, this must have occurred, since it is said that 
 the four survivors owed their safety to having hidden 
 under some water casks all the time. The most probable 
 explanation is that, by reason of some carelessness in 
 the arrangements of the ventilation, the poor wretches 
 perished from suffocation. 
 
 That gallant stormy petrel. Lord Cochrane, was des- 
 tined to find — as is frequently the lot of sailors and sol- 
 diers — that his material rewards in Brazil were not alto- 
 
308 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 gether commensurate with the warmth of his reception 
 or even with the honors conferred on him. The Emperor 
 undoubtedly felt a warm admiration for the Admiral's 
 feats, and created him Marquis of Maranhao. Even this 
 honor, as a matter of fact, proved a bone of contention; 
 for a prominent statesman, Antonio Carlos Andrada, now 
 challenged the sovereign's right to confer this honor 
 without the sanction of the House of Deputies, remarking 
 that '' nobility unaccompanied by any corresponding 
 power was an institution of which he would not compre- 
 hend the object." 
 
 In Cochrane 's case the shaft of this saying certainly 
 went very wide of the mark. It is true that there were 
 in existence just then large numbers of Brazilians re- 
 cently ennobled for reasons which were entirely uncon- 
 nected with any personal merit or achievements. But 
 this could scarcely be said of the man upon whose strength 
 the empire was relying for its freedom! 
 
 As might have been expected, the crisis in the affairs 
 of Lord Cochrane and his British oflScers arrived when 
 the question of prize ships and prize money came to be 
 taken into consideration. Cochrane waited patiently — 
 for him! — while his fleet of prizes threatened to rot in 
 the waters of Rio de Janeiro Harbor. At the best of 
 times Pedro was temperamentally averse to parting with 
 cash or with goods of any description. In the present 
 circumstances, moreover, the enthusiasm attending the 
 captures had largely evaporated. 
 
 Finding himself now securely seated on the Brazilian 
 throne, it had become Pedro's policy to conciliate Portu- 
 gal rather than to annoy the mother country. It was 
 just at this period that it was becoming noticeable that 
 his sympathies were veering round toward the Euro- 
 pean kingdom. A prize court was formed. The degree 
 of good faith in which this body was disposed to act 
 will be understood when it is explained that the majority 
 of the members were Portuguese by birth ! 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 309 
 
 That the findings of this court went against every one 
 of the undeniable claims of Cochrane and his captains, 
 goes without saying. But the proceedings went far be- 
 yond this, and became purely Gilbertian. It was only 
 a short while before that the Emperor had created Lord 
 Cochrane Marquis of Maranhao on account of his naval 
 victories. For having assisted in this campaign, and for 
 having chased the Portuguese fleet to the Tagus and for 
 having captured several of its vessels, the new prize 
 court condemned Admiral Taylor to six months' im- 
 prisonment and to the forfeiture of double the amount 
 of prize money he claimed! Truly, without intending 
 any meretricious pun, it might be said that this remark- 
 able body constituted a surprise, rather than a prize, 
 court ! 
 
 Neither Cochrane nor his British officers had ever 
 proved themselves men of a type to sit down quietly un- 
 der wrongs such as these. The Admiral, as it happened, 
 had some fairly weighty cards up his sleeve, and he 
 found it the best policy to advertise the fact that he 
 intended to keep them there. He accordingly announced 
 his intention of retaining the specie captured in the course 
 of the blockade of Bahia, as well as some ransoms ob- 
 tained at Maranhao. Pedro himself now made a shrewd 
 move. During a short absence of the Captain, his im- 
 perial Majesty in person boarded Grenf ell's ship, and 
 departed in some haste and considerable elation, having 
 collected from the vessel a large sum of money obtained 
 as ransoms for prizes at Para, which Grenfell had in 
 the circumstances intended as recompense for himself 
 and his crew. 
 
 The fiery Cochrane 's rage at this treatment may be 
 imagined. His exasperation was not decreased by the 
 grumblings of his British subordinates. Nevertheless the 
 Brazilians continued to avoid a payment in full of the 
 sailors ' claims. It was not until the outbreak of a serious 
 revolution at Pernambuco that the authorities proved 
 
310 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 themselves in the least amenable to reason. Then, see- 
 ing that the rebels had managed to get together a small 
 fleet of their own, the value of the foreign seamen and the 
 justice of their claims at once became evident. A sum 
 of money was collected and part of the arrears were 
 liquidated, after which Lord Cochrane and his ofificers 
 sailed to Pernambuco and proceeded to blockade the town. 
 
 On this occasion Cochrane decided to run no financial 
 risks. Having restored order out of chaos at Pernam- 
 buco, his actions showed themselves devoid of red tape 
 to a rather startling degree. He commandeered such 
 prize money as he thought adequate for himself and his 
 crew, and then in his flagship the Piranga he sailed 
 straight home to Plymouth, where he received a warm 
 welcome. The proceeding was, to say the least of it, 
 irregular; but it served the Admiral's purpose. 
 
 Cochrane arrived in England in the early summer of 
 1825. His original engagement had been to serve Brazil 
 until her independence had been acknowledged by Portu- 
 gal. This did not occur until August, some three months 
 later; so Cochrane left his Brazilian flag flying during 
 the interval. He was still ready to be called upon, he 
 explained. Doubtless he was; but the distance between 
 him and Brazil was considerable. In the meanwhile the 
 prize money remained his own and his crews ', to the un- 
 bounded wrath of Pedro. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL (ill) 
 
 Royalty in Brazil — Some stringent regulations concerning etiquette — Com- 
 pulsory salutations — A collection of ludicrous incidents — Behavior of 
 Dom Pedro — Episode related by Mr. H. M. Brackenridge — A meeting 
 with the royal family — The Queen of Portugal and the United States 
 Minister — A triumphant collision with autocracy — ^Violence of the 
 Queen — Mr. Sumpter's resolution and its results — Intervention of King 
 Joao VI — Curious ceremonies at Bahia and Pernambuco — Privileged 
 Lisbon beggars — Fortunate recipients of free passages on men-of-war 
 — The voyage of the warship Dom Joao VI — ^A British merchant's 
 abode in Rio — ^His work and amusements — Opening of the Exchange 
 — An early Tragedy — The trade in Bacalhao — Coinage and its by-prod- 
 ucts — The British shop-keepers and their Brazilian colleagues — Re- 
 spective qualities of the two — Ephemeral existence of the first news- 
 paper — Private theatricals, ashore and afloat — Public-houses in Rio — 
 Prejudice against mutton in Brazil — Dinner given with the object of 
 destroying this — Hospitality of the Faisendeiro — Local reputation of 
 the British for insobriety — Establishments of the interior — ^An expe- 
 rience in a primitive household — Mr. Mawe's journey to the Diamond 
 Mines — A negro and his supposed gem — Eventual disappointment — 
 Mawe's experience at Barbacena — ^The ubiquity of British manu- 
 factures. 
 
 LET US now perform a feat possible only in print, 
 and turn back a few years to the early events of 
 tbis tropical court which the British navy had 
 been instrumental in creating. 
 
 The transference of this court was followed by some 
 local results which the contemporary students of the 
 Portuguese character could scarcely have foreseen. 
 Perhaps it was the collision of royalty with the es- 
 sentially democratic atmosphere of the Americas that 
 brought about a number of explosions of a nature foreign 
 both to the Brazilian soil and to the kindly Portuguese 
 temperament ! 
 
 311 
 
312 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 . It was undoubtedly part of the old colonial policy 
 which caused the regulations for the exhibition of ex- 
 ternal respect toward the royal family to be arbitrary 
 and oppressive to a degree unheard of in Europe. The 
 ethics of the street were included in these. When the 
 royal family took its airings abroad it was the aim of 
 the authorities to make the progress one of tremendous 
 glamour and dignity. At the passage of a royal per- 
 sonage humanity was commanded to fall as prone as 
 autumn leaves! As a result, the inhabitants of Eio 
 found themselves, whether they would or no — in the 
 early days their enthusiasm was genuine enough — com- 
 mitted to perfect debauche of obeisance. 
 
 In actual practice, these regulations were made to 
 apply to foreigners as well as to Portuguese and Bra- 
 zilians, notwithstanding the fact that the King had de- 
 clared publicly that he did not require it of any who 
 were not his subjects. In spite of this, whenever a for- 
 eigner or native chanced to meet any members of the 
 royal family, he was obliged, if mounted, to dismount 
 from his horse, and, if in a carriage, to alight with all 
 speed. The *' Times" of November, 1818, has some inter- 
 esting comments on this peculiar state of affairs: 
 
 **Woe to him who is not able to do this quickly enough, 
 for he will be dreadfully chastised by the servants who 
 accompany him. It happened very lately that two mer- 
 chants, the chief partners of a foreign establishment 
 here, on meeting some of the royal princes, and relying 
 on the ordinance of the King, did not dismount from 
 their horses ; one of them, by the command of the young- 
 est, a boy of fourteen, was severely beaten by a groom, 
 and the other, a man of fifty, received from the Crown 
 Prince himself, a blow from, his whip." 
 
 This reveals a condition of affairs, where dignity would 
 seem to rest with the assaulted rather than with the 
 assailants, and certainly the transplanting of royalty 
 seems to have had curious and exotic results, for the 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 313 
 
 journal goes on with the still more astonishing state- 
 ment to the effect that: **This same Crown Prince on 
 another occasion did not consider it beneath his dignity 
 to throw a stone at a foreigner, who, not knowing him, 
 happened not to have taken off his hat I'* 
 
 Those who have followed Dom Pedro's later career, 
 with all its attributes of personal valor and unconscious 
 buffoonery, resolution, and ridiculous want of humor, will 
 experience less surprise in reading this than they would 
 if the anecdote concerned a more ordinary prince. With 
 such extraordinary evidences of a want of discipline in 
 his youth, the wilder days of Pedro's subsequent life 
 become explicable. 
 
 An American writer, Mr. H. M. Brackenridge, has 
 already been quoted. He was traveling to Eio de Janeiro 
 on a mission from his Government in 1817, and on his 
 first landing came into contact with Brazilian royalty. 
 He describes his experiences with some satire. He was 
 at the house of the United States minister, Mr. Sumpter, 
 when he saw a cavalcade going down the road. A couple 
 of dusky dragoons, whose faces showed traces of their 
 Indian blood, galloped by, their swords rattling gallantly 
 by their sides. These were followed at a considerable 
 distance by a number of cumbrous and old-fashioned 
 coaches. They contained the Queen, the princesses, and 
 their suite. 
 
 The procession came to a halt at the gate of the Ameri- 
 can minister, and there the Queen and the princesses 
 spoke in a familiar and friendly fashion with Miss Sump- 
 ter. But for their guard and retinue, Brackenridge says 
 he *' would have taken them to be the respectable class of 
 citizens," which was no small concession from a traveler 
 of his democratic caliber! In fact, our thorough-going 
 republican confesses himself not unimpressed by the 
 modest attire and behavior of these first royalties with 
 which he was brought into contact. 
 
 ''Although," he says, **I had read a great deal of 
 
314 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 kings and queens and princesses, I had no idea that I 
 should feel so little of that awe supposed to be pro- 
 duced by the irradiations of majesty." 
 
 Thus our chronicler — a very loyal and estimable re- 
 publican, but faintly inclined to be intolerant — pats with 
 some warmth the back that found so little trouble in 
 remaining stiff and erect. This should not have been 
 difficult, since, with the exception of the Queen's person- 
 ality, there was very little formality about the party. 
 The Princess Leopoldina, he says, was distinguished 
 from the rest by the fairness of her complexion. He 
 adds, however, that there was nothing remarkable in her 
 appearance, and that there were thousands of his coun- 
 trywomen that he would choose in preference for a 
 wife, which confession seems to betray a leaning toward 
 Mormonism ! 
 
 It was, of course, a terribly servile manner of obeisance 
 shown by the inhabitants — both civil and military — of 
 Rio when in the early days of the kingdom they fell 
 on their knees in the roadway at the sight of their sov- 
 ereigns. But, at the very least, the guards who accom- 
 panied the royal cortege would compel riders to dismount 
 and to stand bareheaded. This crude method, as we 
 have seen, was occasionally applied to foreigners, and, 
 apparently, passed unresented in the majority of in- 
 stances. It is even said that a number of the foreign 
 ministers submitted to this — a most remarkable and quite 
 inexplicable concession. But the American representa- 
 tive was most decidedly not one of these. 
 
 This latter, Mr. Sumpter, was determined to use every 
 diplomatic means to preserve his dignity. He took every 
 precaution to avoid meeting the royal cavalcade in the 
 street. He was successful for a considerable time; but 
 at last the day came when he found himself face to face 
 with the cumbersome coaches and the outriding dragoons. 
 It was the Queen who chanced to be taking an outing. 
 Sumpter realized that the ordeal could no longer be 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 315 
 
 avoided! Anxious to comply as much as possible with 
 courtesy, the American minister halted his horse and 
 saluted her Majesty. But this did not satisfy the Queen. 
 With an imperious gesture she commanded her guards 
 to compel him to dismount. This, let it be remembered, 
 was the act of a sovereign toward a representative of 
 a foreign and friendly power ! 
 
 The dragoons advanced, and, seeing that Mr. Sumpter 
 made no attempt to obey their shouts, they closed in 
 upon him, brandishing their swords. The American min- 
 ister stood prepared to defend himself with his stick, 
 and this determined attitude was sufficient for the appe- 
 tite of the tawdry-uniformed, but cautious dragoons, who 
 retreated to the shelter of her Majesty's carriage: while 
 her Majesty, for her part, continued her way in a huff. 
 
 Immediately after this incident one of the Portuguese 
 ministry called on Mr. Sumpter, and implored him to 
 consider the effect his example would have on the other 
 foreign ministers, who for their part might refuse to 
 dismount and pay obeisance to the Queen! In view of 
 this extraordinary plea it is evident that the ministers' 
 plenipotentiary were considered rather in the light of 
 school children liable to mischief! The American min- 
 ister roundly declared his inability to guarantee the 
 behavior of his colleagues in any way whatever. After 
 tTiis he went armed and fully prepared for an encounter 
 with the Queen's guard. 
 
 Sumpter was a determined minister. On a second 
 attempt being made to lower his dignity when he ran 
 into this firebrand of a cortege, he all but blew a number 
 of the royal escort out of existence. This time the matter 
 was brought to the King. The Queen complained of the 
 minister's insolence, and the minister complained of the 
 Queen's insults. The King, very rightly, sided with the 
 minister, and apologized, assuring him that no such 
 childish yet dangerous experiments should be tried in his 
 direction again. 
 
316 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 The Queen, however, was not content to let the matter 
 rest here. Her notorious violence had never yet been 
 tamed by any move on the part of her peace-loving hus- 
 band. Whether by accident or design, only a few days 
 after the King's apology, she again met the American 
 minister in the street. On this occasion she was accom- 
 panied by no less than twelve guards who advanced on 
 the representative of the United States with the intention 
 this time of really having it out with the stiff-necked, 
 conscientious objector to the salute. Mr. Sumpter, noth- 
 ing daunted, drew his pistols, and instead of running 
 away, as the guard undoubtedly expected, dashed straight 
 through them and arrived at the window of the Queen's 
 carriage, with the escort, doubtless in a great hubbub, 
 gesticulating and shouting behind. 
 
 Mr. Sumpter appears to have taken no notice of them 
 whatever, and they do not seem to have dared to approach 
 him. He, for his part, was giving the Queen a most 
 gratifying piece of his mind ; he told her in so many words 
 that he refused to submit to these orders of hers, and 
 that, to put the matter abruptly, he would prefer to 
 remain on distant bowing terms. He left her, doubtless 
 in a paroxysm of fury, and carried the matter directly 
 to the King, who appeared much grieved, and insisted 
 on making a personal apology. He imprisoned the 
 guards and offered to punish them in any way which 
 Mr. Sumpter should name. Seeing that the real culprit 
 was beyond the reach of justice, the latter desired nothing 
 of the kind, and, with this, the curious incident seems 
 to have ended. 
 
 As a matter of fact many of the customs which were 
 encouraged in Brazil at this period were of a crude 
 order, ill-calculated to appeal for any length of time to 
 the expanding intellect of the Brazilian. 
 
 In such ports as Bahia and Pernambuco it was fre- 
 quently the portion of the British and other consuls to 
 take part in some quaint ceremonies, one of which in- 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 317 
 
 eluded an obeisance to the portraits of the Emperor and 
 Empress, which were wont to be placed in state beneath 
 a massive velvet canopy. As a matter of fact, this par- 
 ticular part of one of these official receptions was usually 
 omitted by the foreign consuls, although no other of the 
 municipal guests would have dared to leave undone this 
 significant ceremony, even had his feelings prompted to 
 do so. 
 
 It was inevitable that a certain amount of license should 
 have attended the migration of the court from Lisbon to 
 Rio de Janeiro. It is true that the Portuguese court 
 brought to Brazil a considerable amount of social, artistic, 
 and literary benefit. But even a court has its seamy 
 side — or tail, as the case may be. In this case it was 
 most decidedly a tail, since the seamy element was com- 
 prised of the Lisbon beggars. Enterprising mendicants, 
 these, to whose pilgrimages the great South Atlantic 
 Ocean itself formed no barrier! 
 
 Indeed, the devotion of these folk to the coins of the 
 migrated nobility and of the rich colonists of Brazil 
 appears to have known no bounds! It is said that no 
 vessel ever left the Tagus, bound for Brazil, without 
 its quota of these tactful gentry. But when it came to 
 giving them free and official passages on men-of-war, the 
 thing grew Gilbertian to a degree! Yet so it was, and 
 the pressed crew of many a Portuguese frigate had to 
 trim the vessel's sails in order that they might blow 
 a crowd of these mendicants to their destination. 
 
 One of the most notable instances of this was the sail- 
 ing of the great warship Dom Jodo VI, which, after 
 various unsuccessful attempts, succeeded in crossing the 
 bar of the Tagus in 1820, carrying no fewer than twelve 
 hundred passengers. A very large proportion of these 
 were beggars. Many of them, it must be admitted, had 
 smuggled themselves on board, and most of these, again, 
 had provided themselves with no provisions whatever for 
 the voyage! 
 
318 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 The conditions under which such a passage was car- 
 ried out may be imagined. Short of water, food — and, 
 indeed, of everything but filth — the ship staggered 
 through the tropics in a completely insanitary condition. 
 On its arrival, the colonial inhabitants of Rio protested in 
 disgust that they had not thought it possible that such a 
 shipload of vermin and beggars could have floated on 
 the water! 
 
 It is now time to take a glimpse at the Englishman, 
 settled among the lovely surroundings and comforts of 
 a lesser degree of the tropical ports. 
 
 There appears to have been nothing ostentatious in the 
 establishments of the early British merchants in Brazil. 
 The ground floor of one of the ordinary massive hewn 
 stone buildings was used as a storeroom for the goods. 
 The first floor was mainly used as an office, and as a 
 sample and show room, while above that again lived the 
 merchant and his family. All this was natural enough, 
 of course, for in those days even in London town the 
 merchant had not yet promoted his social self away from 
 his business premises! 
 
 Blit the British merchant in Brazil, unlike his pre- 
 decessor John Gilpin, found it necessary to take most 
 of his pleasures at home. He would put up his shutters 
 at about two o 'clock, and would prepare himself to dine. 
 He would don a calico jacket for the occasion, and would 
 follow the Brazilian fashion which made it obligatory 
 to offer one of these cool garments to each of his guests, 
 whether there were two or a dozen in number. Then 
 would ensue the siesta — the two hours of blmding-white 
 false night, when nothing stirred save the insects, and 
 dogs, and the vultures wheeling in the sky. 
 
 Then, when the sun had dropped to fringe the moun- 
 tain tops, there would be a mild stir again in the com- 
 mercial quarters of the establishment, and principals and 
 clerks would get to work again in the matters of Man- 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 319 
 
 Chester goods, silks, saddles, implements, and what not. 
 Occasionally the merchant would set out to amuse him- 
 self, and would play a game of quoits, imbibing — mark 
 you ! — honest bottled porter in the rays of a burning 
 sun that has taught his descendants a lighter, and per- 
 haps less long, thirst. 
 
 So much for the British merchant at home in Brazil. 
 Very soon after his arrival the proper aids to commerce 
 began to be established. 
 
 An imposing exchange was opened in Eio in 1820 by 
 the King, who chose his birthday as the date of the 
 occasion. After listening to an address from the British 
 merchants. King Joao and his family took part in the 
 banquet, which was followed by a ball. 
 
 In addition to its purely commercial uses, the building 
 was occasionally used by the Brazilians for political pur- 
 poses, and was shortly afterwards the scene of a mas- 
 sacre, when the troops, without justification or warning, 
 fell upon the inmates. In the confusion the caretaker, an 
 Englishman of the name of Burnet, was fortunate enough 
 to have his life saved by his snuif box. For a bayonet, 
 viciously aimed at his waistcoat, would undoubtedly have 
 penetrated that frail defense had not the massive lid of 
 the box stayed the point ! 
 
 A trade which now increased greatly between the Brit- 
 ish and the Brazilians was that in Bacalhao, or dried cod 
 — a flattened and completely desiccated fish which re- 
 sembles a board in substance and a polecat in odor ! The 
 taste for these had originally been acquired by the early 
 Portuguese navigators, and cargoes of the odorous deli- 
 cacy have continued to be brought over to Portugal by 
 British vessels from the Newfoundland Banks from that 
 period right down to the present day. Among the early 
 British navigators this dried cod was known as ''Poore 
 John, ' ' and as early as 1585 it is mentioned that Drake 's 
 fleet on the way to South America captured a Spanish 
 
320 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 vessel laden with it — to the no small advantage of the 
 tables of the English ships, as it was described as ''new 
 and good." 
 
 A certain quantity of this had always been consumed 
 in Brazil; but the great influx of Portuguese, of course, 
 who arrived with the court, tended for the first time to 
 swell this trade to important proportions. 
 
 Among the failings of the Brazilian cannot be counted 
 a lack of shrewdness and intellectual agility. Yet on one 
 occasion at least did the officials of the new kingdom of 
 Brazil display a certain want of commercial astuteness 
 which they must doubtless have subsequently regretted. 
 For years, the large and ponderous copper coin of the 
 Brazils was cut in Rio from sheet copper sent from Eng- 
 land. As it happened, owing to the want of proper appli- 
 ances in the Brazilian capital, the curved triangular inter- 
 stices of the circles were left over, and the result was a 
 most monumental waste of copper. 
 
 An Englishman, noticing this, purchased all the waste 
 pieces for a song, and made a practice of sending them 
 back to England in order that they should be made up 
 into fresh sheets of copper. After a very long time it 
 occurred to the Rio authorities to have their coins sent out 
 from England already cut — a resolution the wisdom of 
 which was heartily applauded by the English middleman, 
 who had already made a large fortune ! 
 
 In Brazil of the early nineteenth century the English 
 shopkeepers do not seem to have shared the solid repu- 
 tation earned by their wholesale merchant brethren. 
 "The worst shops," complains Hadfield, ''are kept by 
 English, and this will be found a general rule in these 
 foreign towns. The merchants are good and honest ; but 
 if one wishes to be well taken in, go to a shop kept by 
 an Englishman." But this was undoubtedly written in 
 an unduly pessimistic moment. 
 
 Nevertheless, the majority of contemporary writers 
 agree concerning the excessive charges made by the Brit- 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 321 
 
 ish shopkeepers. It is likely that these had an easy time 
 of it so far as Brazilian competition was concerned. For 
 the Rio shopkeeper of the period loved his ease better 
 than his trade. Were he engaged in a friendly game of 
 cards, he would refuse to cease on the entrance of a 
 customer : it required something more, too, than so insig- 
 nificant an entry to interrupt a friendly chat with a 
 crony. It is true that at times he would yield to impor- 
 tunity to the extent of requesting the customer to find 
 the article for himself and to lay down his money — ^but 
 he usually found it simpler to explain that he had nothing 
 of the kind in his shop ! 
 
 But beyond those who took part in the stereotyped 
 branches of trade there were occasional free lances of 
 industry. One of their number, a British sailor who 
 resided at Praya Grande in the Bay of Eio de Janeiro, 
 must have had as enterprising a mind as his brother 
 mariner who first set up bathing machines in the strug- 
 ling infancy of that now fashionable Argentine seaside 
 resort. Mar del Plata. 
 
 This other shellback, finding that race meetings were 
 being held on the Botafogo beach in the early 1820 's, 
 used to cross over in a boat, laden with refreshments, 
 furniture, and a tent, and would set up a booth for the 
 occasion. The benefits of this were fully appreciated by 
 those attending the race meetings. Indeed, so solid were 
 the profits that the sailor 's negro crew, on his last home- 
 ward passage, murdered him in order to rob his body. 
 
 It was estimated that the British community in Rio 
 de Janeiro in 1830 amounted to some seven hundred 
 people. They had already established a circulating 
 library, and had founded their first newspaper — an ephe- 
 meral publication that, lacking not only a public but an 
 actual population, soon withered away! 
 
 To the credit of these British let it be said that as 
 early as the first quarter of the nineteenth century they 
 had already devoted themselves to private theatricals for 
 
322 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 the cause of various charities! As it was then, so it is 
 now. After all it would seem that a box of properties 
 and some of French's slender pink volumes are as much 
 a part of the empire as the cricket bat, the football, the 
 springy driver, and a sense of fair play. 
 
 Indeed, the vessels themselves that fly the white ensign 
 on the South American station have done their share in 
 these theatricals, and of quite recent years there was a 
 gallant light cruiser — so gallant has she proved herself 
 since in the matter of powder and shot that she may take 
 with equanimity any jest concerning mere powder and 
 paint — whose officers, as soon as she dropped her hook 
 in a harbor, were reputed to a man to sweep the shore 
 with their glasses in search of a suitable private theater ! 
 It was even alleged by her critics that a local revolution 
 was once nipped in the bud by a threat of a performance 
 of the '^Mikado"! 
 
 To revert to the early nineteenth century, many enter- 
 prising publicans in Rio had made it their business that 
 the ordinary British sailor should feel at home when he 
 landed. ''There are plenty of English pot-houses," says 
 Mrs. Graham, in her ''Journal of a Voyage to Brazil," 
 "whose Union Jacks, Red Lions, Jolly Tars, with their 
 English inscriptions, vie with those of Greenwich or 
 Deptford." 
 
 When the British community had fairly settled down 
 in Rio de Janeiro, its members began to ask themselves 
 a not unnatural question. Why was there no mutton in 
 Brazil? The prejudice against this meat, as a matter 
 of fact, was as deep in that country as it was in Spanish- 
 speaking South America. The carcass of a sheep might 
 serve as tallow, manure, or even fuel — but, as for any 
 portion of it gracing the meanest table — the Brazilian of 
 the early nineteenth century would as soon have con- 
 templated breakfasting on his grandmother ! 
 
 A Mr. Duval gave a dinner party with the daring 
 object of introducing the mutton to the Brazilian. The 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 
 
 Rio guests came, saw, and made a polite attempt to 
 conquer their aversion. Some reached the point of just 
 tasting the despised flesh of the sheep, but there the 
 matter ended. Nevertheless, this must have been the thin 
 end of the wedge of mutton, for the intense antipathy 
 afterwards began to lessen. 
 
 It may be added that at this experimental banquet 
 champagne was supplied as an antidote to the mutton. 
 Many of the Brazilians, not previously acquainted with 
 the vintages of Rheims, drank the champagne under the 
 impression that it was an unusually pleasant species of 
 beer — until an unexpected giddiness in their heads warned 
 them that this strange new beer had a stranger bite ! 
 
 Numbers of the early British travelers who penetrated 
 into the Arcadian simplicity of the interior of Brazil bear 
 witness to the remarkable hospitality of the landowner, 
 the Fazendeiro. In those expansive three-bottle days the 
 average British reputation for sobriety was a thing of 
 no particular weight — not substantial enough, alas! to 
 crush an ordinary Brazilian firefly ! The more ascetic of 
 these British travelers had, of course, to submit to being 
 tarred with the same brush of excessive joviality as the 
 rest, and to have their persistent sobriety thrown in their 
 faces in friendly reproach. No man, it was commonly 
 alleged in the primitive backwoods of the country, could 
 remain sober after dinner and at the same time be a good 
 Englishman — a Bern Ingles! 
 
 In the course of time, when these simple folk in the 
 interior grew to know more of the British, their ideas 
 concerning the behavior of these curious islanders grew 
 less rigid, and they became accustomed to sitting down 
 with him at table — where thQ dried cod and beef, chilis, 
 mandioca, garlic, and the numerous other ingredients lay 
 in the common dish at the mercy of fingers as well as 
 of knives and forks — ^without necessarily counting on a 
 single hiccough ! 
 
 The ethics of most of these establishments were patri- 
 
324 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 archal, but occasionally, in those very primitive house- 
 holds that lay at the "back of beyond" this simplicity — 
 although it did not in the least interfere with the hospi- 
 tality extended — assumed a form of frank distrust of 
 the stranger which was embarrassing. Hadfield, for in- 
 stance, states that after retiring to bed for the night, the 
 overhearing of a conversation such as the following was 
 no uncommon experience: 
 
 "Wife. Zuza, have you bolted the stranger in? 
 
 Planter. No, I forgot it ; but never mind. 
 
 Wife. Never mind, indeed! But I do mind. Ger- 
 trude ! 
 
 Black Girl. 'Nhora! (meaning senhora). 
 
 Wife. Get up, and bolt the door in the passage leading 
 to the stranger's room." 
 
 And then would follow the drawing of the bolts, and 
 with the sound of this unusual serenade in his ears the 
 stranger would have to compose himself to sleep. 
 
 Mr. John Mawe, who wrote in 1825, relates a curious 
 experience which he underwent in Brazil. He obtained 
 permission to explore the diamond mines of Cerro do 
 Frio. This was by way of being a considerable favor, 
 which had so far been granted neither to any foreigner 
 nor Portuguese. That which made his trip all the more 
 interesting was the somewhat extraordinary happening 
 which occurred on the eve of his departure. 
 
 An African Negro of the Villa do Principe, about nine 
 hundred miles from Rio de Janeiro, wrote to the Prince 
 Regent. He possessed, it appeared, an astonishingly 
 large diamond, which he begged the honor of presenting 
 to his Royal Highness in person. As may be imagined, 
 the offer was accepted, and an escort of soldiers was 
 sent to guard the fortunate man on his way to Rio de 
 Janeiro. 
 
 His procession across the country was something in 
 the nature of a triumph. His entourage already saw him 
 a blaze of crosses and decorations, and his escort rejoiced 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 325 
 
 in the certainty of promotion. In fact, the Negro and 
 his diamond proceeded on their way in a flash of glory. 
 
 When the time came for him to be admitted into the 
 royal presence, the dusky donor flung himself at the feet 
 of the Prince, and handed over his gem. The gasp of 
 astonishment with which this was viewed must, in one 
 sense, have repaid the poor man for all his travels. The 
 thing was, apparently, a marvelous round diamond, of 
 nearly a pound in weight! Therefore the stone was 
 worth millions of pounds sterling ! 
 
 A tremor of rejoicing filled the room in which it shone, 
 and presently the astonishing gem was sent to be locked 
 up under a strong guard. Presently also, alas! sus- 
 picions as to the genuineness of this gargantuan jewel 
 became aroused, and Mawe himself was asked by the 
 Conde de Linhares to view it. The visitor was led 
 through apartments hung with scarlet and gold until he 
 came to one abounding in strong chests, each of which 
 possessed three keys, held by three different personages. 
 
 From the recesses of one of these the great jewel was 
 produced, and Mawe, who appears to have been some- 
 thing of an expert, was obliged, somewhat to his embar- 
 rassment, to announce the thing a mere worthless crys- 
 tal ! The shining bubble had burst, and so had the fame 
 of the Negro! The unfortunate black returned to his 
 home minus his escort of soldiers, and without a single 
 decoration. He was doubtless an honest man, who re- 
 gretted the day he had dabbled in supposed jewelery ! 
 
 This Mr. Mawe, it may be mentioned, experienced some 
 sufficiently amusing adventures on his travels into the 
 unsophisticated interior of Brazil. Thus in 1809 at the 
 small town of Barbacena he found himself an object of 
 intense curiosity. The shops of the place were stocked 
 with British goods — articles which the inhabitants had 
 already learned to regard with admiration. But never 
 before had they had the opportunity of gazing upon an 
 Englishman — one of those curious creatures capable of 
 
326 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 manufacturing these marvelous objects which of late had 
 lit down upon them from the skies — and they were deter- 
 mined to make the most of their time ! 
 
 In this respect Walsh utters some remarks concerning 
 the town of Villa Eica, which I much doubt could be 
 repeated with the same fervor to-day. The place, he 
 says, had shops '' filled with a great variety and good 
 assortment of all kinds of ware ; cotton goods from Man- 
 chester, broad-cloths from Yorkshire, stockings from 
 Nottingham, hats from London, and cutlery from Shef- 
 field, actually sold in the heart of the mountains of South 
 America, as abundant and almost as cheap, as in the 
 towns where they were manufactured; and when I saw 
 about me everywhere the produce of the labor of our 
 hands, I could not help exclaiming with ^neas, and with a 
 more literal application, Quae regio in terris nostri non 
 plena lab oris." 
 
 Returning to the topic of the Brazilian mines, it may 
 be said that some seventy miles to the north of this 
 town of Villa Rica were the Gongo Soco mines, which, 
 together with some other properties of the kind, were 
 purchased in 1825 by the Imperial Brazilian Mining 
 Association, of London. At one time no less than one 
 hundred and eighty British miners were working at the 
 spot, which, it was hoped, would soon expand into a 
 regular Cornish village in the interior of Brazil. The 
 enterprise was under the supervision of a Mr. Tregoning 
 and a Captain Lyons, the latter presumably a mine- 
 captain. A church was begun at the place, and the 
 Bishop of London appointed a chaplain to proceed there. 
 But the expectations to which the venture gave birth do 
 not seem ever to have been realized. 
 
CHAPTER XVn 
 
 THE BRITISH IN BEAZILi (iv) 
 
 Establishment of the Brazilian regular army — Arrival of British officers 
 — The introduction of the Irish soldier-agriculturists — Enthusiasm 
 with which the proposal was received in Ireland — The voyage to the 
 South — Arrival of the Irish in Brazil — Disappointment which awaited 
 them there — Bitter experiences of the newcomers — Friction between 
 the Irish and the negroes — ^Aggressive attitude of the latter — Affrays 
 in the streets of Eio — The species of Justice meted out to the Irish — 
 Their impossible siuation — ^The Emperor Pedro and the Hibernian 
 immigrants — Curious incident at Mass — Rising of the Irish — Scenes in 
 the streets of the capital — Attitude of the authorities — Panic-stricken 
 officials — Work of the rabble — End of the insurrection — A number of 
 the Irish return to their own country — Ultimate success of those who 
 remained — Walsh's description of an idyllic homestead — Experiences 
 of some foreign officers in the Brazilian regular army — Admiral 
 Grenfell — His early days and career in South America — He joins the 
 Brazilian navy — His services against Argentina and the Southern 
 rebels — As rear-admiral, he becomes Consul-General to Great Britain 
 — Further services in Brazil and England — ^Impetuosity of the 
 Emperor Pedro I — His eccentricity in private life — How he pro- 
 vided a new constitution for Portugal within a week — The fount of 
 his knowledge of the English language — The unconscious linguistic 
 solecisms of the royal couple. 
 
 THE reorganization of the Brazilian forces on the 
 withdrawal of the European troops had been no 
 light matter. On the departure of the Portu- 
 guese battalions the sole national force of Brazil was 
 the militia, a very moderately efficient body. Strenuous 
 efforts were made, and with unusual promptness a bat- 
 talion of artillery was formed of freed blacks, while a 
 body of a thousand men was collected and sent to Bahia. 
 In the province of Minas GersBS a cavalry regiment of 
 six hundred men was equipped, and thus was established 
 the beginning of the regular army of Brazil. 
 In many respects, the Brazilians themselves, that is 
 
 327 
 
328 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 to say, the descendants of the European Portuguese, were 
 fiery enough when roused; but the inevitable indolence 
 brought about by the climate did not tend toward enthusi- 
 astic volunteering and to smartness in manoeuvering or 
 drill. Pedro himself took a very active interest in the 
 matter, and he is said to have been almost childishly 
 pleased at the formation of a small corps of cavalry. 
 
 A Colonel Bacon and a few other oflScers arrived from 
 England for the purpose of organizing this, and very 
 soon the nucleus of a cavalry regiment was established 
 which was called the ''Queen's Lancers." The chief ele- 
 ment, nevertheless, from which the Brazilian army was 
 constituted was that of the negro, whose black battalions 
 and officers have already been referred to. 
 
 It was not long before trouble arose with the neigh- 
 boring Spanish-speaking republic of Argentina. The old 
 Spanish province of the Banda Oriental constituted the 
 bone of contention. Hostilities broke out, and in order 
 to increase the prestige of the Brazilian army the min- 
 isters determined to offer inducements to Europeans to 
 enlist. A considerable number of German troops were 
 secured in this fashion, but the most dramatic, and, in- 
 deed, tragic, of all the episodes of the kind was pro- 
 vided by the unfortunate Irish who were induced to come 
 out to Brazil in 1828 in the double capacity of agricul- 
 turists and soldiers. 
 
 The terms of the experiment certainly sounded alluring 
 to the poverty-stricken Irish peasants. The Brazilian 
 government proclaimed that every man was to receive 
 pay equal to one shilling per day, as well as one pound of 
 beef and one pound of bread as rations. In return, the 
 immigrants were to be employed four hours each day in 
 learning military exercises. They were to be ready to 
 act as soldiers at any time, but should not be sent out of 
 the Province of Rio unless in the time of war and in- 
 vasion. At the end of five years they were to be dis- 
 charged from military service and each was to become a 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 
 
 farmer, pure and simple, and to have fifty acres of land 
 assigned to him. However generous may have been the 
 intentions of the Brazilian Government it is probably un- 
 necessary to explain that fifty acres sound, and mean, far 
 more in Ireland than in Brazil ! 
 
 This proclamation, affixed to chapel doors in Cork, was 
 received by the poor folk with exuberant joy, and the 
 Irish peasantry said good-by to their pigs and peats, and 
 prepared to flock to Brazil. Many even sold their farms 
 and bought new agricultural implements with the pro- 
 ceeds, imagining that their military service was to be 
 something in the style of the local yeomanry, and that 
 their farming operations might begin at once. 
 
 There may have been a few undesirable characters 
 among them, but the majority of the two thousand four 
 hundred who proceeded to Bfrazil, and to an unfortunate 
 fate, were decent and admirable folk, willing to work and, 
 in fact, an excellent type of colonist. Among their num- 
 ber, too, were skilled mechanics, who carried their tools 
 with them; most desirable immigrants, these. 
 
 These honest folk from the emerald isle took up the 
 invitation of the Brazilian Government, and set out across 
 the ocean, prepared to carry out every ounce of their 
 share of the contract. Doubtless the news sent home 
 from time to time from their flourishing kindred in the 
 pastures of the river Plate had increased their confidence, 
 and had made them bold enough to uproot themselves 
 and their families for this momentous venture. 
 
 So this great company of agricultural Irish set sail. 
 Their spirits rose when they found that the vessels which 
 awaited them were as well found and as bountifully pro- 
 visioned as could possibly have been expected. So it was 
 with high hopes that they sweltered in the tropics, braved 
 the terrors of the doldrums, and eventually sailed between 
 the peaks which guard the entrance of the beautiful har- 
 bor of Rio. 
 
 They had arrived, and with their arrival sounded their 
 
330 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 tragedy! They had been better off in the most storm- 
 tossed hour of the voyage than in the calm and fairy- 
 like beauty of the Bay of Rio. Briefly, nothing had been 
 prepared for them. The fields that they were to till were 
 — hidden somewhere or other beneath those enormous 
 waves of virgin forest! The timber of the homesteads 
 that should have awaited them was in the forest too, 
 alive and verdant, and quite innocent of the ax ! 
 
 The despair of the immigrants may be imagined when 
 little by little it dawned on them that, not only had the 
 stipulated accommodation not been prepared, but that it 
 was highly unlikely that it ever would be. A fit of en- 
 thusiasm had induced promises of energy; but in the 
 calmer succeeding months the fulfilment of this had 
 expired — stillborn! As it happened, too, Barbozo, the 
 minister for war at the time of their landing, was vio- 
 lently hostile to the foreigners and to the scheme in which 
 they were involved. It was no doubt the influence of this 
 man which went far towards creating the unbearable 
 situation in which the immigrants subsequently found 
 themselves. In the meantime, explained the courteous 
 oflBcials, here was Rio, very much at the service of the 
 Irish. Nothing remained for them but to make them- 
 selves at home ! 
 
 The rest of the story makes pitiful reading. The help- 
 less Irish, humble and forsaken strangers in a strange 
 land, were soon reduced to the verge of starvation. Thus 
 these guests of the Brazilian Government — the victims of 
 sloth rather than of conscious malice — were to be met 
 with at the street corners of Rio, huddled in unkempt and 
 miserable groups. In the end most of the men were pro- 
 vided with wretched quarters and worse food. 
 
 To crown the whole business, the very Negro slaves of 
 Rio, rejoicing in the rare spectacle of a set of human be- 
 ings in a more lamentable condition than their own, took 
 to shouting insults at the hapless immigrants, and many 
 a jeer oi"Escravos brancosi" — white slaves — came from 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 331 
 
 the grinning African lips. From this point to that of ac- 
 tual assault, the way was as easy as that favored by any 
 other mob. Moreover, the blacks began to enter into the 
 affair with a vastly increased zest as soon as the attitude 
 of the minor officials of Rio grew clear. These had no 
 sympathy whatever with the agriculturalists wrecked in 
 the middle of a town ! 
 
 This was made evident enough by their conduct after 
 each of these affrays when the Irish had been set on by a 
 horde of blacks. Then, they would snatch at every pre- 
 text of imprisoning the Irish and of letting the Negro 
 go free. Where they considered it unavoidable to im- 
 prison both, they afforded the townspeople in general 
 the edifying spectacle of witnessing these honest Irish 
 peasants and yeomen — ^many of whom had actually sold 
 their properties in order to take up land in this new coun- 
 try — chained side by side with Negro prisoners, and thus 
 set to enforced labor in the most degraded fashion. 
 
 The inevitable results of this policy were not long in 
 asserting themselves. After a time none of the Irish 
 agricultural recruits, nor even their officers, could walk 
 the sun-bathed streets of Rio without being assaulted by 
 crowds of negroes. As for the people of the town, they 
 seem to have looked upon the affair rather in the light of 
 an amusement. Walsh was present in Rio at the time, 
 and remarks that ' ' The people of the town looked on with 
 satisfaction, and were frequently seen setting on the 
 Negroes, as I have seen Turks hallooing on their swarms 
 of dogs on Christian passengers." 
 
 All this makes anything but a pleasant picture to dwell 
 on. Of course it must not be imagined that the reputable 
 inhabitants of Rio were concerned in these outrages, nor 
 that those who perpetrated them received encouragement 
 from the high officials. The Emperor Pedro himself ap- 
 pears to have been very well disposed toward these Irish 
 on their first arrival. He made a point of attending mass 
 in their company, and of kneeling down in their midst. 
 
332 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 In connection with this a somewhat embarrassing inci- 
 dent occurred, which illustrates the utter simplicity and 
 credulity of these Irish. By some means or other a re- 
 port was circulated among them that if the Emperor per- 
 formed this ceremony in their midst three times in 
 succession they would be bound to him for unlimited mili- 
 tary service for the remainder of their lives. 
 
 Strange as it may appear, this childish rumor received 
 full credence, and when the Emperor made his third ap- 
 pearance at mass, the chapel was empty of all but the 
 officers of the Irish regiment, who had to put the best face 
 they could on the matter. 
 
 It was almost certainly ignorance on the Emperor's 
 part of what was going on which prevented him from 
 intervening in the cause of the Irish. But this treat- 
 ment was not to be indefinitely continued with impunity. 
 It is surprising enough to find that it was allowed to last 
 for six months ; doubtless the only reason lay in the con- 
 tinued hope of the Irish in a more equitable state of af- 
 fairs. Then all at once the patience of the strangers came 
 to an end, and some wild scenes ensued. 
 
 Common cause was made with some German soldiers 
 who had suifered a somewhat similar catastrophe to that 
 of the Irish. The mutiny now spread rapidly. Two 
 hundred of the Irish were now actively involved in this. 
 The houses of several Portuguese and Brazilians were 
 plundered, and some of the owners only just escaped with 
 their lives. 
 
 One of the most hated officers was a major, an Italian 
 of the name of Teola, who, it was stated, had originally 
 been a waiter in a hotel of the capital, but through the 
 influence of a comely wife had obtained a commission in 
 the German regiment. Since punishments were fre- 
 quently brought about by fining the men, their officers 
 had often enough been able to embezzle the greater part 
 of their pay ; but none, it appears, had been so active in 
 this form of transgression as Teola. 
 
d-m-'' -'f^:^^^&&>*-'- ,v* 
 
 '4^^i 
 
 LANDING STAGE, RIO DE JANEIRO (eARLY XIX CENTURY) 
 
 PUBLIC GARDENS, RIO DE JANEIRO (1835) 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 333 
 
 When the mutiny broke out, he it was who was the 
 first set on by the German soldiers. As he rushed to 
 make his escape over the wall of the barracks, he was 
 caught and pulled down; he was then stabbed by the 
 bayonets of the men and finally crushed to death by large 
 stones, thrown on him by the enraged men. Two other 
 officers who attempted to take his part, were badly hurt. 
 
 Rio de Janeiro was now thoroughly alarmed. The 
 Brazilian troops were ordered under arms, and the min- 
 ister of war gave instructions to the commandant, the 
 Conde de Rio Pardo, ''to destroy every man: to give no 
 quarter, but to exterminate the strangers" — a feat more 
 easily ordered than done, now that the blood of the Irish 
 was up. In the meanwhile the blacks and the rabble of 
 the city were given permission to take up arms and to 
 work their will upon the mutineers. That such a meas- 
 ure as this should have been put into effect shows the 
 depth of the hysterical terror to which the officials had 
 been reduced ! 
 
 The mutineers by now had been wrought into a condi- 
 tion of complete fury. They sacked entire streets, and 
 fired with enthusiasm into the ranks of the blacks and 
 the rabble, who were attacking them, and, charging, paid 
 off many old scores— while the streets were rapidly filling 
 with dead and wounded. By this time, indeed, the mob 
 had begun thoroughly to repent of its temerity. Seeing 
 that the situation had got beyond them, the Brazilian 
 Government applied to the British and French warships 
 which lay at anchor in the harbor for landing parties of 
 their respective marines, while the Portuguese troops, 
 cooperating with these, displayed humanity, and endeav- 
 ored, as far as was possible, to reason with the insurgents. 
 These latter, in the end, submitted, and on the eve of 
 the 12th of June everything was tranquil once again. 
 
 In the meantime the scenes which had occurred in the 
 streets had been terrible. The Negroes, mulattos, and a 
 heterogeneous rabble had taken advantage of the license 
 
334 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 to kill granted them by the authorities, quite regardless of 
 the nationality and status of their victims. They had 
 set upon every stranger they met, and the savagery com- 
 mitted was as awful as the death roll itself. 
 
 After these wild occurrences the Irish were released 
 from the dungeons and other prisons into which they had 
 been thrown to linger neglected, and were sent on various 
 ships to their native land, where they had, perforce, to 
 endeavor to take up again the broken thread of their 
 lives. The unfortunate folk were accused of carrying 
 away much plunder; but a search through their boxes 
 revealed no evidence whatever of this. As a matter of 
 fact, if ever circumstances justified plunder, they were 
 surely those in which the Irish found themselves ! Some 
 four hundred of the total number remained in Brazil, and, 
 living their lives as private citizens, gradually accom- 
 modated themselves to their surroundings. 
 
 Two hundred and twenty of these were sent as a colony 
 to the province of Bahia, and at Taparoa in the Comarca 
 of Ilheos they were said to have become a thriving com- 
 munity. All of the four hundred who remained, in fact, 
 did well for themselves and for the country of their adop- 
 tion, as would undoubtedly have been the case with the 
 entire number, had they received the faintest encour- 
 agement. 
 
 Here is Mr. Walsh's description of his visit to one of 
 those families who had taken up land in the Organ Moun- 
 tains : 
 
 * * The way led through the wildest scenery ; and on the 
 bank of a river, in the center of a forest, we found these 
 colonists. They had built a large and comfortable house 
 with a rustic portico, and thatched it very neatly with 
 palm branches, whose regular fronds formed a tasty roof, 
 the stems and pinnate leaves of which were very elegantly 
 disposed in the thatch. On the other side of the river, 
 which we crossed by two trees forming a rustic bridge, 
 was a large shed for cattle, and other conveniences ; and 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 335 
 
 rising up the hill was an extensive plantation of coffee, 
 behind which, descending into a glen, was a rich field of 
 Indian corn in high health, with gourds, mandioca, and a 
 variety of other produce of Brazilian agriculture. On 
 our return the good woman had prepared for us a plenti- 
 ful dish of bacon and eggs, with fried cakes of maize; 
 and our entertainment concluded with whisky, which our 
 host had contrived to distil from his coffee plantation. 
 When I contemplated this comfortable house and abun- 
 dant farm, rescued from the heart of a Brazilian forest, 
 cultivated by persons who in their own country could not 
 make out a scanty livelihood in a miserable hovel, I could 
 not help feeling the deepest regret, that 2400 who had 
 left their homes were not, as they might have been, so 
 located." 
 
 Decidedly this is a picture of intelligent peace after 
 the storm! 
 
 About this period, as a matter of fact, the treatment of 
 even the regular officers in the Brazilian service was not 
 always marked by consideration. On one occasion a 
 number of foreign officers, among them some British, 
 were dismissed from their posts on parade, and they were 
 hastened on board a European-bound vessel with such 
 precipitation that they were unable to take even an over- 
 coat with them! This savors of the kind of treatment 
 accorded to unmasked conspirators, but apparently no 
 charges of this kind were brought forward. 
 
 That this kind of episode was the result of a petty 
 tyranny on the part of the officials seems to be proved 
 by the uncompromising manner in which leave was re- 
 fused to many of the British officers in the Brazilian 
 navy, even when this was asked for reasons of health. 
 
 As a corrective to the depressing picture afforded by 
 these unfortunate Irish, the case of Admiral Grenfell 
 presents itself. Grenf ell's exact place in South Amer- 
 ican history is a little difficult to locate. Beginning his 
 career on that continent on the Pacific coast, he assisted 
 
336 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 in achieving the independence of the Spanish colonies, and 
 subsequently shared in the vicissitudes of Brazil both as 
 kingdom and empire. 
 
 Admiral Grenfell, this British sailor who made his 
 mark in South American history, jumped into his man- 
 hood's calling when he was little more than a child! He 
 was born in 1800, and at eleven years of age he began his 
 career as a midshipman in the service of the Honorable 
 East India Company. This service he left — ^when a 
 veteran of nineteen ! — to take up a lieutenancy under Lord 
 Cochrane in the Chilean navy. 
 
 Here he distinguished himself in the strenuous naval 
 combats of the Pacific, and when, the independence of the 
 west coast achieved, Lord Cochrane proceeded to the At- 
 lantic to assume command of the Brazilian squadron, 
 Grenfell accompanied his chief. 
 
 As commander in the Brazilian navy Grenfell per- 
 formed notable service in the capture of Para from the 
 Portuguese. When the separation of Brazil from Por- 
 tugal had become an assured fact, Grenfell remained as 
 post-captain with the forces of the southern empire, and 
 soon found himself, in command of an 18-gun brig, as 
 one of the units opposed to the Buenos Aires naval forces 
 commanded by that very gallant Irishman, Admiral 
 Brown, whose extraordinary personal force went far to- 
 ward counterbalancing the actual inferiority in strength 
 of the Argentines. 
 
 In the naval battle off Buenos Aires fought in July, 
 1826, in which Admiral Brown's vessel, after the fiercest 
 resistance, was driven ashore a complete wreck, a cannon 
 ball shattered Grenfell 's right arm, which was subse- 
 quently amputated. 
 
 In the operations attending the rebellion of the South- 
 ern state of Rio Grande do Sul between the years 1835 
 and 1837, Grenfell, now Commodore, distinguished him- 
 self not only in the campaign on the lakes and rivers, but 
 in his relations with the rebels, the influence that he even- 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 337 
 
 tually acquired over these being one of the chief factors 
 in the cessation of a very serious rebellion. 
 
 For these services Grenfell was promoted to the rank 
 of rear-admiral, and in 1840, hoisting his flag in the 50- 
 gun frigate Constitution, he was placed in command of a 
 squadron which — attended by warships respectively of 
 Great Britain, the United States, and Portugal — carried 
 the Emperor and Empress of Brazil for a tour of their 
 southern provinces. In 1846, shortly after this, he sailed 
 to England in the Constitution, and there took up the 
 duties of consul-general of Brazil in Great Britain. 
 
 In 1851, however, an outbreak of hostilities between 
 Brazil and Buenos Aires called Grenfell from his con- 
 sular duties to the scene of action in the river Plate, 
 where he again hoisted his flag on the Constitution, and 
 played a notable part in the war which ended in the down- 
 fall of the Argentine dictator Rosas. At the end of the 
 war Grenfell, having now attained to the rank of vice- 
 admiral, returned to England to resume his appointment 
 of consul-general. 
 
 Grenfell 's career is not the only one which goes to 
 prove that the Brazilians of that period were fully capable 
 of rewarding meritorious service. There is no doubt, 
 however, that considerable inconvenience, and occasional 
 hardship were frequently caused by the sudden impulses 
 of the Emperor, which tended to bring schemes into being 
 without sufficient forethought. 
 
 The Emperor Pedro I of Brazil was in many respects 
 a most impetuous person. Of what other temperament 
 could be one who would walk about his palace at daybreak, 
 discharging his shotgun to wake up his family ! When he 
 flung himself in medias res it was with the fury of a 
 Prussian guardsman charging into a neutral country! 
 Here is one of the most striking instances of this. The 
 official news of his father's death in Lisbon reached Rio 
 on the 25th of April, 1826. This, of course, left the crown 
 of Portugal in the hands of Pedro, and he forthwith 
 
338 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 plunged into as strenuous a week as any king or emperor 
 could desire. Within that period he had created new 
 peers for a brand-new chamber, had framed a new code 
 of laws, and, in fact, had provided Portugal with a new 
 constitution ! When he had achieved all this, he abdicated 
 in favor of his daughter, Dona Maria, on the 2nd of May. 
 So on this occasion at least Portugal might boast of a 
 king who had scarcely wasted an hour of his entire reign 
 — of six days ! 
 
 There can seldom have been a more complete antithesis 
 of the mountain which was in labor and which produced 
 a mouse! The exigencies of the political situation had 
 caused Sir Charles Stuart, the British ambassador to 
 Lisbon, to be in Rio just then and he was on the eve of 
 his return to Portugal. His amazement may be imagined 
 when Pedro sent for him, and produced a bundle of 
 papers, which he begged him to take back with him to 
 Lisbon. The package contained the new constitution of 
 Portugal, he explained, to which he had devoted the 
 greater part of the past week ! 
 
 This feverish feat was all the more remarkable in an 
 age that knew nothing of the bustle of the present day. 
 When royal mails and messengers lay at the mercy of any 
 freak of wind and tide, a delay of some weeks might well 
 cause less comment than an unpunctuality of some hours 
 in the twentieth century. 
 
 It is said — and there seems no particular reason to 
 doubt — that the first news of one of the revolutions in 
 Para in the early days of the Brazilian Empire was 
 brought to Rio de Janeiro from Para in sixty days by a 
 British sailing vessel hy way of England. The reasons 
 for this extraordinary occurrence were, in the first place, 
 the utter want of land communications ; and in the second, 
 the unusual strength of the ocean current running north- 
 wards from Bahia, which, further impeded by a spell of 
 southerly winds, no vessel could stem. 
 
 The Emperor Pedro I, it may be remarked, had taken 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 339 
 
 some pains to learn the English language, and in his 
 younger days he studied this under Father Tilbury, an 
 English priest resident in Rio. At a later period he re- 
 sumed his acquaintance with the language in less academic 
 circumstances. His fount of knowledge then was an Eng- 
 lish groom, whose linguistic specialty most unfortunately 
 consisted in a liberal stock of expletives and adjectival 
 Billingsgate ! 
 
 Thus it would happen that not only the Emperor, but 
 the dainty and charming Empress as well, would inter- 
 lard their English conversation with the most appalling 
 oaths and the most vulgar solecisms under the impression 
 that these were mere colloquial amenities! The story 
 sounds almost too humorous to be founded on fact, but it 
 is given on good authority, and is, I believe, perfectly 
 true. But the sensations of such British as listened to 
 these strings of unconscious oaths without daring to ex- 
 plain their real meaning to these royal victims of a 
 groom's tongue must have been curious! 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL, (v) 
 
 The British fleet and Portuguese royalty — The abdication of Pedro I — 
 His relations with his subjects — Movements of the diplomatic corps 
 — Attitude of the United States minister — Arrival of the royal mes- 
 sengers on board H.M.S. Warspite — Description of the occurrences 
 by one of the Warspite's oflScers — Conferences with the French admiral 
 — Portuguese merchants and officers seek the protection of the Brit- 
 ish vessel — The Braganga family arrives on board the Warspite — 
 Their reception — Humorous account by a spectator — Impression made 
 by one of the Warspite's officers — Conferences with the French admiral 
 — Incidents attending the arrival — Pedro's philosophy — How he oc- 
 cupied himself with his courtiers — What his trunks revealed — Epi- 
 sodes on the deck of the Warspite — Pedro's speech at a lev^e — A 
 dramatic interlude — The Emperor exhibits the remnant of his army 
 — Account of the abdication by Kidder and Fletcher — The guests of 
 the Warspite — Duties of some members of the crew — The royal fam- 
 ily is dunned by creditors from the shore — Methods by which Pedro 
 comforted his consort — The Emperor attends to business — Some finan- 
 cial transactions — Scenes in Rio — Triumphal entry of the Child- 
 Emperor Pedro II — Some details of the procession and of the decora- 
 tions — Proclamation of an actor — How the Empress learned of what 
 was happening on shore — Pedro's remarkable behavior on the War- 
 spite — Further dramatic episodes — Uneasiness in Rio — Fatal riot- 
 ing — The royal family prepare to sail — Manner in which the Emperor 
 parted from the remnant of his army — An imperial packing up — 
 Some ludicrous incidents — Complications of etiquette — Transfer of 
 the imperial party from the Warspite to a French frigate — Episodes 
 of the leave-taking — Departure of the royal family from Brazil. 
 
 WHETHER from mere intuition, or from a 
 policy of profound foresight, the British fleet 
 seemed to be invariably at hand when any 
 question arose of the conveyance of Portuguese or 
 Brazilian royalty ! So it happened in 1831 when the 
 Emperor Pedro was about to abdicate his throne in favor 
 of his infant son and to shake the dust of Brazil from 
 his feet, he turned to Mr. Aston, the British charge 
 
 340 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 341 
 
 d'affaires, and, indicating the British fleet at anchor in 
 the bay of Rio de Janeiro, exclaimed, **Let us send to 
 Admiral Baker for some boats ! ' ' 
 
 This was easier said than done, for a wide breach 
 yawned between Pedro and his subjects, and Pedro's few 
 adherents that remained at the palace regarded with 
 dismay the turmoil in the streets, where the populace had 
 taken matters into their own hands. Pedro was now in a 
 fever to leave the town which had shown itself so un- 
 appreciative of his somewhat mixed virtues. He impa- 
 tiently waved aside the suggestion of the British charge 
 d'affaires that there was no need for so very hasty a 
 departure. At length a young captain of artillery and a 
 chamberlain of stronger nerve than the rest came for- 
 ward to solve the difficulty, and the message was sent. 
 
 Pedro had his faults, but a lack of personal bravery 
 was not among them. On more than one occasion he had 
 displayed high physical courage, but now the situation 
 seemed to inspire him with a sudden species of panic, 
 and scarcely had the messengers left when he ordered 
 carriages to be in readiness to convey himself, his family, 
 and his suite to the beach. 
 
 In the meantime the ministers of the European powers 
 met in a body in order to impress the need for public 
 order upon the revolutionists, and to wait upon the Em- 
 peror to find out from his own lips if he had really ab- 
 dicated. Mr. Brown, the American charge d'affaires, 
 held strictly aloof from all interference with the move- 
 ment, and his abstention gained him a wide popularity 
 among the Brazilians. 
 
 In the circumstances it was but natural that the mon- 
 archy of Brazil should have been regarded coldly by the 
 United States. Seen through North American spectacles, 
 Brazil of that period was a royal weed intruding in a 
 garden of republics. The United States minister, in con- 
 sequence, was in search of no metaphorical earth with 
 which to bank up its loosening roots! 
 
342 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 After this the scene may be transferred to H.M.S. War- 
 spite, on whose trim deck in the middle of the night a gi- 
 gantic master-at-arms was holding a lantern to the faces 
 of two uniformed Brazilians who had come out from the 
 shore in a boat. They delivered a message from Dom 
 Pedro, begging that boats might be sent, if possible before 
 daylight, for the conveyance of the royal family and the 
 remnants of the court from the shore to the Warspite. 
 After some unavoidable delay, owing to the fact that 
 Admiral Baker was on shore at the time, and that it was 
 diplomatically essential to communicate with the French 
 flagship which lay at anchor near by, the Warspite awoke 
 to action. 
 
 For the remaining events of that notable flitting we 
 may rely on the description of one of the War spite's offi- 
 cers whose services as interpreter were brought into 
 requisition. It will be seen from his account that our 
 naval spectator was endowed with some humor as well 
 as with a keen gift of observation. It is fortunate for 
 posterity that he was present, for his remarks show the 
 closest appreciation of the tragedy as well as the lighter 
 vein of the situation. He says : 
 
 "The dead silence in which our good ship lay buried 
 was now suddenly broken by a shrill call. . . . The Ad- 
 miral sent an order to despatch two armed boats and to 
 inform the French commander-in-chief of it. The latter 
 was also to be asked whether he was going to San Chris- 
 tavao himself or how he intended to arrange matters; 
 since according to the latest agreement both were to act 
 in strict accordance. I was desired to accompany the 
 acting lieutenant for the purpose of translating the mes- 
 sage and the answer. When we came on board the 
 Dryade, a large double banked 60-gun frigate, ... we 
 found all the Frenchmen on their legs. Although rather 
 early (2 a.m.) they were dressed as for full parade, and 
 in high glee. The flattering idea of seeing a new edition 
 of their own glorious trois jours published in the New 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 343 
 
 World evidently filled them with the utmost delight. "We 
 perceived this plainly enough even in speaking to the 
 Contre-Admiral, the Captain Le Tourneur, from whom 
 we learned that they were likewise sending two boats now, 
 and after that their 'chaloupe montee plusieurs cannon- 
 ades' in order to protect the embarkation of their majes- 
 ties, if by chance it should be opposed by the mob. 
 
 ''When we returned to board the War spite we met our 
 Commander-in-Chief, accompanied by the Captain. Both 
 repaired to the French flagship, where a nocturnal naval 
 and diplomatic cabinet council was held. 
 
 ''I now stood leaning on the poop-nettings and listened 
 to the violent dashing of oars produced by the four allied 
 boats, which were hastily pulling toward the Ilha dos 
 Ratos, until they were lost in heaviness and darkness. . . . 
 
 ''The imperial palace of Boa Vista or San Christavao 
 was lying half an English mile from the beach and four 
 miles west of the city. The latter was situated in a 
 straight line between it and our ship. It was a round- 
 about way by water, and more than seven miles pulling 
 with a strong ebb running. 
 
 "The arrival of our expected illustrious refugees was 
 long preceded by that of several Portuguese merchants 
 and officers, who came to seek an asylum against assassin- 
 ation. But the Admiral desired me to explain to them 
 that he and the ministers had agreed to remain perfectly 
 neutral in any struggle that might ensue between the 
 Lusitanian and Brazilian parties, and he requested them 
 to leave the ship instantly. They went away amid much 
 lamentations and loud requests to Heaven to protect them. 
 I became affected by these painful transactions and ad- 
 vised the poor fellows to keep themselves quietly in their 
 boats at a short distance from us ; assuring them that they 
 were secure for the moment lying under the guns of the 
 British flagship. ..." 
 
 At daybreak on the 7th of April, when the thunder of 
 the morning guns had scarcely died away, four boats were 
 
344 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 seen pulling toward the fleet from the shore. A rapid 
 survey convinced the fleet that this was the actual arrival 
 of the royal party, and both the British and French 
 admirals prepared to receive their distinguished guests. 
 The Royal Marines were turned out and stood on guard, 
 while every oflScer stood smart and resplendent. 
 
 The barge which contained the Braganca family now 
 came sweeping alongside the Warspite. Everything was 
 prepared for their reception. The sailors stood at the 
 salute and the marines presented arms. Admiral Baker, 
 with respectful cordiality, descended the accommodation 
 ladder to assist the Empress out of the boat. At this 
 point I must retire in favor of our naval chronicler, who 
 has indeed depicted the scene with a humorous frankness 
 which no doubt fits it very well, and which, in any case, 
 relieves the present writer of all responsibility! Here 
 is his account: 
 
 '* Admiral Baker went down the accommodation ladder 
 to assist the Empress out of the boat; but Dom Pedro, 
 with his usual presence of mind, pulled her back, saying 
 in Portuguese : * Recollect my dear, you have no breeches 
 on.' He then turned to our captain who was with them 
 and called for a chair to have her Majesty hoisted in. 
 That officer touched his cocked hat in regretting that such 
 an article was not to be had, and assured him that the 
 ladder was quite safe. Dom Pedro exclaimed, very an- 
 grily, 'Mais elle n'a point de pantalon/ His sister, the 
 Marchioness de Louie, now respectfully scolded her ' cher 
 frere/ for making a noise about such a bagatelle, and 
 swore she had been herself the other day 'sans calecons* 
 up and down this very ladder, and never experienced the 
 least inconvenience. The Empress, upon this, took the 
 Admiral's arm, and ascended it, whilst her careful and 
 august husband kept grumbling about the catastrophe." 
 
 It is obvious that Pedro's periodical troublesome lack 
 of dignity was at the moment asserting itself somewhat 
 strongly. Indeed, it would be absurd to attempt to es- 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 345 
 
 timate his conduct as an emperor by the grotesque scenes 
 in which he participated on board the Warspite. The 
 finest men have their weakest moments, and this crisis 
 in his affairs seems to have caught Pedro in an almost 
 clownishly ridiculous and fussy mood. Nevertheless the 
 solemnity of the occasion was impressed in various ways. 
 The Portuguese national anthem was struck up by the 
 bands as the Empress set foot on the Warspite, and the 
 sight of the distress of this charming lady moved the en- 
 tire ship's company. Indeed, the soft-hearted tars gave 
 audible signs of their feelings, and on all sides, from the 
 young officers to the hardened quarter-masters, handker- 
 chiefs were freely displayed. Scarcely eighteen months 
 had gone by since they had seen her, a happy and wel- 
 comed bride, entering the harbor she was now so sadly 
 leaving. 
 
 Leaning on the arm of the British admiral, her face 
 was deadly pale, and she was unable to restrain the 
 tears from dropping from her eyes. She passed along 
 the front of the Eoyal Marines, her fair hair shining on 
 her bowed head, side by side with the silvery locks of the 
 Admiral. When she arrived at the door of the cabin 
 which had been prepared for her, the French admiral ad- 
 vanced to play his part. It had been his British con- 
 frere's duty to receive the Empress Amelie at the foot of 
 the ladder — it was his to escort her to her cabin. 
 
 As it happened, the French admiral was a very old 
 friend of the Empress. He had been aide-de-camp to her 
 father during the expedition to Moscow. By a curious 
 coincidence this amphibious warrior had actually held her 
 in his arms on many occasions when she was a small child. 
 The Empress tottered toward him with hands out- 
 stretched, and the old sailor was himself somewhat over- 
 come at meeting her in such tragic circumstances. Tak- 
 ing her hand he shook it heartily, saying, ''Courage, je 
 vous en prie. Courage! Resignation!" But for once 
 the unfortunate empress's resolution failed her. She 
 
346 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 burst into sobs, sank down on the sofa, and, hiding her 
 fair face in her handkerchief, gave herself up to bitter 
 grief. 
 
 The next to board the Warspite was the young Queen 
 of Portugal, Dona Maria. She, although less moved than 
 the Empress, as was natural to her twelve years, was 
 suJBficiently sad of face, and appeared miserable and 
 frightened. It was the Emperor himself who supplied the 
 other side of the picture. 
 
 He wore a bro\\Ti frock coat, a round hat, and came 
 jauntily up the side of the ship, much as though he were 
 starting on some chance picnic. He was, indeed, per- 
 fectly tranquil but somewhat absentminded, since he had 
 much to attend to and was apparently anxious not to lose 
 any opportunity of carrying through his final financial 
 transactions in the comparatively short time which re- 
 mained to him. 
 
 Entering the cabin, he came upon his sorrowing wife. 
 He embraced the recumbent form en passant and ejac- 
 ulated in somewhat trite consolation, *'Be tranquil, you 
 will see your mother again very soon. ' ' But Amelie was 
 not to be so lightly comforted. She was grieving less for 
 herself than for the child whom she was expecting and 
 who was thus to be cut off from the honors of Pedro's 
 lost, or rather rejected, empire. 
 
 A study of Pedro, just at this period, reveals how many 
 sides to his nature it is possible for a man to possess. 
 Although he had shown no little fussiness concerning the 
 embarkation of the luggage, he seems to have retained his 
 presence of mind in all other respects, notwithstanding 
 the fact that a small hostile crowd had assembled in the 
 neighborhood of the palace of San Christovao, and had 
 burst out into yells and hisses. 
 
 It was the Admiral's barge which had been prepared 
 for the reception of the royal party, but at the sight of 
 this the Emperor made an unexpected protest. This 
 barge had a gun mounted in its bows, and he feared that, 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 347 
 
 should lie depart in this, it might be said that he had fled 
 in an armed boat, fearful of the Brazilians. He chose, 
 therefore, the second barge, which was without any such 
 significant weapon. Thus with an eye to the verdict of 
 futurity, Pedro left the shores of his surrendered em- 
 pire. 
 
 Royal families, even in adversity, are seldom unen- 
 cumbered with adherents, and this the Warspite was now 
 destined to find out. Her decks soon became crowded to 
 suffocation by members of the suite and other refugees 
 of all descriptions, who for some reason or other — in this 
 particular case usually an interested one — clung to the 
 imperial family. 
 
 Dom Pedro, himself, now became extremely busy after 
 his own fashion. He went ceaselessly to and fro, in- 
 specting and overhauling his countless chests and boxes. 
 He frequently ran up the ladder in order to carry one of 
 these boxes with his own royal hands. According once 
 again to our naval chronicler, ''He ran to and fro, 
 quarreled with the chamberlains, scolded his domestics, 
 hailed people alongside, and made a great noise." It is 
 sentences such as this that incarnate our royal traveler in 
 a joyful ecstasy of fussing. 
 
 The great heaps of baggage, as a matter of fact, told 
 their own tale ; they were fitted with new frames fastened 
 to the sides, and fresh pieces of wood were attached to 
 the bottoms of the leather trunks. Thus was revealed the 
 preparation which had doubtless been effected by Pedro 
 himself, whose talent as a joiner was considerable. If 
 ever there were straws which showed in which direction 
 the wind had blown, surely none were more accurately 
 represented than by this huge mass of carefully pre- 
 pared portmanteaus and trunks ! 
 
 About noon Pedro was awakened from his preoccupa- 
 tion concerning his luggage by the sound of guns fired 
 from the shore : he ran hurriedly to the side of the vessel. 
 The noise created considerable consternation among the 
 
348 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 fugitive Portuguese. Presently it was discovered that 
 these were salutes being fired in honor of little Pedro — 
 the little Pedro who had been largely overlooked by his 
 father in the course of the past few strenuous hours, and 
 who had now been brought from Sao Christovao and 
 shown to the people. The inhabitants of Eio had lost 
 no time in offering their devotion to the first and only 
 white monarch ever born on American soil ! 
 
 Even after this interlude it was some time before Pedro 
 found leisure to return to the inspection of his baggage, 
 for ambassadors, envoys, ministers, and other officials 
 now came off in flocks to the Warspite. Pedro, seeing 
 that the ceremony was unavoidable, now prepared him- 
 self for a species of levee. He took his stand between 
 the two scuttles on the quarter-deck, and here he received 
 all those officials who came trooping up from the com- 
 panion-ladder. His attitude appears to have been de- 
 cidedly casual, for he returned their deep official bows 
 merely with a slight nod. The only person whom he 
 favored with anything like a profound inclination was 
 the papal legate, the Archbishop of Tarsis. 
 
 Presently a formidable circle of diplomats and others 
 surrounded the ex-Emperor, and he began to deliver an 
 unofficial speech, holding one hand in his breeches pocket, 
 and twirling his bushy mustachios with the other. The 
 scene must have been curious, for Pedro spoke in jerks 
 and casual conversational tones. The following is rep- 
 resented to be more or less the actual wording of some 
 of his phrases : 
 
 **I expect there will be a revolution in this country 
 such as took place in France last year. I have been be- 
 trayed for a long while. The Brazilians do not like me : 
 they look upon me as a Portuguese. But I have never 
 been afraid of them : I went down to the mines. I went 
 into the streets the day before yesterday, when they were 
 fighting on all sides. What on earth could I do, when 
 the people assembled in the Campo de Santa Anna had 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 349 
 
 the impudence to tell me to dismiss my ministers? I 
 had n't enough troops to disperse a mob like that. I was 
 quite ready to put myself at the head of my guard, but 
 — it had left me. ' ' 
 
 Having concluded this portion of his oration, Pedro 
 apparently felt himself somewhat at a loss. As a mat- 
 ter of fact, he had very little to say and was striving for 
 as many words as possible to cover as few facts as pos- 
 sible. At this point he was seized with an inspiration. 
 His eye had lit upon four soldiers, who were lying in a 
 state of torpor, stretched on the deck in the neighbor- 
 hood of the mainmast of the Warspite. These he hailed, 
 and, seeing that they responded with inadequate alac- 
 rity, he ran to them, hauled them with considerable dif- 
 ficulty on to their legs, pulled, and straightened them into 
 a line, and then seized them by their shoulders and en- 
 deavored to give them a martial appearance, which 
 seemed quite foreign to their nature. 
 
 The spectators had by this time become somewhat em- 
 barrassed, for the scene was, to say the least of it, unex- 
 pected. Pedro was determined to see it through to the 
 bitter end. He pointed out the four unhappy men with 
 a dramatic gesture. The unfortunate beings, as a mat- 
 ter of fact, had been left behind at Sao Christavao by 
 their comrades, who had not troubled to wake them: 
 hence their presence on board. But of this Pedro was 
 either ignorant or careless, very probably the former. 
 
 ''Yes," continued the Emperor, ''all my troops have 
 left me except these brave g argons." He turned to 
 the men. "Joao, Antonio, Manoel, Luiz, you indeed, 
 have now reason for pride!" Seeing that this left the 
 four martial beings comparatively cold, he turned again 
 to the spectators and continued: "Here are the re- 
 mains of my army. What could I do against the popu- 
 lace?" 
 
 The diplomats preserved a discreet silence. It was, 
 indeed, not their metier to reply to questions such as 
 
350 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 these. Pedro, at this tacit acknowledgment of his help- 
 lessness, added with much satisfaction, "So I abdicated 
 in favor of my son who was born in Brazil, and they 
 have this morning proclaimed him emperor. ' ' 
 
 Pedro had finished. With a curt bow he dismissed 
 his audience and withdrew to his cabin. 
 
 I give the Emperor's words on the authority of our 
 naval chronicler. It is just possible, of course, that his 
 sense of humor has urged him to overcolor the picture 
 just a little here. It certainly bears little resemblance 
 to the vision conjured up by the words of Kidder and 
 Fletcher, who say of Pedro at this juncture that "at 
 length, like the noble stag of Landseer, singled out by the 
 hounds, he stood alone. Deserted, harassed, irritated, 
 and fatigued beyond description, with sadness, yet with 
 grace, he yielded to the circumstances, and took the 
 only measure consistent with his convictions and the 
 dignity of his imperial office." 
 
 Messrs. Kidder and Fletcher, of course, had not been 
 on board the Warspite. But, if they had, their verdict 
 might well have remained unaltered. They might with 
 entire justice have attributed these totally unstage-like 
 moments to the surprisingly wide sweep of the human 
 temperamental pendulum! It seemed that there were 
 times when the further Pedro swung himself into the 
 heroic, the more rapidly he came tumbling back, head 
 over heels, into the ridiculous — and vice versa. 
 
 All this time the ship's carpenters of the Warspite 
 had been busy, and tremendous efforts had been made 
 to accommodate the crowd of uninvited guests that now 
 thronged the vessel. The least concerned of all seemed 
 Pedro's daughter, the young Queen of Portugal, who 
 very soon after her arrival on board obtained some fish- 
 ing lines, and spent a considerable portion of her time 
 in angling from the stern-walk of the vessel. But the 
 poor girl was evidently tiring of her surroundings, and 
 of the incessant bustle which pervaded them. 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 351 
 
 For a really racy description of these circumstances 
 I must again refer to the naval chronicler several times 
 previously quoted : 
 
 ''It would have been confusion worse confounded," 
 says that observant person, *4f that smart and true- 
 blooded British officer (the Warspite's captain) had not 
 kept such excellent order among the multitude of stran- 
 gers, which amounted to upwards of one hundred and 
 fifty persons of all ranks, ages, and sexes. His own 
 cabin consisting of two partitions assumed the char- 
 acter of an Eastern harem, filled as it was with Por- 
 tuguese, Brazilians, Germans, French and Negro 
 females, who were holding the offices of ladies-in- 
 waiting, governesses, handmaids, and chambermaids, 
 dry and wet nurses or washing women, to all the differ- 
 ent majesties, highnesses and excellencies. The oldest 
 sergeant of the Royal Marines got promoted to the rank 
 of acting 'Kislar Aga' or quasi-okiQi of eunuchs. He 
 was ordered to keep a sharp eye upon the door of that 
 floating seraglio, where moreover, a vigilant sentry was 
 posted, who, with his ramrod, fended off the male part 
 of the community. ' ' 
 
 It will be seen from all these circumstances that as a 
 handy-man the British sailorman proved himself as ef- 
 ficient on this occasion as he has proved on many other 
 occasions. 
 
 While all this was occurring on the Warspite, there 
 were many citizens ashore who viewed the departure of 
 the royal family with concern and even with active dis- 
 may. Among these were trades people who had claims 
 on some of its members. Dom Pedro and his sister, the 
 Marchioness de Louie, are said to have been keenly 
 mourned by these interested citizens ! This unfortunate 
 lady, indeed, had been living on credit for some time, 
 and now shore-boats laden to the gunwale with credit- 
 ors and duns floated about the harassed Warspite, and 
 clamorous and importunate traders demanded that Dom 
 
352 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Pedro and his family should concede them their rights 
 on the subject while there yet remained time. 
 
 The Empress Amelie herself, notwithstanding her sor- 
 row and her condition, was plagued almost to distraction 
 by these clamorous creditors. Time after time the un- 
 fortunate lady appealed to her husband. But Pedro 
 was ever better at collecting money than at disbursing 
 it, and now showed himself reluctant in the extreme to 
 sign the necessary bills. 
 
 From time to time the Empress's feelings completely 
 overcame her, and when pestered more than usual she 
 would endeavor to withdraw to her private apartment. 
 On such occasions, to do him justice, Pedro's affections 
 overcame his financial considerations. He would re- 
 strain his afflicted spouse, and, drawing her back, impress 
 upon her a hearty kiss before all the spectators, and 
 then yield to her desires and satisfy one creditor more. 
 
 On the following day Pedro held a levee of an entirely 
 different kind to that previously attended by the politi- 
 cians. Once again I quote from the naval authority: 
 
 *'The ex-monarch held a sort of levee in the course of 
 the following day, where he received a parcel of money- 
 brokers, Jews, slave-dealers and stock-jobbers, who came 
 on board to see how the wind was. . . . When he per- 
 ceived Mr. Buschental, a German Israelite, among the 
 crowd, he exclaimed with much vivacity, 'Oho, Senhor 
 Buschental, you are here too ! I assure you if I had not 
 been absent in Minas Geraes, you would never have suc- 
 ceeded in that job with the copper money of the 
 bank.' The Jew did not blush but he looked blue, to the 
 great amusement of the bystanders." 
 
 While these curious scenes were occurring on board 
 the Warspite, Rio de Janeiro had given itself up to re- 
 joicing. *'The King is afloat: God save the King!" 
 was the cry of the townspeople, and the streets, festooned 
 with coffee branches, were made to glow with colored 
 silks, while the balconies were thronged with senoritas 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 353 
 
 in all their finery of brilliant dresses, garlands, fluttering 
 fans, and feather flowers. 
 
 The officers of the Warspite whom I have already quot- 
 ed had gone ashore with a number of his brother officers 
 to see the sights. He witnessed the triumphal entry into 
 his capital of the new emperor, Dom Pedro II, the little 
 lad of five and a half years of age. At this period it 
 seems to have been willed by the gods of the ridiculous 
 that no event, however fateful, should occur in the capi- 
 tal of Brazil unless it were accompanied by some mar- 
 ring touches of unconscious humor. 
 
 The opening group of the procession of the child-em- 
 peror was composed of justices of the peace bearing 
 green flags in their hands. Alas! many of the worthy 
 justices were in acute and unstable trouble with their 
 mounts, and when the cavalcade surged uncomfortably 
 past, there rose an irrepressible titter from the British 
 naval officers, more especially from the midshipmen, who 
 recognized with no little malicious glee the livery stable 
 steeds from whose tricks their own equilibrium had fre- 
 quently suffered. 
 
 As for the poor child, Pedro II himself, what a figure 
 was this ! A tiny infant in a huge state coach, dragged 
 by four strings of excited mulattoes! He cried, prob- 
 ably because weeping was part of the routine of his ten- 
 der years, and at the same time waved a white handker- 
 chief, doubtless instigated strenuously to this by his 
 nurse, who sat opposite him. 
 
 The tender hearted Brazilians, every man and woman 
 of their number a child-adorer, were altogether over- 
 come by the sight, and even the choir that accompanied 
 the procession was by no means immune. Its trium- 
 phant chant occasionally died away to an emotional 
 quiver. Can one conceive a stranger medley of events, 
 when all the while the mob of blacks were thronging the 
 Emperor's palace and shouldering their way more or less 
 where they would? 
 
354 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Even the walls were eloquent. According to the same 
 writer, on many of these were pasted posters advertising 
 a piece to be performed at the imperial theater of Sao 
 Pedro de Alcantara that night. This had been written in 
 feverish haste for the occasion, and was entitled, **The 
 Downfall of the Tyrant." Could London with all its 
 ''cinemas" produce an instance to beat this for rapidity 
 of production ! That an entire drama should be written, 
 dramatized, cast, and performed all in the space of twen- 
 ty-four hours is surely a breathless triumph — a thun- 
 derbolt enterprise! 
 
 Nor was this all. The actor who was cast for the part 
 of the tyrant evidently had some well-grounded fears 
 concerning the nature of his reception when on the 
 boards. Perhaps his confidence in his histrionic powers 
 justified his doubts. Perhaps, on the other hand, he 
 dreaded lest the mere part in which his lines had been 
 cast should bring outrage upon him. At all events he 
 had attached to the poster the following advertisement: 
 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 Allow me to call your attention to the circumstances of my 
 performing to-night the character of the tyrant. Heaven is my 
 witness that there is nothing tyrannical about me ; my heart has 
 always beat for liberty, and our glorious Constitution. The atti- 
 tudes which I shall be called upon to assume on the stage are in 
 direct opposition to my real feelings. The more perfectly I shall 
 have the honor of representing the monster to you, the more I 
 beg to disclaim any similarity between me and the despot. 
 Your most humble servant, 
 
 Jos6 DE Baeros. 
 
 What species of reception Jose de Barros actually met 
 with on his appearance in character I have no means of 
 knowing. Let us trust for his cautious sake, that it was 
 as unenthusiastic as he desired ! 
 
 These scenes appear to have been carefully noted by 
 the chronicler from the Warspite. He had been ashore 
 and this is what he said on his return : 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 355 
 
 ''The Admiral's eye caught me as I came upon the 
 quarter-deck. He asked what news I brought from the 
 shore. On my relating what I had seen, he took me into 
 the cabin, where he introduced me to the Empress, say- 
 ing, 'Voila Monsieur X, qui a tout vu!' She nodded 
 gracefully, and replied, ^Monsieur, parle-t-il francaisf 
 Upon this hint I spake French, and gave her ex-Majesty 
 a circumstantial account of the whole turn-out, which she 
 frequently interrupted by putting to me various ques- 
 tions about the appearance, demeanor, and dress of the 
 juvenile emperor and his three elder sisters, the Prin- 
 cesses Francisco, Paula, and Januaria. She enquired re- 
 specting the attitude and behavior of the new regency, the 
 officers, troops, armed people, and spectators. 
 
 ' ' I told her that the public had been swimming in tears, 
 and the scene proved Hout a fait touchante,' especially 
 when the young sovereign was carried out of the chapel 
 in the arms of an old chamberlain. I assured her that he 
 then looked quite 'comme un ange car esse par des 
 demons/ considering that a phalanx of black women 
 made a loyal attack on him, in order to kiss the seam of 
 his garment, etc. She was evidently much interested 
 and moved, and 'gave me for my pains a world of sighs,' 
 as Othello would say. My vanity was not a little flat- 
 tered by the effect which this extempore speech of mine 
 produced on the nerves of the august personage before 
 me. I was just going to continue with increased elo- 
 quence, when Dom Pedro I, with a boxful of silver spoons 
 and forks under his arm, rushed in and briskly asked, 
 'What is the matter, what is the matter?' (Que tern, 
 que tern?) On my stating that, by order of the Admiral, 
 I was relating to her Majesty the events of this day, he 
 exclaimed impatiently, 'I know already! I know every- 
 thing! J a sei, ja sei tudo!' He then put his precious 
 burden on the table and added, turning toward the Em- 
 press: 'N'importe, mon chere! prenons garde a nos 
 affaires id!' Upon this I bowed to her, and withdrew. 
 
356 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 very much pleased with Amelia and my own insignificant 
 person, but very little with Pedro." 
 
 On the Warspite, many of the events continued to be 
 of the comic opera order. When events of state were to 
 the fore, Pedro's energy was not found lacking, it must 
 be admitted ; but when time lay more idly on his hands, 
 he comforted his restless spirit by a ceaseless sequence 
 of poses. 
 
 Thus on the first Sunday of his board-ship life, he de- 
 sired to see the Royal Marines drilled. This corps was 
 accordingly mustered, and was drilled on the quarter 
 deck. Dom Pedro together with his family and his suite 
 seated themselves on the poop and constituted a most 
 appreciative gallery. Dom Pedro, as usual, was inimit- 
 able. He had borrowed a telescope, a yard or more in 
 length, and with this held to his eye, he was gazing with 
 intent rapture at the manoeuvering men. When the per- 
 formance was over, he laid down his spy-glass with a 
 deep sigh, and said with dramatic emphasis, "A sover- 
 eign who has such troops must be happy." 
 
 All this while it must not be thought that the coy ex- 
 Emperor was being neglected by the people on shore. It 
 is true that very few Brazilians showed themselves on 
 the Warspite; but a great number of Portuguese and 
 many foreigners came to pay their respects to the royal 
 family. The sovereign received the Portuguese with 
 effusion. Some he embraced, and on the shoulders of 
 others he wept. The bystanders remarked, however, 
 that although in some cases these tears might have been 
 genuine, in others they were only with difficulty squeezed 
 to the surface, and perhaps occasionally did not make 
 their appearance at all. 
 
 A little later Dom Pedro 's former field marshal, Count 
 Rio Pardo, arrived on board the Warspite, having fled 
 from the shore as he had reason to suspect a plot to as- 
 sassinate him. Dom Pedro employed the circumstance 
 in order to engineer another demonstration. With one 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 357 
 
 arm lie held the General closely embraced ; with the other 
 he surrounded the shoulders of his intimate friend and 
 valet-de-chamhre, Carlota. Thus supported he stood be- 
 tween them absolutely motionless and silent for more 
 than ten minutes! During all this while his large dark 
 eyes were alternately fastened on the deck at his feet 
 and on the sky above. 
 
 He was now beginning to take no little interest in the 
 affairs of the Warspite, and he soon became so accus- 
 tomed to his surroundings that his restless spirit could 
 no longer keep itself tranquil. Thus one night at eleven 
 o'clock he hastened all round the ship and blew all the 
 sentries' lights out! He explained the reason for this 
 when he returned, happy in the consciousness of duty 
 done, to the quarter-deck. This procedure, he said, was 
 necessary on a man-of-war where such large quantities 
 of gunpowder were stored! 
 
 What was one to do with a guest such as this 1 Surely 
 never was a being who indulged in such a pure debauch 
 of good intentions gone astray! Doubtless some of the 
 officers of the Warspite after a few experiences of the 
 kind began to sympathize somewhat with the restlessness 
 of the inhabitants of Eio de Janeiro. 
 
 The capital, as a matter of fact, instead of being tran- 
 quillized, was suffering from another panic of alarm. It 
 was rumored ashore that Dom Pedro had already re- 
 pented of his abdication. Groups of citizens gathered 
 again in consternation in the famous Campo de Santa 
 Anna, or, as it was now termed, Campo da Honra. From 
 there the reported tidings spread like wildfire. The ex- 
 Emperor was determined to come into his own again! 
 He proposed to land at the head of the entire marine 
 force of the British and French squadrons ! 
 
 The crowd heard with growing anger that the Portu- 
 guese inhabitants of Eio had banded together to assist 
 their monarch! The result was a more serious bout of 
 rioting than before, and a number of the unfortunate 
 
358 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Portuguese were murdered on the night following this 
 wild statement. However baseless were these rumors, 
 it was becoming evident that their bare existence was 
 causing much mischief, and both the British and French 
 admirals now came to the conclusion that the sooner Dom 
 Pedro left Brazil the better it would be for that country 
 and for himself. 
 
 After much talking over arrangements with the august 
 emigrant, it was finally decided that he and his royal wife 
 should sail for Europe in the British frigate Volage, and 
 that the young Queen of Portugal, Dona Maria, and her 
 aunt, the Marchioness of Louie, should depart in the 
 French frigate La Seine on the Wednesday following. 
 No sooner was this resolution arrived at than the Ad- 
 miral saw to it that it was posted up in the public build- 
 ings of the capital, and notified in the leading news- 
 papers. The effect of this measure was to pour oil on 
 the troubled human waters. The shedding of blood 
 ceased forthwith, and tranquillity and peace returned at 
 length to Rio de Janeiro. 
 
 Seeing that his many tasks were very nearly at an end, 
 the ex-Emperor turned to a matter which lay near to his 
 hand. This was the disposal of the four men whom he 
 had introduced to the ministers and officials as his army ! 
 He appears to have been unwilling to carry the quartette 
 with him to Europe. Nothing remained then but to pen- 
 sion off these apparently devoted and loyal beings — 
 since with a certain lack of consideration they had con- 
 tinued to remain on board the Warspite. Pedro handed 
 them their pensions in a lump sum which amounted to 
 the equivalent of seven shillings and sixpence apiece! 
 He then sent them ashore to enjoy this somewhat modest 
 reward of a faithfulness — which in itself was more 
 moderate than he had known ! 
 
 Pedro had written his farewell letters: he was now 
 occupied in packing up his goods for transshipment from 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 359 
 
 the Warspite to the Volage, which was being held in readi- 
 ness for Ms reception. So here we have Pedro once 
 again breaking into another outburst of his unconscious 
 clowning. He would bustle into his cabin and would re- 
 appear laden with all kinds of ornaments and domestic 
 implements. Everything which he seemed specially to 
 cherish, and this included a considerable proportion of 
 his total possessions, he insisted on carrying down to the 
 boats himself. One can imagine the faces of the officers 
 and the crew, and the hardly concealed grins of the latter 
 as his burdened Majesty passed fussily through their 
 midst. 
 
 Occasionally when Dom Pedro had unearthed some ob- 
 ject which he considered of special interest he would in a 
 good-natured but quite ludicrous fashion exhibit it to the 
 officers on the quarter-deck, and thus make a halt in his 
 journeying. One of these treasures was a cumbrous 
 clock which he insisted on winding up and causing to 
 strike for the edification of the officers of the Warspite, 
 who no doubt endeavored to show a^ much delight and 
 interest as was possible under the circumstances. After 
 which, having exclaimed that it was a dear keepsake 
 from his blessed grandmamma, the Queen of Spain, Pe- 
 dro hastened down the gangway with his clock and re- 
 turned in search of further objects for removal. 
 
 The British and French diplomatic corps now came 
 off from the shore and arrived on board the Warspite 
 in order to be present at the departure of the Queen of 
 Portugal, whom the French admiral Grivel was going to 
 escort to his frigate the Seine for conveyance to Europe. 
 This, it is said, was the ship which carried Charles X the 
 previous year to England. Moreover, by a very curious 
 coincidence there were anchored together in the harbor 
 at this time the British frigate Undaunted which took 
 Napoleon Bonaparte to the Island of Elba, and the 
 French brig Inconstant in which he escaped from, his 
 
360 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 captivity at that place. There were, indeed, as the mate 
 of the signals on board the War spite observed ''plenty 
 of royal mails and imperial coaches" in the harbor. 
 
 The abdication of Dom Pedro had caused some diffi- 
 culties in the matter of etiquette. One of these was con- 
 cerned with the ethics of the salute. Thus, although 
 young Queen Dona Maria of Portugal was entitled to 
 her full number of guns, her father could no longer lay 
 claim to any considerable expenditure of powder. It is 
 possible that Pedro's own hand may be traced behind the 
 note which the principal lady-in-waiting of Dona Maria 
 had written on the morning of the day of departure to 
 Admiral Grivel: 
 
 M. Admiral, 
 
 Her Majesty the Queen of Portugal desires me to ask you to 
 be good enough to abstain from giving her the honors due to her 
 station when she leaves the ship to embark on the Seine. Her 
 Majesty does not wish to receive such demonstrations in the pres- 
 ence of her father who can no longer be given them, and she asks 
 you to communicate her feelings on the subject to Admiral Baker. 
 
 I take this opportunity to express my esteem. . , . 
 
 Eleonore de Camara. 
 
 In reply to this the gallant French admiral expressed 
 his admiration for her Majesty's delicate sentiments and 
 filial piety, and assured her of his obedience to her com- 
 mands in this matter. As fate would have it, he had no 
 option but to break his word within a very short time. 
 "When the moment of the departure of the young Queen 
 Dona Maria de Gloria arrived, the officers of the Warspite 
 seem to have done their best to mark the occasion with as 
 much polite pomp and ceremony as possible. The ship 'a 
 band played the special hymn of Dona Maria de Gloria, 
 as the admiral conducted that young monarch to his 
 French comrade's boat, which was waiting at the foot of 
 the gangway. From the mainmast of the Warspite flew 
 the standard of Portugal, and alas! just as the royal 
 child of twelve stepped into the small craft there thun- 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 361 
 
 dered out the first of the guns of the royal salute. This, 
 of course, was in direct contravention to the desire ex- 
 pressed, and the mistake was put down to the absent- 
 minded enthusiasm of the gunner, although this latter 
 swore roundly that his original orders had never been 
 countermanded. 
 
 The most embarrassing feature of the situation was 
 that, while the Warspite was banging and blazing away 
 her salute, the French frigate had of necessity to remain 
 silent, and apparently cold and unmoved. The gallant 
 French admiral was flabbergasted. Only one thing re- 
 mained for him to do. Instead of pulling direct for the 
 Seine he ordered his men to row his barge to the frigate 
 Driade. Here he shouted hurried instructions, and as a 
 consequence this vessel, too, began to bellow forth her 
 homage, and thus, having by two wrongs righted the mat- 
 ter, the Admiral continued to escort the young Queen to 
 the Seine. 
 
 The ceremonies of the day were not yet over on board 
 the Warspite. The Queen of Portugal having departed, 
 it was now the turn of Dom Pedro and his wife to say 
 farewell. The entire ship's company appears to have 
 been on the qui vive when the youthful Empress made 
 her appearance on deck, and admiration and homage 
 glowed in the eyes of officers and men. 
 
 Indeed, this beautiful great lady maintained a justly 
 deserved popularity to the last. She apparently had but 
 to be natural in order to charm. She advanced to where 
 the Admiral stood waiting, shook hands with him cor- 
 dially, and gave him her plain and sincere thanks for the 
 hospitality extended to her and for the various atten- 
 tions she had received. She then took his arm, bowed to 
 the Guard of the Royal Marines, and made a graceful 
 courtesy toward the crowd of officers. She then drew 
 out a white handkerchief and waved it kindly toward the 
 wildly enthusiastic groups of middies. Thus, having 
 pleased all hearts, she passed to the side under the escort 
 
362 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 of the Admiral, and rapidly descended the accommodation 
 ladder. 
 
 A moment or two later Dom Pedro emerged from his 
 cabin, and on this occasion he showed himself in perhaps 
 the most unfortunate of his moods. His chief commer- 
 cial agent, a Polish Jew, had come on board some time 
 previously, and had been awaiting his Majesty's ap- 
 pearance with an eager and anxious countenance. There 
 were last messages to be given, final instructions to be 
 taken, and doubtless a good deal to be managed to the 
 profit of Pedro, and incidentally to his own. 
 
 Catching sight of his agent, Pedro halted abruptly on 
 his way to the accommodation ladder and soon the two, 
 forgetful of all else, were deep in matters of slaves, 
 goods, and landed property which Pedro had no choice 
 but to leave behind. That his agent was a trusty speci- 
 men of his kind was evidenced by the fact that he pro- 
 duced some leather bags filled with gold dust. These 
 Pedro grasped while a smile broadened on his counten- 
 ance as he came out with his favorite proverb : '^ Amicus 
 certus in re incerta cernitur." The two remained for 
 over twenty minutes while the officers were grouped in 
 ceremonial attire, the men were standing at attention, 
 and the Empress was waiting in the boat at the foot of 
 the ladder! 
 
 The situation, of course, could not be allowed to endure 
 forever. The Captain of the Warspite, doubtless under 
 instructions from the Admiral, approached Dom Pedro, 
 and reported officially that the Queen was in the boat 
 waiting. But Pedro did not mean to have the profitable 
 and interesting interview terminated in so abrupt a fash- 
 ion as this. He seized hold of the Polish Jew and walked 
 off arm in arm with him. **Well then," said Pedro, 
 ''come along with me on board the frigate!" 
 
 In order to give the full effect of this final scene I must 
 again quote the words of the invaluable naval chronicler 
 of the Warspite. 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 363 
 
 "The last words which that legitimate Champion of 
 the Constitutional Rights of Man — that Imperial Tom 
 Paine of the age — was heard to utter in the gangway 
 with emphasis were, ' To sell my slaves ! — so very cheap — 
 The paper money exceedingly low ! — eleven pence in cop- 
 per — ' Credite posteri! While the staunch boatswain 
 was piping him over the side, I turned towards the numer- 
 ous naval spectators in order to observe the expressions 
 of their countenances. Most of them laughed: some 
 looked tired, and others quite disgusted. . . . 
 
 ' * The ship 's company of the War spite were rather dis- 
 appointed not to receive from Dom Pedro the slightest 
 remuneration for all the uncommon heavy boat's duty, 
 and the troublesome hoisting in and out of the immense 
 luggage. But our excellent Commander-in-Chief, with 
 his usual quickness and sound judgment, anticipated 
 their feelings : he allowed them some extra grog, and an 
 hour's longer light, fiddling and dancing on that eventful 
 evening. ' ' 
 
 This was the last that Eio de Janeiro saw of its one- 
 time emperor ; for the final exit was achieved in the early 
 hours of the following morning in silence and darkness. 
 Then, towed by a great number of boats supplied by the 
 various men-of-war, the Seine and the Volage crept over 
 the still waters toward the narrow mouth of the inlet, 
 passed under the giant guardian peaks of the Sugar Loaf 
 and so out into the open street of the Atlantic Ocean on 
 their way to Europe. 
 
 So far as the inhabitants of Eio de Janeiro were con- 
 cerned, on one evening these two ships had been ; on the 
 next morning they were not ! A simple and not inappro- 
 priate epitaph on the power and reign of Pedro himself 
 in these flowery regions ! 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THE BKITISH IN BRAZIL (vi) 
 
 Expiration of the original commercial treaty between Great Britain and 
 Brazil — Scenes at the custom-house — Anglo-Brazilian Trade — The 
 slave-trade in Brazil — Comparative welfare of the Negroes — The con- 
 ditions of their existence — Slave-dealers — Revolting circumstances of 
 their occupation — Result of an attempted restricting in the human 
 commerce — Some gipsy specialities — A glut of human flesh — General 
 Miller's visit to a slave ship — His indignation aroused — His visits 
 to the slave-markets — Walsh's remarks on the Brazilian slave — 
 Some astonishing revelations — ^A revolting circumstance at Tijuca 
 — ^Visit of two Quakers to Rio — Their interview with Negroes — 
 Embarrassing incident at the Rio exchange — Opinions in the British 
 press — The first railway journey in Brazil — Extract of the proceed- 
 ings from the Journal do Commercio — Description of the train and 
 of the trip — The Sugarloaf Mountain at Rio — Some climbing feats 
 — British hotels in the Brazilian capital — Boarding houses — "'Jolly 
 Heath" — A notable character — His retreat. 
 
 THE original commercial treaty between Great 
 Britain and Brazil expired in November, 1844, 
 giving way to a new condition of affairs, which 
 was naturally of less marked benefit to Great Britain 
 than the old, seeing that this latter came into being sim- 
 ultaneously with the somewhat experimental separate ex- 
 istence of Brazil. 
 
 It was naturally to the interest of the British merchants 
 to get their goods through the custom-house while the old 
 and peculiarly favorable rates of duty were still in force, 
 and as the last day of the old regime was more nearly ap- 
 proached, the more strenuous and wonderful grew the 
 feats of the Eio custom-house. Certain it is that as the 
 hour itself drew near, the smiles of the pleasant custom 
 officials broadened, and the boxes, bales, and barrels shot 
 clean through the official building with a rapidity only 
 
 364 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 365 
 
 equaled by the body of a small boy propelling himself on 
 a frozen slide ! It is unnecessary, I suppose, to explain 
 that the interests of the custom officials had been made 
 identical with those of the British merchants — a type of 
 cosmopolitan achievement which is performed all over 
 the world. But in this instance the gigantic scale of the 
 procedure was for years afterwards the theme of many 
 awe-inspiring anecdotes. The affair may be regarded 
 with calmness, as leaving no particular slur in any special 
 direction. Every-day morality seems to be no more con- 
 cerned with a custom-house building than it is with a 
 horse-dealer's stable! 
 
 The expiration of this treaty, however, did not result 
 in the diminution of the Anglo-Brazilian trade. On the 
 contrary, the establishment of steamer communication 
 between the two countries less than a decade later gave a 
 remarkable impetus to commerce. 
 
 In 1853 it is recorded that there was an average annual 
 amount of £13,600,000, of British capital engaged in Bra- 
 zil. This was made up of credit for British goods in 
 Brazil which just then averaged £7,000,000, for the twelve 
 months; a national debt to England of £6,000,000, and 
 bonds amounting to £600,000 of the internal debt held by 
 Englishmen. 
 
 It was just about this period that the British began to 
 take up with increasing earnestness the question of the 
 slave trade in Brazil. Far be it from the author to at- 
 tempt the faintest excuse for so inhuman a traffic: at the 
 same time it must be said in justice to the Brazilians that 
 its conditions here were milder than is generally imag- 
 ined. 
 
 British visitors to Brazil, lay and clerical, civil and 
 military, provide a nearly unanimous testimony to the 
 comparative welfare of the Negro slaves in Brazil, Now 
 and then we are shown revolting pictures of the slave- 
 markets, and in the same way we occasionally meet with 
 terrible instances of individual cruelty. But these latter 
 
366 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 were undoubtedly rare, and those concerned in such out- 
 rages were of the type that is given to ornament the 
 police-court dock in countries and times where men have 
 the right to protect their own skins. 
 
 Speaking generally, it is abundantly clear that the 
 average African slave obtained the full benefit of the 
 Brazilian's natural benevolence. For it is a fact that 
 though his friends may accuse him of a want of energy, 
 not even his enemies can charge the Brazilian with a lack 
 of easy kindliness. In Brazil, as in the Southern States 
 of North America, slave-owning was taken as a matter 
 of course. How could it have been otherwise in a society 
 which had never known what it was not to possess these 
 human conveniences? "I sometimes," says an English 
 eye-witness of the period, "saw groups of well-dressed 
 females here, shopping for slaves, exactly as I have seen 
 English ladies amusing themselves at our bazars." 
 
 Nevertheless, in Brazil the African sang, danced, and 
 his body swelled in size and stoutness to enormous pro- 
 portions such as could never have been attained by those 
 oppressed by an unhappy or brooding mind. 
 
 This benevolent attitude applied, of course, to the or- 
 dinary slave-owning population of Brazil — the merchant, 
 tradesman, official, and landowner. It did not hold good 
 in those whose livelihood depended directly on the traffic 
 in the bodies of the Africans. Here, indeed, was the 
 seamiest side of the slave trade. It is likely enough that, 
 if the bulk of the slave-owning population could have wit- 
 nessed its more nauseating details slavery would not have 
 continued for so long as it did. Certainly those who per- 
 sisted in the traffic at first hand in the enlightened eight- 
 eenth century must have had dispositions of the kind 
 such as the hyena and the carrion crow would have fought 
 together to claim. 
 
 As frequently happens, some honest steps taken to re- 
 strict the slave-trade had precisely the opposite effect. 
 Thus, when in 1826 a limit of three years was put on the 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 367 
 
 permission given to Brazilian subjects to carry slaves in 
 ships, the importation of Africans increased so rapidly 
 that for a period three times as many slaves as usnal 
 were introduced into Brazil. Walsh has some interest- 
 ing remarks on this point : 
 
 ''When a cargo of slaves arrives, it is generally pur- 
 chased by people who are called Ciganos, or gipsies, and 
 who nearly resemble all the individuals of the race which 
 I have seen in different parts of the world. ' ' 
 
 This is instructive when one considers the great num- 
 bers of Portuguese gipsies, more especially in the prov- 
 ince of Alemtejo, whose instincts cause them to devote 
 themselves to horse-dealing ! 
 
 ''There is now, however," says Walsh again, "such a 
 glut of human flesh in the markets of Eio, that it has be- 
 come an unprofitable drug. Ten years ' credit is allowed 
 to the purchaser ; and you will not be displeased to hear, 
 that many speculators have been ruined by their unholy 
 importations. ' ' 
 
 General Miller, when stopping at Rio de Janeiro on his 
 way home to England from Peru, had an experience on 
 a slave ship which undoubtedly impressed him for the 
 remainder of his life. He was breakfasting on board a 
 Brazilian frigate with the Commander, a Captain Shep- 
 pard, when he observed a slaver, of 320 tons, which had 
 come into the port a few hours before. Obtaining the 
 loan of one of the frigate's boats, he boarded the slave 
 ship, and the Captain, mistaking him for a Brazilian offi- 
 cial, received him courteously enough in the first instance, 
 and showed him over the ship. But when Miller, ap- 
 palled by the sights he witnessed, and driven from below 
 by the incredibly nauseous odor of the hold, found his 
 breath, he gave full vent to his warm and righteous in- 
 dignation. 
 
 When the slave captain recovered from his astonish- 
 ment he, in turn, abused the British for their meddling 
 habits, upon which Miller, with unabated warmth, heaped 
 
368 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 another volley of unwelcome truths upon the wretches 
 head, and departed in disgust from the tainted atmos- 
 phere of the slaver. 
 
 He subsequently visited the slave markets of Eio, 
 where he upheld his humane views with the same deter- 
 mination and boldness. The slave dealers banded them- 
 selves together to yell at him, but their resentment did 
 not exceed this wordy pitch, and thus left the intruder 
 unconcerned. 
 
 During his short stay in Rio there was probably no man 
 in the town who could rival Miller's unpopularity in the 
 slave quarters — but it was a species of unpopularity in 
 which that fine soldier thoroughly rejoiced. 
 
 Some of Walsh's remarks concerning the Brazilian 
 slaves are so interesting that I must quote them in full : 
 
 ' ' The circumstance that particularly struck me in Bra- 
 zil was the interminable period to which the offspring of 
 a slave is doomed to bondage, from generation to genera- 
 tion. It is a taint in the blood, which no length of time, 
 no change of relationship, no alteration of color, can ob- 
 literate. Hence it is that you see people of all hues in a 
 state of bondage, from jet black to pure white. On the 
 ecclesiastical estates, every precaution is taken to pre- 
 serve the original color ; and when, from an intermixture 
 of white blood, the complexion of the children is becom- 
 ing too light, they endeavor to restore its darkness, by 
 obliging the fair slaves to intermarry with those who 
 are blacker than themselves; the good fathers being 
 alarmed at the prospect of keeping, in a state of slavery, 
 human faces as fair as their own. 
 
 '*I one day stopped, with a friend, at the house of a 
 man on the road to Tijuca, to obtain some refreshment. 
 In the garden, at the back of his venda, we saw some 
 young Negroes playing about, and among the rest a very 
 pretty white boy. He had a soft fair face, light curling 
 hair, blue eyes, and a skin as light as that of a European. 
 Attracted by the very engaging little fellow, I caressed 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 369 
 
 him, and inquired of the man of the house, if he was his 
 son. He said not ; but that he was the son of an English- 
 man, and his slave, and he mentioned the name of his 
 father. Shocked and incredulous, I denied the possibility 
 of his father's knowing that the child was in bondage; 
 but I was then informed that the father not only knew 
 it in this instance, but that, in other cases, he is known to 
 sell his own white child along with its mother. ' ' 
 
 This inexpressibly revolting circumstance of the trade 
 does not seem to have continued beyond the first half of 
 the nineteenth century. Long before it was finally abol- 
 ished, considerable alleviations had entered into the con- 
 ditions. 
 
 In 1852 two earnest Quakers, John Candler and Will- 
 iam Burgess, traveled to Brazil in order to assist in the 
 anti-slave trade campaign, and, incidentally, to present 
 the Emperor with an address on this subject. It appears 
 that the costume of the Society of Friends, in which they 
 invariably appeared, caused a certain sensation in Eio de 
 Janeiro, but it was frequently enough the turn of the 
 worthy Quakers to be surprised. 
 
 They were, for instance, considerably taken aback when 
 they were waited on by a deputation of Benin Negroes, 
 who had purchased their freedom, and had already paid 
 a considerable sum for their passage back to West Africa. 
 They had no favor to ask. All they desired was to put 
 a plain business question: they were anxious to know if 
 the West African coast were now reasonably free from 
 slave ships. The amazement of the Quakers was great 
 when they learned that a number of these men's com- 
 panions had already proceeded safely back to their own 
 country. 
 
 The human units of no free nation, I suppose, can ex- 
 pect to be consistent or homogeneous in their views on 
 politics and people. This was proved toward the end of 
 1853 in a rather embarrassing fashion, on the occasion 
 when the Brazifians were doing honor to a black sailor 
 
370 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 who had heroically distinguished himself in saving the 
 lives of passengers of a wrecked vessel of the Brazilian 
 Steam Packet Company. He was taken to the Commer- 
 cial Exchange of Rio de Janeiro, and there the proceed- 
 ings were brought to a lamentable close, for the director 
 for the month, who happened to be an Englishman, re- 
 sented the entrance of a black, and caused him to be 
 ejected without ceremony. 
 
 This occurrence, at a time when Great Britain with 
 genuine and disinterested fervor was explaining that the 
 black was really and trnly a man and a brother and that 
 the traffic in slaves should cease, was the cause of con- 
 siderable consternation. Several indignant letters ap- 
 peared on the subject in the English press, containing 
 such sentiments as these: 
 
 ' ' This arbitrary proceeding has called forth articles in 
 the public papers, and it is provoking that one of us who 
 pretend to so much philanthropy for the race should have 
 shown so much prejudice against the color. This heroic 
 fellow, with whom the Emperor of the Brazils expressed 
 himself proud to shake hands, was driven from the ex- 
 change because he was an African ! And by an English- 
 man ! ' ' 
 
 Whatever may be said for and against the action on 
 moral and material grounds, it must be generally agreed 
 that it was completely lacking in tact ! 
 
 We have now arrived at that fateful period which her- 
 alded the modern industrial era. 
 
 The first official railway journey accomplished in Bra- 
 zil took place on the 5th September, 1853. It was made 
 on part of the line which was being built to connect the 
 capital with the summer-residential, mountain city of 
 Petropolis. Among the party to make the venture were 
 the British and Austrian ministers, and Mr. William 
 Hadfield, who translates as follows some extracts of the 
 proceedings from the Journal do Commercio. After a 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 371 
 
 description of the passage of the bay and of the landing 
 on the opposite shore, the correspondent continues : 
 
 *'A few paces distant we saw a single graceful-looking 
 locomotive, with a certificate of the year of its birth, and 
 the name of its worthy papa engraved on the central 
 wheels. The letters, in yellow metal, were as follows: 
 'William Fairbairn & Son, 1853, Manchester.' The 
 proper carriage was not yet attached; they substituted 
 for it a rough wagon, used for the conveyance of materi- 
 als, and without further delay we squatted ourselves at 
 the bottom of this impromptu vehicle. Suddenly a pro- 
 longed and roaring shriek, a whistle with the force of 
 fifty sopranos, screamed through the air, deafening the 
 hearers, and causing us to raise our hands to our ears. 
 It was the signal for departure ; the warning- to those 
 who might be on the line to guard against a mortal blow ; 
 an announcement made by a tube attached to the locomo- 
 tive itself. Swifter than an arrow, then the flight of a 
 swallow, the locomotive threaded the rails, swung about, 
 ran, flew, devoured space, and, passing through fields, 
 barren wastes, and affrighted animals, it stopped at last 
 breathless, at the point where the road does not yet afford 
 a safe passage. The space traversed was a mile and 
 three quarters, and the time, occupied in the transit four 
 minutes. It is just that we should here record the names 
 of Messrs. Trever and Bragg; the first, for having had 
 the boldness to undertake the enterprise; the other, for 
 executing with zeal and skill the respective works. ' ' 
 
 Had these worthy folk been able to get a glimpse of the 
 cars that now soar giddily through the upper air on their 
 steel ropes to the summit of the Sugarloaf Mountain 
 above Eio Harbor, their astonishment would have been 
 considerably increased ! 
 
 This famous Sugarloaf Mountain which pricks upwards 
 like a threatening canine tooth to guard the entrance to 
 Rio Harbor is already hung about with a certain amount 
 
372 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 of climbing legend. There are some who say that its 
 steep rock sides were first climbed by a British midship- 
 man. This bold spirit is supposed to have left on its 
 summit a Union Jack, to the dismay of the town author- 
 ities, who could induce no one else to scale the smooth 
 peak in order to remove the patronizing bunting ! 
 
 The United States and Austria, I believe, each make a 
 similar claim for their respective midshipmen. But I 
 feel strongly inclined to back the British pretensions. 
 How could any one who makes the faintest appeal to logic 
 and mathematics do otherwise? Let us admit — for the 
 sake of this argument only! — that the British midship- 
 man is possessed of only just the same amount of initi- 
 ative as those of any other nation! This concession 
 would equalize the chances of all three in the matter of 
 the likelihood of the accomplishment of the feat. But 
 then, considering the great superiority in numbers which 
 the British warships of those days enjoyed over any oth- 
 ers visiting Rio Harbor, the weight of probability in fa- 
 vor of the British, immediately becomes overwhelming, 
 and our case is won! Can you conceive a simpler and 
 more convincing method ? 
 
 The records of some of the later ascents are less nebu- 
 lous. It is certain, for instance, that on the fourth of 
 July, 1851, a very cosmopolitan party made the perilous 
 ascent. This consisted of an American dentist — stirred 
 by the date, and also, perhaps, by the tooth-like shape of 
 the spur, his wife; a French hair-dresser and his wife; 
 and a young Scotswoman, They celebrated their advent 
 on the summit by a bonfire and by a flight of rockets, con- 
 siderably to the astonishment of the people of Rio far be- 
 low. The illumination was justified, for the peril of the 
 climb is undoubted. 
 
 By the middle of the nineteenth century British hotels 
 had become something of an institution in Rio de Janeiro. 
 Johnson's Hotel on the Caminho Novo is said to have 
 been the most comfortable. The chief rival of this was 
 

 -:^iX'^i.:'i,:-f,\. ■•-! 
 
 ^ >*f ; *^^ • 
 
THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 373 
 
 the Hotel dos Estrangeiros, an establishment conducted 
 on French lines. 
 
 Several English boarding houses had been in existence 
 at this time for a considerable period, and one of the most 
 notable of these, situated at Constantia, was kept by a 
 Mr. Heath, the son of a Kentish farmer. Heath himself 
 was a sufficiently remarkable character, who spent an 
 unbroken half century or so in Brazil without apparently 
 suffering at all in health. How little his natural abun- 
 dance of spirits were affected by the atmosphere of the 
 sub-tropics may be gathered from the name of ** Jolly 
 Heath" by which he was known wherever English was 
 spoken in Central and Southern Brazil. 
 
 When Jolly Heath gave up his boarding house he re- 
 tired to a delightful sylvan resort near Theresopolis. 
 There he grew all species of European and tropical flow- 
 ers; shot jaguar, tapir, and the other species of local 
 game; entertained, doctored, and cared for British and 
 Brazilians alike, and enjoyed a celebrity that was as well 
 earned as it was wide ! Messrs. Kidder, Fletcher, Hinch- 
 liff, and other writers of the period, all have a hearty 
 word of praise for Jolly Heath. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE BRITISH IN THE SOUTH AMERICAN INTERNAL WARS 
 
 Position of the foreigner in South America — Situation of some who had 
 fought in the War of Independence — The Chilean navy and the At- 
 lantic — ^Admiral Brown assists in the formation of the Buenos Aires 
 navy — Heterogeneous recruits for the fleet — The period of Rosas — 
 Reputation of the Dictator — ^Murder of the Kidd family — ^Action by 
 the British minister — The autocrat's humorous side — Circumstances 
 of the blockade of Montevideo — The Anglo-French blockade of Buenos 
 Aires — Curious strategical situation — Brown's naval action with 
 Garibaldi — A theory concerning the latter's choice of red uniform 
 shirts — Futility of the blockade of Buenos Aires — The Anglo-French 
 expedition up the Parana — The engagement at Obligado — Objects 
 achieved by the venture — Engagement at San Lorenzo — Strategy of 
 the British — Some episodes of the blockade of Buenos Aires — Cock- 
 ney Sam in Montevideo — Gallantry of a humble adventurer — Meth- 
 ods by which he supported his men — Abandonment of the blockade of 
 Buenos Aires — Rosas proceeds to his retirement in Southampton — A 
 queer naval battle between the fleets of Buenos Aires and Entre Rios 
 — How a victory was arranged beforehand — Composition of the river 
 fleets — British among the heterogeneous elements of the crews — 
 Hinchliffe's unexpected meeting with Urquiza's soldiers — Formidable 
 warriors — Experiences of the British in Paraguay — Gaspar Rodriguez 
 de Francia — Experiences of Messrs. J. P. and W. P. Robertson under 
 this autocrat's rule — A passing description of the siege of Mon- 
 tevideo by the British Life in Paraguay — Francia's character, pur- 
 suits, and deeds — Robertson's final interview with Francia — Suggested 
 mission — Francisco Solano Lopez — Some unfulfilled expectations — 
 Madame Eloisa Lynch — Lopez plunges his nation into war — Merciless 
 treatment of his soldiers — Sufferings of the British — The "Uruguay- 
 ana" torture — End of the war — Situation of foreigners in South 
 American revolutions — Unexpected question by a British minister — 
 Experiences of an English clergyman in 1868 — An episode in which 
 the late Admiral Hart Dyke was concerned — ^An adventurous boat 
 expedition. 
 
 IT is a widely understood axiom in the Latin con- 
 tinent that the foreigner who has taken up his 
 residence in South America should refrain from in- 
 terference with the politics of the land which shelters 
 
 374 
 
BRITISH IN SOUTH AMERICAN WARS 375 
 
 him. No more reasonable precept than this was ever 
 laid down, and it is one which need not confine itself to 
 the affairs of South America. To bring the matter home 
 to ourselves, we should surely feel inclined to regard' 
 with merely lukewarm charity foreigners who, having 
 made an uninvited sojourn in our midst, concerned 
 themselves in an endeavor to alter our laws and regula- 
 tions to a pattern more nearly approaching that to which 
 they themselves had been accustomed ! 
 
 During the first half of the nineteenth century, how- 
 ever, this attitude of aloofness was not always easy to 
 maintain on the part of the resident foreigner. This 
 applies especially, of course, to those who, having taken 
 service with the patriot forces in the War of Independ- 
 ence, remained in the continent after the battle with the 
 Spaniard had given way to the period of internal unrest 
 which followed. It is true that the number of these was, 
 comparatively speaking, not large, but among them were 
 several sufficiently remarkable personalities. The ma- 
 jority of these had originally been concerned with the 
 wars on the Pacific coast. 
 
 The naval situation of Chile after its fleet had freed 
 the Pacific from the Spaniards, was rather peculiar. 
 For some time it seemed to act as a reservoir of men 
 and ships for the Atlantic States. The Pacific war at an ^ 
 
 end, Chile had freed Cochrane, Grenfell, and many others 
 for the service of Brazil, and, at a later period, when 
 Brazil and Buenos Aires were at loggerheads, Chile sold 
 a number of her then unwanted vessels to the Buenos 
 Aires Government. In order to take charge of these, 
 Admiral Brown traveled over the Andes to the Pacific, 
 and brought the vessels back by way of Cape Horn. 
 After this he set himself to strengthen the sea power of 
 Argentina, or rather of the State of Buenos Aires; for 
 Argentina as a concrete republic had not yet come into 
 full being. Before that desirable condition was attained, 
 the young nation had to undergo a lengthy and remorse- 
 
376 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 less schooling at the hands of General Rosas, its famous 
 dictator. 
 
 The composition of the personnel of Brown's navy was 
 heterogeneous. The most experienced members of his 
 crews were, of course, the cosmopolitan groups of seamen 
 who, finding themselves at a temporary loose-end in 
 Buenos Aires, hastened to enlist under the blue and 
 white flag. Indeed, the appeal of Admiral Brown's per- 
 sonality and of the assured adventurous career went far 
 beyond the ranks of professional sailors. An astonish- 
 ing number of British residents, who had established 
 themselves as shopkeepers, moved by a wave of enthusi- 
 asm, made fast the shutters behind the iron bars of their 
 shops, sallied down the narrow streets of Buenos Aires, 
 and set out in small boats on the yellow waters of the 
 river Plate to join Brown's flotilla at anchor in the 
 roads. 
 
 Even the pastures yielded their toll to the young Ar- 
 gentine navy. It happened that just at that period a 
 Mr. Barber Beaumont had caused a number of settlers 
 to be sent out from England. On realizing the situation 
 in the Rio de la Plata a number of these dropped the 
 handle of the plow before they had well had time to grasp 
 it, and went on board Brown's ships to handle ropes and 
 cannon instead. 
 
 These events have brought us down to the period of 
 Rosas, the Argentine dictator already referred to, whom 
 Brown served with a loyalty that was praiseworthy 
 enough, since, as a sailor, it was not his business to con- 
 cern himself with the rights and wrongs of politics. 
 
 It is probable enough that much has been heaped upon 
 Rosas for which he was not responsible. Considering 
 the sheer autocracy of his rule, and the amount of crime 
 which occurred in it, this was almost inevitable. The 
 notorious Mazorquero club — an association which in- 
 dulged freely in murder — was supposed to work at his 
 instigation. However that may have been, British vie- 
 
BRITISH IN SOUTH AMERICAN WARS 377 
 
 tims were not numerous ; but one or two terrible tragedies 
 occurred, nevertheless, to tbese. 
 
 The murder of every one of the nine members of a 
 respected Scottish family of the name of Kidd, who 
 owned an estancia in the neighborhood of Buenos Aires, 
 was regarded with practical certainty as the work of the 
 Masorqueros — an instance of *'frightfulness" designed, 
 as it was alleged, to strike terror into the resident for- 
 eigner, and thus to prevent inconvenient diplomatic 
 claims. However that may have been, the British min- 
 ister, Sir W. Gr. Ousely, immediately issued a proclama- 
 tion offering ten thousand dollars as a reward for the 
 discovery of the murderers. He then took this to Rosas, 
 asking the Dictator to append his signature to it. 
 Whether Rosas were actually implicated or not in this 
 policy, will, of course, never be known, but in any case the 
 request was one which he could not refuse ! 
 
 But, if this particular official scored off Rosas, another 
 British minister — ^whether Ousely 's predecessor or suc- 
 cessor, I am not certain — ^was less fortunate. In the 
 course of a friendly argument, the autocrat turned to him 
 with a laugh : 
 
 '^Senor Ministro," he exclaimed, ''within a day or two 
 you will be doing menial work within my house ! Would 
 you care to wager that you will not ? ' ' 
 
 The minister accepted a bet with alacrity. A day or 
 two later he entered one of the patios of the Palermo 
 palace, and found Rosas' charming daughter. Dona 
 Manuelita, hard at work pounding maize, and bedewing 
 the yellow mass with tears of chagrin. Her father had 
 cruelly forced her to the task, she explained; would not 
 the Senor Ministro assist? The minister, scandalized, 
 rushed forward to take the pestle from her. A few sec- 
 onds later he was pounding vigorously, an apron already 
 cunningly hung about his body. Simultaneously the en- 
 try of Rosas and one or two friends, laughing consum- 
 edly, explained to the diplomat that he had lost his bet! 
 
378 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 This incident is familiar throughout Argentina. It dem- 
 onstrates a sense of humor in Rosas which tempts one to 
 give him the benefit of the doubt in many of the vaguer 
 charges against him. 
 
 It was in the service of Rosas that Admiral Brown in 
 1843 blockaded the pleasant Uruguayan capital, Mon- 
 tevideo. It was undoubtedly only the arrival of the in- 
 tervening British and French squadrons which saved the 
 town. These forced the Buenos Aires squadron to with- 
 draw, and Admiral Purvis, the British commander, de- 
 tained Brown and his officers for a time as prisoners of 
 war. 
 
 The main objects of the Anglo-French naval expedition 
 which blockaded Buenos Aires in 1845 were two: the 
 opening up of the river system which Rosas had closed 
 to Paraguay and the northern province of Corrientes, 
 and the relief of Montevideo. This latter port had long 
 been threatened by Rosas, and, as we have seen, was ac- 
 tually being blockaded by Admiral Brown's Buenos Aires 
 squadron, when the arrival of the Anglo-French fleet 
 forced that tough old sailor to relax his grip. 
 
 In the meantime a few companies of British infantry 
 had been landed in Montevideo, but the absence of any 
 important land forces prevented the allies from interfer- 
 ing with Rosas' troops that were investing the Uruguayan 
 capital from the interior. Thus at the same time that 
 the allied fleet was blockading Buenos Aires by sea, the 
 troops of the latter town were besieging Montevideo by 
 land! 
 
 A little later Admiral Brown was brought face to face 
 with Garibaldi, who had taken service in the cause op- 
 posed to Buenos Aires. Garibaldi, with a couple of im- 
 promptu war vessels, had succeeded in running the gaunt- 
 let of Brown's squadron further up the river. Then en- 
 sued a long stern chase up the river'Parana, the vessels of 
 both sides sailing and warping vigorously up the rapid 
 stream. But Garibaldi had penetrated as high up the 
 
BRITISH IN SOUTH AMERICAN WARS 379 
 
 yellow flood as the province of Corrientes, where the 
 banks were already assuming their subtropical aspects, 
 before Brown came up with him. A fight ensued in 
 which both sides might with some reason have claimed the 
 advantage. For although Brown drove the hostile 
 vessels ashore and riddled them with shot, Garibaldi, be- 
 fore he abandoned them, succeeded in landing their car- 
 goes of arms, which had been one of the principal objects 
 of his expedition. This, by the way, was Brown's last 
 naval action. He retired shortly afterwards to Barracas, 
 a suburb of Buenos Aires, where he ended his days in a 
 respected peace. 
 
 There is one rather interesting circumstance concern- 
 ing Garibaldi, to which I have referred casually in an- 
 other book. Being unacquainted with the minor details 
 of his Italian campaign, I do not know if any explanation 
 is given of the origin of the famous red shirts worn by his 
 volunteers. But, if none has been forthcoming, it would 
 seem probable enough that Garibaldi obtained the idea 
 of this uniform from the red-ponchoed warriors of the 
 river Plate with whom he had previously been brought 
 into contact. 
 
 After this Italian excursion we may return to the 
 mouth of the Eio de la Plata, where lay the British and 
 French fleets. After a time the allied ministers pleni- 
 potentiary and the naval commanders began to be ob- 
 sessed with a grave suspicion that, so far as any serious 
 consequence to the inhabitants was concerned, the block- 
 ade of Buenos Aires from the sea resembled the punish- 
 ment of shutting up a child in a richly- stored larder ! All 
 that it effected was to hem in a land already possessed of 
 a superabundance of all that it required for its existence. 
 
 An up-river expedition was determined on. Her 
 majesty's ships Gorgon, Fulton, and Firebrand set out 
 on this venture, accompanied by a large number of mer- 
 chant vessels laden with goods for Corrientes and Para- 
 guay. Several French war vessels operated in conjunc- 
 
380 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 tion with the British, and helped to convoy the important 
 mercantile fleet. 
 
 The first engagement of importance occurred at Obli- 
 gado, a narrow point in the river Parana at which power- 
 ful shore batteries had been placed, and where vessels, 
 fastened together by a powerful chain, had been sunk 
 in the stream. So warm was the engagement here that a 
 British and a French vessel each received over a hundred 
 shots in their hulls. But for the gallantry of Captain 
 Hope, of the Firebrand, who, dashing forward with a 
 boat's crew, succeeded under a terrific fire in destroying 
 the chain and thus opening a passage, the losses to the 
 fleet must have been serious. After this, however, the 
 action was soon concluded, although the British casualties 
 had become sufficiently numerous before the batteries 
 were silenced. 
 
 After this the squadron proceeded up the stream, and 
 the merchant vessels disposed of practically all their 
 produce at Corrientes, scarcely any being left over for 
 the Paraguayans still farther up the river! 
 
 Having achieved its object so far as clearing the river 
 was concerned, the force returned downstream. But in 
 the meantime Eosas had prepared another warm corner 
 for the expedition at San Lorenzo, where some batteries 
 had been mounted in a commanding position. Again the 
 resourcefulness of the fleet, which was now accompanied 
 by H.M.S. Alecto, saved the situation. A rocket brigade 
 was secretly landed on an island opposite the position, 
 and just as the fleet and convoy, numbering together 
 over a hundred vessels, were about to pass the spot, the 
 rockets played on the battery in so startling and unex- 
 pected fashion that the vessels were enabled to run the 
 gauntlet comparatively unscathed. 
 
 After this the blockade of Buenos Aires continued in a 
 somewhat stagnant manner. Major operations of any 
 kind were conspicuous by their absence. Smuggling, 
 however, was rendered easy by the great areas of shallow 
 
BRITISH IN SOUTH AMERICAN WARS 381 
 
 waters over which small craft, knowing that the block- 
 ading vessels could not follow them, sailed with im- 
 punity. 
 
 It was only such irregular forces as these, whether by 
 land or sea, that had an opportunity of showing their dar- 
 ing. The same may be said of the investment of Mon- 
 tevideo, which was proceeding simultaneously. One of 
 the most notable figures in this respect on the Monte- 
 videan side was an Englishman known as Cockney Sam. 
 How Sam came to find himself in Montevideo does not 
 seem to be related. In London he had been a coal heaver, 
 an occupation which in itself would scarcely seem to 
 possess any particular driving power toward the warmer 
 shores of the Rio de la Plata. However, there he was at 
 the time when the Allied fleets were lying in the river, 
 established as a lighterman and as a dealer in bones. 
 
 In his own humble fashion Cockney Sam, who was a 
 well-spoken and civil-mannered fellow, appears to have 
 been a very popular character in Montevideo. So that, 
 when the martial spirit of the period spurred him away 
 from his mercantile bones in quest of wilder and less 
 dry adventures, he had no difficulty in obtaining a follow- 
 ing. 
 
 Then in a wild daylight charge or a stealthy night at- 
 tack he would sally out to where Rosas' troops kept 
 watch about the outskirts of Montevideo. There were 
 times when very few of Cockney Sam's devoted band 
 would return alive from one of these charges of theirs. 
 Then Cockney Sam would busy himself about the streets 
 of Montevideo, recruiting men and money for his next 
 expedition, with a ridiculously mild and ingratiating 
 smile. In fact, it is said that he was as punctiliously 
 grateful for any subscription toward his fighting force, 
 as he had been in his commercial days for an order for 
 bones! Considering the utterly reckless daring with 
 which he led his band, it is not a little remarkable that 
 Cockney Sam should have survived the war, as he did. 
 
382 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 All this time it was becoming increasingly evident to 
 the blockading forces that the amount of inconvenience 
 which Rosas was suffering from the blockade was imper- 
 ceptible. A renewed attempt to make terms with the 
 Dictator met with failure — as, indeed, it could scarcely 
 fail to do when the only weapon the allies could employ 
 was a threat to continue this very blockade ! This threat 
 having been treated with a not unnatural scorn, the allies 
 took the only step which was left to them. They raised 
 the blockade ! The fleets sailed away, and the river Plate 
 was once again left to its own devices. 
 
 Some five years later, however, it was the lot of H.M.S. 
 Locust to shelter Rosas — then fleeing from the victorious 
 armies of a country which his iron rule could no longer 
 keep in chains — and eventually to bear him to Southamp- 
 ton, in the neighborhood of which, much respected — re- 
 tired despots seem to differ curiously little from any 
 other folk! — he passed the remainder of his days. So 
 curious a working of fate could have been foreseen by 
 none when the blockading British fleet lay off Buenos 
 Aires ! 
 
 Even after the fall of Rosas, however, differences be- 
 tween the river Plate provinces led to further naval ac- 
 tions in the great river. It was now the turn of Urquiza, 
 the rival of the fallen Rosas, to blockade Buenos Aires 
 with the forces of Entre Rios. In the course of this a 
 naval engagement was fought which was principally re- 
 markable on account of its humorous side. 
 
 Some vessels of Urquiza 's fleet, commanded by an 
 Admiral Coe, when off the low island of Martin Garcia, 
 fell in with a Buenos Aires squadron, the most important 
 vessel of which was an eighteen-gun brig commanded by 
 an Englishman of the name of Turner. The action that 
 followed had something in common with the less reputa- 
 ble race-meetings: its result had been arranged before- 
 hand. 
 
 Coe blazed away some round shot at Turner's brig, con- 
 
BRITISH IN SOUTH AMERICAN WARS 383 
 
 cerning which Turner did not experience sufficient curi- 
 osity even to go up on deck. It was now the brig's turn 
 to fire. Simultaneously with the first hangings of the 
 shots the guns reared up and turned turtle! The rope 
 lashings had been saturated with sulphuric acid ! After 
 this — since it was clearly impossible to defend a brig 
 whose guns littered the deck like autumn leaves — the 
 battle was over. 
 
 The brig, together with a three-masted schooner and 
 a steamer, hastened to strike the colors that had been 
 sold, while three small schooners which had remained 
 loyal, made off in dismay toward Buenos Aires. 
 
 At this period the river fleets of neither Buenos Aires 
 nor M^ontevideo presented an imposing spectacle. The 
 most important vessels of which they were composed 
 were merely small passenger steamers fitted with such 
 guns as were available. Urquiza's ships, moreover, were 
 manned principally by his scarlet ponchoed soldiers, fa- 
 mous as cavalrymen, but totally out of their element on 
 the deck of a steamer ! Probably the only really appro- 
 priate asset of this fleet of Urquiza's was the chief engi- 
 neer, who even here did not fail to be a Scotsman ! 
 
 The Buenos Aires squadron, on the other hand, con- 
 tained a number of British. Mr. T. W. Hinchliff, who, 
 when descending the Parana in H.M.S. Ardent, had an 
 opportunity of inspecting the two squadrons as they lay 
 at a more or less permanent anchorage within a league 
 of each other, remarked this on the visit of a boat from 
 the Buenos Aires flagship. *'We were rather struck," 
 he says, ''with the smart appearance of two or three of 
 the crew, who looked very like Englishmen, and the sus- 
 picion was soon confirmed. The officer gave them the 
 word in Spanish, and one of them at once remarked to 
 the man next to him, 'Shove off. Bill. All right!' No 
 doubt they had been victims to some of the Buenos Aires 
 crimps, who liked nothing better than inducing English 
 and American seamen to run from their ships." 
 
384 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Having gone so far with Hinchliff we may accompany 
 him a little farther, to a spot near Santa Fe, in fact, by 
 an old ruined fort, where he unexpectedly fell in with 
 some of Urquiza's soldiers. It must be explained that a 
 surprise attack to which many of their number had fallen 
 victims on the previous night was chiefly responsible for 
 their demeanor. Says Hinchliif : 
 
 ' ' We had hoped to explore this curious old edifice, but 
 on coming up to it we were surprised to find a consider- 
 able number of soldiers hanging about in the much- 
 dreaded red ponchos of Urquiza. Some of them were 
 lying at full length on the ground, some were smoking 
 paper cigars under a species of veranda, and others were 
 lounging sulkily with their backs against the wall, star- 
 ing at us silently. The Santafecinos are considered the 
 finest of the natives, and certainly these were the most 
 formidable-looking men I have ever seen, with the excep- 
 tion, perhaps, of the Life Guards. Many of them must 
 have been several inches over six feet, and there was an 
 appearance of dangerous ferocity about them which was 
 anything but pleasant. I saw that our Italian friend, 
 who knew the country well, was not only surprised but 
 greatly alarmed at finding himself in such company about 
 a mile from the town: he whispered hurriedly that we 
 must pass without taking notice of them, and turn as 
 soon as we could. We passed many fierce faces, but no 
 one said a word to us. . . . " 
 
 It was in the hermit-kingdom of Paraguay that many 
 sufficiently terrible experiences were undergone by the 
 British who, having once penetrated into the inland re- 
 public, found themselves entirely deprived of the op- 
 portunity of receiving assistance from the outside world. 
 
 This condition of affairs was introduced in 1816 by 
 Paraguay's first autocrat, Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia. 
 To live in Paraguay under the rule of Francia was to 
 know all the sensations of an unbroken sojourn above a 
 powder mine! The terrible uncertainty in which even 
 
BRITISH IN SOUTH AMERICAN WARS 385 
 
 foreigners were kept is testified to by Messrs. J. P. and 
 W. P. Roberston, as well as by others. 
 
 Mr. J. P. Robertson was one of those who in 1806 
 followed in the wake of the first British expedition to the 
 river Plate. On the arrival of his vessel at the mouth 
 of the river the voyagers were met by the somber tid- 
 ings of the capitulation of the British garrison of Buenos 
 Aires. They were, however, enabled to watch the siege 
 of Montevideo, the scene of which he thus describes: 
 
 "Brigs of war were running close under the walls, and 
 bombarding the citadel from the sea; the guns were 
 leveled with deadly aim at the part of the fortification 
 selected for the breach ; and the mortar was discharging, 
 in fatal curve, the destructive bomb. Thousands of spec- 
 tators from the ships were tracing, in breathless anxiety, 
 the impression made by every shell upon the town, and 
 every ball upon the breach. The frequent sorties made 
 by the Spanish troops, and repulses invariably sustained 
 by them, gave an animating, but nervous interest to the 
 scene. ' ' 
 
 Roberston witnessed the capture of Montevideo, and 
 remained in South America, until the final fiasco of the 
 expedition forced him to depart with the rest. After a 
 few months spent at home the desire to see more of South 
 America overcame him, and, setting sail again for the 
 Rio de la Plata, he managed to make his way into Para- 
 guay just as Francia was preparing to take upon him- 
 self autocratic power. 
 
 Thus Robertson, who was shortly afterwards joined 
 by his brother, witnessed the first founding of the despotic 
 rule in Paraguay, the frontiers of which it soon became 
 impossible to cross without a license from the Supremo, 
 by which title Francia became known. No Paraguayan 
 ever wittingly crossed Francia 's will: merely to dis- 
 please him in all unconsciousness meant imprisonment 
 or banishment into the distant forests at the best, torture 
 and death at the worst. 
 
386 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Two or three deeds and characteristics of Francia will 
 show the medley of traits of which this extraordinary 
 man's character was made up. He kidnapped the French 
 naturalist Bonpland from across the border in Argentina 
 with no more compunction than he would have plucked 
 a stray plant out of his own garden; he decreed that 
 every one of his subjects, however poor, should wear a 
 hat — even if it were only a brim — in order that he should 
 be able to salute his ruler with proper reverence ; he was 
 ascetic to the point of austerity in his tastes; and he 
 was much addicted to the study of astronomy, algebra, 
 and natural science ! When engrossed in these pursuits 
 and in that of literature, he at one period gave orders 
 that any one who approached inconveniently near to his 
 window should be shot. 
 
 It was not astonishing that a certain ingenuousness 
 should have characterized Francia. Almost the whole of 
 the despot's life was spent in a remote country that his 
 own laws ended by rendering completely secluded. 
 
 Thus when Robertson, who had the autocrat's permis- 
 sion to that end, was about to depart for England, he 
 was summoned to Francia 's presence. Behind the dic- 
 tator were stationed four grenadiers laden with samples 
 of tobacco, cigars, spirits, sugar, and other Paraguayan 
 produce. These, explained Francia, Robertson was to 
 bear to the British House of Commons, and, having ex- 
 hibited them, he was to announce that Francia was ready 
 to enter into a commercial alliance with England. The 
 mission itself was essentially practical; but the method 
 suggested for its completion was not without its uncon- 
 scious humor! 
 
 But the arch-tyranny of Paraguay did not attain to 
 its zenith until, Francia and his immediate successor 
 Carlos Antonio Lopez having died, Francisco Solano 
 Lopez came to what was virtually the throne of Para- 
 guay. The sheer despotism which was latent in Fran- 
 cisco Solano Lopez did not make itself apparent until 
 
BRITISH IN SOUTH AMERICAN WARS 387 
 
 after he had attained to the dictatorship of the inland 
 state. 
 
 In 1861 Hinchliff, referring to the death of Carlos An- 
 tonio Lopez, wrote: **His son General Lopez began to 
 reign in his stead; and it is supposed that the interests 
 of Englishmen will be favored by the circumstance that 
 the honors of the presidential throne are shared by an 
 amicably disposed English woman. ' ' 
 
 Lopez had spent some time in England, where he had 
 made a favorable impression, and the hopes expressed by 
 Hinchliff were very generally shared. But they were 
 realized neither in himself nor in Madame Eloi'sa Lynch, 
 the handsome Parisian-Irishwoman who shared his throne 
 in a somewhat irregular fashion. 
 
 The latter, it is true, appears to have been directly re- 
 sponsible for none of the atrocities committed by Lopez ; 
 but she does not seem to have moved a finger to prevent 
 one of these outrages. It is true that Lopez, when thwart- 
 ed, revealed the instincts of a beast of prey ; nevertheless, 
 adventuress though she was, Madame Lynch retained her 
 influence over the tyrant to the end, and there is no doubt 
 that she might frequently have interposed her merciful 
 offices without the faintest danger to her own interests, 
 such as they were. 
 
 When Lopez flung his brave and devoted army against 
 the combined forces of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, 
 he had embarked both himself and the nation in a suicidal 
 plunge. As one of the results of this, the standard he 
 set for his men was above the limits of human possibility. 
 Officers who had given way when only a tenth of their 
 men remained in action were executed, and their wives 
 were tortured to death. Men who were overheard to 
 cast a single doubt upon a complete victory all along 
 the line were shot out of hand as for a heinous crime. 
 There were Paraguayans captured by the Brazilians, who 
 might well enough have accepted the excuse of having 
 done with the inhuman hardships of the war. Instead of 
 
388 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 this they made their escape, and with the warmest loy- 
 alty rejoined their ragged and worn comrades. As sole 
 reward they were led out before a firing party, and fell 
 as an example to the rest ! Lopez did not approve of his 
 men being taken prisoners. 
 
 Unfortunately for themselves, there were a certain 
 number of British in Paraguay when the war broke out. 
 The majority of these were mechanics and engineers, and 
 the experiences of nearly all of them were of the most 
 terrible description. Confined in noisome dungeons 
 haunted by reptiles and rats, driven from time to time 
 in a starving condition from one place to another — this 
 constituted only a part of what they were obliged to suf- 
 fer. A special torture, known as the * * Uruguayana " had 
 been invented by one of Lopez's most favored creatures, 
 and more than one of the British captives has related his 
 experiences when suffering under this. The victim's 
 limbs were firmly lashed together with hide ; he was then 
 placed in a sitting position, and a number of muskets 
 at the back of his neck were made fast with thongs, the 
 effect of this being to bend the sufferer's body into an un- 
 natural and agonizing curve. 
 
 In the end when, the Paraguayan army having been re- 
 duced to little more than a half -naked collection of old 
 men and boys, the war came to an end. Such Englishmen 
 as survived owed their escape rather to Lopez's death 
 than to any care that he had taken for their preservation. 
 Indeed, to serve Lopez was as fatal as the traditional din- 
 ner with Borgia ! His short, but very red, rule provides 
 one of the grimmest chapters in South American history. 
 
 Fortunately for foreigners these dark days in Para- 
 guay are not typical of the history of the southern con- 
 tinent in general. The policy of the South Americans 
 in almost all the numerous revolutions which have oc- 
 curred from time to time in the past has been to refrain 
 from molesting the persons of resident foreigners. In 
 the instances where one of these has suffered it will al- 
 
BRITISH IN SOUTH AMERICAN WARS 389 
 
 most certainly be found that the foreigner has interested 
 himself in the affairs of one or the other of the belligerent 
 parties. 
 
 But this applies only to life and limb. The circum- 
 stances affecting property have by no means been the 
 same, least of all in stock-raising countries when armies 
 of men, short of horses and hungry for beef, have been 
 on the march. On such occasions the amount of live- 
 stock commandeered would depend largely on the tact 
 and popularity of the breeder. 
 
 These proceedings, although annoying enough, were 
 seldom of serious consequence, and were generally taken 
 in fairly good part. Indeed, in an era of political storm 
 the estanciero was inclined to lump this risk in with that 
 of locusts, drought, flood, and other visitations of the 
 kind which it is necessary to endure with philosophy. So 
 the shrewd ones made so signal a virtue of necessity that 
 on more than one occasion their livestock was returned 
 to them a hundredfold — in the shape of a concession or 
 some similar privilege ! 
 
 Diplomatic representations were seldom of much avail, 
 and appeals to this effect were frequently resented by the 
 ministers, resident or plenipotentiary, of the aggrieved 
 persons' country — diplomats who complained that it was 
 beneath their dignity to assist in the chase after lost cat- 
 tle! Perhaps this explains the answer which a British 
 estanciero in Uruguay received from his minister in the 
 early 1860 's, on his explaining the fact that he had just 
 suffered the loss of sixteen commandeered carriage 
 horses, the claim for which he desired should be placed 
 officially before the Uruguayan Grovernment. The elderly 
 representative of Great Britain eyed the estanciero for a 
 time in surprise, whether real or feigned. 
 
 "Why, Mr. ," he asked at length, "what on earth 
 
 can you require sixteen carriage horses for ? ' ' 
 
 And there the matter remained. 
 
 An English clergyman who landed in Montevideo in 
 
390 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AJVIERICA 
 
 1868 certainly obtained a glimpse of the traditional spe- 
 cies of South American revolution. Here is his expe- 
 rience as related by himself: 
 
 "Noticing from the house where I lived, several per- 
 sons peeping round the corner of the street, I went out 
 to see what was the matter. The balls were coming up 
 this street from the soldiers who were advancing; and 
 just then a gentleman on the opposite side of the street, 
 was shot through the thigh, and taken into a house. A 
 peon crossing the street at this spot was shot dead, picked 
 up, placed on a shutter, and carried away. On this I 
 thought it prudent to retire into the house." 
 
 And at this period, to add to the political tragedy, a 
 terrible epidemic of cholera was sweeping away the in- 
 habitants of Montevideo by the thousand! 
 
 It is this sort of incident that many people in Europe 
 have accepted as being all in the normal South American 
 day's work! 
 
 This chapter may be concluded by an episode which, 
 having received it from the late Admiral Hart-Dyke's 
 own lips, I have already narrated in *'The Eomance of 
 the River Plate." Nevertheless, the incident falls so 
 completely within the scope of this book that it cannot 
 well remain absent from these pages. 
 
 The admiral — then a junior officer — ^was stationed in 
 a British warship off Buenos Aires during one of the 
 revolutionary outbursts at a period long before the pres- 
 ent era of prosperity and peace. The Argentine fleet was 
 likewise at anchor off the capital. As it happened, the 
 naval force of the republic was opposed to the land pow- 
 ers which were in possession of Buenos Aires. Owing to 
 this, the Argentine admiral suffered no little anxiety on 
 account of his wife and two daughters, who were cut off 
 from him in the city. This he confided to the officers of 
 the British warship, with whom he appears to have been 
 on friendly terms. Hart-Dyke volunteered to bring the 
 ladies off from the shore, and set himself to prepare a 
 
BRITISH IN SOUTH AMERICAN WARS 391 
 
 somewhat daring plan. In fact the episode, modestly 
 and simply as it was told, savors strongly of the genuine 
 romance of the British sailor, and suggests Henty at his 
 best. 
 
 Behold, just before the fall of night, Hart-Dyke setting 
 out for the shore in command of his boat's crew, two mid- 
 shipmen's uniforms tucked comfortably away in the 
 stern ! On this point my memory does not serve me well ; 
 but it appears that the Argentine admiral was less anx- 
 ious concerning his wife than his daughters. It is likely 
 enough that the elder lady was very well able to look 
 after herself. In any case she would have found it diffi- 
 cult to disguise herself as a midshipman. Hence the 
 provision of two uniforms only. 
 
 The boat reached the mole in the ordinary course of 
 events, and a short time afterwards the young naval offi- 
 cer found himself at the Argentine admiral's house. His 
 advent caused no little flutter, as may be imagined ; but 
 the admiral's wife appears to have been a lady of re- 
 source, who lent herself readily to the plot. So, after an 
 interval, we see Hart-Dyke sailing along the street, ac- 
 companied by two very smooth-cheeked midshipmen. 
 
 It was dark now, and the illumination in the thorough- 
 fares sufficiently scanty. All went well for a while, and 
 the trio, without exciting suspicion, passed by the side 
 of the low square houses with the lamps shining from their 
 patios on their way to the mole. At the foot of the steps 
 waited the boat with its British crew ; it was merely neces- 
 sary to descend and to enter it. But there's many a slip 
 — and in this case the slip was no metaphorical one. As 
 ill fortune would have it, the steps were greasy. One of 
 the admiral's daughters lost her foothold, and bumped 
 down on the unsympathetic stone. She did what nine 
 women out of ten would have done under the circum- 
 stances : she emitted a treble scream. 
 
 The sound electrified the officials and the loafers on the 
 pier. Amid the hubbub arose urgent commands to halt. 
 
392 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 This was the very last thing that the trio desired. The 
 genuine officer bundled his two spurious juniors into the 
 boat ; the sailors bent lustily to their oars, and the small 
 craft shot out into the night amid a wild fusillade from 
 the mole. Fortunately no one was hit, although the boat 
 itself was struck, and an oar or two splintered. 
 
 But the adventures of the night were not yet at an end. 
 In order to distinguish friends from foes it had been ar- 
 ranged that, as the party neared the Argentine admiral's 
 ship, a flare should be burned in the boat. In the cir- 
 cumstances which had intervened, such a proceeding 
 would have revealed the fugitives' whereabouts to those 
 on shore who were still blazing away into the darkness. 
 So the boat approached the Argentine vessel unan- 
 nounced by its flare. The sentries were on the alert, and 
 welcomed the suspicious craft with a volley almost as fu- 
 rious as had been those from the shore. But the shouted 
 warning proved effective, and in the end the party stood 
 in safety on the deck of the Argentine warship. Here 
 they were received with profound thankfulness by the 
 admiral, whose feelings may be imagined when he discov- 
 ered that it was upon his own daughters that his men 
 had fired! 
 
PAET IV 
 SCIENTIFIC AND LITERAEY OBSERVERS 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Tropical forests — Life and torments in the South American jungle — Two 
 sides of the picture — Qualities essential to the naturalist — Charles 
 Waterton — Some salient characteristics — Waterton's home life — His 
 eccentricities and pursuits on his own estate — Waterton in the 
 Guiana forest — Raleigh's description of that country — Stoicism ex- 
 hibited by Waterton — Unenterprising vampire bats — Some instances 
 of the naturalist's enthusiasm — ^Adventures with giant snakes — How 
 he rode an alligator — ^His own account of the encounter — Methods by 
 which he fought fever — Waterton's death — 'Charles Darwin — The voy- 
 age of the Beagle — Scope of Darwin's travels in South America — His 
 experiences in the south of the continent — ^Some notable fossil dis- 
 coveries — Intercourse with the Fuegians — ^Narrow escape of a mis- 
 sionary — Darwin on the Pacific coast — The country dealt with by 
 Bates and Wallace — ^Mystery of the Amazon Valley — Henry Bates as 
 a naturalist — His work 'and enthusiasm — ^Tale of a gigantic spider — 
 Imaginary perils and real dangers — The noises of a tropical forest — 
 The menace of nature and its creatures — Various diseases, including 
 yellow fever, imdermine Bates's health — His departure from South 
 America — Regrets on sailing — Expression of his subsequent views — 
 A. R. Wallace — His experiences on the Amazon — Incidents during the 
 canoe voyages — Perils of the streams — ^Difficulties with Indian 
 crews — Insect plagues — Encounter with a jaguar — Ultimate triumph 
 of the climate — ^Wallace's homeward voyage — Loss of the vessel by 
 fiire — Destruction of the naturalist's collections — Richard Spruce — 
 Adventures of a keen botanist — His early career — ^An adventure at 
 Para — His experiences during an attack of fever — Murderous Indians 
 — An uncomfortable British assistant — Encounter with a condor — 
 Botanical excursions in Venezuela, the Orinoco basin, and the Ecua- 
 dorean Andes — Long-lived Englishmen — Other naturalists. 
 
 THERE is something umisiially seductive in the 
 mental pictnrings of a tropical forest. That 
 these tremendous hotbeds of vegetation possess 
 an extraordinary charm of their own is undeniable. Nev- 
 ertheless their greatest glamour probably haunts those 
 who have never trodden them. 
 
 395 
 
396 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 No doubt there are many who picture the tropical for- 
 ests much as the hothouses at Kew Gardens, with the 
 glass walls abolished and the interior continued indefi- 
 nitely ! In some respects they might not be far wrong — 
 provided that in their mind they raised the roof indefi- 
 nitely, increased the size of most of the growths a dozen 
 fold, and flung one and all close into each other's leafy 
 arms, thus making a most gigantic tangle, the lianas 
 winding themselves everywhere in clinging confusion. 
 
 But there are many objects which the stay-at-home 
 dreamer — probably lounging in placid and secure ease 
 on a wholesome and shaven lawn — would have to add to 
 this. There are the hidden pitfalls of the ground ; there 
 are the leaf -concealed stumps and branches which wound 
 and bruise the shins and ankles, and there are the great 
 thorns which lie in wait to tear the flesh remorselessly. 
 
 This is not all. By no means ! There are many worse 
 things. There is the poisonous snake which lurks in the 
 undergrowth; there are the great and little ants on the 
 boughs which resent the approach of an unconscious hu- 
 man hand by a bite as painful as living fire; there are 
 innumerable flies whose vicious little fangs draw blood. 
 
 After all this it may seem an unnecessary piling up of 
 horrors to add to the list the droning song of the intol- 
 erably active swarms of mosquitos, the burrowing atten- 
 tions of the unpleasant '' jigger," which loves to lay its 
 eggs in the flesh under the human toe-nail, and — the most 
 fateful curse of all — the malaria; the beri-beri, black- 
 water, and yellow fevers, whose dreadful shadows sit 
 brooding all the time over the jungle. 
 
 But it is impossible to pass any of these by. For they 
 — all the foregoing, and many more — are there, as large 
 as life and as grim as death, in the tropical forests of 
 South America. They constitute the netherworld of the 
 jungle; they show the reverse of that picture which is 
 made up of quaint monkeys, brilliant birds, wonderfully 
 gorgeous butterflies, luminous insects that glow at night 
 
SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 397 
 
 like lighthouses at sea, and blossoms of a size and shape 
 that have to be seen to be believed in by the average per- 
 son brought up in northern Europe. 
 
 It is only the possessor of rather a special tempera- 
 ment who can take up with success the calling of a natur- 
 alist in a tropical country. There are certain qualities 
 essential to the life, and he who does not possess them 
 might as well dig his grave as soon as he enters the forest 
 and so save himself further trouble ; because he will want 
 it soon enough. 
 
 Without a doubt the first of these qualities is enthusi- 
 asm. Perhaps one might say that it is the last as well; 
 because that particular virtue seems to cover all the rest. 
 Decidedly enthusiasm here includes fearlessness, unceas- 
 ing optimism, limitless patience, the keen power of ob- 
 servation, and that wondering love of creatures and 
 things which is characteristic of all children, and which so 
 often atrophies and dies when childhood itself is fading 
 into a mere memory. 
 
 In no one have these various qualities been more marked 
 than in Charles Waterton, the first notable British natur- 
 alist to tread the tropical forests of South America. But 
 in addition to these ordinary and essential qualities of 
 the naturalist, Waterton possessed many more. He was 
 in the first place an all-round sportsman ; he possessed a 
 keen sense of humor, a wide knowledge of the classics, 
 and a peculiarly genial temperament. Had not the term 
 been so abused, one would have rejoiced to call Charles 
 Waterton ''a fine old English gentleman," as indeed he 
 was. 
 
 Waterton 's wanderings were entirely unconnected with 
 any pecuniary benefit to himself. The squire of his 
 neighborhood and the owner of that fine place, Walton 
 Hall in Yorkshire, he could have lived a luxurious life 
 had he wished. But though Waterton rode hard to 
 hounds and played very thoroughly the part of a country 
 gentleman, he utterly despised a life of ease. His sleep- 
 
398 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 ing room at Walton Hall possessed no carpet, not even a 
 bed ! When the Squire of Walton felt inclined to sleep — 
 which he usually did in summer as soon as it was dark, 
 rising again at three o 'clock in the morning — he wrapped 
 a blanket round him, lay down on the bare boards, and 
 placed his head on the block of oak which always served 
 him for a pillow. 
 
 This habit will give some idea of the peculiarity 
 of Waterton's temperament. His sympathy with the 
 bright hues of nature was such that on no occasion what- 
 ever — even when convention most strongly demanded it 
 — was he prevailed on to wear so somber a thing as a 
 black coat. From his boyhood he had proved himself de- 
 voted to the study of wild creatures of all kinds, but es- 
 pecially to that of birds, and, later, he undertook many 
 experiments in the way of protection and refuges for 
 these creatures. One of these was the nailing of dummy 
 wooden pheasants to the trees of his preserves, having 
 persuaded the live and genuine birds to roost nearer 
 home. So when of a night on these occasions he would 
 hear the distant shots of the poachers, he would chuckle 
 to himself, knowing well enough that the marauders were 
 getting more and more dumbfounded at the sight of those 
 dimly seen sitting pheasants which obstinately refused to 
 drop from their branches, even when pumped full of lead ! 
 
 But it was in South America that Waterton was able 
 to give his nature-loving propensities the fullest play. 
 The Guiana forest was his favorite hunting ground, and 
 there he roamed, perfectly at home with all the creatures, 
 beloved by the Indians, and very much respected by the 
 Portuguese when he happened to cross the border into 
 Brazil, the fact of his being a Eoman Catholic no doubt 
 assisting him in this latter intercourse. 
 
 His roamings took him over much of that very country 
 that had so enchanted Ealeigh more than two centuries 
 previously, and of which the Elizabethan had said: 
 * ' There is no country which yieldeth more pleasure to the 
 
SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 399 
 
 inhabitants, either for those common delights of hunting, 
 hawking, fishing, fowling, or the rest, than Guiana doth. 
 It hath so many plaines, cleere rivers, abundance of Phes- 
 ants, Partriges, Quailes, Eailes, Cranes, Herons, and all 
 other f owle : Deere of all sorts, Porkes, Hares, Lions, Ty- 
 gers. Leopards, and divers other sortes of beastes." 
 
 But there was a wide diiference between the fortunes 
 of the two travelers. Ealeigh sought gold, and found 
 disillusion and death, while Waterton strolled to and fro 
 in placid content — notwithstanding the mosquitos ! — seek- 
 ing nothing beyond the acquaintance of the forest crea- 
 tures. 
 
 It is an extraordinary thing to one who knows the na- 
 ture of these forests that Waterton should have been able 
 to accustom himself to walk them barefooted. He never 
 wore foot-covering, although the absence of this once 
 caused him to be so severely staked as to be laid up for 
 some weeks. 
 
 But an accident of this kind never seemed of any real 
 consequence to Waterton. In his enthusiasm to dive deep 
 into the arms of his mother nature he seemed actually to 
 succeed in making it a matter of indifference to himself 
 whether he sustained any bodily hurt or not ! 
 
 An eloquent instance of this is to be met with in his in- 
 vestigation of the habits of the vampire bat. Now this 
 vampire bat is a most unpleasant creature, many times 
 bigger than any bat we know in England. Its most nota- 
 ble predilection is to bore a small hole in the skin of sleep- 
 ing animals or men, and through this to suck up as much 
 blood as it can conveniently hold. 
 
 The process, to say the least of it, is unpopular among 
 human beings. For some reason or other, best known 
 to the vampire bats, but probably owing to the natural- 
 ist's habit of bleeding himself, Waterton had never been 
 submitted to it. This appeared to him as something in 
 the nature of an oversight, and in any case as a slur upon 
 his enthusiasm as a naturalist. As it happens, the big toe 
 
400 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 is the favorite source in human beings from which this 
 demoniacal visitor is wont to draw its sanguinary meal, 
 and in a vampire-bat-haunted neighborhood these mem- 
 bers are seldom willingly exposed. But night after night 
 Waterton would hang out his big toe — invitingly uncov- 
 ered — ^in order that the bats might relieve him of a pound 
 or so of his blood. They never did. So Waterton had to 
 go without his experience. He lamented the fact with a 
 good deal of feeling, and ever afterwards bore these vam- 
 pire bats a grudge for the poor compliment they had paid 
 him! 
 
 There is no doubt that Waterton 's enthusiasm was of a 
 type which frequently proved most embarrassing to any 
 assistant less devoted to the science than himself — and 
 there surely could have been no assistant who was any- 
 thing else. Such incidents as those attending the capture 
 of a great Coulacanara snake — a creature of lesser length 
 than the boa-constrictor, but of even greater girth, and 
 enormously powerful — must have remained engraved for 
 a very long time afterwards in the minds of the two Ne- 
 groes who took part in it. 
 
 The great snake was discovered fast asleep, and Wat- 
 erton determined to attempt to pin it behind the neck 
 with a lance, and so to capture it alive. The Negroes 
 were terrified at the idea, but Waterton, having been for 
 years searching for a specimen of this snake, was not to 
 be turned from his purpose. In his own words : 
 
 * ' I could now read in the face of the Negroes that they 
 considered this a very unpleasant affair ; and they made 
 another attempt to persuade me to let them go for a gun. 
 I smiled in a good-natured manner, and made a feint to 
 cut them down with the weapon I had in my hand. This 
 was all the answer I made to their request, and they 
 looked very uneasy.** 
 
 One can hardly blame them for that ! It was clear to 
 them that the condition of any mere human skin was about 
 to be a matter of supreme indifference to Waterton, pro- 
 
SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 401 
 
 vided that the snakes were secured uninjured ! But even 
 Waterton admits that his own heart was beating quicker 
 than usual, and that he felt the sensations of a passenger 
 on a merchant vessel when, on the approach of a strange 
 vessel under suspicious colors, the captain orders all 
 hands on deck to prepare for action. 
 
 However, Waterton struck accurately. The giant 
 snake was pinned by the neck, and the next second the 
 three daring assailants were being flung to and fro as 
 they clung desperately to its coils. In the end victory 
 lay with the human beings, and, its wicked mouth strapped 
 about with the naturalist's braces, it was taken to a hut 
 nearby. There, as it was too late for it to be killed and 
 dissected that day, the great creature spent the night in a 
 sack within a yard or two of Waterton 's hammock! '*I 
 cannot say that he allowed me a good night," complains 
 the Squire of Walton; ''he was very restless and fret- 
 ful." 
 
 The temptation to quote Waterton is almost irresisti- 
 ble. Here is his account of his meeting with a smaller 
 snake of the same species a week after he had secured the 
 giant, and at the same spot : 
 
 "I observed a young Coulacanara, ten feet long, slowly 
 moving onwards ; I saw he was not thick enough to break 
 my arm in case he got twisted round it. There was not a 
 moment to be lost. I laid hold of his tail with the left 
 hand, one knee being on the ground ; with the right I took 
 my hat, and held it as you would hold a shield for defense. 
 
 ' * The snake instantly turned, and came on at me, with 
 his head about a yard from the ground, as if to ask me, 
 what business I had to take liberties with his tail. I let 
 him come, hissing and open-mouthed, within two feet of 
 my face, and then, with all the force I was master of, I 
 drove my fist, shielded by my hat, full in his jaws. He 
 was stunned and confused by the blow, and ere he could 
 recover himself, I had seized his throat with both hands, 
 in such a position that he could not bite me; I then al- 
 
402 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 lowed him to coil himself round my body, and marched 
 off with him as my lawful prize. He pressed me hard, 
 but not alarmingly so." 
 
 On his way back Waterton occupied himself — of a cer- 
 tainty in his own inimitably jocular fashion — in scolding 
 an old Negro who had fled in a panic at the terrifying 
 sight of a mingled man and snake approaching ! 
 
 His interludes between these strenuous occurrences 
 were devoted largely to what he himself would probably 
 have termed lighter recreation. Thus half an hour after 
 the capture of this lesser Coulacanara he would in all 
 probability have been strolling along one of the less en- 
 cumbered forest paths, spouting Ovid or Livy to the won- 
 dering parrots. For the Squire of Walton took his fa- 
 vorite authors with him everywhere, and lived with them 
 in the depths of the forest, thus himself giving out a curi- 
 ous atmosphere of ancient Rome to his world of endless 
 leafage, where the monkeys chattered and unintentionally 
 mocked his words. 
 
 Of his daring encounters, the most famous is that with 
 the alligator, but since very little has been heard of Wat- 
 erton 's feats of late I will take upon myself to repeat it 
 here. An alligator had been caught by the Indians on a 
 baited hook. The Indians proposed to make an end of 
 the monster by sending a flight of arrows into it, but Wat- 
 erton was determined to bring it ashore alive so that its 
 hide might not be injured. 
 
 The Indians were terrified at the idea of so rash an un- 
 dertaking, but as usual Waterton had his way. He ex- 
 plained that no one but himself need come into contact 
 with the saurian. This explanation dispelled the reluc- 
 tance on the part of his assistants, whose faces showed un- 
 mistakable relief. 
 
 *'I then," relates Waterton, ''mustered all hands for 
 the last time before the battle. We were, four South 
 American savages, two Negroes from Africa, a Creole 
 from Trinidad, and myself a white man from Yorkshire. 
 
SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 403 
 
 In fact, a little tower of Babel group, in dress, no dress, 
 address, and language. ' ' 
 
 Then Waterton, having finally exhorted his motley 
 army, went down to the water's edge to be the first to 
 welcome the alligator on land. The quaint group of his 
 assistants began to pull on the rope, and presently the 
 great jaws of the creature made their appearance. Wat- 
 erton himself confesses that he saw enough not to fall in 
 love at first sight. But he urged his assistants to keep 
 on pulling, while he himself waited to see if the beast 
 would make for him. 
 
 The alligator was too alarmed to attempt anything of 
 the kind. So Waterton, moved to one of his wildest 
 freaks, decided that he would become the aggressor. He 
 made a run at the alligator, leaped into the air, and 
 alighted on the animal's back. Then, before the alligator 
 had time to resent it, he seized its forelegs, and twisted 
 them over its back. After that, seated astride the crea- 
 ture, and hanging on to its forelegs as a bridle, he awaited 
 developments. 
 
 They were not long in occurring. The alligator 
 plunged and heaved in all directions, lashing furiously 
 with its powerful tail. Waterton observes that it must 
 have been a fine sight for an unoccupied spectator. This 
 was evidently the opinion of the four Indians, the two 
 Negroes, and the Creole, for they cheered and applauded 
 so frenziedly that they forgot all about hauling on to the 
 rope, and for a moment or two there seemed an uncom- 
 fortable possibility of Waterton and the alligator disap- 
 pearing backwards into the water in company. 
 
 But in the end the alligator was drawn up safely, Wat- 
 erton still keeping his seat on his strange buck-jumper 
 with a success that none but a really good horseman could 
 have hoped for. * ' It was the first and last time, ' ' he says, 
 *'I was ever on a cayman's back. Should it be asked how 
 I managed to keep my seat, I would answer — I hunted 
 some years with Lord Darlington's foxhounds." 
 
404* BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Is it to be wondered at that a man like this had a hold 
 over those Indians, Negroes, and Creoles such as very- 
 few men of whatever complexion have possessed before 
 or since? Mingled with the love and amusement with 
 which the most free-hearted and free-handed of men in- 
 spired them, was an almost superstitious sense of rever- 
 ence for the being who knew no fear, and whose next 
 action was no more to be foretold than was the track of 
 one of their own forest jaguars. 
 
 To have seen this singular man curing himself, strictly- 
 after his own fashion, of malarial fever must have been 
 alarming enough in itself. He had an implicit faith in 
 the lancet, followed by doses of calomel and jalap. He 
 seemed to think nothing of draining himself of sixteen 
 ounces of blood at a time, and continued this latter treat- 
 ment even when attacked by what was apparently yellow 
 fever ! 
 
 It must have been a remarkable sight, too, that of Wat- 
 erton walking, barefoot, the tremendous forests of Gui- 
 ana, completely at his ease, absorbed in the loves, the 
 habits, the catastrophes of the creatures, and in fact, in 
 every feather, hair, and habit of the birds and beasts. It 
 must be admitted that the accidents with which he met 
 were innumerable, being only rivaled by the number of 
 his recoveries! Nevertheless the time came when these 
 latter fell one behind, and when Charles Waterton, after 
 a severe fall, died as pluckily as he had lived. 
 
 But it was not in his beloved Guiana forests that the 
 tragedy occurred. It was in his own park at Walton 
 Hall that he met his end many years after he had ceased 
 to wander in the tropics. For it was at the ripe age of 
 eighty-three that Waterton 's life was ended — and that 
 by an accident ! 
 
 The next naturalist to visit South America was one 
 of the most famous scientists that England has ever pro- 
 duced. The general experiences of Charles Darwin — 
 who sailed from Devonport on the 27th of December, 
 
SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 405 
 
 1831, in the ten-gun brig Beagle, commanded by Captain 
 Fitzroy — were infinitely more varied than those of 
 Charles Waterton. 
 
 It was Darwin's lot to be brought into contact with 
 cities and men as well as with nature. With the rest of 
 the Beagle's company he circumnavigated the southern 
 half of the continent — varying his voyage by long cruises 
 on horseback ashore — from the Brazilian port of Bahia 
 to Iquique in Peru. 
 
 He saw the Gauchos at work among the cattle in the 
 Pampas ; he rode for many hundreds of miles along the 
 plains, which were infested by the fierce, marauding, 
 mounted Indians of the South; he had some rough-and- 
 ready encounters with the uncouth savages of Tierra del 
 Fuego. He traveled by boat along the Parana and Uru- 
 guay rivers ; when inclined toward geology he proceeded 
 to the heart of the Andes, and subsequently made his ob- 
 servations on the coastal desert of Peru. In the course 
 of his wanderings, too, he visited the towns of Bahia, Rio 
 de Janeiro, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Valparaiso, San- 
 tiago, and Lima. He had the advantage, moreover, of 
 speaking with many South American notabilities, includ- 
 ing the famous General Rosas, who afterwards became 
 the despot of Argentina. 
 
 From a purely practical point of view, therefore, Dar- 
 win's South American education was far more liberal 
 than Waterton 's. On the other hand, where Darwin flit- 
 ted from one point to another as a bird of passage, Wat- 
 erton tramped his beloved forests as part and parcel of 
 their familiar soil. Waterton was purely sylvan where 
 Darwin was cosmopolitan. 
 
 Nevertheless Darwin did obtain just one or two pass- 
 ing glimpses of the Brazilian forests in the neighborhood 
 of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro. He must have fully appre- 
 ciated their luxuriant charm, for he himself says that 
 such days bring to a lover of natural history a deeper 
 pleasure than he can ever hope to experience again. 
 
406 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Walks in England, lie continues, in amazement, are en- 
 joyable because of their variety of attractions, ''but in 
 these fertile climates, teeming with life, the attractions 
 are so numerous that he is scarcely able to walk at all." 
 
 But these forest excursions, doubtless to his regret, 
 were only rapid interludes in Darwin's mission. His 
 most important work in the continent was achieved in 
 the comparatively bleak South. But before he arrived in 
 the lower latitudes he had already experienced one or 
 two minor adventures. For instance, when learning to 
 throw the "bolas" — the heavy stone balls fastened to 
 the ends of hide-rope which, when accurately thrown, 
 wind themselves round an ostrich, an ox, or any other 
 prey of the Gaucho — Darwin continued to entangle his 
 own horse's legs, to the uproarious amusement of the 
 Gauchos. A little later he and an expert guide spent an 
 anxious hour, dodging two figures whom the Gaucho sus- 
 pected to be the advance guard of a hostile Indian force, 
 but who afterwards turned out to be two local ladies 
 hunting for ostrich eggs ! 
 
 It is, after all, such lighter episodes as this that serve 
 to illuminate travels such as Darwin's, which abounded in 
 the most strenuous scientific research. Some of the chief 
 results were obtained in the giant fossilized remains 
 which the naturalist was so successful in lighting on. He 
 had found such objects as the fossilized teeth of the mas- 
 todon, toxodon, and prehistoric horse on the banks of the 
 Parana Eiver, as well as the fossilized armor of the ex- 
 tinct giant armadillo. But these results were trivial com- 
 pared with those obtained in the neighborhood of Bahia 
 Blanca, which he describes as a perfect catacomb for 
 monsters of extinct races. At Port San Julian, too, he 
 was successful in discovering further remains of the 
 greatest interest. 
 
 When the Beagle penetrated as far south as Tierra del 
 Fuego, there can be no doubt that Darwin's study of the 
 very primitive native races of those inclement shores as- 
 
SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 407 
 
 sisted in the maturing of his theories on the evolution 
 of man. 
 
 As a matter of fact, the Beagle had some rather special 
 intercourse with these natives on this occasion. During 
 the former voyage of the Beagle, which lasted from 1826 
 to 1830, Captain Fitzroy had been forced by the natives* 
 behavior to take a couple of their number as hostages. 
 He was now bringing them back in the Beagle in order 
 to repatriate them. 
 
 This was effected after a certain number of complica- 
 tions. The returning Indians, having learned a kind of 
 Pidgin-English in the interval, had forgotten their own 
 language! This sounds incredible, but was certainly a 
 fact, and is to be accounted for by the exceedingly low 
 brain power of these particular savages. When they 
 first came into contact again with their naked, greasy, and 
 tattooed relatives, there was a lack of enthusiasm on both 
 sides. This is Darwin's description of their meeting: 
 
 ''The next morning after our arrival (the 24th) the 
 Fuegians began to pour in, and Jemmy's mother and 
 brothers arrived. Jemmy recognized the stentorian 
 voice of one of his brothers at a prodigious distance. The 
 meeting was less interesting than that between a horse, 
 turned out into a field, when he joins an old companion. 
 There was no demonstration of affection; they simply 
 stared for a short time at each other; and the mother 
 immediately went to look after her canoe." 
 
 An attempt was made by the Beagle to leave a mission- 
 ary of the name of Matthews among the Fuegians. Dar- 
 win describes Matthews as a man of quiet fortitude : but 
 the experiment did not prove a success. The Beagle re- 
 turned to the spot where they had left him just in time to 
 save his life. Night and day the natives had endeavored 
 to tire him out, so that he might become off his guard, 
 when he would have met with his end. 
 
 The Beagle took Matthews on board again, and the 
 ship's company parted with some reluctance from their 
 
408 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 own Fuegians, whom they left learning little by little to 
 become savages again. After this Darwin cruised up the 
 Pacific coast, landing at many places, and riding from 
 point to point — notably crossing the Andes from Chile to 
 Argentina, and returning — ^until the Beagle arrived at 
 the Galapago Islands, whence she sailed for Tahiti and 
 New Zealand. 
 
 The country which was chosen by Bates and Wallace, 
 the next two of the especially notable naturalists, lies be- 
 tween Waterton's field in the North and Darwin's varied 
 excursions in the South. Bates and Wallace chose the 
 system of the great Amazon itself, the land where water 
 and forest run side by side and intermingle, and where — 
 as I have had occasion to say before — the landscape is 
 painted in three unalterable colors, yellow, green, and 
 blue — the yellow of the streams, the green of the forest, 
 and the blue of the sky. The Amazon Valley is one of 
 the few places left on earth which still retain their mys- 
 tery, and even to this day the secrets held by many thou- 
 sands of square miles of the densest vegetation on earth 
 have still to be revealed. 
 
 Henry Bates and A. R. Wallace arrived together in a 
 small trading vessel at the mouth of the Amazon in May, 
 1848. So far as Mr. Bates was concerned, this was the 
 prelude to ten years of practically uninterrupted wan- 
 derings along the innumerable streams of the Amazon 
 and through the jungle that covers its banks. The ex- 
 tent of the work achieved by Bates may be judged from 
 the fact that in one place alone he discovered no less than 
 seven thousand species of insects ! 
 
 As a forest naturalist Bates' enthusiasm rivaled Wat- 
 erton's, and it seemed to him at times that he was in an 
 enchanted country that held more and more surprises for 
 a lover of nature the deeper he penetrated into its matted 
 glades. Sometimes the wonders he was apt to encounter 
 were of the kind which many people might consider of the 
 nightmare order. For instance, he himself relates in 
 
SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 409 
 
 connection with the gigantic migale spider of the forest : 
 * ' One day I saw the children belonging to an Indian fam- 
 ily, who collected for me, with one of these monsters 
 secured by a cord round its waist, by which they were 
 leading it about the house as they would a dog. ' ' 
 
 Now of course this is the sort of story that the ordi- 
 nary cautious person would not tell to every one ! It is 
 the kind of episode for which you should choose your 
 audience with extreme care, and even then you should un- 
 cork its tale very gently ! This would apply, of course, to 
 an ordinary man, addressing an audience unacquainted 
 with the Amazon forests. Bates was not an ordinary 
 man, and his mere word, like that of his brother South 
 American naturalists, sufficed for the accuracy of any 
 statement he made. As to an audience acquainted with 
 the Amazon jungle : they would admit that it was a large 
 spider, and there the matter would end ! 
 
 Indeed, Bates, like every one else who has entered the 
 vast country of the Amazon, was destined to find out that 
 it contained a certain number of imaginary perils, but 
 many more real dangers. The most appalling of the for- 
 mer was undoubtedly the roar of the howling monkey, a 
 small and quite harmless creature with a peculiarly 
 formed larynx, which enables it to give out a most un- 
 earthly bellowing quite as full-toned and terrifying as the 
 roar of a lion. 
 
 Even the enthusiastic Bates admitted that this terrible 
 noise made it difficult to retain a buoyancy of spirit. I 
 can do no better than employ some of his own words in 
 describing some of these noises of the tropical forest : 
 
 ' * Sometimes, in the midst of the stillness, a sudden yell 
 or scream will startle one; this comes from some de- 
 fenseless fruit-eating animal, which is pounced upon by a 
 tiger-cat or stealthy boa-constrictor . . . often, even in 
 the still hours of midday, a sudden crash will be heard 
 resounding afar through the wilderness, as some great 
 bough or entire tree falls to the ground. There are, be- 
 
410 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 sides, many sounds whicli it is impossible to account for. 
 I found the natives generally as much at a loss in this re- 
 spect as myself. Sometimes a sound is heard like the 
 clang of an iron bar against a hard, hollow tree, or a 
 piercing cry rends the air ; these are not repeated, and the 
 succeeding silence tends to heighten the unpleasant im- 
 pression which they make on the mind.*' 
 
 None of these things would tend to soothe the spirits 
 of a person wandering about in the midst of a perfectly 
 safe country — and by no stretch of imagination could the 
 Amazon jungle be termed that. The dangers and dis- 
 comforts with which Bates was surrounded were quite 
 sufficient in themselves without having any imaginary 
 perils added. There were the storms which worked up 
 with lightning rapidity on the wide stretches of the great 
 river, raising waves that over and over again all but 
 wrecked the boat on which he was traveling. There were 
 drunken and lazy canoe Indians, much given to deserting 
 before they had worked out their pay. Ashore, the ja- 
 guar, the boa-constrictor, and a dozen other most impor- 
 tant enemies of man were ready to resent in the most un- 
 pleasant fashion any unintentional disturbance of their 
 forest rights. Most of the Indians were friendly, it is 
 true, but not all, and in some districts it was never certain 
 that a horde of painted and feathered savages would not 
 rush in to the attack at any moment. There were whites, 
 too, *'bad men," who were notoriously handy with their 
 bullets; there was the lack of wholesome food; there 
 was the ordinary malaria, and, above all, there was the 
 dreaded yellow fever. 
 
 Bates did not escape this most terrible disease. Fail- 
 ing medical assistance, he was his own doctor, and con- 
 tinued to treat himself even when the attack was at its 
 height, and it was to his own efforts that he owed his re- 
 covery. 
 
 But no danger or hardship could deter Bates. Year 
 after year he went on, fighting the heat, the insects, and 
 
SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 411 
 
 all the other enemies of mankind, spending day after day 
 in the study of a single species of ant, bird, or beast, and 
 adding to his invaluable collections all the time. 
 
 No European, however, can afford to despise the cli- 
 mate of the Amazons for many years on end. Bates's 
 health was undermined, and undoubtedly none but a man 
 of his inflexible courage could have continued his work in 
 the forests for as long as he did. In the end a serious 
 attack of ague left him with shattered health, and settled 
 his business for good and all. 
 
 Even then it was only with the greatest reluctance that 
 Bates — after various desperate attempts to renew his ex- 
 cursions into the jungle had resulted in nothing beyond 
 further shivering fits — packed up his collections, and 
 prepared to sail for England, the only course by which 
 his life might be saved. 
 
 Once on board the sailing vessel, it was with the keen- 
 est regret that he watched the thick yellow of the Amazon 
 waters fade into the clear blue of the open ocean. He 
 had become a child of the Amazon by temperament. It 
 was his constitution that had failed him, as must that 
 of every European in such surroundings. He himself, 
 admitting his gloomy reflections at that moment, 
 says: 
 
 "A crowd of unusual thoughts occupied my mind. 
 Recollections of English climate, scenery, and modes of 
 life came to me with a vividness I had never before ex- 
 perienced during the eleven years of my absence. Pic- 
 tures of startling clearness rose up of the gloomy win- 
 ters, the long gray twilights, murky atmosphere, elon- 
 gated shadows, chilly springs, and sloppy summers; of 
 factory chimneys and crowds of grimy operatives, rung 
 to work in early morning by factory bells ; of union work- 
 houses, confined rooms, artificial cares, and slavish con- 
 ventionalities. To live again amidst these dull scenes I 
 was quitting a country of perpetual summer, where my 
 life had been spent like that of three-fourths of the people 
 
412 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 in gipsy fashion, on the endless streams, or in the bound- 
 less forests." 
 
 At the moment of parting, as was natural enough, 
 Bates seems completely to have forgotten that there was 
 a very dark side to the tropical existence, and a very 
 bright one to English life. But after a time this became 
 clear to him, for he writes : 
 
 ' * It was natural to feel a little dismayed at the prospect 
 of so great a change; but now, after three years' renewed 
 experience of England, I find how incomparably superior 
 is civilized life, where feelings, tastes, and intellect, find 
 abundant nourishment, to the spiritual sterility of half- 
 savage existence, even though it be passed in the Garden 
 of Eden." 
 
 The experiences of Mr. A. E. Wallace, who sailed out 
 to the Amazon in the same vessel as Bates, were naturally 
 of a similar nature. Wallace, however, undertook an 
 even greater number of canoe journeys, and his adven- 
 tures here were even more diversified than those of Bates. 
 He passed many months in canoes which proved them- 
 selves rotten and leaky, and sometimes in a strong wind 
 squall it was a question of minutes as to whether the wind 
 would die down or the frail vessel go to pieces. On one 
 occasion in the midst of a stormy and pitch-dark night, 
 Wallace's boat was laboring so much that all hope was 
 abandoned. All at once, just as those on board were ex- 
 pecting to find themselves in the waves, their craft be- 
 came perfectly still. As the gale was still howling as 
 loudly as ever, the thing seemed perfectly inexplicable, 
 until the morning showed them that their cranky little 
 ship had, most fortunately for its occupants, run into one 
 of those enormous beds of floating grass which are fairly 
 common on the Amazon, and which had sheltered the 
 canoe from an otherwise certain destruction. All this is 
 to say nothing of the cataracts ; for it was now and then 
 Wallace's lot to have to undertake the passage of no 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS 
 
SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 413 
 
 fewer than ten distinct dangerous rapids in the course of 
 a single day! 
 
 His Indian assistants, moreover, were no more satis- 
 factory than those of Bates. Sometimes the local au- 
 thorities pressed them very unceremoniously into the 
 service, and once one of Wallace's Indians insisted on 
 leaving him in order to return and kill a Brazilian who 
 had ill-treated him! Another of the naturalist's assist- 
 ants was a youthful but refractory character who wore a 
 large chain round his body and leg as a punishment. This 
 was concealed beneath his trousers, but it clanked with a 
 sinister and disagreeable sound at every step he took. 
 
 Even the people of authority in those regions of that 
 day were by no means devoid of their own peculiarities. 
 There seemed no reason in the least, for instance, why 
 the commandant of a district should not be a murderer at 
 the same time, providing he were powerful enough to 
 maintain his authority. In many neighborhoods the most 
 ordinary forms of morality were nonexistent, which is 
 not surprising in view of the example set by a certain 
 number of the local priests. One of these — ^who had pre- 
 viously been a soldier — confided to Wallace that he had a 
 great respect for his cloth, and never did anything to 
 disgrace it — in the daytime! 
 
 Wallace, in spite of every discouragement, including a 
 frequent meagerness of rations, continued to drift about 
 the countless streams of the Amazon, landing from time 
 to time to make a fire and cook, and setting out along the 
 bank with collecting net and shot-gun. Sometimes in the 
 narrower streams the canoe became filled with ants, '*of 
 fifty different species," says Wallace, "each producing 
 its own peculiar effect, from a gentle tickle to an acute 
 sting. ' ' Then there were swarms of wasps, and of course 
 the insatiable and inevitable mosquito, and last, but not 
 least, the ferocious pium fly, from whose bites the blood 
 ran freely. 
 
414 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Wallace's journeyings brought him more into contact 
 with the forest Indian tribes than did those of the other 
 naturalists I have referred to. He would often put in 
 his appearance at one of the great maloccas, the tribal 
 huts where many families lived together in a species of 
 primitive socialistic existence. The appearance of many 
 of these people, painted gaily and adorned on festal oc- 
 casions with a wealth of most brilliant feathers, was 
 striking in the extreme, and Wallace has given many 
 excellent descriptions of their costume, dances, customs, 
 rude rock carvings, weapons, and of the manner in which 
 they contrived their curious blow-pipes. 
 
 As regards his interest in the wild creatures them- 
 selves of the forest, it will be seen from the following 
 that Wallace was a worthy comrade of the other three. 
 One day in the depths of the forest he met that most 
 fierce creature, a black jaguar, face to face. For a mo- 
 ment the two gazed fully at each other, then the jaguar 
 walked steadily on, and disappeared in the jungle. 
 
 "This encounter pleased me much," observes Wallace 
 quite calmly. ''I was too much surprised, and occupied 
 too much with admiration, to feel fear. I had at length 
 had a full view, in his native wilds, of the rarest variety 
 of the most powerful and dangerous animal inhabiting 
 the American continent." This was, of course, the view 
 of a confirmed naturalist. The majority of us surely 
 would have felt the fear first and would have reserved 
 the admiration for a later and more convenient occasion ! 
 
 The Amazon climate was less merciful to Wallace than 
 the jaguar. After many minor bouts of fever he found 
 himself completely laid up by a violent attack and by sub- 
 sequent fits of ague, while his Indians, joyously seizing 
 so bounteous an occasion, made themselves drunk with 
 the spirit which he had brought with him to preserve 
 his specimens. 
 
 Wallace's time had come, for a second hint of the kind 
 would have been the last. Packing up his collections, 
 
SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 415 
 
 he made his way toward the coast, while the visions of 
 glad English fare, and even of the intense luxury of sim- 
 ple bread and butter, now rose up before him with a 
 warmth and clearness that had been denied to Bates. 
 
 Wallace succeeded in boarding the homeward-bound 
 vessel in safety. But the ship caught fire, and was burned 
 at sea. After many days in boats, the crew and the pas- 
 sengers were saved. But Wallace had nothing but what 
 he stood up in. All his collections, the fruits of his labors 
 in the Amazon forests, were at the bottom of a tropical 
 sea! The blow was a severe one. ''Everything was 
 gone," he complained, ''and I had not one specimen to 
 illustrate the unknown lands I had trod, or to call back 
 the recollections of the wild scenes I had beheld. ' ' 
 
 But after this he seems to have 'settled himself down 
 to his writings, and to have made the best of it, as an 
 Amazon naturalist could scarcely fail to do. 
 
 The last member of this group of famous naturalists 
 is Eichard Spruce, who sailed from Liverpool to South 
 America in 1849. Spruce remained among the tropical 
 rivers, forests, and mountains until 1864, when, after a 
 sojourn of fifteen years among surroundings the enchant- 
 ment of which continued unabated, the climate obtained its 
 inevitable victory, and sent him home to England in shat- 
 tered health. 
 
 Compared with his colleagues of this chapter. Spruce 
 was a botanist rather than a zoologist. Nevertheless, 
 although he paid special attention to the marvelous vege- 
 tation of the Amazon and Orinoco basins, and the Vene- 
 zuelan and Ecuadorian highlands, he has a certain 
 amount to say concerning the habits of the local fauna, 
 and a good deal more concerning the anthropology of the 
 northern districts of the continent. 
 
 It is no doubt to be regretted that on his death in 1893 
 at the age of seventy-six he should have left behind him 
 no complete volume containing the records of his experi- 
 ences and life work. Nevertheless this deficiency has 
 
416 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 been made good by the veteran Mr. Wallace, who, with 
 all the sympathy of friendship and knowledge, has edited 
 Spruce's notes, letters, and numerous publications of 
 lesser bulk. 
 
 Richard Spruce was a Yorkshireman in whom the love 
 of botany had burned since his earliest years. He had 
 abandoned the scholastic profession for the career of a 
 botanist for almost half a dozen years before an oppor- 
 tunity came to him to transfer his researches to the great 
 South American field — an opportunity which no man of 
 his temperament could fail to embrace with enthusiasm. 
 
 Spruce, having landed at Para, soon found himself 
 amid the full wonders of the Amazon forest. Here is his 
 account of one of the earliest adventures which befell him 
 and a companion: 
 
 *'0n the second or third night of our sojourn at Caripi, 
 happening to awake a little after midnight, I saw King 
 lying with his head out of his hammock and nearly touch- 
 ing the ground, while close by his ear sate a sooty imp, 
 which from its size might be a big toad, like Eve's dream- 
 prompter ; but the lamp which burnt dimly in a corner of 
 the room gave too little light to allow me to see clearly 
 what it was. I leaped from my hammock, seized my 
 ter§ado, sprang across the room, and as I pinned the 
 monster to the ground, he opened wide his wings and 
 showed himself to be a young bat of the largest kind. I 
 had scarcely performed this feat when the two parent 
 bats sallied forth from the roof and attacked me; and 
 when I beat them off, they flew round and round the 
 room, attempting to strike me with their wings every 
 time they passed me, and I them with my terQado. By 
 this time King was wide awake, and seeing the odd com- 
 bat that was going on, but not knowing how it had or- 
 iginated, sat up in his hammock convulsed with laughter, 
 in which I heartily joined." 
 
 After various excursions Spruce set out from Para for 
 Santarem in an eighty-ton brig owned by a Captain His- 
 
SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 417 
 
 lop, an old settler on the Amazon, and a sufficiently no- 
 table character in his way. At Santarem he made the ac- 
 quaintance of Wallace, and it is almost unnecessary to 
 add that the friendship between the two kindred tem- 
 peraments was instantaneous. 
 
 It was in 1850 during Spruce's residence at Santarem, 
 that the blight of the yellow fever descended suddenly 
 upon the Amazon for the first time. On that occasion 
 Santarem escaped — although whether the precautions 
 adopted by the panic-stricken inhabitants of that town 
 brought about the immunity is more than doubtful. One 
 of these consisted of dragging field guns through the 
 streets and of firing them at short intervals in order, to 
 clear the atmosphere of the fatal germs ! 
 
 On the whole, Spruce's existence in tropical South 
 America was very similar to that of his predecessors 
 and colleagues. He suffered from the same perils of 
 tempests, river rapids, disease, and occasional famine. 
 In his relations with the Indians he underwent a greater 
 number of narrow escapes than any of the rest. 
 
 It is difficult to imagine a more depressing situation 
 than, fever-stricken, to be lying at death's door in the 
 charge of an old Indian hag, whose salutation would take 
 the form of such adjurations as: ''Die, you English 
 dog, that we may have a merry night with your dollars !" 
 Very little pleasanter can it be to lie in a hammock, 
 straining one's ear to catch the whispers of the Indian 
 attendants planning to murder the white man as soon as 
 he should have fallen asleep ! 
 
 On the one occasion, moreover, when Spruce obtained 
 the rarest of all apparent boons, the assistance of an Eng- 
 lishman in the lonely waters of the Upper Amazon basin, 
 his good luck turned out to be far less pronounced than 
 he had imagined. The man in question was a sailor who 
 had entered the country in company with a number of 
 other Englishmen and Americans who had been attracted 
 to the spot by a false report of gold on the Upper 
 
418 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Maranon. To all appearances a quiet and respectable 
 man, his true nature became evident all too soon after 
 Spruce had engaged him. The botanist discovered that 
 it was the newcomer's intention to murder him on the 
 first opportunity for the cash he carried, and, once put on 
 the alert, he found out to his dismay that this seemingly 
 honest sailorman had already been imprisoned in Peru 
 for murder. The man's violence, combined with a deaf- 
 ness w^hich caused him to imagine that all laughter on 
 the part of others was directed at his own person, made 
 him a continual danger to all the Portuguese and Indians 
 with whom he was brought into contact. Spruce was 
 glad to get rid of his truculent assistant at a consider- 
 able monetary sacrifice; but it was not without regret 
 that he heard subsequently that the sailor had met his 
 death at the hands of the Indians. 
 
 Compared with these adventures, it was a minor ex- 
 perience which befell the botanist when climbing the vol- 
 cano Pichincha, near Quito, and which he thus describes : 
 
 *'I had only lately emerged from the sickroom, and 
 got very much fatigued with the two hours of steep, 
 rugged climbing. At the highest point we reached, we 
 lay down to rest on the grass, and I had lain a few min- 
 utes with my eyes closed when I suddenly felt as it were 
 a flag waved over my face, and looking up saw an im- 
 mense condor sailing over us at only a few feet distance. 
 My companion sprang to his feet with a shriek, and 
 prepared to defend himself with his stai¥. 'He thinks 
 we are dead, ' said he, * and if we had lain a moment longer 
 we should have felt his beak and claws in our faces!* 
 The condor was immediately joined by two others of his 
 species, but being baulked of their prey, they rose in 
 slowly widening circles, and at length appeared only 
 specks on the bright heaven.'* 
 
 Occasionally a gleam of humor lightened Spruce's 
 travels, but not often. Undoubtedly one of the rare in- 
 stances of this was afforded by the trader who had been 
 
SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 419 
 
 commissioned by Dr. Natterer to procure him some 
 sarsaparilla seed, but, being, according to his own lights, 
 a patriotic person, he dreaded the consequences to his 
 country that would arise from its successful cultivation 
 in a foreign land. So, in order to prevent any danger of 
 the kind, he carefully boiled the seed before handing it 
 over to the unsuspecting Doctor Natterer ! 
 
 Spruce did not confine his wanderings to the Amazon 
 forests. His botanical excursions included Venezuela, 
 the Orinoco, and the Ecuadorian Andes, and frequently 
 caused him to pay fleeting visits to the centers of civiliza- 
 tion. The longevity of some of his countrymen whom 
 he met with in the lofty mountain towns of Ecuador 
 caused him no small amount of natural amazement. He 
 mentions a Doctor Jervis, nephew of the first Earl of 
 St. Vincent, who died at Cuenca at the age of a hundred 
 and fifteen, and at Quito he met with a Mr. Cope, who, al- 
 though he counted eighty-five years, trotted about as 
 nimbly as a young man. 
 
 Nevertheless the span of life of these very British 
 naturalists — fever-riddled as they were — ^would in itself 
 seem to shatter the ordinary theories concerning climate 
 and age. I have no note concerning Bates's death; but 
 all the others exceeded seventy years, and, indeed, the 
 average age of the four would be somewhere in the neigh- 
 borhood of seventy-five ! In the face of the quite excep- 
 tional perils undergone by all of climate, reptiles, rivers, 
 and fellow men, this is surely a most amazing record ! 
 
 Much, of course, has been accomplished since these five 
 splendid naturalists achieved their work. Among the 
 later men who have distinguished themselves in the same 
 field — though not necessarily in the same latitudes — is 
 that fine writer, W. H. Hudson. But to attempt to refer 
 to the deeds of the later British naturalists would be to 
 require a larger volume than this. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 
 
 Scope of the chapter — Periods of the literature dealing with South Amer- 
 ice — Nature of the first works dealing with the continent — DiflScultiea 
 of the early chroniclers in the face of the Spanish policy — Hakluyt 
 and Purchas — Some salient passages from Hakluyt — Writings of Sir 
 Walter Raleigh — Sir Richard Hawkins — Esquemeling — John Ogilby — 
 Bucaneer authors — Sir John Narbrough — Raleigh and Mandeville — 
 Eighteenth-century popular geography — Gordon's work — A paragraph 
 from Guthrie — Methods of the early illustrators — Charles Brockwell 
 — The voyage and adventures of Captain Robert Boyle — Anson's voy- 
 age — Other sea-records of the period — Dr. Samuel Johnson on the 
 Falkland Islands — Thomas Falkner's description of Patagonia — 
 Robertson's history of South America — How "The Present State of 
 Peru" was published — Volumes dealing with mission work and ship- 
 wreck — Adventures of John Davie — Literature following the British 
 expedition to the river Plate — Molina's work translated into English 
 by Washington Irving — The various types of nineteenth-century Brit- 
 ish writers on South America — The first travel books proper — Some 
 examples — Captain Head's work — Curious preface to an anonymous 
 book — Various volumes of the 1820's — J. P. and W. P. Robertson's 
 books — Early nineteenth-century works on Brazil and its new court 
 — Robert Southey's history of Brazil — Henderson's history — Works by 
 Mrs. Graham, John Luccock, G. F. Mathison, and the Rev. R. Walsh 
 — Literature on the Pacific coast — Aquatints — Books on the Northern 
 republics — Some impressions of Bolivar — Captain Cochrane's journal 
 — Waterton and Darwin — Some records of salt and fresh water voy- 
 ages — Armitage's history of Brazil — Travel books — Sir W^oodbine 
 Parish and Captain Allen F. Gardiner — Two curious publications — 
 Volumes on the river Plate — Prescott's "History of the Conquest of 
 Peru" — Various publications of the 1840's — Works of Sir Arthur 
 Helps and Sir William Gore Ousely — Publications by the Naturalists, 
 Wallace, Bates, and Spruce — Further travel books — Hinchliff''s work — 
 C. B. Mansfield — A notable personality — The charm of his relation 
 of his South American experiences — Various extracts — His journey 
 to Paraguay — Some United States publications — The work of Gilliss 
 and Ewbank — Kidder and Fletcher on Brazil — The cruise of the 
 Waterwitch — Admiral Cochrane's memoirs — Volumes by BoUaert, 
 Hutchinson, and Latham — Some extracts from the last — Miscellaneous 
 volumes — Books dealing with the Paraguayan war — Sir Richard Bur- 
 
 420 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 421 
 
 ton — Indian adventure — Translation of a notable book — A long vaca- 
 tion in the Argentine Alps — Modern writers whose fame is not con- 
 fined to South America — Lord Bryce, R. B. Cunninghame Graham, 
 W. H. Hudson, Sir Martin Conway — Sir Clements Markham — Books 
 on British Guiana and the Falkland Islands. 
 
 THE length to which this chapter has attained de- 
 mands some explanation. Let its chief cause be 
 put at the fact that while the scope of the topic 
 of the British writers on South America is a large one, 
 the scope of their writings must of necessity be consid- 
 derably wider! And, in considering the authors, it is 
 impossible to separate them from their work. 
 
 I have tried to avoid the lengths to which an excur- 
 sion into this latter tempts the student. Nevertheless, 
 since so much of the subject matter of these books is 
 directly concerned with the thread of this story, it would 
 have seemed a waste of opportunity not to extract here 
 and there some of the more salient features from the 
 pages. In doing this, some authors must, of course, be 
 led forward somewhat at the expense of others, whose 
 work may be considered of equal merit. But even the 
 possibility of such injustice as this is surely preferable 
 to the tedious alternative of quoting the similar views 
 or experiences of two authorities on the same subject. 
 
 Occasionally I have quoted at some length — ^more espe- 
 cially in the case of Mansfield — ^but this is only where it 
 has seemed to me that the literary style of the writer, 
 added to the value of the experiences, justified such 
 wholesale gleanings. 
 
 It must be explained that — ^up to the year 1870 — the 
 books referred to here are in no way supposed to con- 
 stitute a comprehensive list. But for the ordinary 
 student of South American affairs they will, I hope, suf- 
 fice as an index for a practical and efficient course of 
 reading. 
 
 In an attempt of this kind the great number of books 
 which come crowding forward with legitimate demands 
 
422 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 for attention have made it impossible to include pam- 
 phlets or the numerous notable articles in the Koyal Geo- 
 graphical Society's magazine, and other publications of 
 the kind. Indeed, considerations of space have prevented 
 separate mention of many of the very large number of 
 valuable works dealing with South America published 
 by the Hakluyt Society. 
 
 On the other hand, seeing that in subjects of this kind 
 North American works appeal to much the same public 
 as do the British, it has seemed advisable to include 
 many of the most notable books by American authors pub- 
 lished in the United States. Here the remark concern- 
 ing the entire absence of any claim to a comprehensive 
 list applies with greater force. 
 
 The English literature dealing with South America 
 naturally resolves itself into periods which correspond 
 with the various historical phases of the southern con- 
 tinent. Thus the first works dealing with the Spanish 
 South American colonies were descriptive of the feats of 
 our Elizabethan sailors — that is to say when the soaring 
 imagination of the author did not carry him inland, to de- 
 pict fabulous people, customs, natural phenomena, and 
 such mythical spots as the city of Manoa, to which refer- 
 ence has already been made. 
 
 With the rarest exceptions, even among Englishmen of 
 the Roman Catholic faith, the only English who caught 
 a glimpse of anything beyond the coast-line of early Span- 
 ish South America were prisoners. It was very seldom 
 that one of these unfortunate captives ever sailed his way 
 back over the broad ocean again. If he did, it might be 
 taken for granted that the scope of South American 
 vision permitted him had been very limited. 
 
 If the chroniclers who dealt with Spanish South Amer- 
 ica were betrayed into numerous errors, they had suffi- 
 cient excuse for their mistakes. Every bit of such in- 
 formation as they gleaned was only obtained in the face 
 of the active opposition of the Spaniards, whose policy 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 423 
 
 it was to prevent any knowledge of the continent from 
 reaching the foreigner. 
 
 In the present day, even when assisted by railways, 
 guide-books, and personally conducted excursions, the 
 verdict of a globe-trotter on a foreign country is not in- 
 frequently found to be at fault! What chance had the 
 early navigators, then, who, when approaching a port, 
 were welcomed by a roundshot instead of an hotel touf? 
 
 Naturally, this system of withholding information ap- 
 plied especially to maps and charts. The Spaniard took 
 care to cover up his tracks, on sea and shore, to the ut- 
 most extent that lay in his power. If a Spanish vessel 
 gathered some useful information by driving her nose 
 on to a hidden rock, the chart that marked the lurking 
 peril was held secret from foreign eyes — ^to the extent 
 of flinging it, weighted, overboard, should the ship that 
 carried it be threatened with capture by an English 
 vessel. At the same time, it must not be gathered from 
 all this that the Spanish official in South America was 
 necessarily as callous as this procedure would make him 
 out. He was merely the instrument of a considered and 
 callous policy. He himself had nothing to gain if a for- 
 eign vessel foundered on that rock, concealed by nature 
 and the Spaniard; it was his Government alone that 
 supposed it gained some advantage from the disaster. 
 
 Be that how it may, it is from the navigators alone 
 that the first records of Spanish South America are ob- 
 tainable, and they are to be looked for in such famous 
 collections of voyages as those of Hakluyt and Purchas. 
 Previous to these, no writers of any special importance 
 would seem to have concerned themselves with the do- 
 ings of their fellow-countrymen in South America. 
 Nevertheless Hakluyt has a reference to the effect that: 
 ''That learned and painefull writer Richard Eden in a 
 certain Epistle of his to the duke of Northumberland, 
 before a worke which he translated out of Munster in 
 the yeere 1553, called a Treatise of new India, maketh 
 
424 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 mention of a voyage of discoverie undertaken out of Eng- 
 land by Sir Thomas Pert and Sebastian Cabota, about 
 the 8. yere of King Henry the eight of famous memorie, 
 imputing the overthrow thereof unto the cowardice and 
 want of stomack of the said Sir Thomas Pert." 
 
 Of these two famous collectors, Hakluyt and Purchas, 
 there is no doubt that the work of Richard Hakluyt is in- 
 finitely the more valuable. One who has read through 
 the books of that splendid and staunch old clerical travel- 
 editor will have won for himself a priceless familiarity 
 with the rovings of the early English seamen, and conse- 
 quently with one of the most vital pages of English his- 
 tory. The collector of ''The Principal Navigations, Voy- 
 ages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation 
 ... at any Time within the Compasse of these 1600 
 yeares" was a loyal Englishman who rejoiced in the awak- 
 ening of his country's spirit, and who demanded in the 
 first of his dedications : 
 
 ''For, which the kings of this land before her Majesty, 
 had theyr banners ever seene in the Caspian sea? Which 
 of them hath ever dealt with the Emperor of Persia, as 
 her Majesty hath done, and obteined for her merchants 
 large and loving privileges? Who ever saw before this 
 regiment, an English Ligier in the stately porch of the 
 Grand Signor at Constantinople ? Who ever found Eng- 
 lish Consuls and Agents at Tripolis in Syria, at Aleppo, 
 at Babylon, at Balsara, and which is more, who ever heard 
 of Englishmen at Goa before now"? What English 
 shippes did heeretofore ever anker in the mighty river of 
 Plate? Passe and repasse the unpassable (in former 
 opinion) straight of Magellan, range along the coast of 
 Chili, Peru, and all the backside of Nova Hispania, fur- 
 ther than any Christian ever passed, travers the mighty 
 bredth of the South sea, land upon the Luzones in des- 
 pight of the enemy, enter into alliance, amity, and traf- 
 fike with the princes of the Moluccas, and the Isle of Java, 
 double the famous Cape of Bona Speranza, arrive at the 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 425 
 
 Isle of Santa Helena, and last of al returne home most 
 richly laden with the commodities of China, as the sub- 
 jects of this now flourishing Monarchy have done?" 
 
 Richard Hakluyt, moreover, gives out more of this 
 sterling enthusiasm, which is worth quoting here. Here 
 is his ringing suromary of South American affairs: 
 ''Then in processe of yeeres ariseth the first English 
 trade to Brasill, the first passing of some of our nation in 
 the ordinarie Spanish fleetes to the West Indies, and the 
 huge Citie of Mexico in Nova Hispania. Then immedi- 
 atlye ensue 3, voyages made by Mr. John Hawkins now 
 Knight, then Esquire, to Hispaniola, and the gulfe of 
 Mexico: upon which depende sixe verie excellent dis- 
 courses of our men, whereof some for 15. or 16. whole 
 yeeres inhabited in New Spaine, and ranged the whole 
 Countrie, wherein are disclosed the cheefest secretes of 
 the west India, which may in time turne to our no smal 
 advantage. The next leaves thou turnest, do yeelde thee 
 the first valiant enterprise of Sir Francis Drake upon 
 Nombre de Dios, the mules laden with treasure which he 
 surprised, and the house called the Cruzes, which his fire 
 consumed: and therewith is joyned an action more ven- 
 turous than happie of John Oxnam of Plimmouth written, 
 and confessed by a Spanyard, which with his companie 
 passed over the streight Istme of Darien, and building 
 certaine pinnesses on the west shoare, was the first Eng- 
 lishman that entered the South sea. ' ' 
 
 One more extract from these preliminaries to the great- 
 est work on travel extant will suffice. This shows Rich- 
 ard Hakluyt, parson though he was, in a mood of right- 
 eous defiance. For he is concerned here with the Queen's 
 enemies, and he is, first and foremost, a good English- 
 man. As such, these are his words : 
 
 ''Moreover, because since our warres with Spain, by 
 the taking of their ships, and sacking of their townes and 
 cities, most of all their secrets of the West Indies, and 
 every part thereof are fallen into our peoples hands 
 
426 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 (which in former time were for the most part unknowen 
 unto us,) I have used the uttermost of my best endeavour, 
 to get, and having gotten, to translate out of Spanish, and 
 here in this present volume to publish such secrets of 
 theirs, as may any way availe us or annoy them, if they 
 drive and urge us by their sullen insolencies, to continue 
 our courses of hostilities against them, and shall cease to 
 seeke a good and Christian peace upon indifferent and 
 equal conditions." 
 
 Who can deny that this is a revelation of an admirable 
 spirit in that man of astonishing industry, Richard Hak- 
 luyt. 
 
 Beyond these, there are, of course, such separate works 
 as that of Sir Walter Raleigh with its tragic associations, 
 published in 1596: ''The Discovery of the Large, Rich, 
 and Beautiful Empire of Guiana, with a Relation of the 
 Great and Golden City of Manoa .... performed in the 
 year 1595." Of special interest, too, is that rare book 
 which contains: *'The Observations of Sir Richard 
 Hawkins, Knight, in his Voyage into the South Sea, Anno 
 Domini 1593," published in 1622. And then, if you de- 
 sire to follow further the exploits of some British among 
 a host of cosmopolitan colleagues you may refer to Es- 
 quemeling's "Bucaniers of America," the valuable first 
 edition of the translation of which was printed in 1684-5 
 by ''William Crooke, at the Green Dragon without Tem- 
 ple Bar." In 1671 one of the first serious attempts at 
 the general history of South America was made by John 
 Ogilby, and the result is a handsome royal folio volume, 
 curiously illustrated, entitled "America." 
 
 The works of Dampier (1709), Ringrose, and the other 
 bucaneer authors have already been so fully dealt with 
 that it is unnecessary to refer to them again here. We 
 may jump forward, therefore, to the details of some more 
 legitimate cruising. 
 
 In 1711 was published the relation of Admiral Sir John 
 Narbrough's discoveries: "An account of several late 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 427 
 
 Voyages and Discoveries; Sir John Narbrongh's Voy- 
 age to the South Sea by the Command of King Charles 
 the Second, and his instructions for settling a Commerce 
 in those parts, with a Description of the Capes, Harbours, 
 Rivers, Customs of the Inhabitants and commodities in 
 which they trade, ' ' etc. 
 
 Even at this period the knowledge of the interior of the 
 continent was extraordinarily scanty. It is not neces- 
 sary to turn back the pages of history as far as Sir 
 John Mandeville to obtain some quaint description of 
 men, beasts, and things. Perhaps one of the few re- 
 proaches which can be held against the memory of that 
 most admirable and chivalrous person. Sir Walter Ral- 
 eigh, is that he allowed the glowing Guianas to set his 
 imagination on fire, thus providing a somewhat reckless 
 example in the drawing of the long bow on the Orinoco ! 
 Indeed, Raleigh's confident reports of the nation of the 
 Ewaipanoma — the nation that had their eyes in their 
 shoulders, their mouths in the middle of the breasts, and 
 a "long traine of haire" sprouting backwards from their 
 shoulders — prepares his readers for his confession of 
 faith in Mandeville: *' whose reports were holden for 
 fables many yeeres, and yet since the East Indies were 
 discovered, we find his relations true of such things as 
 heretofore were held incredible." 
 
 As late as the eighteenth century the ordinary geo- 
 graphical work published in England on South America 
 was notable quite as much for the curious quality of its 
 statements as for what it left unsaid! To take a single 
 example quite at haphazard out of the great number 
 available, '^ Gordon's Geographical Grammar," pub- 
 lished in 1702. Dedicated to the Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, it was an eminently respectable and weighty work, 
 this — '* Comprehending a general view of the terraque- 
 ous globe . . . with a transient survey of the surface 
 of the earthly ball . . . and a clear and pleasant pros- 
 pect of all remarkable countries. ..." 
 
428 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 But even Gordon found it a difficult matter to peer 
 through the veil which the Iberians had drawn across 
 South America. Even of "Terra Firma," which com- 
 prised the northern part of the continent including the 
 Guianas, there is little to be said. And such information 
 as is volunteered is strikingly vague. Now and again 
 we seem to be drawn halfway into the editor 's confidence. 
 We are told for instance that : ''in one of the Branches of 
 Orenoque River, in such a hideous Cataract, that the 
 water falling down, makes as loud a noise as if a thousand 
 Bells were knock 'd one against another." 
 
 Now supposing that you had lived in the year 1702 and 
 had wished to see and hear for yourself this hideous cat- 
 aract with its thousand bells — ^well, there was the whole 
 of the great Orinoco system to choose from, and you 
 might have spent many years paddling to and fro before 
 you heard even so much as a single tinkle! All this is 
 subject to the further supposition that you had not made 
 the discovery that the sentence had been lifted from Ral- 
 eigh's description of his sixteenth century Orinoco trav- 
 els ! And the neighborhood of another dreadful cataract 
 — on the Amazon this time — must have been still harder 
 to discover. For the only clue to its identification was 
 that the canoes of the daring natives, when they fell down 
 it, were accustomed to ''turn topsie-turvy many times." 
 
 Forsaking this topic of "rarities" for that of "man- 
 ners," we find that the information is correspondingly 
 slender. For instance, after a curt statement that the 
 Guiana cannibals are hunters, and walk naked above their 
 middles, we are torn away from the neighborhood of 
 these interesting folk — to whom we have had time 
 scarcely even to nod — with the following parting observa- 
 tion: 
 
 "The eating of human Flesh (especially that of van- 
 quished Enemies) is so relishing to the pallate of those 
 savages, that two Nations of them by mutual Devouring 
 are now reduc'd to two Handfuls of Men." 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 429 
 
 Mr. Gordon has clearly missed an opportunity here of 
 bringing his metaphor still more into line with the tastes 
 of his enthusiastic cannibals, which he might so easily 
 have effected by the substitution of Mouthfuls for Hand- 
 fuls! 
 
 The fact is that, thanks to the Iberian obstructive meth- 
 ods, Mr. Gordon knew very little about South America. 
 But he is at least frankly conscious of his limitations, for 
 that which he says of the Amazon government applies to 
 the rest: ''A further enquiry into the same, must be re- 
 ferr'd to the better Discovery of future Ages." 
 
 We have certainly no reason to complain of this when 
 we consider the occasional European ignorance of the 
 eighteenth century, as displayed, for instance, by the 
 French map-maker, referred to by Charles Kingsley in 
 ''Hereward the Wake," who left all the Scottish country 
 to the north of the Tay a blank, with the inscription: 
 "Terre incuUe et sauvage, habit ee par les Highlanders." 
 
 In later words such as Guthrie's '^Geography of 1788," 
 the influence of a vastly increased number of mariners 
 and travelers on the South American coasts is already 
 evident. Even so, the greater part of the information is 
 sketchy and vague to a degree. 
 
 It is when we arrive at the problem of anthropology 
 and natural history that the weak spots even in this more 
 recent geographer's armor become most apparent. Thus 
 we are told of the Moon-eyed Indians, a fair-skinned race, 
 so called from the weakness of their blue eyes that, un- 
 able to bear the rays of the sun, served them best by 
 moonlight ! Among the matters of historical interest we 
 are served up with the voluptuous and picturesque asser- 
 tion that the inhabitants of Lima in order to provide a 
 really efficient welcome for a certain viceroy had the 
 streets paved with silver for his entry, to the tune of a 
 cool seventeen million pounds sterling ! How deeply the 
 contemporary readers must have deplored the extinction 
 of bucaneering proper ! 
 
430 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 But the most extraordinary blend of truth and imag- 
 ination here is revealed in the description of the sloth. 
 So quaint a piece of prose is this that I will give it in 
 full. Guthrie dilates with much reason on the sloth's 
 tardy movements : 
 
 ''When he moves, every effort is attended with such a 
 plaintive, and at the same time, so disagreeable a cry, as 
 at once produces pity and disgust. In this cry consists 
 the whole defense of this wretched animal. For on the 
 first hostile approach it is natural for him to be in motion, 
 which is always accompanied with disgustful howling, so 
 that his pursuer flies much more speedily in his turn, to 
 be beyond the reach of this horrid noise. When this ani- 
 mal finds no wild fruits on the ground, he looks out with 
 a great deal of pains for a tree well loaded, which he 
 ascends with a world of uneasiness, moving, and crying, 
 and stopping by turns. At length, having mounted, he 
 plucks off all the fruit, and throws it on the ground, to 
 save himself such another troublesome journey; and 
 rather than be fatigued with coming down the tree, he 
 gathers himself in a bunch, and with a shriek drops to 
 the ground." 
 
 Surely the pathos of the last is only equaled by the ex- 
 traordinary vision conjured up of the flight from each 
 other at their respective speeds of the sloth's enemy and 
 of the sloth! 
 
 Of course I do not quote such fragments as these on 
 account of their intrinsic interest or rarity. They are 
 merely intended to exemplify the ordinary kind of in- 
 formation doled out at these periods to the wondering 
 public, and for this purpose I have merely taken up from 
 my library such books as came first to hand. 
 
 Other works, such as "The Universe Displayed ..." 
 published in 1768, seem to have been given out in a spirit 
 of self-complacency such as that which promised for this 
 that it would be ' ' one of the most beautiful as well as most 
 entertaining works that has yet been published. ' ' 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 431 
 
 The form in whicli this large claim materialized itself 
 will be made clear to the reader by the following extract 
 from the preface: '*We shall give our Account in the 
 Way of a Dialogue between Sophron, a studious Youth, 
 Sophia, his sister, fond of reading and improving her 
 Mind, and Mr. Worthy, an intimate Friend of the Fam- 
 ily, who had traveled over most Parts of the World, and 
 is fond of improving the Minds of Sophron and his Sister, 
 and of informing them of what he has seen or heard of 
 most remarkable in his Travels. ' ' 
 
 The pictorial illustrations of many of these seventeenth- 
 and eighteenth-century volumes are sufficiently instruct- 
 ive in themselves. This, moreover, does not apply only 
 to the quaintly conceived beasts, birds, reptiles, and fishes 
 — grotesque and dreamlike creatures these appear to the 
 modern eye. The conception of the South American In- 
 dian was equally bizarre, although here and there the ex- 
 aggeration leaned to the euphemistic side. Those worthy 
 artists who drew to order in London seemed extraordina- 
 rily loth to depict a South American native who was not 
 possessed of a stately, noble, and handsome appearance. 
 
 In this it must be admitted that they did not go to 
 the lengths to which their French confreres proceeded. 
 These, when imagining an Inca lady, had a weakness for 
 depicting a demoiselle of Versailles — features, manner- 
 Isms, and smile — clothed in classic draperies. Indeed, 
 generally speaking, the Grecian model served these Med- 
 iterranean-minded souls for all the aborigines of the 
 Southern continent, irrespective of type and geography! 
 At the same time there is no doubt but that many Eng- 
 lish illustrations of the period were somewhat unduly in- 
 fluenced by such accounts as that of Ealeigh's description 
 of the wife of an Orinoco Cacique : 
 
 ''In all my life I have seldome seene a better favoured 
 woman : shee was of good stature, with blacke eyes, fat of 
 body, of an excellent countenance, her haire almost as 
 long as her selfe, tied up againe in pretie knots, and it 
 
432 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 seemed shee stood not in that awe of her husband, as the 
 rest, for shee spake and discoursed, and dranke among 
 the gentlemen and Captaines, and was very pleasant, 
 knowing her owne comelinesse, and taking great pride 
 therein. I have seene a Lady in England so like to her, 
 as but for the difference of colour, I would have sworne 
 might have been the same. ' ' 
 
 This description of Raleigh's, of course, was written 
 from memory — and from the memory of a poetic temper- 
 ament. Had he met the Guiana lady in the flesh in the 
 neighborhood of St. James I feel convinced that some of 
 Raleigh's reminiscences would have suffered an abrupt 
 shattering. So much so that I doubt whether his cloak 
 would have been at her service even on the muddiest 
 day! 
 
 After this we may proceed to enumerate a few works, 
 more or less in chronological order. 
 
 In 1726 Charles Brockwell produced a work, which does 
 not seem to have affected later historians to any appreci- 
 able extent : * * The Natural and Political History of Por- 
 tugal ... to which is added the History of Brazil and 
 all other Dominions subject to the Crown of Portugal," 
 etc. 
 
 In 1774 appeared a volume — I imagine not of the first 
 edition — ^by ''Captain R. Boyle," entitled, ''The voyages 
 and adventures of Captain Robert Boyle. ' ' Now the ad- 
 ventures of this Captain Robert Boyle were acute and 
 varied, and he appears to have come into contact with 
 Dampier, and with other famous personalities of the age. 
 I often used to wonder how it was that neither Dampier 
 nor any one else referred to this very notable personality 
 in return, since Boyle was clearly not the sort of man to 
 be overlooked — ^until it was put to me — by Mr. Francis 
 Edwards — that these cleverly constructed adventures 
 were apocryphal. The work, as a matter of fact, is 
 ascribed to W. E. Chetwood, although there are some who 
 hold that it is from the pen of Benjamin Victor. 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN CATTLE 
 
 SOUTH AMERICAN OXEN 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 433 
 
 Anson's voyage round the world has been described by 
 Richard Walters in 1748. Another volume was devoted 
 to this by John Phillips in 1744 ; a third was given out by 
 Pascoe Thomas in 1745, while ''A Midshipman on board 
 the Centurion" published yet another account in 1767. 
 
 The ill-fated British expedition to Carthagena, which 
 was to have struck Spanish America from the east, while 
 Anson was playing his part in the west, is described in 
 ''Authentic Papers relating to the Expeditions against 
 Carthagena, being the Resolutions of the Councils of 
 War, both of Sea and Land officers" etc. This is an 
 octavo volume, published in 1745. 
 
 It should be remarked, too, that Smollett, the novelist, 
 accompanied the British forces to Carthagena, and pub- 
 lished an account of the expedition. 
 
 Various narratives concerning the wreck of H.M.S. 
 Wager were published about the middle of the eighteenth 
 century, among them one by Isaac Morris, midshipman: 
 ''Narrative of the Dangers and Distresses which befel 
 Isaac Morris and Seven of the Crew of the Wager . . . 
 left on an uninhabited part of Patagonia." (1747.) An- 
 other account was published by Alexander Campbell about 
 the same time. 
 
 In 1768 Commodore the Hon. John Byron gave an "Ac- 
 count of the Great Distresses suffered by Himself and 
 Companions on the Coast of Patagonia, 1740, with De- 
 scription of St. Jago de Chili and its inhabitants, also 
 relation of the Loss of the Wager/' one of Anson's 
 squadron. This, as a matter of fact, followed the "Voy- 
 age round the World in H.M.S. Dolphin, commanded by 
 Commodore Byron, with a Minute description of the 
 Streights of Magellan and the Patagonians, etc.," which 
 had been published in the previous year (1767) by "An 
 officer on board the said ship. ' ' 
 
 In 1771, it should be said. Dr. Samuel Johnson gave 
 out his "Thoughts on the late Transactions respecting 
 Falkland Islands" — thoughts which — I admit the failure 
 
434 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 with shame — I have never perused, taking it for granted 
 that their sententiousness was no less weighty than that 
 which hung about most of the thoughts of the worthy 
 and tremendous doctor! The tenor of Johnson's 
 thoughts seem to have been against the retention of the 
 islands as a British settlement. 
 
 In 1774, the Jesuit Missionary Thomas Falkner pro- 
 duced from his very varied experiences a slim and ad- 
 mirably printed quarto volume : * ' A Description of Pat- 
 agonia and the adjoining Parts of South America: Re- 
 ligion, Government, Customs and Language of the In- 
 habitants, and some Particulars of the Falkland Islands." 
 Falkner 's work, dealing with the provinces of the stalwart 
 and warlike Indians, outside the zone of the contempo- 
 rary Spanish influence, is peculiarly interesting. He con- 
 tributes, moreover, some valuable ethnological matter in 
 his description of the eighteenth century Nomad Indians 
 of the Pampa, whose ceramic remains and stone weapons 
 are still found in the sand and along the banks of the 
 streams north and south of the Tandil Range. They were 
 the predecessors of the ''Pampa" Indians of modern 
 times, and were undoubtedly the link uniting the Pehuel- 
 ches and Patagonians to the now extinct Querandies and 
 Charruas of the river Plate estuary. The Spanish au- 
 thorities appear to have regarded Falkner 's missionary 
 efforts with a certain amount of suspicion, although, 
 speaking from memory, I think that no hint of this ap- 
 pears in his book. 
 
 An important historical work is that of Doctor William 
 Robertson's, ''The History of South America" (of which 
 the author's copy, second edition, is dated 1778). This is 
 a notable milestone in the historical road of South Ameri- 
 can literature, and even at the present time it may still 
 serve in many respects as a standard work. 
 
 In 1805 appeared, edited by Captain Joseph Skinner, an 
 interesting book, "The Present State of Peru," in which 
 were included twenty very curiously colored illustrations, 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 435 
 
 mostly concerned with the contemporary Peruvian cos- 
 tume. 
 
 The manner in which this publication came to see the 
 light is in itself quite out of the ordinary. On the capture 
 of the Spanish galleon Santiago bound from Lima to 
 Cadiz, in 1793, a number of copies of a Peruvian maga- 
 zine — the existence of which had not been suspected until 
 then — ^were discovered. Much of this magazine matter, 
 translated and commented upon, made up the ''Present 
 State of Peru," and thus in this rather strange fashion 
 a good deal of light was thrown on a colony, the affairs of 
 which the Spaniards were jealously endeavoring to keep 
 concealed from Europe and North America. 
 
 A somewhat remarkable publication of this period is 
 Gregory's ''Journal of a Captured Missionary," which 
 takes in the adventures of the missionaries of the ship 
 Duff in the years 1798 and 1799. These worthy folk, 
 when on their way to the South Sea Islands, were cap- 
 tured by French privateers in the neighborhood of Rio. 
 Landed in Montevideo, they were brought into contact 
 with the mutineers of the Lady Shore, who, convicts bound 
 for Botany Bay, had overcome their guards and brought 
 their vessel into Montevideo. Apart from the interest 
 of the adventures it relates, this book is notable for the 
 unusual self-complacency of its tone. 
 
 A second volume on this subject was published in 1809, 
 "Some interesting particulars of the second voyage made 
 by the Missionary ship, the Duff.^' 
 
 Toward the end of the eighteenth century (the edition 
 which I have come across, not the first, is dated 1794) was 
 published an octavo volume, the lengthy title of which 
 may be given nearly in full, since in itself it is not without 
 its historical instruction: "Unfortunate Englishmen, or 
 a faithful Narrative of the Distresses and Adventures of 
 John Cockburn, and five other Mariners . . . who was 
 taken by a Spanish Guarda Costa, in the John and Ann, 
 Capt. Burt, and set on shore, naked and wounded, at Porto 
 
436 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Cavallo, containing a Journey over Land from the Gulph 
 of Honduras to the Great South Sea ; wherein are many 
 new and useful Discoveries. ..." 
 
 Between 1803 and 1806 was published an important 
 contribution to the literature of southern navigation in 
 Admiral James Burney's '* Chronological History of 
 Voyages and Discovery in the South Sea or Pacific 
 Ocean." 
 
 Two very curious and mystifying volumes are those 
 published by John Davie in 1805 and 1819 respectively: 
 ''Letters from Paraguay, Buenos Aires, Montevideo," 
 and ''Letters from Buenos Aires and Montevideo." 
 
 In the advertisement of the first volume the author is 
 described as "a gentleman of liberal education and con- 
 siderable property, having been disappointed of his hopes 
 of happiness with a beloved female, to relieve the distress 
 of his mind resolved to travel. ' ' 
 
 John Davie was on his way from New York to Aus- 
 tralia, when a storm forced the captain of his vessel to 
 put in to Buenos Aires for repairs. There, Davie him- 
 self, going ashore, was seized by a violent attack of fever. 
 The ship in which he was a passenger had to proceed on 
 its way, and Davie was left to recover in the exceedingly 
 good care of the fathers of the Convent of St. Dominic, 
 When quite restored to health he took the dress of a no- 
 vitiate, and was afterwards known among the Dominicans 
 as Father Mathias. A curious circumstance is that, al- 
 though from the moment of his first entrance into the 
 convent it had been taken for granted that he was a Ro- 
 man Catholic, Davie never seems to have formally em- 
 braced that faith ! 
 
 Attending a superior. Father Hernandez, to whom he 
 became devotedly attached, Davis traveled to some of 
 the inland missions of the Uruguay River, and testified 
 to the manner in which the Spanish soldiers interfered 
 with the work of the mission. In the end the fierce Char- 
 rua Indians rose against the military, and Davie was 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 437 
 
 present at a dreadful massacre. He himself, as a sup- 
 posed Dominican, was shielded from the wrath of the 
 victorious Indians. 
 
 His adventures were of the strangest, and he was as- 
 siduous in his observations, which, as the concluding 
 words of the advertisement explain: ''he took every op- 
 portunity of communicating to his friend in this country 
 through his agent at New York by means of the American 
 captains trading to South America. After his return to 
 Buenos Aires, it is certain that he went to Conception, in 
 Chile, as he was last heard of from that place, in the year 
 1803 ; but whether he lost his life in any insurrection of 
 the natives, or was imprisoned by the government in con- 
 sequence of his correspondence being detected, is un- 
 known. ' ' 
 
 Decidedly John Davie was a romantic person, both in 
 his personality and prose. His book tends to leave the 
 reader in a rather doubtful frame of mind. He has no 
 particular reason to suppose that events did not occur as 
 they are set down in Davie 's pages, yet he cannot refrain 
 from a certain wonder, for all that ! 
 
 The first important flood of English literature at first 
 hand on the Spanish South American dominions, was let 
 loose on the occasion of the British expedition to the river 
 Plate. A volume which makes clear some of the reasons 
 of the enterprise is James Biggs 's ' ' History of Don Fran- 
 cisco Miranda's Attempt to effect a Revolution in South 
 America, in a series of Letters; to which are annexed 
 sketches of the Life of Miranda and geographical Notices 
 of Caraccas." 
 
 Of the books on the subject which I have had the occa- 
 sion to possess or to see, the following would seem the 
 most notable : 
 
 One of the first that apparently saw the light was a 
 pamphlet, anonymous and undoubtedly inspired, in de- 
 fense of the discredited General Whitelocke. This, enti- 
 tled ' ' Truth and Wisdom versus Calumny and Folly, ' ' ap- 
 
438 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 peared in 1807. It is, of course, a piece of special plead- 
 ing, and is a fairly worthless production. 
 
 It was owing to these expeditions, too, that Samuel 
 Hull Wilcocke published in 1807 his ' ' History of the Vice- 
 royalty of Buenos Aires." 
 
 The next work in seniority was a publication of quite 
 a different order. This, published in 1808, was ''Notes 
 on the Vice-royalty of La Plata, by a gentleman recently 
 returned from it." This is undoubtedly the work of a 
 joyous youth, a connoisseur of dames, in whose breast 
 the disaster must have been to a certain extent compen- 
 sated by the fairness of the Montevidean ladies. 
 
 I have referred to this author in a previous work, but 
 he is not to be passed by here. He gives a sufficiently 
 graphic picture of the contemporary life of Montevideo, 
 and renders to the Oriental ladies all the praise that 
 should be theirs by right. But occasionally, it seems, 
 there was a fly in the ointment. In his words : 
 
 ''Their fine figures and graceful carriage they retain, 
 even after their other charms are fled. From this cir- 
 cumstance, one is sometimes betrayed into unpleasant and 
 ludicrous mistakes. After following through several 
 streets a pretty figure with a well-turned ankle and a 
 brisk and airy step, by a sudden inclination of the head 
 you discern with mortification and horror, instead of the 
 lovely features of youth and beauty which your fancy 
 had pictured, the dusky visage of a lean and wrinkled 
 hag. ..." 
 
 Obviously the writer suffered from the impetuosity of 
 youth. But, as I have remarked before, how unfair is the 
 irritability of the last sentence! Why should a respect- 
 able elderly lady be termed a lean and wrinkled hag just 
 because her gait was daughter to her features? Picture 
 the scene! Imagine the dusty and ill-paved streets of 
 the town, along which lumber the heavy chariots of 
 the age, holding the fair forms of the Montevidean female 
 youth, who have already turned the head of the fair- 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 439 
 
 haired, fresh-colored, uniformed stranger. And then, 
 alone and on foot, appears the lady — the back of the lady 
 — of anachronistic properties. With his brain in a whirl 
 the stranger follows the fascinating ankles. Past street 
 corner after street corner, each marked by its protecting 
 cannon stuck in the soil, go the pair in the same order, 
 the northern youth becoming more and more inflamed as 
 he is drawn farther from the center of the town. At last 
 the lady turns her head — and the world turns blank at the 
 same time! Then follows the epithet! You will agree 
 that he was well served. So much for the gentleman re- 
 cently returned from the river Plate ! 
 
 A book which deals more soberly with this important 
 subject, and which is one of the most reliable of all in its 
 details, is the *' Authentic Narrative of . . . the Expedi- 
 tion under Gen. Crawford . . . with . . . the operations 
 under Gen. Whitelocke. By an officer of the expedition. ' ' 
 This was published in 1808. 
 
 Major Alexander Gillespie's *' Gleanings and Remarks 
 ... at Buenos Aires" (1819) supply one of the serious 
 historical sides to this tragic expedition. 
 
 Another important publication is one by Lieutenant 
 Robert Fernyhough published in 1829: ''Military Me- 
 moirs of Four Brothers in the New World." This sup- 
 plies an excellent description of the Beresford Conquest 
 and capitalization, and of the adventures of the British 
 prisoners when they were interned in the Condor Valley 
 in Cordoba. 
 
 Two further notable books on the subject are, ''The 
 Journal of a Soldier of the Seventy-first Regiment of 
 Highland Light Infantry," (1822), which throws some 
 interesting sidelights on the occurrences, and the "Me- 
 moirs of a Serjeant of the 5th Regt. of Foot," a small 
 undated book, bearing Masonic emblems on its frontis- 
 piece, which gives a most spirited account of the opera- 
 tions. 
 
 Some further relations of the ill-fated expedition are 
 
440 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 given in Sir George Mouat Keith's Voyage to South 
 America, and the Cape of Good Hope in H.M's Brig, 
 Protector, published in 1819. 
 
 Having now finished with the literature concerning this 
 expedition we must hark back a few years to 1808 when a 
 very important work: ^'The Geographical, Natural and 
 Civil History of Chili," written by the Abbe Don J. Ig- 
 natius Molina, was translated into English by ' ' An Amer- 
 ican Gentleman," who was in reality no less a personage 
 than Washington Irving. 
 
 The accuracy of a certain number of Molina's observa- 
 tions on natural history have been occasionally challenged 
 by later naturalists ; but the work is nevertheless a most 
 invaluable one, and the scope of its information very wide. 
 As an appendix the work contains notes on Alonzo de 
 Ercilla's famous poem, the Araucana, ''with copious 
 translations from that poem, by William Hayley, Esq., 
 and the Rev. H. Boyd." 
 
 There is one rather curious feature connected with the 
 English literature on South America of the nineteenth 
 century. The authors of the books which saw the light 
 during this period belonged to various walks in life. 
 There were diplomats such as Parish and Ousely; there 
 were soldiers such as Head ; sailors such as Hall, Smythe, 
 Lowe, and a score of others. Naturalists, headed by Dar- 
 win, Waterton, Bates and Wallace, have given us many 
 books; and the volumes for which the clergy have been 
 responsible are numerous enough, including those of 
 Walsh, Murray, and a number of chaplains and mission- 
 aries. Estancieros such as Latham, Hadfield, and — to 
 come to the present day — Herbert Gibson, have given out 
 valuable work. And then there have been the impres- 
 sions of literary travelers such as Mansfield and Hinch- 
 liff to light up for the benefit of the general public the 
 scenes through which they passed, as well as the solid 
 work of journalists and newspaper proprietors such as 
 Mulhall. It is surely unnecessary to extend this cate- 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 441 
 
 gory further, else poet-historians like Robert Southey, 
 and the great North American writer, Prescott, might be 
 included. 
 
 So much for the professions and occupations of the 
 great majority of the British authors of the nineteenth 
 century who dealt with South America. But what of the 
 men who went out to that continent to occupy themselves 
 in purely commercial pursuits — the great army of busi- 
 ness men who outnumbered all these others put together 
 very many times over? Their voices have been strangely 
 silent, so far as print is concerned. 
 
 Yet their occupations have been varied enough. The 
 man who has banked or insured in one of the great capi- 
 tals of the continent ; the shipper of timber, cereals, and 
 chilled meat; the dealer in hides, horns, and fleeces; the 
 importers of agricultural and mining machinery, and, in 
 fact, all those who make up the company of buyers 
 and sellers, canvassers, creditors, and debtors — the ex- 
 periences of very many of this great host must have 
 been interesting enough to afford most instructive pe- 
 rusal. 
 
 In almost every case they remain to be written! The 
 average British business man of South America is the 
 very last person who can be accused of having rushed into 
 print. He has doubtless found a more profitable use for 
 his pen. A receipt is as easy to write as an essay; but 
 he who writes many essays will write few receipts ! 
 
 It was in the 1820 's that South America first came 
 within the field of the travel-book proper. Curiously 
 enough nearly every one of these works is concerned with 
 the journey from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, or 
 vice versa, and the passage of the Andes which was in- 
 volved. 
 
 Thus in 1822 was published * ' The Narrative of a Jour- 
 ney from Santiago de Chile to Buenos Aires ' ' by Lieuten- 
 ant Edward Hibbert. TJiis was rapidly followed by sim- 
 ilar publications by Gilbert Farquhar Mathison (1825), 
 
442 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Alexander Caldcleugh (1825), John Miers (1826), Cap- 
 tain Andrews (1827), Captain — afterwards Sir — Francis 
 Head (1828), Lieut. Charles Brand (1828). All these 
 books are descriptive of the long posting journey through 
 the dust or mud of the Argentine plains — ^where the In- 
 dian peril frequently lurked — and the strenuous and 
 often dangerous passage of the Andine peaks. 
 
 Of these books, mostly very slender in bulk, one of the 
 most graphic and impressionistic is Captain Head's. 
 Many of these fleeting impressions were no doubt faulty, 
 but Head was a keen observer, blessed with a sense of 
 humor, who interested himself in his glimpses of the local 
 anthropology, and was not above laying stress on such 
 topics as the remarkable independence of the Gaucho 
 child, and the like. In order to show this author as he is 
 I will pluck a few lines from his pages, not from those 
 dealing with his more dramatic and Indian-haunted ca- 
 reerings across the plains. This is merely an incident 
 concerning a pig: 
 
 ''I saw a man on foot select a very large pig from a 
 herd, and throwing a lasso over his neck, he pulled it 
 with all his strength, but the pig had no idea of obeying 
 the summons: in an instant a little child rode up, and 
 very quietly taking the end of the lasso from the man, he 
 lifted up the sheep-skin which covered the saddle, fixed 
 the lasso to the ring which is there made for it, and then 
 instantly set off at a gallop. Never did any one see an 
 obstinate animal so completely conquered ! With his tail 
 pointing to the ground, hanging back, and with his four 
 feet all scratching along the ground like the teeth of a 
 harrow, he followed the boy evidently altogether against 
 his will; and the sight was so strange, that I instantly 
 galloped by the side of the pig, to watch his countenance. 
 He was as obstinate as ever until the lasso choked him, 
 and then he fainted and fell on his side. The boy dragged 
 him in this state, at a gallop, more than three quarters 
 of a mile over hard, rough ground, and at last suddenly 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 443 
 
 stopped, and jumping off his horse, began to unloose the 
 lasso: — "Estd muerto!'' (he is dead) said I to the boy, 
 really sorry for the pig's fate. "8td vivo!'' exclaimed 
 the child, as he vaulted on his horse, and galloped away. 
 I watched the pig for some time, and was observing the 
 blood on his nose, when, to my great surprise, he began 
 to kick his hind leg: he then opened his mouth, and at 
 last his eyes ; and after he had looked about him, a little 
 like Clarence after his dream, he got up, and very lei- 
 surely walked to a herd of ten or twelve pigs of about the 
 same size as himself, who were about twenty yards off. I 
 slowly followed him, and when I came to the herd, I saw 
 that, from the same cause, they had every one of them 
 bloody noses." 
 
 This extract seems to me to combine several merits. 
 There is a subtle and indefinable porcine flavor about it 
 which seems to suggest the atmosphere of Charles Lamb's 
 famous essay on the sucking-pig — added to a sketch of a 
 contemporary Gaucho child, and of the minor livestock 
 operations of the period ! 
 
 Beyond this I must not omit to mention a little anony- 
 mous book published in 1824, the ''Narrative of a Jour- 
 ney from Santiago de Chile to Buenos Aires, in July and 
 August, 1821," which contains this curt and unpromising 
 preface : 
 
 ''This journal is only the catalogue of vexations that 
 assailed an individual passing the Andes in the midst of 
 winter, and, subsequently, crossing the Continent of South 
 America. 
 
 "With his mind wholly intent on speedily finishing his 
 journey, and sufficiently occupied in surmounting the dif- 
 ficulties that obstructed it, he had little inclination and 
 less leisure to profit by those few opportunities of remark 
 which might have presented themselves during his rapid 
 progress; still less was he disposed, or able, when the 
 day's work was done, to devote any time to reflection. 
 Fatigued to death, hardly awake, memory failing, he has- 
 
444 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 tily wrote what first occurred, and frequently fell asleep 
 whilst noting down the events of the day. ' ' 
 
 Tempora mutantur. This is not the sort of book no- 
 tice one meets with among the modern publishers' ad- 
 vertisements ! But the reader must not judge this anony- 
 mous and too modest an author's work by its preface. 
 Notwithstanding this attempt at self-condemnation, the 
 book gives a mos,t interesting account of a perilous 
 journey. 
 
 It was at this period, too, that Mrs. Graham published 
 her ''Journal of a Eesidence in Chile, during the year 
 1822-1824" — a work which deals shrewdly enough with 
 the contemporary political situation in Chile, as well as 
 with the local manners and customs, and the author's ex- 
 periences. 
 
 A book that is worthy of perusal is an illustrated three 
 volume publication, "An Historical and descriptive Nar- 
 rative of twenty-four years' Residence in South Ameri- 
 ca," produced by W. B. Stevenson in 1825. 
 
 In the following year was produced in New York ''A 
 view of South America and Mexico by a Citizen of the 
 United States," by John Milton Miles. /, ;' " 
 
 Among other descriptive works is J. Thomson's ''Let- 
 ters on the Moral and Religious state of South America, 
 written during a Eesidence of nearly seven years in Bue- 
 nos Aires, Chile, Peru, and Colombia" (1827). 
 
 In this year, too, was issued Captain (afterwards Sir 
 Francis) Head's "Reports relating to the Failure of the 
 Rio Plata Mining Association, formed under the author- 
 ity, signed by His Excellency, Don Bernadino Rivadavia" 
 • — a document that is not without its importance in the 
 commercial world. 
 
 One of the first volumes which dealt with Paraguay in 
 its curious hermit phase was the "Narrative of Facts 
 connected with the Change effected in the Political Con- 
 ditions and Relations of Paraguay, under the Direction 
 of Dr. Thomas Francia," etc. (1826). 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 445 
 
 This was in some sense a prelude to the ''Letters on 
 Paraguay" by J. P. and W. P. Eobertson, published in 
 1838. These letters are of deep interest, although they 
 necessarily lose a great deal by the fact that they were 
 written nearly thirty years after the events which they 
 describe. The authors were fortunate in meeting nu- 
 merous South Americans of distinction including the 
 Paraguayan Dictator Francia, the Argentine General 
 San Martin, and many others. 
 
 So absorbing is the interest of the matter with which 
 the Eobertsons have dealt that there is no doubt that 
 their strong sense of the dramatic has in the course of 
 these letters more than once taken the bit in its teeth and 
 run away with them. That much of their work was ac- 
 cepted seriously by that fine Argentine historian. General 
 Bartolome Mitre, is evidenced by the fact that he incor- 
 porated a number of their pages into his "Historia de 
 San Martin. ' ' Nevertheless here and there it seems clear 
 that matters of history and hearsay have been promoted 
 out of their rightful category to the rank of personal ex- 
 periences narrated at first hand. Nevertheless, when 
 such froth has been blown away a quantity of valuable 
 matter remains. 
 
 In 1839 these authors published a continuation of their 
 letters, " Francia 's Reign of Terror," and in 1843 they 
 produced a third work : ' ' Letters on South America. ' ' 
 
 We may now turn to a few books on Brazilian topics. 
 
 An insight into the annoying methods in which the Bra- 
 zilian colonial officialdom often thought fit to indulge is 
 given by Thomas Lindley's "Narrative of a voyage to 
 Brazil, terminating in the seizure of a British vessel, and 
 the Imprisonment of the Author and the Ship's Crew," 
 etc. It saw the light in 1805. This, however, must have 
 been one of the last instances of such procedure on the 
 part of a narrow-minded colonial government, for Brazil 
 was on the eve of important changes and political pro- 
 motion. 
 
446 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 In 1810 Lieutenant Count Thomas O'Neill gave to the 
 public ^'A Concise and Accurate Account of the Proceed- 
 ings of the Squadron under the command of Rear- Admiral 
 Sir Sydney Smith in effecting the escape of the Royal 
 Family of Portugal to the Brazils on Nov. 29, 1807 ; and 
 also the Sufferings of the Royal Fugitives, etc., during 
 their voyage from Lisbon to Rio Janeiro. ' ' 
 
 While on the subject of such episodes, a notable contri- 
 bution to general history may be considered. 
 
 Immeasurably the most important nineteenth century 
 historical work on Brazil was Robert Southey's '* History 
 of Brazil," the first volume of which appeared in 1810. 
 The poet, who was greatly assisted by his uncle, the Brit- 
 ish chaplain in Lisbon, obtained special facilities, and the 
 access to many valuable state documents, for the writing 
 of this book. The result is a most admirable work, which 
 still takes rank as the standard publication on the history 
 of Brazil up to the early nineteenth century. As such, 
 indeed, it has been acknowledged by the Brazilians them- 
 selves. 
 
 Seven years elapsed between the publication of 
 Southey's first volume and that of his second. In the 
 meantime a French historian had published a history of 
 Brazil, and, while twitting Southey with the charge that 
 his first volume had revealed nothing new, accused him 
 of having abandoned the promised completion of the work. 
 
 Southey's retort to M. Alphonse de Beauchamp occu- 
 pies the greater part of the preface to his second volume. 
 So far as reputation is concerned, it leaves his antagonist 
 as nude as Adam before the apple ! It shows conclusively 
 that de Beauchamp 's work is nothing but the most fla- 
 grant plagiarism of Southey's first volume, even to the 
 extent of using the marginal references of this latter as 
 the list of authorities ! 
 
 This was turning the tables with a vengeance. Indeed, 
 it is difficult to suppose that the publication of this pref- 
 ace did not leave de Beauchamp plastered with shame, 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 447 
 
 yet, possibly not : the other appears to have been a hard- 
 ened criminal in this respect : ' * For M. Beauchamp, ' ' says 
 Southey, ''is no novice in the art of plagiarism, as M. de 
 Puissaye and others of his countrymen may bear wit- 
 ness." 
 
 This work of Southey 's, it may be said, has met with 
 as much appreciation in Brazil as in England, a high test 
 of its value. 
 
 In 1821 appeared *'A History of the Brazil" by James 
 Henderson, which, published by the same firm, has an ap- 
 pearance which is almost identical with that of Southey 's 
 ''Brazil." Henderson's work is a most useful produc- 
 tion, but why, in those days of a tenuous output of vol- 
 ume, it should have been published just after Southey 's 
 masterwork had seen the light, is difficult to understand. 
 Perhaps the author himself had some doubts on this point, 
 for in his dedication to Lord Lowther he hopes that "if 
 the style in which I present the new fruit, gathered from 
 the branches of the tree of knowledge that are spread in a 
 far country, is not considered interesting, the fruit itself 
 will be found, I hope, acceptable and useful. ' ' 
 
 However, perhaps Henderson relied on the plates which 
 he claims, are "amongst the best of their style" to eclipse 
 the interest in Southey 's unillustrated volumes. Cer- 
 tainly the frontispiece, representing Dom Joao of Portu- 
 gal and Brazil accompanied by queerly-anatomical horses 
 and men, is as unconsciously humorous as any of those 
 old-fashioned Japanese or Hindu representations of Eu- 
 ropean life. But even such as this did not suffice to dis- 
 turb Robert Southey 's clear supremacy! 
 
 We may now turn to some lighter work. 
 
 Just as a number of English authors hastened to de- 
 scribe the independent states into which the one-time 
 Spanish colonies had resolved themselves, so did many of 
 their colleagues give their impressions of Brazil in its 
 first period of royalty. 
 
 Among the earliest of these was a book published in 
 
M8 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 1812 by John Mawe : ' ' Travels in the interior of Brazil, 
 particularly in the gold and diamond districts of that 
 country, including a voyage to the Rio de la Plata. ' ' This 
 book is a notable publication in its way, since it is the first 
 to describe the remoter interior of the country. 
 
 Other works descriptive of Brazilian life and landscape 
 of this period were written by Mrs. Graham (1820), John 
 Luccock (1820), G. F. Mathison (1825), and the Rev. R. 
 Walsh, who in his ** Notices of Brazil" presents a very 
 lively and interesting picture of the society and manners 
 such as prevailed in the new Kingdom of the Tropics. 
 Mr. Walsh was chaplain at the British embassy at Rio 
 de Janeiro, and met most of the notabilities of Brazil, 
 from the emperor downwards. Being a broad-minded 
 cleric, he made the fullest use of his frequent opportuni- 
 ties of absorbing local knowledge. 
 
 Mrs. Graham's book, too, is sufficiently notable for the 
 insight it affords into the affairs of the Brazilian court. 
 This lady, it may be explained, was instructress for a 
 year to Dona Maria of Portugal at Rio. The daughter 
 of Rear-Admiral Dundas, her first acquaintance with 
 South America was made in her husband's (Captain 
 Graham, R. N.) frigate. His death off the Chilean coast 
 left her a widow, and after her sojourn in Chile and Brazil 
 she returned to England, and eventually became the wife 
 of the well-known artist Calcott. 
 
 As so much space has already been devoted to the prin- 
 cipal early nineteenth century writers on the Pacific coast 
 it will not be necessary to deal with them at any length 
 here. 
 
 Captain Basil Hall 's ' * Extracts from a Journal written 
 on the Coasts of Chili, Peru, and Mexico (first pub- 
 lished, I think, in 1823; the author's edition (1824) is the 
 second, is in many respects the most valuable of all these. 
 This book, however, has already been fully dealt with. 
 Then, of course, there are Cochrane 's own reminiscences, 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 449 
 
 and General Miller's Memoirs, published in 1828. These, 
 too, need no further mention. 
 
 A very quaint little production which comes under this 
 heading of the Pacific coast is the ''Narrative of the Brit- 
 on's Voyage," by Lieut. J. Shillibeer, E. M. It is true 
 that this work only touches lightly on both the Atlantic 
 and Pacific coasts of South America, but much of it is of 
 considerable interest, and, incidentally, it may be said 
 that the ingenuousness of the author's illustrations alone 
 suffices to make the book somewhat of a curiosity. 
 
 This is the case, too, with the "Journal written on 
 board of His Majesty's ship Cambridge, by the Rev. H. S., 
 Chaplain." It is true that the illustration here is con- 
 fined to a colored frontispiece — but the lady of Peru 
 which it depicts could scarcely be taken seriously any- 
 where outside a nightmare. This does not, however, in 
 the least detract from the value of the book, which gives 
 an accurate, full, and interesting picture of the life and 
 personalities of the Chilean and Peruvian coasts of that 
 period. Moreover, the Rev. H. S., a most broad-minded 
 chaplain, had a liberal education in the South American 
 personalities of that period, for he not only met Bolivar, 
 Bernardo 'Higgins, and others, but 'Higgins ' mother, 
 a lady of considerable romance and mystery, whom he de- 
 scribes as a "pleasant, lively old woman." 
 
 In the 1820 's many fine aquatints of South America 
 were included in the publications of Buenos Aires and 
 of Monte Video" (1820) — a work sufficiently well known 
 among connoisseurs — contains twenty-four fine specimens 
 of aquatints. 
 
 But the wonderfully picturesque landscape of Brazil 
 naturally adapted itself more satisfactorily to this type of 
 illustration, and two years later (1822) was published one 
 of the finest collections of colored aquatints that South 
 America has known. Sir Henry Chamberlain's "Views 
 and Costumes of the City and Neighbourhood of Rio de 
 
450 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Janeiro, from drawings taken by Lieut. Chamberlain, 
 Royal Artillery, 1819-20/' 
 
 At one time a copy of this very rare book was in the 
 possession of the author of the present work. 
 
 After this we may proceed for a time more or less in 
 chronological sequence, leaving the geographical order of 
 the works to look after itself. The first four books con- 
 cern the Northern republics. 
 
 In 1820 George L. Chesterton wrote the ** Narrative of 
 proceedings in Venezuela, in South America, in 1819 and 
 1820, with General Observations on the Country and Peo- 
 ple." 
 
 Eight years later was published a work of rather un- 
 usual interest: *' Recollections of a service of three years 
 during the War of Extermination in the Republics of 
 Venezuela and Colombia. By an officer of the Colombian 
 Navy." 
 
 The author of this was an English naval officer, who 
 took service with the South Americans, and who took part 
 in sufficient fighting, both on water and land, to gratify 
 the taste of the firiest of fire-eaters ! As a matter of fact, 
 no one can have had a much wider experience of this pe- 
 culiarly merciless campaign than this anonymous author. 
 The part he played was not confined to such stirring in- 
 cidents as the gunboat battles on the Northern rivers, and 
 such charges as that at the battle of Carabobo. Having 
 fallen into the hands of the Spaniards, he, heavily chained, 
 was about to pay the usual penalty of death when he was 
 assisted to escape by a certain 'Regan, a Spanish officer 
 of Irish descent. After this he suffered imprisonment at 
 the hands of his own superior officer, Barino, a depraved 
 patriot-leader, whose spite was curbed by the subsequent 
 court martial, which immediately acquitted the English- 
 man. 
 
 Undoubtedly the writer gives his impressions under the 
 stress of not a little inevitable feeling, and, owing to this, 
 portions of the book must be received with some reserve. 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 451 
 
 A friend and admirer of several officers displaced by 
 Bolivar, he shows himself — ^however unconscious he 
 may have been of the fact — somewhat antagonistically dis- 
 posed towards the Liberator. Hence the pictures we re- 
 ceive from him of Bolivar do not err on the flattering 
 side. Here is the account of his first presentation to the 
 great South American: 
 
 *'At the door of the apartment, which stood partly 
 open, were two English soldiers, who were fixed there as 
 sentinels, to prevent any unseasonable interruption upon 
 his excellency ; and Captain Mardyn having retired, I de- 
 sired one of them to announce to Bolivar the arrival of a 
 British officer with despatches from the Venezuelan Con- 
 gress. He did so, and returned with an order for my 
 immediate entrance. I went into the room, which was 
 large, but dirty, and scantily provided with furniture. At 
 the further end sat Colonel O'Leary, then one of his ex- 
 cellency's secretaries, on the ground, with a small writ- 
 ing-desk in his lap, writing despatches of a military na- 
 ture, at the dictation of Bolivar, who, at the other end of 
 the room, was sitting on the edge of a large South Amer- 
 ican cot slung from the ceiling. To avoid the inconveni- 
 ence of the heat, he was quite unencumbered with apparel 
 or covering of any description, and was swinging himself 
 violently by means of a coquita rope, attached to a hook 
 driven into the opposite wall for the purpose. Thus 
 curiously situated, he alternately dictated to O'Leary 
 and whistled a French republican tune, to which he beat 
 time by knocking his feet laterally ... he instantly 
 sprang from the cot and proceeded to embrace me, ac- 
 cording to the custom of the country, by enclosing me in 
 his arms and kissing my cheek. Such a proof of regard 
 not being very congenial with my feelings, more particu- 
 larly when offered by a person in a total state of nudity, 
 I declined it in no very gentle manner; upon which he 
 looked as though somewhat displeased, and turned toward 
 his secretary with evident marks of astonishment. The 
 
452 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Colonel, who entered into my feelings at once, represented 
 to him that such a custom was foreign to his countrymen, 
 and hoped, therefore, that he would pardon the ungentle 
 repulse I had given him. His Excellency smiled, and ex- 
 tended to me his hand with an air of the warmest cor- 
 diality, which mark of condescension I respectfully ac- 
 knowledged, and he returned to his cot to finish the de- 
 spatches, while I smoked a cigar." 
 
 It is a curious glimpse of Bolivar, this — as unexpected 
 as many of the author's comments on his brother officers, 
 British or South American, concerning which the reader 
 is occasionally left in doubt as to whether their accuracy 
 rivals their frankness! At the same time, it is clear 
 enough that the impressions are honestly given. 
 
 Captain Charles Stuart Cochrane 's ''Journal of a resi- 
 dence and travels in Colombia during the years 1823 and 
 1824" must not be judged by its colored frontispiece. 
 This depicts our author, who was a gallant British naval 
 officer, in Colombian costume leaning on his steed, whether 
 mule or ass, whose wither does not reach to Captain Coch- 
 rane 's thigh. The art of the early nineteenth century is 
 not that of to-day, and an uninitiated and disinterested 
 modern spectator might well suspect a touch of humor in 
 the conception — and especially in the expression of the 
 steed — which was never in the remotest degree intended. 
 
 Captain Cochrane visited Colombia just when the War 
 of Independence was drawing to a victorious conclusion. 
 He saw, therefore, much of the new South American so- 
 ciety which was in the course of formation, and his book 
 is a mine of information on the customs and entertain- 
 ments of the period. Many of his descriptions are of 
 high interest. Here, for instance is his account of a 
 national fandango : 
 
 "This dance is intended as a dumb representation of 
 courtship. The music begins at first slow and monoto- 
 nous, but gradually increases from andante to allegro. 
 The gentleman commences by pursuing the lady quietly 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 453 
 
 and gently, and the lady retreats in like manner, making 
 short circles, and turning on her heel at each time that 
 her partner approaches, quickening her step and revolu- 
 tions as the time of the music increases, until she per- 
 ceives that he seems inclined to give up the pursuit; 
 repentance follows, and the pursuer is in his turn pur- 
 sued, making similar retreats, and the same circumvolu- 
 tions that the lady so recently practised, until at last, re- 
 lenting, he turns to meet her, and they approach each 
 other more closely, and being apparently reconciled, make 
 three or four peculiar stamps with their feet, bow to 
 each other, and retire, tolerably exhausted, amidst the ac- 
 clamations of the by-standers, to make way for another 
 couple. ' ' 
 
 It was in these Northern and tropical regions of the 
 continent, of course, that the local color was inclined to 
 be not only most brilliant, but most bizarre. This will be 
 obvious enough from Captain Cochrane 's description of 
 the Cock Mass, which is worthy of reproduction in full: 
 
 ''At midnight a curious custom of the Roman Catholic 
 Church was performed, called the Cock Mass, in com- 
 memoration of the crowing of the cock which took place 
 on Peter 's denial of Christ. When the curate commences 
 the service, the people imitate and mock his gesture, tone 
 of voice, and manner of reading ; make all kinds of noise 
 — shouting, bawling, hooting, and imitating the crowing 
 of the cock, with every possible exertion of lungs; the 
 whole forming an exhibition most deafening to the ear, 
 and perfectly ridiculous to the eye. There is another 
 church service, quite as ludicrous and preposterous, on 
 the day of celebrating the Rending of the Veil of the 
 Temple, when our Saviour gave up the ghost. The peo- 
 ple have large hammers, with which they beat the benches, 
 and have sheets of tin, etc., which they shake, to imitate 
 the noise of thunder as nearly as possible. An English 
 colonel, in the republican service, on this occasion thought 
 he could add to the scene, by imitating the English fox- 
 
454 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 hunter's tallyho, which he did with so much strength and 
 clearness of lungs, as quite to excel any noise of other 
 persons; and gained by it so much of the curate's good 
 will, who imagined that his religion was in proportion to 
 the vehemence of his utterance, that after the service he 
 came to him, and seizing his hand, thanked him most 
 cordially for his kind addition to the devotion of the 
 night. ' * 
 
 In 1827 appeared * ' The Present State of Colombia : con- 
 taining an account of the Principal Events of its Revolu- 
 tionary War, the Expeditions fitted out in England to 
 assist in its Emancipation, by an officer," and various 
 other works concerning Colombia appeared at this period. 
 
 It was, by the way, two years previously to this that 
 Charles Waterton published his famous ''Wanderings in 
 South America," a work which has already been fully 
 dealt with in these pages. The same applies to Charles 
 Darwin's ''Voyage of a Naturalist," published in 1840, 
 fifteen years later. 
 
 In 1829 Lieutenant H. Lister Maw, R. N., who, by the 
 way, was the first Englishman to descend the Amazon, 
 published his "Journal of a Passage from the Pacific to 
 the Atlantic, crossing the Andes in the Northern Prov- 
 inces of Peru, and descending the River Maragnon or 
 Amazon. ' ' 
 
 In 1834 Dr. W. H. B. Webster published the "Narrative 
 of a Voyage to the Southern Atlantic Ocean . . . per- 
 formed in H.M. Sloop Chanticleer, under the command of 
 the late Captain Henry Forster, F.R.S., etc." The sub- 
 ject of this has already been dealt with. 
 
 Two years later appeared the "Diary of the Wreck 
 of the H.M. Ship Challenger on the Western Coast of 
 South America, in May, 1835, with an account of the sub- 
 sequent Encampment of the Officer and Crew, during a 
 period of Seven Weeks on the South Coast of Chili." 
 
 In 1835 was produced another interesting work, of 
 wider scope, "Three years in the Pacific, containing no- 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 455 
 
 tices of Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, etc., in 1831, 1832, 
 1833, 1834, by an Officer in the United States Navy." 
 
 In 1836 John Armitage published an important histor- 
 ical work, that still remains as a standard book of refer- 
 ence, the ''History of Brazil, from the period of the ar- 
 rival of the Braganza family in 1808, to the abdication of 
 Don Pedro the First in. 1831, compiled from State Docu- 
 ments, and other Original Sources, forming a continua- 
 tion to Southey's History of that Country." 
 
 Two years later John Hawkshaw added to the compara- 
 tively slender stock of literature on the Northern half 
 of the continent by *' Reminiscences of South America, 
 from Two and a Half Years' Residence in Venezuela." 
 
 In 1838 the Hon. P. C. Scarlett published a book on a 
 road which was now becoming fairly well trodden: 
 "South America and the Pacific, comprising a Journey 
 across the Pampas and the Andes, from Buenos Aires to 
 Valparaiso, Lima, and Panama." 
 
 The following year Sir Woodbine Parish produced a 
 work on ''Buenos Aires and the Provinces of the Rio de 
 la Plata," of considerable intrinsic merit and interest. 
 The views, however, on the politics and development of 
 the river Plate Provinces expressed in this have met with 
 considerable criticism from later writers. 
 
 In 1841 Captain Allen F. Gardiner, R.N., published *'A 
 Visit to the Indians on the Frontiers of Chili," a work 
 which deals with the possibilities of missionary effort 
 among the Araucanian Indians of Southern Chile. It 
 was this book, by the way, which helped toward the forma- 
 tion of the Patagonian Missionary Society, from which 
 sprang the present South American Missionary Society. 
 The closing chapter of the mission of Captain Allen Gar- 
 diner and the story of his death are given in a little book 
 entitled ' ' The Giants of Patagonia, ' ' produced by Captain 
 Browne in 1853. 
 
 In 1842 was published a large and most thorough mono- 
 graph: the "Description of the Skeleton of an extinct 
 
456 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Gigantic Sloth," by Richard Owen, F.R.S. This giant 
 sloth was found some seven leagues to the north of the 
 city of Buenos Aires. The work deals with it in the 
 most important and conscientious fashion, some of the 
 folding illustrations being of a size sufficiently immense 
 to content the pride of the shade even of a gigantic sloth ! 
 
 The following year J. P. and W. P. Robertson gave out 
 *' Letters on South America, comprising Travels on the 
 Banks of the Parana and Rio de la Plata. ' ' 
 
 In 1843 George Jones, M.R.S.L, F.S.V., published **The 
 History of Ancient America . . . proving the identity 
 of the aborigines with the Tyreans and Israelites ; and the 
 introduction of Christianity into the Western Hemisphere 
 by the Apostle St. Thomas." This ambitious work has a 
 correspondingly ambitious frontispiece, representing the 
 bust of the author, classically carved and with shoulders 
 draped with a classic toga. The first volume was dedi- 
 cated to Frederick William the Fourth, King of Prussia, 
 ''with feelings of enthusiasm." And the author contin- 
 ues: "If, in the following pages, your Majesty should 
 recognize Your own portraiture in that of Hiram the 
 Great, it is such as truth and history have designed and 
 coloured ; — fawning flattery and false adulation have not 
 added even a thought to embellish, where Patriotism has 
 so nobly consolidated"! 
 
 Then came the question of the second volume ! 
 
 Its dedication is on a par with the rest. From this it 
 appears that *'An Illustrious Prince" was first chosen for 
 the distinction. But this Prince, inclined to hedge 
 waived his right suggesting instead ' ' some Theologian of 
 high rank among the sacred Profession, and eminent for 
 Learning and Piety." This person, concluded George 
 Jones, could be no other than the Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, and in three sentences — ^which occupy two pages — 
 he lays his work at the prelate 's feet. 
 
 Is it necessary to say more? George Jones was a 
 crank, and his book is that of a crank ! Yet some of its 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 457 
 
 matter has been quoted by some later authors whose work 
 was not without weight. 
 
 In order to find a companion-volume for this last I 
 will drag from its proper chronological place another 
 book which I imagine — though I have not had the advan- 
 tage of reading it — ^may be safely introduced into the 
 crank section, if by no other virtue than that of its il- 
 luminating title, which is *' Researches into the Lost His- 
 tories of America, or the Zodiac shown to be an old Ter- 
 restrial Map in which the Atlantic Isle is delineated, so 
 that light can be thrown upon the obscure Histories of the 
 Earthworks and Ruined Cities of America." This work, 
 published in 1883, is, I believe, eloquent of the alleged 
 demons of South America, and is from the pen of Mr. W. 
 S. Blacket. 
 
 In 1846, when the power of the Argentine Dictator 
 Rosas was at its height. Colonel J. A. King gave to the 
 world : * ' Twenty-four years in the Argentine Republic, 
 embracing the author's personal adventures with the 
 Civil and Military History of the Country, and an account 
 of its political Condition, before and during the Adminis- 
 tration of Governor Rosas," etc. Let it be said of this 
 book that it is as wild as were the times it was written in 
 — and, in many pages, a good deal wilder ! But much of 
 the local color is undoubtedly accurate, and all that is 
 necessary is a grain or two of salt to apply to the adven- 
 ture portion of the book ! 
 
 How thoroughly General Rosas understood the art of 
 propaganda may be gathered from an inspired small book 
 published in 1844: ''Buenos Aires-Monte Video and 
 Affairs in the River Plate." This is in the form of a 
 letter to the Earl of Aberdeen by a Mr. Alfred Mallalieu, 
 and constitutes a spirited defense of Rosas' methods of 
 government and political outlook. 
 
 Three years later the American historian W. H. Pres- 
 cott published his "History of the Conquest of Peru"; a 
 famous work, and a classic, which, of course, needs no de- 
 
458 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 scription here, beyond the remark that it has familiarized 
 the English-speaking public to a quite unhoped-for extent 
 with the affairs of the ancient Inca race, as well as with 
 those of the Spanish conquistadors, and with the amazing 
 personality of the greatest of them all — Pizarro, the one- 
 time swineherd, who carved out his own vice-royalty, and 
 who reigned there as an actual king ! 
 
 Among the works on Brazil about this period are: 
 George Gardner's ''Travels in the Interior of Brazil, prin- 
 cipally through the Northern Provinces, and the Gold and 
 Diamond Districts, during the years 183&-41" (1846); 
 W. H. Edwards' ** Voyages up the Eiver Amazon, in- 
 cluding a Residence at Para" (1847), and R. Dundas' 
 ''Sketches of Brazil, including new views on Tropical 
 and European Fever" (1852). 
 
 In 1848 Commander Mackinnon published his "Steam 
 Warfare in the Parana, a narartive of operations by the 
 combined squadrons of England and France in forcing a 
 passage up that River." 
 
 In 1848-52 Sir Arthur Helps published his ' ' Conquer- 
 ors of the New World, ' ' a sufficiently notable production, 
 although not of the importance of ' ' The Spanish Conquest 
 of America" (1855), or the "Life of Columbus" by the 
 same author. 
 
 In 1852, Sir William Gore Ousley published his "Views 
 in South America from original drawings made in Brazil, 
 the River Plate, the Parana, etc." These views appear 
 to have attained to a sufficiently wide popularity, and we 
 find them employed for the illustration of several later 
 volumes by other authors. 
 
 Of the naturalists who have been referred to in a previ- 
 ous chapter Alfred R. Wallace published his "Narrative 
 of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro" in 1853, while 
 Bates gave out his "Naturalist on the River Amazons" 
 ten years later. Of a third naturalist, Richard Spruce, 
 who has already been referred to, it may be repeated that 
 his various notes, letters, and minor works were only 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 459 
 
 published in complete volume form in 1908, when they 
 were edited by Wallace. There is one paragraph from 
 these writings of Spruce which may very well be included 
 here, since it illustrates rather curiously the mid-nine- 
 teenth century literary taste in some of the remoter parts 
 of Venezuela : 
 
 "When I reached San Carlos in Venezuela the only 
 books in the Spanish language existing there were *E1 
 Sepulcro, por Anna Radcliffe,' and a translation of one 
 of the Duchesse d'Abrantes' novels. They are scarcely 
 more numerous at Tarapoto, where one of the most fa- 
 mous books is 'Waverley o' ahora sesenta anos, por Sir 
 Gualterio Scott. ' In short, so far as I can judge of South 
 America from having seen only the most thinly inhabited 
 portions of it, I can truly say that Mrs. Eadcliffe, Walter 
 Scott, and Alexandre Dumas are far more popular there 
 than Cervantes and Camoens. To the credit of the Bra- 
 zilians, they are far more familiar with the 'Lusiads' than 
 the Spanish Americans are with 'Don Quixote.' " 
 
 The same year was published W. MacCann's "Two 
 Thousand Miles' Ride through the Argentine Provinces," 
 one of the most interesting books of its kind on the pampa. 
 
 A work notable for its botanical as well as for its gen- 
 eral information was produced in 1853 by Dr. George 
 Gardiner, superintendent of the Royal Botanic Gardens, 
 Ceylon: ''Travels in the Interior of Brazil; principally 
 through the Northern Provinces, and the Gold and Dia- 
 mond Districts, during the years 1836-41." 
 
 Even less known country was touched on in 1854 by 
 L. H. de Bonelli, secretary to the British legation in Bo- 
 livia, in "Travels in Bolivia, with a tour across the 
 Pampas to Buenos Aires, etc." 
 
 In the same year William Hadfield, who had resided 
 for several years in Brazil, published a work, "Brazil, 
 the River Plate, and the Falkland Islands." The in- 
 formation he gives concerning Brazil is copious and valu- 
 able, and — although here his status was only that of a 
 
460 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 traveler — he has much to say on the river Plate countries 
 that is well worth perusal. Many pages concern them- 
 selves closely with the personalities and parties of the 
 great Argentine dictator Rosas and his one-time adjutant 
 and subsequent rival Urquiza. Hadfield's book appears 
 to have attracted considerable attention at the time, and 
 was widely quoted by many of the following writers on 
 the river Plate countries. But this is undoubtedly as 
 much due to the moment at which the work appeared as to 
 its intrinsic merit. Its publication, just after the fall of 
 Rosas, coincided with the ushering in of the new liberal 
 epoch of the river Plate. 
 
 The following year a certain recrudescence in the pub- 
 lic interest in bucaneer affairs was assisted by Mr. G. W. 
 Thornbury's ''The Monarchs of the Main; or, Adven- 
 tures of the Buccaneers." 
 
 *' South American Sketches, or a visit to Rio Janeiro, 
 the Organ Mountains, La Plata, and the Parana," is the 
 title of a book produced in 1863 by Mr. T. W. Hinchliff. 
 Beyond the intrinsic interest of its subject, this work is 
 notable for a merit which is wont to be lacking in so many 
 books of travel — a literary excellence which makes it most 
 admirable reading. The cheery touch of this author may 
 be exampled in passages such as the one describing a 
 shooting expedition on the Uruguay River : ' ' Sometimes 
 a strong whirr told us that a partridge had taken to the 
 wood, and betrayed the course of his flight ; sometimes a 
 sharp flapping overhead warned us that wood-pigeons 
 were hovering about the tops of the trees ; and sometimes 
 a clatter like that of angry Irishwomen in an alley an- 
 nounced the immediate neighborhood of a flock of par- 
 rots. All these in turn fell victims, and were most 
 sweetly and harmoniously combined into a mighty pie, the 
 flavour of which I shall never forget, and which I can 
 confidently recommend to any one starting for the pas- 
 tures of the Uruguay." 
 
 And then there was that gigantic toad that was pre- 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 461 
 
 sented to a friend of Hinchliff's in Brazil: the creature 
 that was as big as a hat, and that sat in front of its 
 alarmed owner, and '^ opened its mouth like an oyster, 
 barked like a dog, and flew at his legs ! ' ' 
 
 It does not require the incentive of a direct interest in 
 South America to appreciate such touches as these ! 
 
 One of the most important British books of the mid- 
 nineteenth century was written by Mr. C. B. Mansfield 
 who visited South America in 1852-53. Less than two 
 years after his return from the Southern continent, Mans- 
 field met with an accident which caused his death, and 
 the MS. of his work, *' Paraguay, Brazil, and the Plate," 
 was left incomplete in some respects. 
 
 Charles Kingsley, a friend and keen admirer of Mans- 
 field's, has added a biographical and appreciative note to 
 the posthumous volume, which ends with the invocation: 
 *'0h, fairest of souls! Happy those who knew thee in 
 this life ! Happier those who will know thee in the life to 
 come ! ' ' 
 
 Charles Kingsley was no careless squanderer of en- 
 thusiasm, and its subject seems to have been amply 
 worthy of these exclamations. ''From Winchester," 
 says Kingsley, ''he went to Cambridge; and none who 
 knew him there but must recollect with pleasure his 
 graceful figure, slight and delicate, yet trained to all ath- 
 letic sports, and of an activity almost incredible; his 
 forehead full and high, and yet most bland ; his fair locks ; 
 his finely-cut features, most gentle and most pure; his 
 eyes beaming with thought, honesty, humor, and a super- 
 abundance of genial life, such as I who write have never 
 beheld in any other man. ' ' 
 
 High praise, this, from the man whose "Westward 
 Ho" and "Hypatia" were the fruits of only a measure of 
 his various powers ! 
 
 Charles Mansfield, a remarkable man, visited South 
 America at a remarkable period. From the time of Wil- 
 liam Hawkins to the present day very few British have 
 
462 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 gone out to South America for the purpose of philosophiz- 
 ing. But Mansfield went for no other reason. The in- 
 land State of Paraguay was his chief objective, for the 
 mystery of isolation had appealed strongly to his im- 
 agination. He was determined to make an attempt to 
 see the strange land with his own eyes, and to probe into 
 the whys and wherefores of the country that was com- 
 monly known at the time as the ' ' Inland Japan. ' ' What 
 a different impression would this simile render if it were 
 coined afresh to-day ! 
 
 Now, judged superficially, Mansfield would have seemed 
 the last man to hobnob successfully with the rank and 
 file of the South Americans of that period. He was what 
 is popularly known as a ''character." He detested all 
 tobacco smoke, abominated the idea of eating animal flesh, 
 was rather deaf, and held strong views on the economy of 
 labor, honoring as he did the producer and utterly de- 
 spising the trader. He was an ardent believer in the 
 mission of the British race, and occasionally loved to 
 burst into a song of prophecy that was a curious mixture 
 of ecstasy and sound common sense. In addition to all 
 this he was one of the most promising young chemists in 
 England, and his book exhibits most generously that flow 
 of humor to which Kingsley alludes. 
 
 Mansfield was peculiarly susceptible to the beauty of 
 landscape, and these are his exclamations on first setting 
 foot in Brazil: ''What a Paradise is, or at least might 
 be, this country if it were possessed by the English. I 
 do not feel at all sure that I am not dead, and have not 
 recommenced another life. . . . The beauty is almost be- 
 wildering. The glorious cocoa-nut trees, bananas, and 
 several kinds of palms, breadfruit, etc., etc., and the mag- 
 nificent green oranges. ... I am too giddy to write so- 
 berly about anything. I feel inclined to cut capers under 
 the trees till I am tired, then sigh like a hippopotamus 
 for some one to pour it all out upon, and then lie down 
 and dream. ' ' 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 463 
 
 Mansfield's relations with the very varied types of 
 humanity with whom he was brought into contact seem to 
 have been most cordial. He stayed among the Fazen- 
 deiros of Brazil — the owners of slaves and sugar and 
 coffee and cotton lands, — with their flowered cotton 
 jackets and bediamonded hands, and pronounced them 
 trumps. Arrived in the river Plate, armed with a letter 
 of introduction from Admiral Grenfell, he went to see 
 Urquiza, the all-powerful Protector of the river Plate 
 Provinces of that period, and after contrasting with some 
 dismay his own ancient garments with the smart clothes 
 of those who now surrounded him, he found himself in 
 the presence of '*a very respectable English farmer-like, 
 honest-looking man, in a neat blue uniform coat and white 
 waistcoat, with a lot of officials and applicants sitting or 
 standing in a row at the side." Urquiza received Mans- 
 field most politely, and, having been granted the freedom 
 of the great Argentine rivers, Mansfield bowed himself 
 out, ''thinking him really a hero and a trump." 
 
 At the same time it must be said that Mansfield's first 
 impressions of the town of Buenos Aires were far frOm 
 favorable. The hand of man had not yet embellished the 
 alluvial flats of its site, and the numbers of decaying 
 carcasses of cattle which then littered the outskirts of the 
 city were especially offensive to so ardent a respecter 
 of animal life as Mansfield. 
 
 Indeed, existence for so enthusiastic a vegetarian must 
 have presented a good many problems in a land where 
 the phenomenal superabundance of butcher's meat caused 
 the cultivation of vegetables to be almost entirely 
 neglected. But no circumstances of mere physical dis- 
 comfort could disturb his equanimity, and it was with his 
 unfailing serenity that he started in a small sailing vessel 
 up the Parana Eiver on the first stage of his inland voy- 
 age to Paraguay. 
 
 The moment was a notable one in the history of Para- 
 guay. Carlos Lopez, the dictator of the inland republic. 
 
464. BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 was about to suffer the veil to be torn from its frontiers. 
 Foreigners were at length to be permitted to tread its 
 long-secluded and mysterious soil. Sir Charles Hotham, 
 the British special envoy, and his French colleague were 
 about to steam up the rivers to Paraguay in their re- 
 spective war vessels in order to conclude treaties with 
 the Government of the hermit state. So Mansfield un- 
 dertook his journey in high hopes of being one of the 
 favored first to see with their own eyes the workings of 
 this beautiful land of seclusion and rumor. 
 
 The journey to Corrientes, the northernmost port of 
 Argentina, where the rivers Paraguay and Parana join 
 their waters, took a month, during which time Mansfield 
 fed himself chiefly on ship's biscuits and raisins, dived 
 overboard every morning for his swim, notwithstanding 
 the fierce current which occasionally ran, and observed 
 all things with an unfailing acuteness, from the people, 
 landscape, birds, beasts, and fishes to the bottles of Bass 's 
 pale ale and the rolls of Manchester cottons which already 
 lay by the side of the local brown sugar and yerha mate 
 in the recently erected stores on the river bank. He was 
 a keenly interested spectator, too, of the games of pelota 
 — the river Plate fives, and considered that **a Gaucho 
 boy or two, turned loose on ball court at Winton, would 
 astonish a Wykehamist a little." 
 
 At Corrientes occurred a very long halt, while President 
 Lopez's permission to enter Paraguay was awaited. 
 This period Mansfield occupied in studying the natural 
 history and botany of the district, and in gazing across 
 the great river, speculating on the inherent possibilities 
 of the forests and swamps of the opposite Chaco bank 
 which the dread of the untamed Indians — though numbers 
 of these latter frequently visited Corrientes — kept so en- 
 tirely shut off from the white man that the mile or so of 
 stream which flowed between the two might well have 
 been a thousand! 
 
 The long period of suspense would have been weari- 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 465 
 
 some enough for most people; but Mansfield's enthusiasm 
 was sufficient to provide him with joys of his own, as will 
 be evident from the note that rings in his meeting with 
 the giant crane, when he saw : 
 
 * ' The most magnificent bird I ever beheld : he must be 
 the king that was sent down from heaven to meet the 
 demands of the frogs — a perfect emperor of cranes. I 
 had just been watching a big heron, when I caught sight 
 of this fellow. At first I thought he was a cow, and then 
 that he was a man ; at last I perceived that his gait was 
 far too stately for any biped but a bird, and he let me 
 come as close to him as the length of an ordinary room ; 
 and he was all snow-white, except his beak and his head 
 and his neck, between the black and white, which was deep 
 red; and his beak was ponderous, like unto a pelican's, 
 and full a foot long, with a heavy lower jaw. He must 
 have stood five feet high without his boots, and he let me 
 look at him ever so long, and he stalked about quite 
 promiscuous; and there was close to him a big white 
 heron, that looked quite small ; and as I sat and wondered, 
 he spread his wings, all snow-white, and sailed straight 
 away down south for miles and miles, till the speck of 
 white in the sky was too small to see." 
 
 In passages such as these Mansfield is an awkward 
 man to quote from, since the difficulty arises in knowing 
 where to stop. 
 
 Mansfield had planned to enter Paraguay with two 
 friends of his, a French diplomat and his wife, and even 
 after permission had been received from Lopez the vaga- 
 ries of these excellent but irresponsible people increased 
 the delay. At length he received an intimation that his 
 companions would start immediately. Mansfield explains 
 that he did not believe it in the least, but was bound to 
 act as if he did ! However on this occasion the alarm was 
 no false one, and presently the party had set out on horse- 
 back on its way to Paraguay. 
 
 Mansfield's description of his costume is instructive in 
 
466 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 itself. Among his garments was a white cotton poncho, 
 Manchester made, but Corrientes bought; Gaucho belt 
 containing Spanish doubloons ; magnificent silvery spurs, 
 Buenos Aires bought but Birmingham made, a water- 
 proof Eio-de- Janeiro bought, London made; and then 
 there was his recado, his Gaucho saddle of horse-cloths, 
 hides, and sheep-fleece — *'a thing like the back of a huge 
 caterpillar, suddenly petrified into an enquiring atti- 
 tude." 
 
 So they set off, across the fair prairies, woodlands and 
 marshes of Corrientes, poor Mansfield bearing the burden 
 of Madame 's parrot in its cage, that had been transferred 
 to his uncomplaining arms by the somewhat imperious 
 lady ! Indeed, reading between the lines, there seems no 
 doubt that Mansfield's kindly personality was made the 
 fullest use of by Madame G., as well as by her stout hus- 
 band, who always wore a little sword by his side, and 
 whom Mansfield "admired with a great reverence" when 
 he set his horse into a very slow canter. 
 
 At length the party arrived at the bank of the Alto 
 Parana River, on the further side of which lay the long- 
 shrouded country of Paraguay. Scarcely had they made 
 their appearance there when from a little fort on the 
 Paraguayan shore a canoe was paddled lustily across by 
 seven splendid specimens of manhood, some of which were 
 quite fair, and not one of whom bore the slightest trace 
 of Indian blood. The men, says Mansfield, were utterly 
 unlike any others he had previously seen in South Amer- 
 ica. Paraguay had provided its first surprise ! 
 
 After this they were ferried across in grand style, and 
 the secret of their prompt reception was now made evi- 
 dent. High up in the branches of a tree was a look-out 
 post from which a lad was watching continually. 
 "And," says Mansfield, "I presume he is there still. 
 This is a part of the rigid system of vigilance by which 
 all intruders have been kept off the coasts of the inland 
 Japan." 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 467 
 
 The Pa^raguayan Government, having admitted Mans- 
 field and his friends, did the thing handsomely, and 
 treated them as its guests, itself providing the horses and 
 men necessary for each stage of the journey to Asuncion, 
 the capital. It was a queer world in which the newcomers 
 found themselves. The idyllic landscape was populated 
 for the most part by soldiers in very smart and service- 
 able uniforms, but barefooted, the majority of the officers 
 being likewise unshod — a fashion which has always been 
 popular in Paraguay as much from motives of choice as 
 from those of economy. 
 
 Some regiments, remarks our author, of these men — 
 for the most part unusually fair-skinned — ^wore trousers, 
 others the Gaucho Calzoncillos and Chiripas. But when 
 off duty they strolled to and fro almost in a state of 
 nudity. 
 
 Mansfield was much struck by the law and order, neat- 
 ness and cleanliness that, under the despotism of the 
 elder Lopez, prevailed in Paraguay at that period. It 
 was with amazement that he contrasted these advantages 
 of that very remote state with the contemporary slovenli- 
 ness and neglect that was all too evident in Northern Ar- 
 gentina. In the long interval which has elapsed since 
 Mansfield's visit these circumstances have tended to re- 
 verse themselves. This would seem to prove that, al- 
 though autocracy may provide a short cut to law and 
 order, the awkward and slow-grinding wheels of democ- 
 racy do their task more thoroughly in the long run ! 
 
 Some idea of the manner in which matters were carried 
 on in the hermit kingdom of Paraguay may be gleaned 
 from the method by which a large lawn in the neighbor- 
 hood of the military headquarters of this frontier post 
 was kept spotlessly tidy. Five hundred men, explains 
 Mansfield, under charge of their officers were marched out 
 to pick up with their fingers every spot of dirt and every 
 sign of weed, and the gleanings were borne off on hides 
 stretched on poles, each carried by four men ! 
 
468 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Mansfield's first night in Paraguay was in its way as 
 stirring as anything he could ever have pictured ! Every 
 half -hour the loud challenges of the sentinels rang round 
 the camp, and at two o'clock in the morning a powerful 
 military band shattered the balmy night air by a lengthy 
 outpouring of stirring airs. Now — although Mansfield 
 does not appear to have been aware of it — this seems to 
 me without doubt to have been a survival of the old 
 Paraguayan Jesuit Mission days, when drums and fifes 
 used to parade through the settlements at night for a 
 purpose which any one who cares to study the early 
 Jesuit authors may learn for themselves. 
 
 In sylvan Paraguay, where cattle were less ubiquitous 
 than in the Southern prairies, and where mandioca and 
 tropical fruits and vegetables abounded, Mansfield's daily 
 bill of fare became comparatively sumptuous. Maintain- 
 ing the unbroken cordiality of his relations with the vari- 
 ous officials and others with whom he came into contact, 
 he, accompanied by his French friends, completed the 
 journey to Asuncion almost without incident. On his 
 arrival there he found that the first foreign trading 
 steamer to enter the port had dropped anchor on the 
 previous day ! 
 
 In Asuncion, Mansfield continued to wonder at the pro- 
 portion of fair-haired and fair-skinned people, notwith- 
 standing the fact that the Guarani Indian strain largely 
 predominated in the population and that the Guarani 
 tongue was the general speech of the country. 
 
 Mansfield settled himself down with his rare and en- 
 thusiastic intelligence to study the curious and romantic 
 capital, its surroundings, inhabitants, and the intricacies 
 of the Guarani tongue. Soon after his arrival H.M.S. 
 Locust steamed up, and Sir Charles Hotham, the British 
 envoy, landed in order to recognize officially on the part 
 of his Government the independence of Paraguay, and to 
 draw up a treaty of commerce between that nation and 
 Great Britain. 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 469 
 
 Mansfield had already been introduced to the family of 
 Carlos Lopez, the dictator of Paraguay, and among the 
 rest had met young Francisco Solano Lopez, who some 
 fifteen years later was destined to plunge central South 
 America into an ocean of blood. His description of the 
 ball given by Hotham in honor of the diplomatic occasion 
 — a function at which those humble folk who were not ad- 
 mitted congregated outside, and thrust their naked legs 
 into the ballroom through the bars of the windows, hold- 
 ing on to the upper part with their arms — is worth giving 
 in full: 
 
 ''I was riding along the street yesterday, near the 
 square in which the government buildings are, and heard 
 a precious firing of rockets and viva-mg. Behold ! The 
 people were carrying the portrait of the President from 
 the Cabildo to the ballroom; the noise was adulation of 
 the effigy. Li the evening he came to the ball ; he arrived 
 a few minutes before I did, so I lost the sight of his 
 entry ; when I came he was sitting in an armchair at the 
 end of the room in a magnificent uniform, with a huge 
 gold-headed cane in his hand : there he sat for about two 
 hours, the most perfect picture of pompous good humor ; 
 on his right sat his wife, like any queen. I did not notice 
 a single Paraguayan except his wife and his son (a young 
 lad of twenty or so, the general of the army) go near him. 
 The representatives of the foreign powers that are here 
 went up and saluted him as they came in ; he stood up to 
 shake hands with Sir C. Hotham, an honor which he also 
 accorded to the Brazilian minister, but to no one else. I 
 went up with two other Englishmen and made obeisance 
 to him, at which he looked highly pleased ; I do not think 
 any one else went near. Two gentlemen, Argentines, ac- 
 tually danced a solo before him, intended for and called 
 an English hornpipe. At last, about ten p.m. (the ball 
 was opened at eight, by his son dancing with his daugh- 
 ter) he rose and walked out of the room, amidst the ob- 
 sequious bows of some and the retreating of others ; and 
 
470 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 as he departed under shouts of 'Viva la Republican del 
 Paraguay!' 'Viva el excelentisimo Senor Presidentel' 
 the stiffness suddenly relaxed, a hum of talk pervaded 
 the room, the good-natured Presidente burst into a bland 
 smile and swept into the seat just vacated by her husband, 
 and there she sat without moving, except once to go and 
 take refreshments, till the end." 
 
 Half a century and more ago a president of Paraguay 
 was worth an emperor of decadent Eome and a Chinese 
 mandarin put together! 
 
 But we have no space to follow Mansfield and his de- 
 lightful reflections any longer. They are plain enough to 
 read in his book, which is just over sixty years old. 
 Moved by a sudden impulse, he determined to return to 
 England, so he took a cordial farewell of President Lopez, 
 and made a bargain for his voyage downstream with a 
 ship's captain, who at the time of the compact happened 
 to be in the guardhouse with his feet in the stocks — ^no 
 uncommon position even for the most blameless and wor- 
 thy people in Paraguay of the mid-nineteenth century ! 
 
 Only one incident of Mansfield's downstream voyage 
 need be referred to here. Having just left the land 
 of a despot in the full flush of his power he was fated 
 during his halt of a few hours at the Argentine town 
 of Parana to pick up a link with the destiny of another 
 autocrat, one who had been banished, and was living in 
 retirement in England — Rosas of Argentina. It is only 
 a passing remark that Mansfield makes on the subject, but 
 to one acquainted with the affairs of Rosas, and his 
 charming daughter Dona Manuelita, who is said to have 
 exercised so strong an influence over the British minister, 
 it is significant enough. The British minister. Captain 
 Gore, happened to be on a visit at Parana, and Mansfield 
 took the opportunity of calling on him. Just as he was 
 embarking again Captain Gore came down to the beach 
 on horseback. Would Mansfield call on the Rosas when 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 471 
 
 he got back to England, he asked, and tell Manuelita that 
 he had seen him on her horse ? 
 
 Sheer gossip, this, of course. But it is not Mansfield 
 himself who tells the tale in gossipy fashion^how could 
 he, in the three and a half lines he devotes to the episode? 
 — and if any one is to be hauled over the coals for dis- 
 seminating mild scandal, it is not Mansfield, with his head 
 high up among the incurious stars, but the mundane 
 author of these notes ! With this final vindication of his 
 character we may take a reluctant leave of Mansfield. 
 
 After this, I fear, unreasonably lengthy devotion of 
 space to the affairs of a single author, we must of neces- 
 sity return to skimpier notices. 
 
 Just about this period it may be said that there were 
 issued a certain number of notable North American pub- 
 lications on South America. One of these is a very com- 
 prehensive and finely produced work, describing : ' ' The 
 United States Naval Astronomical Expedition to the 
 Southern Hemisphere, Chile," by Lieutenant J. M. Gil- 
 liss, United States Navy, which saw the light in 1856. 
 
 In the same year Thomas Ewbank wrote a full and val- 
 uable account of Brazil in its mid-imperial days: ''Life 
 in Brazil, or the Land of the Cocoa and the Palm, with an 
 Appendix, containing Illustrations of Ancient South 
 American Arts," etc. 
 
 The following year was published in Washington by 
 0. P. Kidder and J. C. Fletcher a notable book, the title 
 of which will speak for itself : ' ' Brazil and the Brazilians, 
 portrayed in Historical and Descriptive Sketches. ' ' This 
 work, by two very observant North American mission- 
 aries, which gave an unusually clear insight into the Bra- 
 zilian life of that time, ran into many editions, and I can- 
 not be quite positive that the date of the one I have given 
 is the first. But in any case the book must be classed as 
 one of the fullest and most valuable of those which deal 
 with the life and manners of the Brazilian Empire. 
 
472 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 A third volume which may complete this particular 
 series in James WetherelPs ** Stray Notes from Bahia: 
 Being Extracts from Letters, etc., during a Residence of 
 Fifteen Years." (1860.) 
 
 One of the most valuable contributions of this period 
 to the literature on the little-known State of Paraguay 
 was the work of an American naval officer, Thomas J. 
 Page, who steamed up to Asuncion in his warship, the 
 Waterwitch. This very complete study is entitled: **La 
 Plata, the Argentine Confederation, and Paraguay." 
 
 In 1859 was published an edition (whether the first or 
 not, I am unable to say,) of the great Cochrane 's mem- 
 oirs: ** Narrative of Services in the Liberation of Chili, 
 Peru, and Brazil, from Spanish and Portuguese Domi- 
 nation" (1817-25). 
 
 A volume which contains a rather unusual wealth of 
 information is one published by William BoUaert in 1860 : 
 *' Antiquarian, Ethnological, and other Researches in 
 New Granada, Equador, Peru, and Chile." This book is 
 primarily concerned with the etymology, lore, rock-sculp- 
 ture, arts, and customs of the Incas and Chibchas. But 
 beyond this its unusually wide scope of subjects includes 
 a survey of the modern Indian tribes of the north of the 
 continent; travels from the northernmost coast to Cape 
 Horn and the Magellan Straits, a useful gazetteer of 
 many districts, a study of the conditions of mining and 
 other industries, and the records of some pioneer survey- 
 ing carried out in Tarapaca. 
 
 In the 1860 's, when the commercial possibilities of the 
 countries of the river Plate were becoming evident, a con- 
 siderable number of volumes were issued on this subject. 
 
 A most prolific writer of this period was Thomas J. 
 Hutchinson, who, in his ''Journey through the Salado 
 Valley," covers most subjects from farms to fortifica- 
 tions, and whose portrait is presented in another of his 
 works — "Two Years in Peru" — as an Inca monarch 
 crowned with the imperial "llauta" — and this notwith- 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 473 
 
 standing his spreading beard, of which hirsute appendage 
 the Incas were entirely innocent ! 
 
 A most instructive volume of this author's, published 
 in 1865, is "Buenos Aires and Argentine Gleanings," 
 which describes in great, and frequently picturesque, de- 
 tail the life, landscape, and industries of Argentina as 
 they were at that date. 
 
 Important though this contribution was to the contem- 
 porary knowledge of the southeastern portion of the con- 
 tinent, it was outweighed in many respects in the follow- 
 ing year by Wilfred Latham's ''The States of the Eiver 
 Plate." Mr. Latham does not write as a traveler; his 
 graphic descriptions are those of a land which he had 
 made his home. When he describes the Campo, it is as 
 a practical ''camp" man, part of whose every-day life it 
 was to ride side by side with the Gauchos. As an expert 
 in livestock his book is filled with hints which were of 
 great value at the time, and some of which are even now 
 not out of date. Time has since proved the soundness 
 of Latham's judgment. For instance, although his work 
 appeared a considerable while before the days of meat 
 freezing or chilling, he clearly foresaw some process of 
 the kind, and prophesied the tremendous importance that 
 river Plate livestock was destined to assume in the world, 
 and the extraordinary movement in the breeds which 
 would one day tread the plains. 
 
 Yes, it is obvious to one who peruses Latham's pages 
 that the author leans over and speaks from his saddle, 
 as it were. But he does more than tell his reader how 
 to run a mid-nineteenth century estancia, how to treat 
 cattle and sheep, and of what climatic perils and vege- 
 table pests to beware. He describes to the life the loves 
 and hatreds, sports and duels, the gambling bouts and 
 songs, of the Gaucho. 
 
 Now and again he grows chatty and tells an anecdote 
 such as the one which he says was current in a certain 
 district in Entre Rios. I will give it here : 
 
474 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 *'A true specimen of the Gaucho par excellence, dis- 
 mounting at the hut of a conocedo (acquaintance) found 
 him writhing and groaning under the most violent rheu- 
 matic pain. The fellow looked commiseratingly on the 
 suffering friend, and ejaculating, 'Povrecito, povrecito!' 
 (poor fellow, poor fellow!), gently took him by the beard 
 with one hand, and coolly drawing his knife with the oth- 
 er, passed the sharp edge across his suffering friend's 
 throat, and put him out of his misery ; then, commending 
 him to the 'Virgen,' took his departure, satisfied with 
 having performed a humane act." 
 
 Perhaps it requires one acquainted with the character 
 of the now almost extinct Gaucho proper fully to appre- 
 ciate this story. 
 
 Latham's account of the scenes which occurred at Bue- 
 nos Aires — ^where he happened to be at the time — after 
 the fall of the Dictator Rosas, is an invaluable one. He 
 explains the part played by the patrols of combined Ar- 
 gentines and British in suppressing the temporary disor- 
 der which arose, and describes a meeting between one of 
 these patrols, of which he formed a member, and a gang 
 of brigands. This occurred just outside his own house, 
 and at the critical moment Latham was astonished to 
 hear the treble shouts of his two very small daughters: 
 * ' Shoot 'em dead. Papa — shoot 'em dead ! ' ' 
 
 Finally, when the liberal regime of Argentina set in in 
 earnest, Latham appears to have been of real service in 
 mediating between the Argentine government and a some- 
 what hasty and tactless British consul, as well as assist- 
 ing to settle other matters in which the conflicting inter- 
 ests of foreigners were concerned. 
 
 To turn to Peru — and back a couple of years — we come 
 across a couple of volumes which are sufficiently eloquent 
 as to the disturbed condition of the country at the time. 
 The first is by Captain Melville White: ''Britons Robbed, 
 Tortured, and Murdered in Peru" (1862) ; the second, a 
 year later, by Henry de Wolfe Carvell, deals with other 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 475 
 
 outrages, and with the insecurity of British property in 
 Peru which prevailed at the time. 
 
 Two years later again was published a very notable 
 book by Viscount Bury: ''The Exodus of the Western 
 Nations," which illustrates fully and adequately the trend 
 of the European toward the southern, as well as the 
 northern, part of the Americas. 
 
 One of the grimmest tragedies of South American his- 
 tory, the Paraguayan war, was responsible for a certain 
 number of books, principally from the pens of those who 
 had been caught in the toils of the struggle, and, like the 
 Paraguayans themselves, had suffered at the hands of 
 the merciless Francisco Solano Lopez. 
 
 Two important volumes of the kind were ' ' Seven Event- 
 ful Years in Paraguay," by Gr. F. Masterton, and "The 
 Paraguayan War," by George Thompson, both of which 
 were published in 1869. Sir Thomas Hutchinson also re- 
 fers to this subject in 1868 in his "The Parana; with In- 
 cidents of the Paraguayan War and South American 
 Eecollections. ' ' 
 
 Sir Richard Burton as a writer on South America, 
 comes, of course, within the same group as Southey, Car- 
 lyle, and other famous men, whose connection with the 
 southern continent was somewhat apart from the main 
 trend of their careers. 
 
 Burton's genius, as a matter of fact, seemed to assim- 
 ilate less with the verdurous new Western world than 
 with the parched and mystic East. In 1869 he published : 
 ' ' Exploration of the Highlands of Brazil : with a Full Ac- 
 count of the Gold and Diamond Mines. Also Canoeing 
 down 1500 Miles of the Great River Sao Francisco from 
 Sabana to the Sea." This was followed in 1870 by "Let- 
 ters from the Battle-Fields of Paraguay." 
 
 Both of these volumes, of course, cannot fail to possess 
 a certain interest of their own. Yet it is obvious from 
 their pages that the Burton of South America is not the 
 Richard Burton, the household word, of the East. At the 
 
476 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 same time it must be said tliat Burton, when consul at 
 Santos, gave some clear indications of the bent which was 
 to lead him so far in the Orient in his excellent notes and 
 annotations of the translation of Hans Stade 's Captivity, 
 published by the Hakluyt Society in 1874. 
 
 From the British point of view, South America has 
 lacked its Fenimore Cooper — speaking at hazard, I do 
 not think that a writer of the kind exists even in the Cas- 
 tilian tongue — ^but the hostile Indian adventures of the 
 outlying British settlers in Argentina have been fre- 
 quently described by themselves. 
 
 Instances of this are to be met with in such volumes 
 as "Pioneering in the Pampas," by Richard Arthur Sey- 
 mour, published in 1869, which graphically describe the 
 Indian raids on the new estancias, incursions which left 
 several British homesteads smoldering and ownerless. 
 
 Before closing the first section of the English litera- 
 ture dealing with South America, we must go back a year 
 to deal with the translation in 1868 by Mrs. Horace Mann 
 of a notable work by a brilliant Argentine author, and a 
 prominent personage of that nation, Domingo F. Sar- 
 miento: "Life in the Argentine Republic in the Days of 
 the Tyrants ; or. Civilization and Barbarism. ' ' The title 
 of the book speaks for itself. Its pages, it is true, deal 
 with controversial matter, and many of the statements 
 are keenly disputed ; but as a study of Argentina in her 
 early desperate political throes the work is of absorbing 
 interest. 
 
 In this same year was published a book which, although 
 interesting and pleasant enough in itself, is so thoroughly 
 sketchy and inaccurate in its detail as to recall in parts 
 a twentieth century article which a victimized London 
 magazine perpetrated on South American affairs, and 
 which gravely gave out as endearing terms certain South 
 American epithets, which were not only unpolished, but 
 quite unspeakable in normal society. 
 
 This racy production is "A Long Vacation in the Ar- 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 477 
 
 gentine Alps," by H. C. Eoss Johnson. In justice to the 
 author it must be explained that his solecisms are mostly 
 concerned with his rendering of Spanish phrases. But 
 in this he is unusually thorough, for it is not every one 
 who can misspell four words out of a sentence of five! 
 Mr. Johnson shows how efficiently this can be done by 
 taking a phrase which he gives in English as, ''Don 
 Henry, do you wish coffee?" and by turning it into the 
 following alleged Castilian: "Don Enriquez, query U 
 caffef" To those ignorant of the mellow Southern 
 tongue it may be explained that the first word alone here 
 is correctly spelled — and, if one comes to think it over, 
 it seems almost impossible to spell "Don" any other way ! 
 
 In view of these peculiarities, it is perhaps fortunate 
 that the greater part of the book is in the lighter vein. 
 Nevertheless it contains many pages of interest dealing 
 with the subtropical Argentine province of Catamarca, 
 ground which was at the time very seldom visited by any 
 but Argentines, and which, so far as foreigners were 
 concerned, was almost unknown. 
 
 When we arrive at modern days there are obviously 
 many difficulties which confront the compiler of work 
 such as this. The task of choosing the most suitable 
 from out of the host of contemporary writers would be a 
 thankless one. There are, of course, many names which 
 leap to the eye at once — such as Lord Bryce, R. B. Cun- 
 ninghame Graham, W. H. Hudson, Sir Martin Conway, 
 and the very recently deceased Sir Clements Markham. 
 All these are distinguished in other respects beyond their 
 writings on South America. But there are many others 
 too, some of whose works may, with greater or lesser 
 justice, claim to rank in importance somewhere in the 
 near neighborhood of those above. 
 
 The only satisfactory way out of the difficulty, it seems 
 to me, is to refuse to make a choice at all, and to add to 
 this volume an appendix in the shape of a bibliography 
 of works on South America from the year 1870 to the 
 
4T8 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 present day. This I have done, and it only remains to 
 hope that the inevitable accidental omissions in such an 
 attempt may not be too numerous. 
 
 In this first section dealing with the books on South 
 America I will follow the same course as that adopted 
 elsewhere in the book, and will keep the publications on 
 British Guiana and the Falkland Islands to themselves. 
 Dealing as they do with British Possessions, it seems to 
 me that they should naturally come within a different 
 category to those written by British authors on foreign 
 lands. 
 
 The first comparatively modern book of importance to 
 be mentioned is "An Essay on the Natural History of 
 Guiana, in South America, ' ' which was published in 1769, 
 and its author Edward Bancroft deserves a few words 
 to himself. Born in Massachusetts in 1744, Bancroft 
 took up the study of medicine, and in 1763 he settled in 
 Guiana. Later, when war broke out between England 
 and her North American colonies, Bancroft acted for 
 Franklin as a spy in London, and was suspected of com- 
 plicity in the attempt to burn Portsmouth Dockyard. He 
 turned king's evidence, however, and does not appear to 
 have left England again, dying at Margate in 1821. 
 
 In his book — which contains a general description of 
 the natural history, anthropology, and botany of Guiana 
 — Bancroft, for an eighteenth century naturalist, is curi- 
 ously restrained. If his accuracy may be questioned at 
 times, it is never on account of those reckless flights of 
 imagination in which many of his colleagues were wont 
 to indulge. Indeed, Bancroft does not claim too much 
 for himself when he says that "I shall next proceed to 
 acquaint you with its (Guiana's) vegetable and animal 
 productions, in a simple, but, I hope, intelligible language, 
 avoiding all embellishments of stile, which, in subjects of 
 this Jiature, are incompatible with perspicuity." 
 
 The severity or Bancroft's work reduces it almost to 
 the nature of a naturalist's dictionary, and, although he 
 
SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 479 
 
 does hold that the abundance of snakes ought to ''humble 
 the pride and arrogance of man, by convincing him, that 
 all things are not made obedient to his will, nor created 
 for his use," and although he has this to say with some 
 feeling about the chigger, that it "is a small dusky insect 
 resembling a flea, but somewhat smaller, and happily it 
 is incapable of leaping, or the Torrid Zone would be un- 
 inhabitable, ' ' such opinions are rare enough in his pages. 
 
 One of the most curious of the eighteenth century vol- 
 umes on Guiana is Captain J. G. Stedman's ''Narrative 
 of a Five Years' Expedition against the Revolted Ne- 
 groes of Surinam in Guiana, on the Wild Coast of South 
 America, from the year 1772 to 1777." This was pub- 
 lished toward the end of the eighteenth century (the au- 
 thor's copy is dated 1796) and is provided with some 
 finely reproduced but most curious illustrations, some of 
 the natural history plates being unwittingly, but irresisti- 
 bly, comic. 
 
 Among other volumes on British Guiana is Henry Bol- 
 ingbroke's "Voyage to the Demerary, containing a Sta- 
 tistical Account of the Settlements there, and of Those on 
 the Essequebo, the Berbice, and Other Contiguous Rivers 
 of Guayana." (1807). Bolingbroke, it may be said, was 
 deputy vendue master in Surinam for six years. 
 
 Another is Dr. John Hancock's "Observations on the 
 Climate, Soil, and Productions of British Guiana, and on 
 the Advantages of Emigration to . . . that Country; to- 
 gether with Incidental Remarks on the Diseases, their 
 Treatment and Prevention," etc. (1835.) 
 
 In 1841 was published "Twelve Views in the Interior 
 of Guiana, from Drawings by Charles Bentley," a work 
 which contains a notably handsome collection of colored 
 plates, and the letter-press of which was supplied by Sir 
 Robert H. Schomburgk. 
 
 Just twenty years later was published a fairly com- 
 prehensive volume by W. H. Brett: "The Indian Tribes 
 of Guiana, their Condition and Habits, with Researches 
 
480 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 into their Past History, Superstitions, Legends, Antiqui- 
 ties, Languages." 
 
 In 1855, H. G. Dalton wrote a ''History of British Gui- 
 ana . . . together with an Account of its Climate, Geol- 
 ogy, Staple Products, and Natural History." 
 
 Another work: ''El Dorado, or British Guiana as a 
 Field for Colonization," was written by the Eev. W. T. 
 Veness in 1866. 
 
 The Falkland Islands were fairly fully described in 
 1789, when was published the "Voyage round the World 
 . . . performed in 1785 and 1788 in the King George and 
 Queen Charlotte, Captains Portlock and Dixon." 
 
 A slender but very useful book on the islands was writ- 
 ten by G. T. Whitington in 1840. This contains a descrip- 
 tion of the islands and an urgent appeal for their coloni- 
 zation. In the same year L. B. Mackinnon published 
 "Some account of the Falkland Islands, from a Six 
 Months' Residence in 1838 and 1839." 
 
 Beyond this, numerous books dealing with Argentina 
 provide descriptions of the Falkland Islands. 
 
CHAPTEE XXIII 
 
 ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE BEITISH IN THE NINETEENTH 
 CENTUEY (l) 
 
 Great Britain as a Source of Capital — Some Ethics of Partnership — ESles 
 played by the British in the Development of South America — The 
 nearest approach to a mining rush — The Nitrate Industry — Discov- 
 ery and early vicissitudes of the Commodity — The Chilean Coalfields 
 — Pioneers in Banking and Finance — ^Various British Communities in 
 the Continent — Their Populations — ^Description of a Northern Burial 
 Ground — Ecclesiastical and Educational Establishments — Some Irish 
 Institutions — Father Fahy — Success of the Communities — The Brit- 
 ish in Uruguay — Some Curiosities in Castilian — British Missionary 
 Enterprise — Captain Allen Gardiner — The South American Mission- 
 ary Society — Fields of the Work — ^Mr. W. Barbrooke Grubb — ^His 
 achievements among the Lengua Indians — The Rev. R. J. Hunt — ^Work 
 of the Society in Southern Chile — The Dioceses of South America — 
 Support of various Chaplaincies — Schools and Institutions — An Ex- 
 tract from Hadfield — Mr. Morris' work in Buenos Aires — Its success. 
 
 IT has been said by some that the great amount of capi- 
 tal which Great Britain began to pour into South 
 America at the time of the War of Liberation, and 
 which she has ceaselessly continued to provide from that 
 day to this, had the effect of bringing into being that 
 which was virtually a financial dominion over the South- 
 ern continent. But, regarded from the practical point of 
 view, this alleged financial dominion has surely proved no 
 more than an equitable expectation that the borrower 
 should fulfil his half of the bargain toward the lender — 
 an expectation that, allowing for the vicissitudes insep- 
 arable from humanity, has been amply fulfilled. 
 
 The more emotional of the South Americans — and they 
 are not alone in this! — are not inclined to use a minor 
 and muflOied key in giving voice to such grievances as it 
 may fall to their lot to bear. But never, I think, has any 
 
 481 
 
482 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 responsible statesman out of any of the ten republics of 
 the continent accused the British of having acted as usur- 
 ers, or, indeed, in any other manner, but as partners in 
 the development of their lands and industries. Robbed 
 of all sentiment — and in this instance sentiment is un- 
 doubtedly present — the position may be put in a nutshell 
 — that which has paid the one has paid the other. The 
 finest political economist may seek for a thousand years 
 in vain to improve on this very simple situation ! 
 
 It is an obvious platitude to assert that in South Amer- 
 ica the British have interested themselves chiefly in those 
 branches of industry in which they themselves were 
 strongest. Broadly speaking, these were finance, urban 
 and port enterprise, traffic, and agriculture, this last in- 
 cluding the pastoral industry. 
 
 It was with finance that the South American field was 
 first entered, for in the middle of the War of Liberation 
 Great Britain — having in conjunction with the United 
 States already supplied the insurgent forces with arms 
 and munitions — made financial advances in the shape of 
 war loans to several of the young and struggling states. 
 ^We have already seen how, at the victorious conclusion 
 of the War of Liberation the British public, with more 
 enthusiasm than judgment, rushed into a mining boom 
 which ended disastrously for their pockets. Since that 
 period the number of authentic mines which have been 
 worked by British capital, from the North of the continent 
 to the far South, is far too important to be dealt with 
 here. A perusal of the stock and share lists of the 
 various periods will reveal the condition of the successful 
 ventures, and from time to time the gaps in these printed 
 lists will reveal the casualties in the shape of failures. 
 
 Only on one occasion does South America appear to 
 have been threatened with a mining rush of the kind that 
 occurred in California, Australia, and the Klondyke. The 
 spot that was on the eve of being invaded by untold thou- 
 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 483 
 
 sands of mineral seekers was in a remote district of the 
 great river system of Brazil. 
 
 About the middle of the nineteenth century there was 
 a report of the existence of gold on the Upper Maranon. 
 The rumor proved to be a false one, but it had the effect 
 of attracting to the district a number of British and 
 North American ''diggers," some of them of as wild an 
 order as any that ever graced a mining camp. When one 
 or two of these, straying in aimless disappointment along 
 the great rivers, came into collision with some of the 
 least tractable of the Indians, sanguinary scenes were 
 wont to ensue. The period of these disturbances, how- 
 ever, was short, for the newcomers, when once satisfied 
 as to the absence of the rumored gold, made their visits 
 as brief as possible. 
 
 The interest taken by the British in the nitrate indus- 
 try of the Pacific Coast was at the least as relatively im- 
 portant as that shown in general mining, and the part 
 played in this by Colonel North and his colleagues and 
 successors is a matter of general knowledge. 
 
 Tradition has it that the first discovery of the nitrate 
 which has brought so much wealth to Chile and England, 
 was — like that of even greater forces — due to an acci- 
 dent. It is said that a woodcutter numed Negreros, hav- 
 ing made a fire in the Pampa de Tamarugal, found to his 
 amazement that the heated ground began to melt, and 
 to run downhill like a stream ! On examination, the soil 
 was found to be nitrate of soda. 
 
 It is said too that the existence of nitrate was known 
 in Europe as early as the middle of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury. In 1820 a certain quantity was sent to England; 
 but its reception there was decidedly a cold one ; for, dis- 
 mayed at the amount of duty demanded on it, its owners 
 flung it overboard. In 1830 a consignment sent to Liver- 
 pool failed to find a buyer. However, after that the true 
 value of the article began to be appreciated, for between 
 
484 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 the years 1830 and 1850, 240,000 tons were exported. Mr. 
 George Smith, it appears, was one of the first nitrate re- 
 finers, and one of the most enthusiastic supporters of this 
 industry. In 1828 he undertook, in company with Mr. 
 William Bollaert, a survey of the nitrate province of 
 Tarapaca at the request of the Peruvian Government, 
 and from this period his interest seems to have been un- 
 flagging. 
 
 It may be said that the Mr. Bollaert mentioned here 
 proceeded in 1855 on the invitation of Messrs Cousino and 
 Garland to report on the now famous southern Chilean 
 coal mines of Lota and Coronel, and his observations were 
 afterwards read at the University of Chile. 
 
 The inauguration in the continent of British banking 
 upon a modern basis was reserved, of course, for a some- 
 what later period. From their comparatively modest 
 beginnings have now sprung such famous establishments 
 as that of the London and River Plate Bank — which, 
 founded, I believe, in 1863, stands as the pioneer — the 
 London and Brazilian Bank, and others. 
 
 These, of course, have found as allies a number of finan- 
 cial houses of world-wide repute, the list of which, I sup- 
 pose, may be headed by such firms as those of Rothschild 
 and Baring. It is a matter of common knowledge how 
 this latter house was involved in the Argentine financial 
 crisis of 1890, when, as a result of the unwise policy of 
 President Juarez Celman, Baring Brothers, the financial 
 agents of the Argentine Government, were, through no 
 fault of their own, forced into liquidation. The result 
 showed that they were perfectly solvent, and in the end 
 they emerged with flying colors from a difficult position. 
 
 It is now time to take a rapid general glimpse of the 
 various British communities in South America. Need- 
 less to say, these were far more important in the temper- 
 ate Southern half of the continent than in the tropical 
 North. We have already seen that, very soon after its 
 capture by the South Americans from the Spaniards, the 
 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 485 
 
 city of Valparaiso is reported to have had a British popu- 
 lation of a thousand persons. 
 
 Since the full establishmbent of independence, how- 
 ever, the town which has held the greatest attraction for 
 the British has always been Buenos Aires. By the mid- 
 dle of the nineteenth century it was computed that there 
 were five thousand British residents in Buenos Aires, 
 and the community already possessed a newspaper of its 
 own, ''The British Packet." 
 
 British immigrants, as a matter of fact, took very kindly 
 to the towns at the edge of the southern alluvial plains, 
 where, as one remarked, ''there were five miles of wash- 
 erwomen on the beach ! ' ' Very soon they began to estab- 
 lish their customs there. The original Foreigners' Club 
 was founded in the Calle San Martin. Its first president 
 was Mr. Thomas Duguid of Liverpool. There were also 
 Eeading and Commercial Rooms owned by the British. 
 These were followed by the establishment of a cricket club 
 and a racecourse. 
 
 The principal occupations to which the commercial por- 
 tion of these British townsfolk applied itself were those 
 of merchants, publicans, storekeepers, and boarding- 
 house proprietors, Irish domestic servants predominat- 
 ing. The British, moreover, owned many of the small 
 farms in the neighborhood which supplied Buenos Aires 
 with milk — an industry which has long since been taken 
 over by the Basques. 
 
 In 1865 the British population of the Argentine Repub- 
 lic was calculated at S^jOOO. Of this number, however, no 
 fewer than 28,000 were Irish — a number which represents 
 an astonishingly large proportion to the whole ! In 1870 
 the number of these British in the city and province of 
 Buenos Aires alone had swollen to some 40,000, a total 
 which the inhabitants of Argentina held out with some 
 complacency against the eleven hundred and odd in Rio 
 Janeiro and its neighborhood. 
 
 Elsewhere the various British communities were natur- 
 
486 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 ally much smaller, and, indeed, from the mere numerical 
 point of view, none of them claim any particular atten- 
 tion. In one or two of the tropical States, indeed, the 
 British population has tended to diminish, mainly from 
 climatic causes. Here and there exists evidence of this 
 of a much more eloquent nature than that rendered by 
 mere statistics. Thus there is a record that at Caracas 
 on the 26th of April, 1834, when the affairs of Venezuela 
 gave a promise that has not yet been fulfilled, occurred the 
 consecration of an English church and burying ground. 
 
 From the description of these given by Mr. Edward 
 Eastwick, who visited the town in 1864, no small neglect 
 must have supervened. Mr. Eastwick remarks that : 
 
 ''The English burial-ground and the German are on 
 the southern outskirts of the city, and are very poor places 
 as compared with the Catholic cemetery. They are both 
 covered with weeds, but, in the British burial-ground, the 
 rank grass is so tall that it is impossible to see the graves, 
 and the whole place is full of ant-hills several feet high. 
 There is a chapel, with an inscription to say that it was 
 built by Robert Ker Porter at his sole expense. ' ' 
 
 As has been said, the chief cause of this melancholy 
 picture was undoubtedly climatic. Fortunately it has few 
 counterparts in South America, where the Church and 
 its missionaries have played a very manful part, and 
 where their efforts, let it be said, have been enthusiastic- 
 ally seconded by United States enterprise. Ecclesiastical 
 work proper has naturally been undertaken on the largest 
 scale in Argentina. 
 
 Among the British ecclesiastical establishments of the 
 mid-nineteenth century in Buenos Aires were the Eng- 
 lish Episcopalian Church, the Scottish Presbyterian 
 Church, and of course the Irish Roman Catholic estab- 
 lishments of much older standing. These included the 
 convent of the Irish Sisters of Mercy, and the Irish Con- 
 vent School and House of Refuge, which held some sev- 
 enty boarders, chiefly the daughters of Irish sheep- 
 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 487 
 
 farmers, while the House of Eefuge was intended as a 
 temporary home for Irish servants when disengaged. All 
 this was founded by a very notable Irish priest, Father 
 Fahy, a very prominent and widely loved character, 
 whose capacity for good works seems to have been inex- 
 haustible. 
 
 In 1862 the Irish sheep farmers of Argentina founded 
 a secular college in Lobos on the outskirts of Buenos 
 Aires, and it is on record that the following year the in- 
 stitution already possessed fifty resident pupils. 
 
 One of the most noted pillars of the early Irish com- 
 munity was Father Fahy, to whom I have just referred. 
 An immensely and justly popular man, he appears to 
 have acted not only as spiritual adviser, but as a very 
 practical father in the business affairs of many, and un- 
 doubtedly many a household has to thank its prosperity 
 to the kindly and unceasing efforts of Father Fahy. 
 
 In 1889 Sir Horace Eumbold wrote of the Irish in the 
 river Plate : * ' The Irish have, in short, proved as great 
 a success and as valuable an element in the river Plate 
 as they have been in so many ways a failure in North 
 America. They own almost entire districts in the north 
 and center of the province of Buenos Aires, where they 
 have endowed chaplaincies, and founded schools of their 
 own with libraries attached to them ; and altogether they 
 present an aspect so different from that of their brethren 
 in 'the distressful country' at home, that one cannot but 
 think that a providential outlet is offered to them in these 
 regions. ' ' 
 
 Seeing that Englishmen and Scotsmen, although far 
 fewer in numbers, had met with a corresponding success, 
 the general community began to find itself in a distinctly 
 flourishing condition at the beginning of the second half 
 of the nineteenth century. Some idea of the wealth which 
 was already accumulating at that time in some of the more 
 important South American centers may be gathered from 
 the fact that at a bazaar held in Buenos Aires in 1860 to 
 
4«88 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 assist in the building of the English hospital no less a 
 sum of £1500 was collected. This hospital, it may be said, 
 was not the first. It was founded to supersede an earlier 
 establishment founded in 1847. 
 
 In the pastoral country of Uruguay the situation of the 
 British closely resembled that of their countrymen in Ar- 
 gentina, although it must be said that political circum- 
 stances were far longer in adjusting themselves in the 
 former state than in the latter. 
 
 In the middle of the nineteenth century there were — 
 in addition to a number of British estancieros, stockmen 
 and shepherds in the "camp" — many British mechanics 
 in Montevideo itself. Indeed, the British community of 
 the Uruguayan capital had by this time attained to con- 
 siderable importance, and a handsome church had been 
 erected and presented in 1846 to his fellow countrymen by 
 Mr. Samuel Laf one, one of the most prominent river Plate 
 merchants of his day. In connection with Montevideo, it 
 is not a little remarkable to find that in the middle of the 
 nineteenth century the paving-stones for the footways of 
 the town were brought from England ! 
 
 The Eev. J. H. Murray, who visited Uruguay and Ar- 
 gentina in 1868, and was for a time chaplain in Colonia, 
 has recorded some frank views concerning the contem- 
 porary British population of Montevideo, which he says 
 "was neither very attractive, nor on a par with that of 
 Buenos Aires. ' ' 
 
 Fortunately his opinion here clashes with those of vari- 
 ous other contemporary authors, one of whom describes 
 the same society as "of a very superior order — refined, 
 intelligent, and hospitable.'* 
 
 So it would seem that it is all a question of point of 
 view and of the color of the glasses one chooses to wear ! 
 
 There are various curiosities in Mr. Murray's book 
 which make it well worth perusal. Modem languages are 
 seldom the forte of a Church of England parson. Judg- 
 ing by his rendering of the few words he quotes, I cannot 
 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 489 
 
 help thinking that correct Castilian was a closed book to 
 Mr. Murray. At all events his spelling was sufficiently 
 phonetic to please the most revolutionary American. As 
 written by him, Quinta becomes keenta; at his hands the 
 inoffensive gato, or cat, becomes a gatter, and among his 
 items of advice is the following: **You must never call a 
 native a 'Gaucho' (pronounced Gowcher) ( !), which im- 
 plies a wild savage; nor call a woman, a 'Chino,' or half- 
 bred (equivalent to our female dog), as either would be 
 esteemed a term of reproach. ' ' 
 
 It would seem from such remarks as these that Mr. 
 Murray had had his leg pulled by some of the less rever- 
 ent of his congregation; but in any case it seems clear 
 that he made a very gallant and conscientious attempt 
 to accommodate himself to his surroundings, even when, 
 on an unsuspecting visit to a church, he was caught up 
 in a grand funeral mass for a deceased general. Pres- 
 ently Mr. Murray found himself, holding a yard-long can- 
 dle which he had accepted, sitting, kneeling, or standing 
 with the rest. After a time he had seen enough, but re- 
 treat seemed impossible, for all the chairs behind him had 
 now become filled up, and he occupied too prominent a 
 position for him publicly to abandon his candle. At last 
 the means of escape offered itself in the shape of a new- 
 comer who was advancing to the front, having neither 
 candle nor chair. Murray seized the opportunity, pressed 
 his candle and his chair upon the newcomer, and slid away 
 from the spot in a fashion which proves that if he lacked 
 somewhat in humor, he was by no means deficient in tact. 
 
 But the remarks of this churchman have led us away 
 from his own church and its missionaries. British mis- 
 sionary enterprise in South America has naturally been 
 conducted in somewhat difficult circumstances. Eegarded 
 from the purely practical point of view, it is a far simpler 
 matter to deal with savages over whose land floats the 
 metaphorical shadow of the Union Jack than with those 
 whose country, when once it has become absorbed into the 
 
490 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 civilized world, will become subject to the laws of a Latin 
 republic, and will become part and parcel of a Latin com- 
 munity. 
 
 The amount of good missionary work which has been 
 effected is therefore all the more laudable, and, in spite of 
 the inevitable disadvantages to which I have referred, 
 much of the influence should continue permanent. 
 
 The first missionary attempts of importance were made 
 in Tierra del Fuego. More than one catastrophe oc- 
 curred here, and Darwin's account of his voyage to these 
 regions in the Beagle alone suffices to show the perils and 
 dire hardships which these pioneer missionaries had to 
 face. In this bleak country the Yahgan Indians have now 
 become evangelized. 
 
 It was in 1844 that the first regular missionary society 
 for South America was established. Known as the Pat- 
 agonian Missionary Society, it was founded by a naval 
 man. Captain Allen Gardiner, who visited the still truc- 
 ulent Araucanian Indians of southern Chile, and de- 
 scribed his adventures in a book published in 1841, '^A 
 Visit to the Indians on the Frontiers of Chili.'' From 
 this enterprise has been evolved the important associa- 
 tion known as the South American Missionary Society. 
 
 One of the tragedies of South American enterprise oc- 
 curred in 1860, when the Patagonian Missionary schooner 
 Allen Gardiner was captured by the Tierra del Fuego 
 Indians, in the Beagle Channel. The master. Captain 
 Fall, the mate, five seamen, and Mr. Garland Phillips, a 
 catechist, were murdered, and only one man managed to 
 make his escape from the scene of the disaster. 
 
 The chief fields of missionary work among the abor- 
 igines are the Paraguayan Chaco and southern Chile. It 
 is among the swamps and forests of the Paraguayan 
 Chaco — where an extraordinary scourge of human insects 
 burns the human skin like fire, and where the Indian is 
 only just emerging from the state that greets a stranger 
 with an arrowhead — that the most striking work has re- 
 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 491 
 
 cently been achieved. Here Mr. W. Barbrooke Grubb 
 undertook a mission wbich earned for bim the title of the 
 ''Livingstone of South America." In 1889 he crossed 
 the great river which divides civilized Paraguay from the 
 savage Chaco, and entered boldly among the Lengua In- 
 dians, escaping death by a marvelous concatenation of 
 circumstances, and thus obtaining the lively distinction 
 of being the only white man who had ever gone among 
 these people and survived ! On one occasion, shot in the 
 back, his life hung in the balance, but he recovered, and 
 continued a work that has now accomplished the civiliza- 
 tion of a considerable portion of the Lengua tribe, as well 
 as of some neighboring groups. Another very notable 
 missionary, and an authority on the Indian languages, is 
 the Eev. E. J. Hunt, who went out in 1892. 
 
 Had a Paraguayan of thirty years ago been told that 
 of these fierce, intractable Indians — remarkable at the 
 time for nothing beyond their wars, crude weapons, feath- 
 ers, and drunken orgies — over fifty would in a short time 
 become full members of the Church of England, they 
 would undoubtedly have received the prophecy with the 
 utmost incredulity ! But so it is. Much work, moreover, 
 has been undertaken among other tribes, formerly quite 
 implacable, such as the Matacos of the Argentine Chaco, 
 who now regularly proceed to San Pedro de Jujuy for 
 the sugar-cane harvesting, and similar tribes such as Chu- 
 nupis, Tobas, Chorotis, and others. 
 
 In southern Chile, where the warrior race of Araucan- 
 ians have now settled down to a comparatively tranquil 
 existence, the work has arrived at a far more advanced 
 stage, and the establishments here include four boarding 
 schools. 
 
 So much for the main missionary features of the so- 
 ciety. As regards the ministerial side it founded in 1869 
 the bishopric of the Falkland Islands, the jurisdiction of 
 which originally included all South America with the ex- 
 ception of British Guiana. Bishop Every, who acted 
 
492 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 for thirty years, was succeeded by Bishop Stirling. This 
 bishop divided the diocese into two in 1908 — that of the 
 Falkland Islands, including South America to the west of 
 the Andes, that of Argentina taking the countries to the 
 east. 
 
 In this connection the society helped the following chap- 
 laincies until they became self-supporting : Rosario, Cor- 
 doba, and Tucumah, in Argentina ; Concepcion and Punta 
 Arenas in Chile ; Sao Paulo in Brazil, and Callao in Peru. 
 It is still helping, moreover, at the following Argentine 
 centers: Buenos Aires, Alberdi, the province of Entre 
 Rios, and the Welsh colony in Chubut ; at Santiago, Lota, 
 Coronel, Coquimbo, and Temuco, in Chile; at Salto and 
 Fray Bentos in Uruguay; and at Santos in Brazil. 
 
 But even this does not exhaust the energies of the South 
 American Missionary Society, for it has founded British 
 schools at Alberdi and Trelew in Argentina, and at Tem- 
 uco in Chile. Beyond this it has established a British 
 orphanage at Los Cocos in Argentina, and is responsible 
 for much seamen's work at the ports. 
 
 Briefly, it may be said that the South American Mis- 
 sionary Society is working in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, 
 Peru, Paraguay, and Uruguay, with a traveling chaplain 
 for the North of the continent. Its sixteen head-stations 
 and twenty-four out-stations are staffed by 110 persons, a 
 total made up of 18 clergy, 19 laymen, 57 women workers, 
 and 16 native workers. Three doctors are normally at- 
 tached to the missions. From all this it will be seen that 
 the work is as notable for its scope as for its thorough- 
 ness. 
 
 I have come across an enthusiastic testimony to the ef- 
 forts of the South American Missionary Society written 
 in 1877 by Mr. Hadfield, who says : 
 
 ''With the feeble resources of the society, unaided by 
 government or other assistance, the missionaries have 
 traversed a large portion of the Amazon and its affluents, 
 particularly the River Purus, where two or three are now 
 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 493 
 
 residing amongst the Indian tribes, on its banks, pursu- 
 ing their arduous work of endeavoring to Christianize 
 them . . . one of the earliest pioneers of the society, Dr. 
 Lee, was unfortunately drowned, by the sinking of a small 
 steamer, moored to the banks of the Purus, and on which 
 he was sleeping, some of the crew being on shore. The 
 event was a very melancholy and discouraging one, but it 
 did not deter his fellow-workers, the Kev. Mr. Clough 
 and Mr. Resyek, from following in his track . . . Lately 
 another missionary, the Rev. W. Thwaites Duke, has gone 
 out to join his colleagues, and he has also sent home a very 
 graphic account of his trip up the Amazon. ' ' 
 
 Coming down to recent times, when some of the now 
 enormous cities of South America demand a species of 
 attention the need for which has only sprung up with their 
 growth, the work of a clergyman, Mr. Morris, in Buenos 
 Aires, has undoubtedly been most admirable, and has met 
 with a gratifying response. This has lain among the 
 youngsters of the city, and how great was its need has 
 been evidenced by the present magnitude of the work 
 which, including a mission hall and various schools, has 
 met with the deservedly hearty encouragement of the Ar- 
 gentine Government. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE BRITISH IN THE NINETEENTH 
 CENTURY (ll) 
 
 Influence of the practical atmosphere of the Americas — Some unlooked for 
 results of the British expedition — Early military and naval settlers — 
 Treaty rights — Relations between the British and South American 
 agriculturalists — How the British adapted themselves to local cus- 
 toms — Tricks of speech — Town communities — Early British pastoral- 
 iats of the river Plate — The foundation of the livestock industry — 
 Advent of the Scottish colony — The importation of pedigree stock — 
 Later progress — First experiments in meat preserving — Development 
 of the industry — The career of Robert Billinghurst — Some early 
 estancia records — Success of the Irish pioneers — A scourge of "Camp" 
 duellists — Pastoral incidents — Success and failure — The Henley 
 colony — The Welsh colony at Chubut — Ideals and difficulties of the 
 settlers — The Australian colony in Paraguay — Reasons for its founda- 
 tion. Mr. Stewart Grahame on an experiment in socialism — Its col- 
 lapse — A tentative exportation from Bolivia of llamas, alpacas, and 
 VicuBas — Objections of the Bolivian Government — How its officials 
 were outwitted — Some explorers, mountain-climbers, and travelers — 
 The influence of sport. 
 
 NO doubt as many delusions have been concerned 
 with South America as with any other continent. 
 Many Englishmen have sailed for the Spanish- 
 speaking countries of that continent, expecting the voy- 
 age's end to reveal to them a fantastic, paradoxical 
 world such as was truly conjured up from Spain in Eu- 
 rope by that mellow and delightful author, Richard 
 Ford. Surely no writer ever opened the doors of a 
 country more gently, and at the same time more widely 
 — and the doors of Spain are the heaviest and creak the 
 loudest of all at the push of an unskilled and ponderous 
 hand ! 
 
 But at no time were Ford's "Cosas de Espana" trans- 
 lated with their full peninsular flavor across the West- 
 
 494 
 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 495 
 
 erii Ocean. In certain respects the atmosphere of the 
 Americas has always proved unsympathetic. Its prac- 
 tical influence has chilled, for instance, even the proverbs 
 of Spain, and has reduced their resounding bulk to a 
 handier collection of lesser volume. It has exercised a 
 similar effect on many trappings, whether of speech, 
 office, or general social environment. 
 
 It need not be inferred from this that the Spanish 
 South American has lacked his Iberian graces. The 
 Spanish South American can be as eloquent as the Span- 
 iard. The flow of his oratory is such as may be envied 
 by the speakers of less fluent nations. But he has his 
 strong practical side, for all that, and when occupied by 
 the hard-and-fast business of the day, he is capable of 
 turning the streams of his imagination and eloquence in 
 a single-minded fashion upon even such prosaic and 
 profitable objects as bulls, rams, and sires ! 
 
 It was, indeed, this pastoral side of his existence, 
 which — in the South, at all events — ^led to the first real 
 intimacy between him and the British. As has been 
 seen, the advent of these latter was heralded in a some- 
 what truculent manner by the military expeditions to the 
 Eio de la Plata The final results of this could by no 
 means have been foreseen, when Admiral Home Pop- 
 ham's fleet first cast anchor in the muddy waters that 
 washed the town of Buenos Aires. From out of the 
 smoke of battle grew the beginnings of a mutual respect 
 and friendship. 
 
 The expedition that had failed from a military point 
 of view was crowned with an unexpected success in the 
 affairs of every-day and commercial life. The influence 
 of the British occupation had been greater than had been 
 suspected at the time. It had served to disseminate 
 new ideas, which had been eagerly drunk in by the South 
 Americans. Moreover, although most of the British 
 merchants who had flocked to the spot had departed 
 with the fleet, a certain number had remained, while of 
 
496 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 the rest there were not a few who returned to the tempt- 
 ing field after the lapse of a year or two. 
 
 As for the colonists themselves, the added confidence 
 of their own strength, which the events of the expedition 
 had taught them, had the effect of urging them to display 
 more openly that warmth toward the foreigner, which 
 they had experienced almost from their first contact with 
 the outer world, but to which the laws of Spain had not 
 permitted them to give expression. 
 
 We have seen that the War of Independence was re- 
 sponsible for the arrival of many British soldiers and 
 sailors, a certain number of whom remained as settlers, 
 in the Southern continent. The most pronounced im- 
 migration of the British, however, followed the conclu- 
 sion of this war, and the signing of the treaty which 
 guaranteed to British subjects full protection, liberties, 
 and trading rights, as well as exemption from all local 
 claims such as those for military service and the like. 
 It was after this that the British went beyond the first 
 stage common to the immigrants in a foreign country: 
 they took up land, and settled themselves for better or 
 worse in the new territories of the South. 
 
 I doubt if there has been a parallel in the entire his- 
 tory of British immigration of the ease with which these 
 settlers threw out their sentimental roots, and adapted 
 themselves to their surroundings. The more practical 
 side of the influx was marked by the arrival of pedigree 
 cattle, horses, and sheep, and soon the Shorthorns and 
 Herefords, Hackneys and Clydesdales, Lincolns and 
 Romney Marsh, began to transform the livestock popu- 
 lation of the pastoral plains. 
 
 On the whole, nothing could have been happier than 
 the relations between these newcomers and their Argen- 
 tine or Uruguayan neighbors. The influence was mu- 
 tual. The South American rapidly adapted himself to 
 the British notions of breeding and sport. He took to 
 polo, and learned how to go out with a gun a V anglais; 
 
AVENUE DE MAYO, BUENOS AIRES 
 
 PLAZA CONSTITUCION STATION, BUENOS AIRES 
 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 497 
 
 his stockmen altered the short bursts of tricky speed that 
 characterized the typical Gaucho horse-race for the long, 
 sweeping gallop of the English turf. 
 
 The British, for their part, experienced an unusual 
 lack of difficulty in adapting themselves to the ways of 
 their adopted land. The interest which the personali- 
 ties of their Gaucho stockmen compelled from the first 
 rapidly deepened into an understanding that was by no 
 means without its admiration. As the British estan- 
 ciero became more conversant with the ethics of the 
 Campo, he began to be imbued with some of the ardent 
 pride of the natives of its soil. He discovered the merits 
 of a poncho, and took to sipping mate through the bom- 
 billa with the enthusiasm of the expert. His speech be- 
 came more and more interlarded with local phraseology. 
 Edward Smith became Don Eduardo to "William Brown, 
 and William Brown was now Don Gulliermo to Don Edu- 
 ardo — alias Edward Smith. Moreover, when Don Gul- 
 liermo rode into a paddock it was into a potrero that he 
 went ; when he mustered cattle, it was to a rodeo that he 
 galloped, and if the tick disease smote his cattle, it was 
 from grano malo that they suffered. And so on, not only 
 in matters concerning livestock and the pastoral life, 
 but in the general trend of existence — even down to such 
 little local tricks of speech as that of trailing an inter- 
 rogative "Nof" at the end of an affirmative sentence. 
 
 However incongruous this mixture of languages and 
 jargon might sound elsewhere, it fitted — and still fits — 
 admirably the atmosphere of the free and open Campo: 
 just as the suave Iberian influence is apt to give an ad- 
 vantageous touch to those sunburned leaders of virile 
 lives who hailed originally from northern latitudes. 
 
 A similar process of blending occurred in the towns. 
 But here the results were neither so rapid nor so com- 
 plete, as was only natural among the larger distinct 
 communities. On the other hand, there are some impor- 
 tant communities, such as that of the Irish-Portenos of 
 
498 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Buenos Aires, that, up to a certain point, would seem 
 to have identified themselves successfully with the dual 
 interests of the two nationalities. But, so far as po- 
 litical nationality is concerned, all alike would appear 
 to have conformed to that natural law which calls on all 
 settlers in South America to insist on their claim to 
 South American citizenship first and foremost. 
 
 The achievements of the early British settlers in the 
 pastoral plains of the river Place are worthy of some 
 detailed mention. A certain number of these had ar- 
 rived, as a matter of fact, during that final decade of 
 the colonial era, when, although the flag of Spain was 
 still waving over the yellow waters of the great river, 
 the fundamental laws of the empire had become greatly 
 relaxed. The most prominent names among those who 
 began to flourish in the period between 1802 and 1825 
 would seem to be Gibson, Lafone, Brittain, Appleyard, 
 Billinghurst, McKinley, Thwaites, White, Fair, Parish 
 Eobertson, Carlisle, Nuttall, Gow^land, Harratt, Sheri- 
 dan, Miller, Dick, Duguid, Puddicomb, Burton, Newton, 
 Halsey, and Hannah. ^ 
 
 It is, of course, only possible to give some scrappy 
 fragments of information here concerning the progress 
 effected by these pioneers. The following achievements, 
 however, may rank among some of the most salient. In 
 1813 Mr. Henry Lloyd imported into Argentine one hun- 
 dred merino ewes, and this founded the first fine-wooled 
 merino flock in the Province of Buenos Aires. The 
 disturbed political condition of the country interfered 
 with the further progress of the venture; but a little 
 later Messrs. Harratt, Sheridan, and Whitfield founded 
 merino stud flock, which became the most famous of its 
 day. Other notable sheep-breeders of that period were 
 Mr. John Hannah, Mr. William White, Mr. Richard 
 Newton, Mr. John Fair, and the Messrs. Gibson. 
 
 In 1825 an important Scottish colony was formed on 
 
 1 See list of early arrivals In Appendix. 
 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 499 
 
 the Monte Grande Estancia, some six leagues from the 
 city of Bnenos Aires, which had originally been the 
 property of the Gibson brothers. This had been pur- 
 chased by John and William Parish Eobertson, who 
 made arrangements for the reception of the Scottish col- 
 ony there. About sixteen thousand acres were set aside 
 for this purpose, and these lands were occupied by some 
 two hundred and fifty persons, including children, who 
 sailed out from Edinburgh in the good ship Symmetry. 
 
 Here are the last two verses of a lengthy poem by one 
 of the Monte Grande colonists descriptive of the voyage. 
 Undoubtedly the quality of its inspiration is lower than 
 celestial, but it gives a quaintly cheerful account of a 
 fateful arrival: 
 
 The Symmetry anchored, boats gathered around them, 
 While jabbering foreigners their luggage received ; 
 The Babel o' tongues was enough to confound them. 
 But naebody understood Scotch, they perceived. 
 
 Betimes there started a eoo-cairt procession, 
 0' colonists, implements, bedding, and rations, 
 Bound for the South, where the Robertson concession 
 Awaited to welcome the Scotch Immigrations. 
 
 Although the Scottish Colony, the advent of which was 
 thus sung, suffered greatly from the civil wars into 
 which the country became plunged, the proportion of its 
 individual members who ultimately achieved success was 
 very large. Still pursuing the policy of selecting the 
 most salient scraps of information, it may be said that 
 some thirty years after the founding of the sheep- 
 breeding industry Mr. Robert T. Gibson established a boil- 
 ing-down factory on his estancia, ''Los Yngleses," an im- 
 portant departure which opened up a new market for 
 the produce of the Campo, and which caused the price of 
 livestock to rise. 
 
 Just about this time a number of English breeds of 
 sheep were introduced, among them being the South- 
 
500 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 down, Leicester, Lincoln, and Shropshire. Sheep-farm- 
 ing in Argentina at the middle of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury was a sufficiently remunerative occupation, for it 
 could be conducted on an imposing scale with a sur- 
 prisingly small outlay of capital. This will be evident 
 when it is explained that land could be acquired then for 
 some five hundred pounds the square league, and that 
 native sheep with which to stock it could be got at from 
 eight pence to a shilling each ! 
 
 Advancing further on this same system, we find that 
 in 1848 Mr. White imported into Argentina the first 
 Shorthorn cattle, and thus began the revolution in cattle- 
 breeding which has been responsible for such epoch- 
 making results at the present day. The first Shorthorn 
 bull that trod the Campo was called Tarquin, and it was 
 owing to this that all Shorthorns, or mestizos of Short- 
 horn type, were subsequently widely known among 
 South Americans as ''Tarquinos," or "Talquinos." 
 
 We now arrive at a period of more rapid progress. 
 Between 1850 and 1880 some of the most prominent 
 British names connected with the general breeding of 
 livestock are those of Fair, White, Hannah, Shennan, 
 Musgrave, 'Grady, and Kemmis — the last being espe- 
 cially associated with thoroughbred horse-breeding. 
 
 In 1866 some stir was caused in Buenos Aires by the 
 arrival of Messrs. Sloper and Paris, who came out to 
 make some experiments in connection with the former's 
 invention of a system of preserving meat by means of 
 the exhaustion of air and the substitution of nitrogen. 
 It was not until 1883, however, that the meat industry 
 first began to develop on commercial lines. Then 
 Drabble Brothers in Campana, and S. G. Sansinena in 
 Barracas began to freeze mutton for shipment to Great 
 Britain. Soon afterwards other firms such as John Nel- 
 son & Co. and O'Connor & Co. joined in, and in ten 
 years' time no fewer than 1,300,000 carcases were being 
 shipped in the place of the trifling 17,000 that had been 
 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 501 
 
 exported from the river Plate during the first year of 
 the industry. 
 
 So much for a few of the chief landmarks in the careers 
 of the river Plate pastoralists. We may now leave the 
 severe highroad of their progress, and wander for a 
 short time among the leafy and winding by-ways. 
 
 There is at least one name among those already men- 
 tioned that evokes a peculiarly wide interest. This is 
 that of Eobert Billinghurst, who came out either with 
 the British to river Plate, or immediately after it. Bil- 
 linghurst appears to have been a man of considerable 
 attainments. Flinging himself with ardor into the af- 
 fairs of the young republic, he married an Argentine 
 lady, and became an Argentine, the first Englishman, I 
 believe, to be naturalized as a South American. 
 
 Eobert Billinghurst sat as a deputy in the first con- 
 gress, and rose to be one of the leaders of the party that 
 was subsequently known as "Unitarian." This was the 
 party that, under the leadership of Lavalle, opposed 
 first Dorrego, and afterwards Rosas. When the latter 
 became dictator, Billinghurst, like so many others, was 
 forced to flee the country. 
 
 It was the grandson of this Robert Billinghurst who, 
 as President of Peru, died quite recently, and who un- 
 doubtedly was one of the most upright and liberal chiefs 
 of state that has ever held office in that republic. There 
 is, by the way, a street in Buenos Aires named after the 
 original Billinghurst. 
 
 It is only natural that the records of the early British 
 estancieros in the Rio de La Plata should be scanty. 
 The lives of very few pioneers in any walk of life are 
 inclined to adapt themselves to detached literary effort ! 
 Some data, however, have been preserved concerning 
 the estates of the Gibson brothers, who at the end of the 
 first quarter of the nineteenth century were very large 
 landowners. It is on record, for instance, that the list 
 of stores ordered in 1825 for one of their estancias, the 
 
502 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 *' Carmen," included "gunpowder, two cannons, eight 
 muskets, twenty sabers, lead and stone cannon balls." 
 That these objects were not designed merely as orna- 
 ments was found out to their cost by the Indians on the 
 occasion of their next raid, when the ''Carmen" was not 
 caught napping. 
 
 An interesting incident concerning another of the fam- 
 ily estancias, Los Yngleses, is thus related by Mr. 
 Herbert Gibson in his book : ' ' The sheep-breeding Indus- 
 try in the Argentine Republic": "The shearing con- 
 tinued to be a difficult operation until about 1845. Labor 
 was not easy to obtain, and women and children had 
 often to do the work. This was because the native was 
 either serving in the National Guard at the orders of the 
 Dictator Eosas, or hiding away from the detachments 
 which were constantly scouring the country in search of 
 recruits." Apropos of this scarcity of hands, an in- 
 cident in 1845 served the estancia in good stead. Eosas 
 had shut the Parana Eiver against foreign flags . . . 
 and at last in 1845 the British minister asked for his 
 passports, and left the country, announcing his action 
 to the English residents. The author's father was down 
 in the "Yngleses," and received the announcement a 
 few days later, but resolved to remain where he was, 
 and trust to the chivalry of the Argentine commander 
 in the South, to leave him in peace. At this time the 
 cattle roamed untended, there being no hands to mob 
 them or brand them, for all the gauchos were cantoned 
 and under arms. There was a danger of the stock be- 
 coming unmanageable, and the greater part being un- 
 branded, they could be claimed by any neighbor as his 
 own. Mr. Eobert Gibson rode down from Buenos Aires 
 to Dolores, and applied to Colonel del Valle, the Chief 
 in Command, for a picket of men to do the work. Del 
 Valle 's answer was a flattering one: "For your brother 
 who remained at his estancia when his minister advised 
 him to leave the country? Most willingly!" 
 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 503 
 
 I have already referred more than once to the notable 
 success attained by the Irish, who were the earliest of 
 all the British pioneers to arrive in the river Plate. A 
 circumstance which at a later period added to the value 
 of these Irish as shepherds was their freedom from the 
 military liabilities which even before the time of Eosas 
 would occasionally sweep an estancia clean of all its 
 gauchos at five minutes' notice. 
 
 The industrial merits of these Irish, moreover, were 
 keenly appreciated by the Argentines, who would take 
 these shepherds into partnership so far as the flock under 
 their care was concerned. By this working arrangement 
 the estanciero provided the sheep and the land, and the 
 shepherd supplied the labor. As a result, the flocks of 
 these shepherds increased rapidly, and they, in turn, be- 
 came estancieros, frequently attaining to great riches, 
 while the Argentine himself received no little benefit from 
 the arrangement. 
 
 Those who enter the ''back-blocks" of a new and dis- 
 turbed country cannot expect to lie upon a bed of roses. 
 There were "bad men" among the gauchos, of course, 
 and a few of these could scarcely fail to fall foul of the 
 Irish pioneers. It is related that one of these latter, in- 
 furiated by the wantonness of some of the knife play he 
 witnessed, took to the weapon himself, and slew seven- 
 teen expert duellists and ' ' Camp ' ' Bravos by slashing in 
 sincerely and wholeheartedly with his knife while his op- 
 ponents were airily occupied with the preliminary airy 
 ceremonial flourishes of their weapons! 
 
 Needless to say, half a century ago the British 
 estancieros did not dress for dinner, nor did their table- 
 cloths reflect the golden bubbles of champagne! Such 
 luxuries are only attained to in a pastoral country by 
 much labor and many gradual stages. Half a century ago 
 tablecloths themselves were very rare, and frequently non- 
 existent. In 1860 Hinchliff tells the story of a young 
 Englishman who set out from home to join a friend of 
 
504. BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 his, a Scotsman of the name of Anderson, who had estab- 
 lished himself on an estancia fifteen leagues from Pay- 
 sandii in Uruguay. Mr. Roberts, the former, who had 
 not announced his intention beforehand, hoped for a 
 warm welcome and a roof to cover his head. He ob- 
 tained the former, but not the latter. Anderson had 
 expended all his capital on his land and livestock. In 
 company with a single staunch gaucho, he was sleeping 
 on his saddle under the stars, in the fashion of a true 
 pioneer. The house was to come later — when the wool 
 of the sheep and the beef and hides of the cattle would 
 have justified it ! 
 
 It is my endeavor in this book to give as many as possi- 
 ble of other people 's opinions — especially when they hap- 
 pen to coincide with my own ! — so I will quote a couple of 
 paragraphs from Sir Horace Rumbold on the early Brit- 
 ish settler on the Argentine Campo : 
 
 ''He was to be met from the first at the advanced posts 
 and in the most exposed situations, tilling the ground and 
 raising cattle, rifle in hand, in the evil days when the 
 Indian plague was still at its worst. But the very daring 
 of his first ventures in some instances led to disastrous, 
 and sometimes tragical failure, as in the massacres at 
 Fraile Muerto. 
 
 "Many of the young Englishmen who were first 
 tempted to come out were perhaps scarcely fitted by birth 
 or education, for a hard life of unremitting toil and 
 severe privation. Some of them went home in disgust, 
 while of those who struggled on, not a few took to drown- 
 ing their cares in whisky, or cafia, or fell into the toils 
 of the native chinas, and speedily sank to the level of the 
 ordinary Gaucho." 
 
 Success, in fact, was not universal — for the simple rea- 
 son that such has never been the nature of success ! If 
 there were a weak spot, the solitude of the Campo was 
 designed to find it out. There is a tale told of two Eng- 
 lishmen who spent most of their time in bed in a humble 
 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 505 
 
 rancJio, a whisky bottle suspended from the roof at the 
 end of a string between the pair. By this means the 
 drink could be swung from the one to the other with the 
 least possible amount of trouble ! But the proportion of 
 such sorry workers to death of an unnecessary hobby to 
 the whole fine army of British estancieros, mayordomos, 
 and workers in general in the *'Camp" is most gratify- 
 ingly insignificant. 
 
 In 1870 a notable colonist venture was undertaken by 
 a Mr. Henley, who, having got together a number of en- 
 terprising young men of good family and circumstances, 
 arranged for their settlement on the Argentine Campo. 
 The first company of these to go out numbered fifty, and 
 altogether nearly a hundred landed on the shores of the 
 La Plata. Of these ''Henley boys" a considerable pro- 
 portion met with success, and became flourishing land- 
 owners. 
 
 The physical conditions of the north of the continent, 
 of course, forbade any pastoral enterprise which in any 
 way approached that of the south. Sometimes the Brit- 
 ish were led into ventures of this kind, however, whether 
 they would or not. An instance of this kind occurred 
 when in 1855 the government of Ecuador issued warrants 
 to the amount of £560,000 in part payment of arrears of 
 Interest to British holders of its stock. In consequence, 
 a British company was formed to work the land, and in 
 1859 the yacht Kittiwake sailed to Ecuador with experts 
 in agriculture, geology, botany, and engineering. Almost 
 immediately afterwards war broke out between Peru and 
 Ecuador, and the lands ceded to the British were claimed 
 as Peruvian. As compensation for this some other lands 
 were assigned to the British. I have no record as to 
 whether any financial return of consequence was ever de- 
 rived from these. Judging from the disturbed political 
 conditions of the period, the probabilities are against this. 
 
 The British have seldom gone out to South America as 
 agricultural laborers or as the workers of small holdings. 
 
506 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Colonies, therefore, of the extent of those founded by the 
 Russians, Poles, and Jews have not obtained in their case. 
 Nevertheless two sufl&ciently notable instances of British 
 Colonies occur at a much later period than that of the 
 Scottish enterprise, and comprise immigrants of a differ- 
 ent social status to that of the *' Henley boys." 
 
 The Welsh Colony at Chubut, near Puerto Madryn in 
 the Argentine province of Chubut, is the senior of these 
 two ventures. It was founded in 1865 by a Mr. Lewis 
 Jones, who, together with some comrades likewise im- 
 bued with some of the more soaring and attractive of the 
 Celtic ideals, desired to establish a community which 
 might cultivate these without interference from the out- 
 side world. Towards the end of the last century the 
 colony numbered no fewer than two thousand inhabitants, 
 who have proved themselves in every way admirable 
 workers and desirable citizens. 
 
 Having never had the opportunity of visiting the Welsh 
 colony, I am necessarily speaking from hearsay. From 
 this it would appear that their patriotic ideals have not 
 been fully realized, and it would seem that the increase in 
 the population of the colony has ceased. Perhaps its 
 founders had not reckoned sufficiently with that Argentine 
 law — quite reasonable in itself — ^which makes every child 
 bom on Argentine soil an Argentine subject, and thus 
 liable to Argentine regulations, and, if a boy, to his an- 
 nual term of military service. This would seem to have 
 placed serious difficulties in the way of the original ideas 
 of the Welsh colony — among which was the thorough cul- 
 tivation of the Welsh language — and in this respect has 
 proved somewhat discouraging to these southern wheat- 
 growers and breeders of sheep and cattle, though their 
 material situation would seem to be flourishing. 
 
 The Australian colony that was established in Para- 
 guay provides a different, and more dramatic tale. This 
 venture was organized by Australian socialists, under the 
 leadership of William Lane, an honorable but visionary 
 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 507 
 
 man, a success in journalism, a tragic failure in Utopian 
 land settlement. Under his guidance a number of famil- 
 ies of some of the finest artisan and laboring stock in the 
 Antipodes, disgusted with the unsatisfactory result to 
 them of the great Australian strike, sailed in 1893 from 
 the Dominion to the Colony of New Australia in Para- 
 guay — a hundred square leagues of good land presented 
 to them by the government of Paraguay, which showed a 
 commendable anxiety to get colonists of this type to settle 
 within its boundaries. 
 
 The result of this enterprise has been described often 
 enough, but never more lucidly than by Mr. Stewart 
 Grahame in his book ''Where Socialism Failed." No 
 community ever set out with loftier aims, or with a more 
 settled determination to do their duty by their neighbors 
 in a state where each should work for all, and all should 
 share and share alike. The venture had an absolutely 
 fair trial: there was no interference from without. But 
 when theory began to be put into practice, failure loomed 
 from the very start. Dissension and splits in the com- 
 munity completed the work of the discontent brought 
 about by an honest attempt at an equal division of the 
 fruits of unequal labor. After this the community aban- 
 doned its theories. Those who remain in New Australia 
 work for themselves instead of for others, and appear 
 contented with the result ! 
 
 Before abandoning the topic of the British Agricultural 
 and pastoral work in South America, let us turn back 
 again for a last glimpse at the mid-nineteenth century. 
 The following episode justifies the retrograde movement, 
 as will be seen from its character ! 
 
 Almost every known domestic animal has, at one time 
 or another, been introduced into South America; but it 
 was left to a Mr. Ledger in 1858 to attempt a reversal of 
 the process. Having resided for a number of years in 
 Peru and Bolivia, he became impressed with the idea 
 of transporting some specimens of the few kinds of 
 
508 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 indigenous South American domestic animals to Austra- 
 lia. 
 
 So, having purchased some flocks of llamas and al- 
 pacas, together with a few vicunas, he assembled them 
 in the neighborhood of Lake Titicaca, and there, where 
 the feather-crowned and gold-plated Inca magnates had 
 once led the worship to the sun, he prepared himself, and 
 his four-legged, swan-necked brood for the journey to the 
 coast. 
 
 Before the expedition had set out, Mr. Ledger heard 
 news which would have dismayed a less resolute man. 
 The Bolivian government, it appeared, had decided not 
 to allow his flocks to leave the country. This procedure 
 was typical of the old Spanish regime rather than of the 
 new and liberal Republics. Yet such relicts of the im- 
 perial theories of monopoly were wont to crop up now 
 and then in this continent. Before now, indeed, some 
 important issues have been involved in this way. I have 
 heard from a London merchant — a Mincing Lane man of 
 the old stamp so delightfully portrayed in ' ' Vice Versa, ' ' 
 — of the great difficulty that was experienced in obtain- 
 ing from Brazil the seeds of rubber trees for the plant- 
 ing of tentative groves in the East. 
 
 But this, from a commercial point of view, seems rea- 
 sonable enough compared with this prohibition of ani- 
 mal export. For in this latter, no competition was in- 
 volved, and it is difficult to see how the mere presence 
 of a young llama in Sidney could effect its father's wel- 
 fare in Bolivia! Or, even that of its father's master — 
 in which after all lies the crux and the human element 
 of the situation ! 
 
 Perhaps it was some such views as these latter which 
 strengthed Mr. Ledger 's already strong personal interest 
 in the scheme. Perhaps he argued to himself that if a 
 coach and four could be driven through any act of the 
 British parliament, surely a flock of llamas and vicunas 
 could be coaxed through a Bolivian By-law ! 
 

 OLD PRINT OF THE LLAMA AND INDIANS 
 
 SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS 
 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 509 
 
 So Ledger left the neighborhood of Lake Titicaca, only 
 to find that the Bolivian officials were on the look-out for 
 him. In order to escape detection, therefore, Ledger and 
 his convoy were obliged to forsake the main-roads — them- 
 selves mere sheep-tracks — and to scramble as best they 
 could across the peaks and valleys of the stupendous 
 Bolivian Mountain country. This achievement in itself, 
 involving immense hardships, was a sufficiently notable 
 one. 
 
 Once arrived in the neighborhood of the North-western 
 Argentine frontier, our intrepid smuggler found himself 
 on the threshold of the crisis of his enterprise. Ahead 
 of him was the Bolivian frontier guard, warned, and on 
 the look-out for his approach. How on earth was Ledger 
 to conceal the many scores of his tall llamas ! A few rab- 
 bits he might have placed in a game pocket : but this was 
 not to be done with an animal too lowly for a camel, too 
 lofty for a sheep, and too shaggy for a deer. Moreover 
 any interference with the llama 's dignity would undoubt- 
 edly have resulted in a hiss of protest followed by that 
 unerring ejection of the missile of saliva which is that 
 haughty creature 's principal weapon. 
 
 So Mr. Ledger determined to dispense with the services 
 of a single llama as accomplice. Having concealed his 
 flock in some field of the mountains, he strode forward 
 alone, bearing bottles as full to the mouth with fiery 
 liquid as was the horse of Troy with men. 
 
 Arrived at the frontier port, the guards, — ^who did not 
 know Mr. Ledger by sight — ^welcomed with effusion the 
 presence and generous beverages of one whom they took 
 to be an irresponsible and super-jovial traveler. Fortune 
 favored this bold stroke. The frontier guards drank, 
 chattered, sang, and slept in that conventional and satis- 
 factory fashion that is seldom seen off the operatic stage. 
 Then Ledger darted away, and returned, to lead his com- 
 panies of padding animals past the slumbering sentries 
 on to Argentine soil, and freedom ! 
 
510 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 After a further strenuous mountain journey, he sailed 
 from the Chilean coast, and landed in Sydney with, it is 
 said, a mixed flock of 276 llamas, alpacas, and vicunas. 
 
 Mr. Hinchliff in referring to this episode in 1863 re- 
 marks: '* These immensely valuable animals are now 
 thriving in Australia and increasing so rapidly that they 
 are already talked of as a very important element in the 
 future wealth of our colonies.'* 
 
 But this prediction, it seems, was of too optimistic a 
 nature. At all events I, for one — who in my youth ex- 
 changed the remote possibility of a diplomatic cocked hat 
 for the privilege of chasing sheep in the back blocks of 
 New Zealand — ^met with no llamas, or even tales of llamas 
 in Australasia. But it need not be deduced from this 
 fact alone that these animals do not exist somewhere 
 in the Dominions ! 
 
 Perhaps the end of a chapter devoted to these breezy 
 callings of the open air would be as fitting a place as any 
 other in which to refer briefly to the South American feats 
 of such noted mountain-climbers as Conway, Whymper, 
 and Fitzgerald, and to the work of explorers and f rontier- 
 delimitators such as Holditch, Fawcett, and Edwards. 
 
 There are lady travelers of a past generation, too, such 
 as Lady Brassey, whose cruise in the Sunbeam was 
 largely devoted to South America, and Lady Burton, who 
 roughed it with her brilliant husband across the ''back- 
 blocks" of Brazil. 
 
 But it is necessary to resist the temptation to launch 
 out in these directions. There are of course, many other 
 travelers and geographers of note, including the recently 
 deceased Sir Clements Markham, to whom reference is 
 made in another place. The names I have given are 
 merely representative of the various bodies — a course that 
 must necessarily be adopted if encyclopaedic dimensions 
 are to be avoided in this work. 
 
 In connection even with such weighty subjects as these, 
 it is by no means out of place to make a passing refer- 
 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 511 
 
 ence to sport. One of the most notable fields of British 
 influence in South America has been — and is — connected 
 with sport. The importance of this is not to be under- 
 rated; for the football and the golf -club, the lawn-tennis 
 racquet and the racing craft, the polo ball and the coach- 
 horn, and all the rest of such gear, have been vitally 
 instrumental in evoking a real intimacy and mutual re- 
 spect between the British and the South Americans. No 
 more convincing evidence exists of the stage which has 
 been arrived at in this respect, than the play of the Ar- 
 gentine polo teams in England, the tour of a Corinthian 
 "Soccer" eleven in Brazil, and the visit of Lord Hawke's 
 cricket team to Argentina. 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 
 ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE BRITISH IN THE NINETEENTH 
 CENTURY (ill) 
 
 Part played by the British in communications and transport — The South 
 American steamship service — The introduction of steam navigation 
 into the Pacific — William Wheelwright's work — Arrival of the first 
 steamers — Progress in the Pacific and in the Atlantic — North Ameri- 
 can competition — A Darien project — The founding of the Royal IVIail 
 Steam Packet Company — Supremacy of British shipping established 
 — Increase of British trade with Brazil — Costliness of the early ocean 
 mails — British control — British railway enterprise in South America 
 — Its value as a national advertisement — Work of the pioneers — In- 
 dians and fever — Labor difficulties — ^William Wheelwright and the 
 railways of South America — Some details of a notable career — Indus- 
 trial concessions and feats — The first South American railway — A 
 Chilean enterprise — Wheelwright's scientific attainments — His degree 
 of fame — Railway enterprise in Paraguay — The development of the 
 Argentine railways — A modest beginning — Eflfect on land values — 
 The first railways of Uruguay — Of Venezuela — The first cables and 
 tramways — Some modem feats of the South American railway enter- 
 prise — Magnitude of the general industrial achievements. 
 
 UNDOUBTEDLY some of the most monumental 
 work achieved by the British in South America 
 has been in connection with communications and 
 transport. Indeed the shipping, railway — and, in a lesser 
 degree, the tramway — enterprise of the British in the 
 Southern Continent has every right to be regarded with 
 deep pride by the nation in general. 
 
 We may begin with the shipping industry, since that is 
 primarily concerned with the coasts of the continent, and 
 we may subsequently proceed to its inland heart by means 
 of the railways ! 
 
 It is somewhat curious that the west coast of South 
 America should have had the advantage of a steamer con- 
 nection with Europe for so many years before a similar 
 
 512 
 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 513 
 
 benefit was enjoyed by tbe far less remote east coast. 
 One of the chief reasons for this undoubtedly lay in the 
 political stability of Chile, and the confusion that pre- 
 vailed at the time in the young river Plate States; al- 
 though Brazil, it must be said, was entirely free from this 
 state of affairs. 
 
 The full credit for the introduction of steam naviga- 
 tion into the Pacific must be given to Mr. William Wheel- 
 wright, a very notable North American steam pioneer, 
 who is referred to at some length later. Wheelwright, 
 having in 1833 obtained the necessary concessions from 
 the Chilean and Peruvian governments, came to England 
 to establish a company for the running of the steamers. 
 He found the city of London in an unresponsive mood. 
 For years his efforts to overcome its apathy in this par- 
 ticular direction were unsuccessful. At length he had 
 the good fortune to meet Lord Abinger, who entered 
 warmly into the project. In 1839 the company was 
 formed, and two steamers, each of 750 tons and 180 horse- 
 power, were built. 
 
 This tardy response, however, had set the whole en- 
 terprise in peril. There was no time to be lost if the 
 first steamer were to arrive in a Chilean port within the 
 period of time stipulated in the concession granted by 
 the Chileans so many years before ! The new enterprise 
 was known as the Pacific Steam Navigating Company, 
 and it was in 1840 that its first steamers, the Peru and 
 the Chili, drove southwards on their way to the Pacific 
 Ocean with not an hour to spare ! 
 
 An arbitrary delay of fourteen days enforced by the 
 Brazilian Government in the harbor of Eio de Janeiro 
 put all hope of success out of the question, and ultimately 
 the vessels arrived off the Chilean coast exactly thirteen 
 days after the stipulated time-limit of years had ex- 
 pired ! Fortunately the Chilean Government was keenly 
 alive to the benefits promised by this service, and re- 
 newed for ten years those privileges which have ever 
 
514 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 since been enjoyed by the Pacific Steam Navigation Com- 
 pany. 
 
 Considering that the enterprise was in its infancy, these 
 early privileges were liberal. The Chilean government 
 granted an annual subsidy of £12,000 for the direct steam 
 communication with England. At a later period the 
 Pacific Steam Navigation Company in connection with 
 the Eoyal Mail Steam Packet Company entered into a 
 contract with the British Government for the fortnightly 
 conveyance of mails between Panama and Valparaiso. 
 
 Shortly after 1850 the Pacific Steam Navigation Com- 
 pany had on the West Coast of South America the follow- 
 ing vessels : 
 
 Tons Horse-power 
 
 Lima 1,100 400 
 
 Bogota 1,100 400 
 
 Santiago 1,100 400 
 
 Bolivia 800 280 
 
 New Granada 600 200 
 
 Valdivia 700 180 
 
 Osprey 300 100 
 
 So much for the inauguration of the British steamer 
 enterprise in the Pacific. In the Atlantic — owing to the 
 disturbed political condition of the river Plate States 
 that has already been referred to — the chief freight and 
 passenger traffic was almost entirely confined to the 
 Brazilian ports. 
 
 Towards the middle of the nineteenth century a serious 
 competitive element entered into this commerce. The ten 
 years between 1840 and 1850 were apparently somewhat 
 critical ones for the British shipping trade with Brazil. 
 During this period the value of the freights carried re- 
 mained stationary at an annual figure of some three and 
 a half millions sterling. A stagnation of this kind could 
 entail nothing else but a serious lagging behind in the 
 general progress, and actually nearly all the advance in 
 tonnage during this decade was snapped up by the North 
 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 515 
 
 American clippers, who were making a bold bid for the 
 trade. 
 
 Nevertheless, it is evident that some enterprising spirits 
 were abroad on the British side from the fact that in 1844 
 a Captain Liot was commissioned by the Koyal Mail 
 Steam Packet Company to examine the isthmus of Darien 
 with a view of linking the two oceans by means of a 
 macadamized road or a railway. But the British Govern- 
 ment, it appears, refused to throw in its influence in favor 
 of the project, and, owing chiefly to this discouragement, 
 the scheme fell through. 
 
 To the southward of this an important event was soon 
 destined to come about. Truly the influence of steam has 
 been further-reaching than even the most inveterate trav- 
 eler imagines ! What might have occurred had the con- 
 test between the British and North Americans been left 
 to the ''windjammers," and had the decision remained 
 with canvas, might possibly have given food for some un- 
 pleasant reading to-day. It was, however, at the critical 
 moment that Great Britain launched out boldly into a 
 new enterprise, and in 1850 the Eoyal Mail Steam Packet 
 Company extended its field, and established a new and 
 southern connection with Brazil and the river Plate. 
 
 From that moment the advance of North American 
 shipping in South America was doomed. Dozens of 
 prominent men in the United States, foreseeing this, 
 strongly advocated the founding of a rival steamship 
 line. This move, indeed was urged with an almost pas- 
 sionate intensity by those patriotic, practical and shrewd 
 missionaries, Messrs. Kidder and Fletcher. 
 
 But nothing materialized. The North Americans began 
 to get into the habit — of which they are only now begin- 
 ning to break themselves — of going from New York to 
 South America via Southampton. British imports be- 
 gan to spring up by leaps and bounds, and in five years 
 the trade between Great Britain and Brazil had more than 
 doubled itself. 
 
516 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Much of this advance, as a matter of fact, was due to 
 the enormous increase in the coffee trade, which the ad- 
 vantages of steam carriage now enabled the British to 
 control. The great growth of this trade will be evident 
 from the following figures: 
 
 British exports in coffee in: 
 
 Year Lbs. 
 
 1852 3,000,000 
 
 1853 52,000,000 
 
 1854 59,000,000 
 
 1855 112,000,000 
 
 These figures are sufficiently striking to excuse the re- 
 sort to the somewhat reprehensible tabular form! 
 
 This period, indeed, was a notable one for British 
 commerce with South America, as the increase in the com- 
 bined imports and exports between Great Britain and 
 Brazil will show, for in 1855 these had advanced from the 
 average of three and a half sterling that had prevailed 
 between 1840 and 1850 to a total of £8,162,455. 
 
 The first steamship service instituted by the Royal 
 Mail Steam Packet Company was a monthly one from 
 Southampton to Rio de Janeiro, at which port passengers 
 for the river Plate were transshipped into a smaller 
 steamer. The ball having thus been set rolling, it was 
 not long before active competition arose, and in 1853 a 
 rival company was formed to start a regular steamship 
 service between Liverpool and the river Plate. 
 
 In those early days Liverpool would seem to have out- 
 rivaled Southampton in the tonnage employed in the voy- 
 ages to the river Plate. In 1835 the trade between the 
 Mersey and the southern ports called for the employment 
 of sixty-four vessels, the combined tonnage of which 
 amounted to 11,850 tons — about the dimensions, that is 
 to say, of a very moderate-sized liner of to-day ! The cor- 
 responding tonnage of the Port of London, however did 
 not amount to the half of this. 
 
EARLY TYPE OF ROYAL STEAM PACKET COMPANY SHIP 
 
 A MODERN BRITISH SOUTH AMERICAN SHIP 
 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 517 
 
 The costliness of the early ocean mails between Great 
 Britain and the river Plate was sufficient to make the 
 art of letter-writing a luxury. So far as Uruguay was 
 concerned, it was claimed in 1854 that this disadvantage 
 had been removed, when the postal rates were lowered 
 to two shillings an ounce, with an increased ratio of cost 
 for letters exceeding four ounces ! From this it will be 
 realized that, even after these much praised reductions 
 had been affected, the cheapness of the correspondence 
 with Uruguay at that period was only relative! The 
 charges in connection with the Brazilian mails were 
 equally heavy. Postage between this empire and G-reat 
 Britain was at one time 2/7 for anything up to half an 
 ounce in weight, and even in the late 1870 's, the same 
 amount could not be sent under the cost of a shilling. 
 
 Until the middle of the seventies the British postoffice 
 had a branch of its own in Rio de Janeiro. By this 
 means the British dealt directly with the mails of their 
 own nation, which did not pass through the hands of the 
 Brazilian authorities. This, of course, created an un- 
 usual international situation, which could not continue 
 when Brazil had attained to its maturity as a state. A 
 similar postal arrangement existed in the early days of 
 the river Plate countries. 
 
 The work of the British railway companies in South 
 America should, as I have remarked before, stand as an 
 everlasting monument to British enterprise in that con- 
 tinent. Its broader aspects have never, I think, been 
 sufficiently acknowledged by the world in general. It is 
 difficult to believe that the British prestige in the southern 
 continent could have maintained its height had it not been 
 for those great systems of traffic which have been at hand 
 to bear witness to an efficiency and an organizing power 
 which has been by no means so patent in many other 
 branches of our industries. 
 
 It is the traveler 's privilege to indulge in an occasional 
 mild grumble — a right which is, so to speak, thrown in 
 
518 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 with the ticket — and South America provides no excep- 
 tion to this rule; at the same time, speaking generally, 
 the working of the various British companies does extort 
 admiration, both voluntary and unwilling, from all classes 
 and nationalities in that continent. 
 
 As a national asset, and, more, as a national advertise- 
 ment, the value of these railways is not to be under- 
 estimated, even when harvests fail and dividends fall. 
 It would, I think, be a bad day for British enterprise 
 should the work of the pioneers and of the present organ- 
 izers pass into other hands. Certainly the results of any 
 revolution of the kind would be dramatic enough in South 
 America. However profitable a substitution of control 
 might prove to certain groups, and however pleasing a 
 state appropriation might be to the patriotic spirit of 
 the various republics, the changing of the present situa- 
 tion would surely prove to many that the substance of 
 experience and efficiency is better than the shadow of 
 unduly eager speculation or of untried new endeavor. 
 If this sound too complacent, the failing must be con- 
 doned by a survey of the general South American situa- 
 tion, where at the present moment we have too little cause 
 to congratulate our enterprise. 
 
 Probably no work on South America would afford more 
 interesting reading than one describing the experiences 
 of the railroad pioneers of that continent. Decidedly 
 the triumphs and tragedies of surveying and construction 
 camps, if conscientiously told, would fill as much space as 
 an ordinary encyclopaedia. It is true that the men who 
 now strike out in front of the lengthening lines, and 
 plunge into the unknown that lurks beyond railhead, need 
 no longer — except in the rarest instances — trouble their 
 heads about the possibility of Indian attack. But this 
 particular peril has never loomed very large in the South 
 American railway world. Fever has claimed a thousand 
 victims where the Indians of the center and north have 
 scarcely succeeded in murdering one. Among the bones 
 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 519 
 
 of those who have died of yellow fever, blackwater, beri- 
 beri, and the like, the few skull trophies which have hung 
 in the forest dwellings of the Indians would indeed be as 
 needles among haystacks ! 
 
 The task of the British railway engineer in South Amer- 
 ica has always been a difficult one compared with that of 
 the other employers of out-door labor. The British 
 estanciero in the river Plate countries has its local peones 
 to work for him, and, if he remain ignorant of their tem- 
 peramental peculiarities, the fault is his own. The same 
 applies to the owners of Chilean, Peruvian, or Bolivian 
 haciendas, to the Brazilian coffee and sugar planters, and, 
 in fact, to the employer of agricultural and mining labor 
 throughout the continent. 
 
 But the railway construction engineer, although he is 
 at least as much concerned with labor as any of these, is 
 in a very difficult case. It is his fate to be always in 
 command of scratch labor crews. He is largely at the 
 mercy of labor conditions in other parts of the continent, 
 and even of the world in general. It is part of his ''job" 
 to adapt himself to the peculiarities of white, mestizo, 
 yellow and black labor. Than this nothing can impose 
 a severer test of his powers of leadership and diplomacy. 
 
 When the line is completed, and the engineer glides to 
 and fro along it in the private car that is his second home, 
 he is doubtless an object of envy to many. But it may 
 be taken for granted that he has deserved every square 
 inch of this luxury, and is still earning it ! 
 
 We may now revert to the infancy of this great British 
 railway enterprise in South America. One of the most 
 remarkable men who had to do with its birth was William 
 Wheelwright. It was the State of Massachusetts that 
 saw Wheelwright's birth in 1798, but it was in London 
 that he died seventy-five years later. So much of his 
 astonishing initiative and vigor was employed in the serv- 
 ice of the British that considerably more than a passing 
 reference is due to him in these pages. 
 
520 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 From the records of the rapidly budding South Amer- 
 ican industries of the early and mid-nineteenth century 
 Wheelwright's name flashes out over and over again — 
 and nearly always from the very summit of some monu- 
 mental conception of the world of enterprise. 
 
 Concessions of vast importance seemed to drop as plen- 
 tifully as blackberries into Wheelwright's mouth. At 
 least such traces of his work as crop up might well give 
 this impression to the casual follower of these records — 
 who may not be aware that a valuable concession is not 
 the kind of fruit that falls ! Most decidedly it has to be 
 climbed for, and picked ! 
 
 But Wheelwright must not for one moment be con- 
 fused with the ordinary concession-hunter, notwith- 
 standing his marked success in this direction — ^which, 
 after all was only the logical result of his general abilities. 
 It was Wheelwright who, assisted by the Chilean and 
 Peruvian governments, as we have already seen, founded 
 the Pacific Steam Navigation Company. It was Wheel- 
 wright who obtained in Argentina the concessions for the 
 Ensenada Railway, the Rosario and Cordoba railway, the 
 Central Argentine railway, and numerous other enter- 
 prises of the kind. But Wheelwright achieved more than 
 this. His name has a great claim on posterity as being 
 that of the founder of the first railway in South America. 
 This was the Chilean line between Caldera and Copiapo, 
 which was opened on Christmas Day, 1852, the first loco- 
 motive on the system being driven by an engineer of the 
 name of 'Donovan. 
 
 This venture met with hearty support from the Chilean 
 notabilities. To those acquainted with the names of the 
 Chilean aristocracy this will be clear when the following 
 list of shareholders is given : Gallo, Edwards, Carvallo, 
 Subercaseaux, Varas, Vega, Tocornal, Cifuentes, Montt, 
 Carril, Cousino, the last shareholder being Wheelwright 
 himself. 
 
 The Senor Edwards, it may be mentioned, whose name 
 
FOREST CLEARING IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 RAILROAD CONSTRUCTION IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 521 
 
 appears second in the list, was tlae son of an English gen- 
 tleman who took part on the Chilean side in the war of 
 liberation, and became a Chilean. The latter 's great 
 grandson is Senor Agnstin Edwards, the well-known 
 Chilean statesman, and the present highly esteemed min- 
 ister-plenipotentiary in London. 
 
 Wheelwright 's talents were not confined to the business 
 side of his profession, although he afterwards became a 
 partner of Mr. (afterwards Lord) Brassey's, the firm be- 
 ing known as Brassey, Withes, and Wheelwright. His 
 scientific attainments were marked, and he was an expert 
 in territory. Thus in 1860, in his character of F.R.G.S. 
 we find him reading to the Eoyal Geographical Society a 
 paper on a proposed railway across the Andes, from 
 Caldera to Eosario via Cordoba. It is said to have been 
 Wheelwright himself, moreover, who discovered the 
 Chilean coal field at Talcahuano, which has subsequently 
 played so important a part in the steam traffic of these 
 regions. 
 
 Possibly Wheelwright's fame as an industrial pioneer 
 is wider than I suspect. It is true that Valparaiso has 
 raised a statue to him, and that his name is familiar 
 enough in Chilean print — there are some excellent notes 
 concerning him in Senor Santiago Marin Vicuna's Los 
 Ferrocarriles de Chile. But it is surprising how seldom 
 his name occurs in English books, and how many indexes 
 one may ransack for a reference to him, only to draw 
 blank ! 
 
 It is not a little remarkable that in a hermit state such 
 as was Paraguay in the middle of the nineteenth century 
 railway enterprise should have begun as early as the year 
 1854. In that year the most genial of Paraguay's three 
 autocrats, Carlos Antonio Lopez, ordered that his coun- 
 try was to be provided with railways. Three British 
 engineers, Messrs. Burrel, Valpy and Padison were en- 
 gaged for the purpose, and, in order that the construction 
 might be conducted on the accepted Paraguayan model of 
 
522 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 the mid-nineteenth century, three battalions of infantry 
 were placed at their disposal to act as navvies. 
 
 As a result, some seventy-two kilometres of rail had 
 been laid in 1861, when the line was opened from Asuncion 
 as far as Paraguari. The advent to power of Francisco 
 Solano Lopez brought about a period of war which inter- 
 rupted all such enterprise, and it was not until 1886 that 
 work was resumed on the line. 
 
 Little by little the network of railway lines extended 
 itself over South America. The following report, pub- 
 lished by Mr. C. Frederic Woodgate in 1877, will show the 
 beginning of various of the companies in Argentina, the 
 chief railway country in the Continent. 
 
 In 1877 the situation of the Argentina railways was as 
 follows : 
 
 Work Miles Proprietors 
 
 'begun 
 
 Western 1857 150 Provincial Government 
 
 of Buenos Aires (aft- 
 erwards British). 
 
 Northern 1862 18 London Company, 
 
 Great Southern 1864 202 London Company. 
 
 Boca and Ensenada 1863 37 London Company. 
 
 Central Argentine 1863 245 London Company. 
 
 Villa Maria and Rio 
 
 Cuarto 1870 82 National government. 
 
 Cordova and Tueuman . . 1873 336 National government. 
 
 Rio Cuarto and Mercedes. 1873 76 National government. 
 
 Eastern Argentine 1873 96 London Company. 
 
 Buenos Aires and Cam- 
 
 pana 1873 42 London Company. 
 
 The first of these, the Western Railway was begun un- 
 der distinctly modest auspices so far as capital is con- 
 cerned. A sum of £28,000 sufficed to start the venture, 
 an amount to which the Argentine Government subse- 
 quently added the loan of the equivalent of £24,000. In 
 1864 we find the officials claiming with pride that the 
 trains on their system frequently carried over three thou- 
 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 523 
 
 sand passengers in a single day — an estimate that might 
 cause some chagrin to the managers of to-day ! 
 
 Incidentally it may be remarked that, as a result of the 
 construction of this line, some of the land through which 
 it passed increased in value fifty-fold. At a later date, 
 after the Great Southern Eailway had opened the south- 
 ern Buenos Aires country which General Koca had freed 
 from the Indian peril, land which had been obtainable 
 for £70 the square league less than eight years afterwards 
 was worth £3,000 the league ! 
 
 It was in the 1870 's that some of the most notable 
 strides were undertaken in the great public services 
 throughout South America. Even before this, however, 
 the little Eepublic of Uruguay had made its first ac- 
 quaintance with the iron road. The first railway to be 
 opened here was the Central Uruguay. This was begun 
 in 1868, and a short section of eleven miles was already 
 being worked in 1869. 
 
 Four years later, in 1873, the British turned their at- 
 tention to the north of the continent, and built the first 
 railway in Venezuela. This was known as the Bolivar 
 Railway, and was originally constructed to connect the 
 to^vn of Tucacas with the copper mines of Aroa. The 
 line was subsequently extended to Barquisimeto. 
 
 Incidentally, too, it may be remarked that it was at this 
 period that the complementary public services came into 
 being. Thus the first South American cable was laid in 
 1874. It connected Lisbon with Pernambuco, and its 
 3,866 miles ran by way of Madeira and St. Vincent. By 
 the year 1877, moreover, a proof of the strides of the 
 young tramway industry was evident in Buenos Aires, 
 where the British Companies owned a length of fifty-four 
 miles, of tram-lines, on which about one hundred cars 
 were working; 
 
 It is quite out of the question to attempt to deal here 
 with the more recent progress of the British owned rail- 
 ways in South America. Some of the feats, it is true. 
 
624 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 are of world-wide importance. The linking up of Buenos 
 Aires with Valparaiso — and consequently, of the Atlantic 
 with the Pacific — the establishment of railway communica- 
 tion between Rio and Brazil and Montevideo in Uruguay ; 
 between Buenos Aires and Asuncion, the capital of Para- 
 guay ; the construction of the famous Oroza railway, which 
 crosses the Peruvian Andes at a height of nearly sixteen 
 thousand feet; the successful completion of the remark- 
 able Madeira-Mamore railway, the pet project of that 
 most worthy North American successor of Wheelwright, 
 Colonel Church, by which the terrors of a fever-laden 
 series of Amazonian torrents were for ever done away 
 with — these alone are achievements which have called into 
 being some of the greatest engineering skill of the age, to 
 say nothing of the assistance of such ambitious instru- 
 ments as steam ferries for the conveyance of trains across 
 rivers, and similar undertakings by means of which the 
 more stupendous stretches of nature have been harnessed. 
 Much the same may be said of the port-works, river 
 traffic, and municipal undertakings in which the British 
 have specialized. A book might comfortably be written 
 on each subject, and, indeed, so far as the amount of print 
 is concerned, many have been! 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 TO-DAY AND TO-MOKEOW IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 The Work of the British in the Continent — Financial achievements — Man- 
 ner in which the efforts have been carried out — Policy of the British 
 from the Elizabethan Age onwards — Relations with the South Amer- 
 icans — The latter's experiences of the Englishman as an enemy and as 
 a friend — The Prussian Alfinger — Tastes of the South Americans — 
 Some matters of appreciation — Confidence between the Iberians and 
 the British — Guiana and the Falklands — Progress of British trade — 
 Ratio of increase compared with that of Germany — Reasons for a 
 specious growth and real decline — Philosophy of the British manu- 
 facturer — ^His relations with his agents abroad — Questions of market- 
 ing goods — Some artificial disadvantages — Necessity of organization 
 on a large scale — An instance in the shipping world — Result of retalia- 
 tory measures — The British commercial traveler in South America — 
 Suggestions concerning a suitable type of man — The intimate history 
 of a warship contract — The Englishman not an opportunist — Advan- 
 tages and disadvantages of this circumstance — Teutonic national ma- 
 chinery employed in support of commerce — The value of official flattery 
 — Necessity for British organization on a comprehensive scale — Ques- 
 tions of diplomacy and diplomats — ^Suggestions concerning a special 
 type of attache — Evidences of German prosperity in South America — 
 Latin-American sentiment — Opinions of a Brazilian merchant — Prob- 
 able future German commercial campaign — ^The North Americans as 
 competitors — Relations of these with the Latin Americans — South 
 America and British imperial preference — Britain's task as an ally. 
 
 IN reviewing the work of the British in South America 
 it is fortunately unnecessary to enter into a maze of 
 statistics. These have been so clearly set out in doz- 
 ens of publications, official and otherwise, that any mass 
 of detail would not justify its passage in this particular 
 prose .vehicle. 
 
 Briefly, very nearly one hundred years ago two or three 
 million pounds passed from Lombard Street to the newly 
 founded South American States. This financial assist- 
 ance came to them when they were still in the act of reel- 
 ing to their feet, and before the smoke of the War of In- 
 dependence had finally rolled clear of the Continent. 
 
 525 
 
526 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 To-day the British investments in South America prob- 
 ably amount to some seven hundred millions sterling. 
 On the face of it, this situation might well seem not 
 merely satisfactory, but triumphant. In many respects 
 it justifies the first adjective; but the second, I think, 
 could apply only if the rest of the world had remained 
 impassive spectators of our industry as we piled up our 
 interests and securities in the great Latin continent. 
 
 There is, moreover, another view of the question, which 
 has so far been ventilated by our enemies rather than by 
 ourselves, but which is by no means unworthy of atten- 
 tion. A boat may be rowed for seven hundred miles up a 
 river to a point where the tiring oarsmen slacken and 
 fail: then it will be of merely historic consolation to the 
 inmates to reflect that, the farther upstream the craft 
 has won its way, the more numerous are the down-river 
 reaches along which it has to drift. 
 
 But this pessimistic metaphor is premature, certainly 
 in this chapter, and probably in the world of affairs. It 
 is essential in the first place to see by what means the 
 British progress in South America has been achieved, 
 from its earliest beginnings to the present day. We 
 at once find ourselves confronted by a remarkable chain 
 of events, every one of which illustrates the desultory na- 
 ture of both our hostilities and friendly undertakings in 
 South America. Almost all our achievements there have 
 been the work of free lances. This has been so since the 
 days of Elizabeth, who on the one hand gave Drake god- 
 speed and scarfs embroidered with well-wishes, and on 
 the other condoled with Philip of Spain on the deeds of 
 her irrepressible sailors! The policy of James, feebly 
 parodying the vigorous partnership of Elizabeth, gave a 
 grim end to Raleigh. Later, many an honest sailor had 
 to take his chance whether he were regarded by Spain as 
 a lawful enemy, a dubious privateer, or a wholly damnable 
 bucaneer. His mutable status depended on the course 
 of the relations between England and Spain — a kaleido- 
 
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 527 
 
 scopic procession of sentiments concerning which he, 
 afloat in the Southern oceans, could not be expected to 
 keep himself posted. The dawn itself of the freedom of 
 Spanish South America was heralded by a stroke of this 
 same free-lance policy. For the successes and disasters 
 of the British invasion of the Rio de la Plata in 1806 — 
 which played so notable a part in instilling the idea of 
 independence into the South American mind — were the 
 result of an inspiration on the part of the British naval 
 commander, Sir Home Popham, who found himself with 
 some ships and troops to spare after the capture of Cape 
 Town. 
 
 The War of Liberation itself affords a final instance of 
 the consistently impassive official attitude toward South 
 America. At that period the British Government, main- 
 taining a correct neutrality, provided nothing beyond a 
 benevolent sympathy. The British sailors and soldiers 
 who enlisted in the patriot cause provided themselves; 
 and such men as Cochrane, Guise, Miller, O'Brien, and 
 some scores of others, found that their own Government's 
 attitude toward them partook of the Nelsonian touch of 
 refusing to observe what ought not to be seen ! 
 
 It was only natural that the first trading relations of 
 the British with the South Americans should have been of 
 an individual nature. The commercial world was loosely 
 knit in those days, and it was in the age when private in- 
 itiative counted that the prospering British coached the 
 South Americans from the status of pupils to that of 
 colleagues. 
 
 England had well earned her considerable early ad- 
 vantages over her European and North American rivals. 
 Her political and militant sympathies, her golden assist- 
 ance, and the advent of a swarm of merchants conveying 
 cargoes of merchandise — all this while the yellow and red 
 of the Spanish standard was still floating over the last 
 remnant of royal territory, the castles of Callao — had 
 won for the British a place in the esteem of the South 
 
528 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 Americans that no subsequent international vicissitudes 
 have succeeded in destroying. It was in cordial circum- 
 stances that the British merchant introduced his machin- 
 ery, his hard and soft ware, his live stgck, and his liquids, 
 and shipped home in their place hides, horns, metals, 
 sugar, coffee, and the general produce of the Continent; 
 for, since the sentiments of Brazil resembled those of 
 the former Spanish colonies, it is with the entire con- 
 tinent that we are now concerned. It was surely one of 
 the anomalies of statesmanship that gained for England 
 the simultaneous gratitude of Brazil and the Spanish- 
 speaking States. She had assisted the former in her 
 step from a royal colony to a kingdom ; she had aided the 
 latter to divest themselves of royalty and its influence by 
 becoming republics! The explanation is a simple one. 
 These divergent processes had the same effect: that of 
 throwing open the South American ports to the trade of 
 the world. 
 
 As the intercourse between the British and the South 
 Americans increased, other links beyond those of com- 
 merce began to be forged. It is the fashion to accuse the 
 Englishman abroad of the unsocial crime of keeping him- 
 self to himself. This, I think, must apply in a far lesser 
 degree to South America than to any other part of the 
 world. There is no doubt that the average Englishman 
 in South America entertains an affection for that con- 
 tinent and its inhabitants deeper than the inevitable re- 
 gard with which the successful man contemplates the 
 source of his wealth. Intermarriage has been frequent : 
 common interests in sports, games, pastoral, and ag- 
 ricultural occupations have led to an intimate under- 
 standing. 
 
 Thus we arrive at the general relations of the present 
 day. Without an over-indulgence in complacency, they 
 may be said to be very satisfactory. The average Eng- 
 lishman is aware that he does not sound the tempera- 
 mental depths of the average South American; on the 
 
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 529 
 
 other hand, the average South American has a much 
 shrewder conception of the Englishman than the latter 
 suspects. It is true that for generations the man of Iber- 
 ian stock took some pleasure in referring to the North- 
 erner as the loco Ingles — the mad Englishman. But the 
 adjective, emitted in jocular resignation, was devoid of 
 sting; for at all times the Iberian considered the other an 
 honest loco, and now for more than a generation he has 
 joined him in his madness — in almost all its forms, from 
 hygiene and social clubs to the cult of balls ! Moreover, 
 is not the word of an Englishman — Palabra de un Inglez! 
 — an oath in itself? Is not the expression Hora Inglessa 
 an appeal to punctuality? 
 
 And — still regarding the situation from the point of 
 view of the South American — ^he has been able to judge 
 of the Englishman as an enemy; no mean test of a man's 
 worth. When Whitelock's ill-fated expedition left the 
 shores of the river Plate, the Government of the invaded 
 territories had already bcome national rather than vice- 
 regal. It was as South Americans that the city fathers 
 of Montevideo offered that generous tribute to the de- 
 parting British troops, an address that acknowledged 
 with spontaneous warmth the chivalry of the army of oc- 
 cupation, and that went the length of expressing regret 
 for its departure! A fine testimonial this — one which 
 would not have been applied, say, to the Prussian Alfinger, 
 who, assisting in the sixteen-century Welser colonization 
 of the Continent, made a practice, when on the march, of 
 cutting off the heads of dying members of the Indian 
 slave-gangs, whose necks were chained to a common steel 
 rod, and by this practical method prevented any senti- 
 mental delay in the progress of the party ! 
 
 This Alfinger of unsavory memory, dragged in here 
 somewhat by his grim and ghastly heels, opens up in a 
 not inappropriate fashion one of the main objects of this 
 chapter — the question of the respective relations with the 
 South Americans of ourselves, and of our keenest com- 
 
^ 
 
 ,H 
 
 530 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 petitors, the Germans. Let us start in a key that is 
 justifiably buoyant! As regards mere popularity, it 
 seems to me that we have little to fear. The piece of 
 eight played its part in the temporary lease of part of 
 Venezuela to the Prussian Welsers, and it is very little 
 beyond a common interest in the dollar which is respon- 
 sible for the association of South American and German 
 to-day. An inherent and unquenchable antagonism exists 
 between the arrogance of the Prussian and the easy de- 
 mocracy of the South American. One very clear proof 
 of this exists. In largely increasing numbers the South 
 American has taken to visiting Paris and Cannes, London 
 and Eastbourne, Switzerland, Norway, and Egypt; but 
 — for his own pleasure — never Berlin ! The lists of Eton 
 and other schools now include a number of South Ameri- 
 cans — but to what German school does any South Ameri- 
 can boy go for the building up of his character and tone ? 
 Those who have visited Teutonic technical colleges have 
 done so for technical purposes. 
 
 Surely, since every straw counts, we may even take 
 some pride in having induced the South American to 
 follow our lead in such matters as clothes, games, and 
 household arrangements. I have had the honor of din- 
 ing en petit comite with the late President of Argentina 
 — an old member of the Devonshire Club — when the serv- 
 ice was carried out by maidservants in English caps and 
 aprons. Now is not this in its way as high a compliment 
 as any other? 
 
 The volatile Iberian — as sturdy in his own way as any 
 other race of the earth — has, we flatter ourselves, a stanch 
 belief in the good faith of the British. On this head 
 we have every right to sound a trumpet blast or two, 
 for in this case the proof of the pudding has been our 
 willingness to respect its plums! The Iberian is noth- 
 ing if not a student of history, and he remembers. What 
 of Madeira? Have we not twice occupied, and volun- 
 tarily restored that tempting, pleasant, and strategically 
 
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 531 
 
 important island? Then there are the Falkland Islands. 
 Has an Argentine statesman lost a single ministerial wink 
 of sleep on account of our possession of these hills and 
 pastures in the South Atlantic? What of Guiana, too 
 — a colony that, logically, should be deeply unpopular in 
 the Southern continent, since it is one of the last two 
 remaining appanages of royalty on the republican main- 
 land? Nevertheless, British Guiana, a tranquil neigh- 
 bor to the north of the Latin republics, provokes no 
 shriek even from Monroe's sensitive eagle. But — if 
 Raleigh's territory had been Prussian! The South 
 Americans are sufficiently alert to conceive the length of 
 the tentacles of intrigue that would have wriggled south- 
 wards across the Continent ! 
 
 In fairness to the Englishman it must be said that 
 during a hundred years not only has he maintained his 
 relations with the inhabitants of the various South Amer- 
 ican republics, he has improved them. 
 
 At this point we must leave the bright side of the pic- 
 ,^ure. These justifiable trumpet blasts bring us to the 
 /threshold of a startling and unpleasant anomaly. Dur- 
 ing these recent decades, while this mutual cordiality has 
 increased, and the British have enjoyed sentimental ad- 
 vantages over every nationality save the Latins, the pro- 
 portion of British trade compared with that of the rest 
 of the world has decreased ! That it should decrease to 
 a certain extent was inevitable — ^but the shrinkage that 
 has actually occurred has been beyond reasonable expec- 
 tation ! 
 
 It would hardly seem that the point is a debatable one 
 — though there are some who profess themselves satisfied 
 with the mere fact that our trade with South America 
 has not been stagnant, and who even rejoice in an in- 
 crease in our exports such as could only be received with 
 legitimate satisfaction had the rest of the world stood 
 still in the meantime. Such a frame of mind will not, I 
 think, bear much investigation. 
 
532 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 There is no need to plunge here into any of the count- 
 less statistics which are available on the subject : we may 
 take our exports to Brazil as a typical example. In 1875 
 we sent to Brazil practically as much as all the rest of the 
 world put together. To-day our proportion of the goods 
 shipped to Brazil is some twenty-five per cent. Since it 
 is clearly unreasonable that Great Britain should expect 
 to continue to rival the bulk of the rest of the world's 
 trade, there would be less reason for complaint concern- 
 ing these figures had the bulk of the increased exports 
 to Brazil been divided in a normal fashion among the 
 other nations. But this is not so. In 1875 the German 
 exports to Brazil amounted barely to an eighth of our 
 own, but in rather more than twenty years she had 
 increased these figures tenfold, while Great Britain 
 during this period had rather more than doubled her 
 exports. 
 
 Germany's gains, of course, have not continued in this 
 phenomenal ratio, or, instead of maintaining the lead, 
 Great Britain would have lost her predominant position 
 many years ago. Nevertheless, the general advance of 
 the Germans in exports and the control of industrial en- 
 terprise has continued far in excess of our own. Viewed 
 in this light, our trade advance in South America loses 
 much of its glamour. It appears only too clearly as a lag- 
 ging behind, which, if the existing trend be continued for 
 long enough, must end in collapse ; for who now can doubt 
 that the ultimate aim of the German commercial policy in 
 South America has been, not division, but the annihilation 
 of the non-Teutonic! 
 
 Moreover, the actual process must be far more rapid 
 than any promised by mere statistics ; for there comes a 
 stage in commercial war when strategic advantages have 
 a cumulative effect. Then the resistance is apt to crum- 
 ble like the atoms of an undermined sand-castle when the 
 waters have ceased to nibble, and begin to devour! 
 
 It is possible, apart from the circumstances of the war, 
 
BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 VIADUCT CONSTRUCTION IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 533 
 
 that this aggressive policy has led Germany to the verge 
 of bankruptcy, as some allege. Even so, that would not 
 return to us the volume of past trade that the policy has 
 lost us. 
 
 There must be serious reasons for this specious growth 
 and real decline which during the last quarter of a cen- 
 tury has occurred in the face of a favoring situation. 
 There would seem to be two main causes. The first has 
 already created a certain amount of attention : the refusal 
 of many British manufacturers to adapt themselves to a 
 rapidly altering condition of affairs. The second has at- 
 tracted less notice, but is, I think, as important in its own 
 way as the first. This is the continuance of that free- 
 lance policy of individual effort that, as I have tried to 
 show, harks back to the days of Hawkins and Drake. 
 Surely under present conditions this is as obsolete as the 
 walls of England that once were of wood. Pitted against 
 the scientifically combined groups of highly organized 
 competitors, its working must resemble the performance 
 of a scratch Association football team against the 
 mathematical precision of a tried professional eleven. 
 
 Let us consider the former of these two main causes. 
 The obstinacy of many British manufacturers would seem 
 to be a thing of comparatively recent growth — ^probably a 
 fungus on the tree of easy prosperity. Those who care 
 to peruse the experiences of the British travelers in South 
 America from the end of the first decade of the nine- 
 teenth century up to rather more than a generation ago 
 cannot fail to be struck by the copious notes and inky 
 exclamations as the author describes the picturesque 
 knives and quaintly romantic spurs that come from Shef- 
 field ; the bizarre fabrics, redolent of palm-trees, guitars, 
 and starry nights, that were Lancashire's contribution 
 to the South, and a hundred other articles of the kind. 
 Doubtless a shoddy species of trade, this, but at least 
 eloquent of enterprise and ingenuity ! 
 
 One is occasionally tempted to wonder if the German 
 
534 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 of to-day be not in the mood of the Mid- Victorian English- 
 man — minus the latter 's sporting propensities and con- 
 science, and plus the Prussian cynical contempt of any 
 divine or human convention which might limit his chances 
 of success ! 
 
 Certainly the Mid- Victorian manufacturer would not 
 have accepted the present-day situation with that resigna- 
 tion — approaching indifference — evinced by his succes- 
 sor. In the course of time certain British articles have 
 gone by the board in South America, pushed aside by 
 natural forces. It was the climate that gave light Ger- 
 man beers the victory over the English ales that once 
 flooded the Continent — a loss to the British that was sub- 
 sequently more than retrieved by the triumph of whisky. 
 Such circumstances are not to be overcome ; but unavoid- 
 able disasters of this particular kind have been very few 
 and far between in the history of British trade with South 
 America. 
 
 Of recent years it is only too lamentable to observe how 
 frequently the relations between the British manufacturer 
 and his agent abroad resemble those between a motionless 
 mule and a dispirited goad. The manufacturer is in- 
 clined to be complacent and trite ; the agent tends to be- 
 come irritated and bitter. Which of the two has reason 
 on his side? Not, I think, the manufacturer. It may 
 appear a poor calling to attempt to point out to a com- 
 munity how unjustified is its content with its situation. 
 Nevertheless in this case the microbe of dissatisfaction is 
 a healthy one, and the sooner it is injected the better for 
 the manufacturer. It is not too much to ask of him that 
 he should put his customer 's wants before his own views, 
 that he should supply to Brazil axes of a steel tempered 
 to fell the tropical iron-wood instead of the English oak ; 
 that he should discover which cloth is popular in Lima, 
 and which in London ! Does it savor of an unreasonable 
 pessimism to assert that, unless he act on some such prin- 
 ciples as these, that craft of his, which his very deliberate 
 
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 535 
 
 paddling now just succeeds in propelling upstream, will 
 be swept rapidly down the current? 
 
 Let us suppose, then, the very reasonable supposition 
 that we are in a position to supply the South American 
 (whose sentiments do not interfere with his desire to 
 purchase in the cheapest and most practical market) with 
 the type of goods he requires, on terms as favorable as 
 those offered by our neighbors — if we fail in this, is there 
 any special providence available to produce some super- 
 natural reason why we should not shut up shop ? Let us 
 suppose, further, that we, as sellers, will in our accounts 
 yield to the decimal system, to the local customs, cur- 
 rency, and prejudices, and render all the other minor 
 matters concessions by the non-observance of which we 
 have voluntarily handicapped our trade. What has hap- 
 pened when we have achieved this? — We have merely 
 placed ourselves on a footing of equality with our com- 
 petitors. The actual fight to maintain our proper position 
 in the South American trading world is still before us. 
 
 We may now turn to the second of the two main causes 
 of the present unsatisfactory position of British trade 
 with South America. I have tried to show that in the 
 days of individual competition and British manufacturing 
 enterprise — the period of ''notions"! — ^nearly all the cir- 
 cumstances were in favor of the British. The subsequent 
 introduction of the great industrial combinations such as 
 are in existence to-day has tended toward the undermin- 
 ing of these advantages. Only on rare occasions have 
 the British organized their resources on a wholesale scale 
 to oppose the trusts that sprang up in the United States, 
 and that were imitated in Germany. Where they have, 
 success has followed. But for the great shipping coop- 
 eration effected by Sir Owen Philipps, who can doubt but 
 that the grim and determined onslaught of the German 
 shipowners would have ended in the fluttering of the Eed 
 Ensign over fewer and smaller decks than is at present 
 the case? As it is, the stand has been made in the face 
 
536 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 of a hundred tricks, such as that of a local method of 
 tonnage calculation tending in the announcements to in- 
 flate the dimensions of the German ships at the expense 
 of the British, and other dubious measures of this 
 kind. 
 
 It would seem that an axiom in success in the South 
 America of to-day is that an undertaking should not only 
 be efficient, but on a large scale: witness the deserved 
 triumph of the British railway methods in that continent ! 
 A lesser instance is to be met with in the success which 
 attended the foundation of the large British stores in 
 Buenos Aires. There are times when it is necessary to 
 think imperially — outside the bounds of our own empire ! 
 I cannot help supposing that, had the British meat-chill- 
 ing companies been imbued more liberally with this spirit, 
 the Stars and Stripes would not have won so rapid a 
 victory on the banks of the river Plate. But this need 
 of combination now seems so clear, and it is one which is 
 raising itself with such emphasis before the captains of 
 the British industries, that it is surely not necessary to 
 lay any prolonged stress upon it here. The benefits of an 
 alert resistance have been proved over and over again, in 
 minor, as well as in major, matters. Indeed, it is usually 
 only in minor matters that a definite and patent result is 
 available. For an instance of this I must turn again to 
 the leading British steamship association which serves 
 South America. 
 
 It happened some time ago that the agent of this asso- 
 ciation at one of the western European ports noticed 
 that the agent of the rival German line was making a 
 practice of endowing the poster-pictures of his steamers 
 with one funnel beyond the number that they actually 
 possessed. Unimportant though the exaggeration may 
 appear to the layman, it was by no means without its 
 method. How deeply the simple but profitable Iberian 
 steerage passenger is impressed by such pictures will be 
 realized when it is explained that on one occasion a num- 
 
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 537 
 
 ber refused to sail on a certain vessel that did not boast 
 as many funnels as shown in the stock illustration printed 
 on the ticket — although the despised vessel happened to 
 be one of the largest in the service. 
 
 The British agent, aware of its significance, proceeded 
 to counter his rival's method. New posters showed the 
 vessels of his line with one funnel more than those de- 
 picted on the German sheets. When the Teutonic agent 
 had rubbed his eyes at the sight he hastily called his 
 posters in, and replaced them by others upon which tow- 
 ered two funnels more than on the last. He had, in fact, 
 gone one better: but his improvement was once again 
 excelled by his alert competitor. The affair continued un- 
 til the pictured British hulls groaned beneath the weight 
 of, I believe, seven enormous funnels ! 
 
 On this the German agent, in despair, appealed to his 
 head office in Prussia to intervene — ^in order to make an 
 end to this spectacular rivalry which he himself had in- 
 troduced ! As a result of negotiations between the com- 
 panies a truce in imaginative posters was proclaimed, and 
 the respective pictures began again to sail under their 
 proper funnels. But this object-lesson has led us some 
 way from the two great issues under discussion. 
 
 Out of these two issues, enterprise and combination, 
 arises a third which in its own way is every whit as im- 
 portant. It is one which involves the forsaking of gen- 
 eralities and a survey of some of the more intimate de- 
 tails of our trade with the South Americans. We have 
 been taking into consideration the question of the com- 
 parative values of goods and industrial services. The 
 most cursory study of these must lead to the conclusion 
 that the rewards of unadvertised sterling merit are 
 largely confined to fiction. It may savor of smugness to 
 assert that in the past we have relied too largely on merit 
 and not sufficiently on advertisement in the widest sense of 
 the word. Yet I believe that this has been so in the com- 
 mercial world of buying and selling — in some branches of 
 
538 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 which the goods would seem to have sold themselves in 
 spite of the methods adopted to sell them ! 
 
 At the present juncture the commercial traveler repre- 
 sents one of the most important personages in the South 
 American commercial problem. It is only quite recently 
 that we have begun to employ men sufficiently well- 
 equipped by education and training for a field that is the 
 richest in the world, and at the same time the most liber- 
 ally garnished with pitfalls. South America is the blue 
 ribbon of the selling world. The commercial traveler ap- 
 pointed there should stand in the same relation toward 
 his brethren of the home trade that an ambassador does 
 to the most modest vice-consul. My own definition of the 
 type of commercial traveler fitted for the South American 
 trade of to-day may sound didactic, even startling, but 
 here it is. He should, I think, be of the public school 
 type, whose subsequent university career has been sacri- 
 ficed to a study of French, Spanish, and Portuguese. 
 Trouble should be taken in his initiation into his pro- 
 fession. He should be properly coached concerning the 
 men and matters of the countries that are to be his field. 
 Finally, he should be trained to chase an order as keenly 
 as his father followed hounds in the wake of the gamest 
 fox! Is this recipe for a modern South American com- 
 mercial traveler made up on Utopian lines? I do not 
 think so. It is merely a question of salary and profes- 
 sional status, both of which would arrange themselves in 
 such circumstances. I am convinced, from encounters 
 in South American travels, that this is a perfectly feasible 
 and practicable person in real life, but on this canvas it is 
 only possible to sketch him on the broadest lines. 
 
 Of late years the most important English companies 
 when competing for large contracts have acknowledged 
 the merits of this policy up to the point of sending out 
 men of real eminence in their professions. But this has 
 been principally on account of the necessity for an author- 
 itative opinion where important technical points are con- 
 
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 639 
 
 cerned, such as in contracts for warships, harbor-works, 
 and the like. 
 
 Even in such affairs as these expert knowledge and 
 merit are not invariably successful against the more pirat- 
 ical type of salesman. The following history of a war- 
 ship deal will illustrate this. I had the story from the 
 successful agent himself in the flush of his triumph — ^but, 
 needless to say, not before the matter had been signed and 
 sealed beyond redemption. No pledge of secrecy is in- 
 volved ; nevertheless I will not describe his nationality — 
 save to say of it that it was neither British nor German 
 — nor the republic in which the affair occurred, nor is it 
 necessary to state whether the vessels concerned were 
 dreadnoughts or torpedo-boats ! 
 
 The story smacks rather of the popular fiction than of 
 the actualities of South America. But its transparent 
 truth has been borne out by subsequent events. 
 
 A number of warship-builders' agents had assembled 
 in South America, to compete for a contract. As it hap- 
 pened, in the ministry of the republic concerned was a 
 minister whose financial morality belonged to an era 
 of the Continent that is no longer normal in the pro- 
 gressive republics. One of the competing agents, having 
 succeeded in interesting him directly from the monetary 
 point of view, obtained the promise of the contract. 
 When the agreement came up for ratification, it became 
 clear on the face of it to the other ministers that the 
 business was a tainted one. They desired to quash the 
 entire negotiation. But the agent stuck to his guns. If 
 the contract were not ratified, he threatened, he would 
 publish the incriminating letters which the erring min- 
 ister had ingenuously written to him! The agent held 
 firm even against the interference of a most efficient chief 
 of police, whose warnings and life were cut short by an 
 anarchist bomb — a catastrophe that helped the agent to 
 win the day. In the end the authorities, realizing that the 
 reputation of the cabinet was at stake, and that the days 
 
540 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 had gone by when this sort of scandal could be endured 
 with impunity, gave in — and England lost the contract. 
 
 It is not often that one is favored with the tranquil 
 narration of such facts as these at first hand! This 
 inner history of a warship contract may, or may not, be 
 known to the British firms who competed at the time. I 
 do not introduce it here as a model for the policy of the 
 British agents! Viewing the matter quite apart from 
 its moral aspects, it is no easier to bribe a minister in 
 the advanced South American States than it would be in 
 England. But it may serve as an illustration of the 
 thousand and one situations which British agents must 
 be prepared to face — situations which naturally grow in 
 variety as the less advanced countries are entered. 
 
 The average Englishman may find some difficulty in 
 combating this particular species of difficulty, since we 
 may take it that, following a settled and deeply ingrained 
 policy, he is not in general an opportunist. This is an 
 important factor in the political and commercial situa- 
 tion ; for this lack of opportunism has its advantages as 
 well as its drawbacks. A South American knows that a 
 saddle bought from an Englishman will be of leather, and 
 not of paper. It does not matter whether the reason be 
 that the seller's father made leather saddles before him, 
 and that, like the American of fable, he is too lazy to 
 stop running when once he has started ! The saddle will 
 be of leather, and the South American is deeply appre- 
 ciative of this fact. He welcomes this want of oppor- 
 tunism as warmly as he does another instance of it — the 
 failure to alight like a bird of prey into the midst of a 
 South American political crisis, and to make capital out 
 of local embarrassment. 
 
 This brings us again to the consideration of our most 
 formidable rival in South America. In our commercial 
 struggle with Germany we are confronted with a state of 
 affairs which carries us beyond the fundamental problems 
 of the quality of the goods and the capability of the seller. 
 
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 541 
 
 Granted that — ^by the simple means of taking trouble — it 
 is in our power not only to rival Germany but eventually 
 to outdo her in both these respects, we are by no means 
 at the end of our difficulties. Our commercial efforts 
 have recently been made to labor under an entirely new 
 set of specially created and formidable disadvantages. 
 We find ourselves opposed by a Teutonic flame of energy 
 which is fanned by a species of forced draft. It is of 
 enormous importance to scrutinize this system which has 
 now become part and parcel of the German predatory 
 trade. If we fail to grasp this we might well find our- 
 selves in the position of a bowler who, having placed nine 
 crack fieldsmen to the right of the wicket, bowls to leg! 
 The German merchant or agent now forms an atom in 
 one of the most scientific organizations that the world 
 has ever seen. The entire Teutonic national machinery is 
 driving to assist in pushing a lighting or tramway con- 
 tract, or the sale of a razor, or a spoon ! Eealizing that 
 commerce is the guiding star, in the relations between 
 Europe and South America, Germany has thrown into 
 the struggle every ounce of her official strength. Does 
 a South American army require training in the latest 
 military ideas'? The Prussian Government is delighted 
 to send a score of officers at a moment's notice. The rec- 
 ommendations of the Prussian soldiers, once installed, 
 concerning military weapons and stores, will not be un- 
 favorable to the German manufacturers. An imposing 
 German warship is always prepared to make a special 
 parade in the South American ports, and no banquet or 
 any other social function is too costly to oil a creaking 
 commercial wheel ! A cordial imperial telegram is occa- 
 sionally at the service of a private deal — if sufficiently 
 important — and imperial cups for regattas have been 
 found pretty successful in the way of business. Of re- 
 cent years the average German minister plenipotentiary 
 in South America has resolved his uniformed personality 
 into that of an arch-commercial traveler. He has become 
 
542 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 an intriguing concession hunter, who has succeeded in 
 dressing up rather shady commercial procedure in a 
 cocked hat, and stars, and spurs — very much to the benefit 
 of the financial results, and to the outraging of the ethics 
 of legitimate diplomacy. The law in England may be a 
 *'hass"; diplomacy in Germany is certainly a jackal! 
 
 There is no denying the commercial value of telegrams, 
 decorations, audiences, and special embassies, when em- 
 anating from a sufficiently exalted source. Organized 
 flattery may be wearisome labor, but it is profitable 
 policy. It is one in which the modern German special- 
 izes. I chanced to meet with a salient instance even in 
 Norway when, the summer before the first year of the 
 war, the fiords were heavily infested with the vessels of 
 the German fleet. As one or two of the battle-ships were 
 about to depart from a small port, it was noticeable that 
 the sailors, waiting for the launches which were to convey 
 them to the ships, had been provided with little Nor- 
 wegian flags. These they waved in a fashion so patently 
 to order that it was rather ludicrous to watch. It was a 
 piece of drill to them! But it was an object-lesson to 
 the spectator. 
 
 What have we to pit against an organization that will 
 back a contract, a convenient revolution, or a friendship 
 of state, with a thoroughness that includes all things from 
 calculated terrorism to the waving of toy flags? Some 
 thousands of able British business men, some hundreds 
 of public companies, and one or two great combinations. 
 Individually, the force of any one of these is formidable, 
 when opposed to a rival concern of its own weight and 
 industrial gun-power. But, mustered into the organized 
 commercial army which the present situation demands, 
 they present a heterogeneous front compared with the 
 ordered and closely knit phalanx that Germany has ad- 
 vanced to the attack. 
 
 If ever there was an opportunity for the removal of 
 these disadvantages it is now. In what way is this to be 
 
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 540 
 
 effected! By a general formation of trusts? No doubt 
 necessity will drive considerable lengths in this direction, 
 but even this procedure — distasteful to the public — leaves 
 much unsolved. Moreover, the alternative, state control, 
 on so large a scale as this would involve a more fateful 
 leap into Socialism than the nation has been prepared for 
 even by the events of the past two years. 
 
 In any case it seems to me that there is a moderately 
 simple means of supplying a practical impetus to a suc- 
 cessful stand against German trade aggression. Surely 
 this might be effected by broadening the scope of our 
 South American legations, not after the German model, 
 but in a legitimate fashion. 
 
 We can now afford to regard our diplomatists in South 
 America with some complacency. That particular de- 
 partment is not so restful in these days as it was some 
 twenty years ago, when the aspirants to attacheships 
 were haunted by a tradition that a lack of proper influ- 
 ence meant an exile to South America, and that, after 
 years of a Rip Van Winkle-like existence, the sole reply 
 which the F.O. would deign to the protest of an official 
 thus stranded was an enquiry concerning the whereabouts 
 of the place with the strange name from which the young 
 diplomat dated his letter, and, further, how it came about 
 that he should find himself there ! 
 
 Fortunately for ourselves, we have now a number of 
 ministers of the first order in South America — the same 
 may be said of the South American ministers in Europe 
 — and nothing could be more gratifying than the stand- 
 ard set by our senior representative in Argentina. It 
 would be lamentable were the functions and dignity of 
 these ministers in any way interfered with. But why not 
 graft on to this tree of legitimate state a branch which 
 should apply itself to commercial purposes only? It may 
 be objected that such officials as commercial attaches are 
 already in existence. I would carry the duties of these 
 suggested adjutants of trade much further. The new 
 
544 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 branch should be made the rallying-point of an organized 
 force to stem an organized tide. 
 
 Needless to say, its officials would have to submit to a 
 very special training. The curriculum of a public-school, 
 a university, with vacations spent abroad, and a year or 
 two at * ' Scoones, ' ' is admirable enough in itself. But it 
 does not fit a young attache to cope with professional in- 
 triguers and with the seamy side of commercial life. Be- 
 fore he takes up the lively responsibilities of his post this 
 new man's studies must have drawn him over rougher 
 places than the shaven lawns of international law, politi- 
 cal economy, and history. 
 
 He must have familiarized himself with the conditions 
 under which the various businesses of his fellow coun- 
 trymen in South America are carried on. It is of 
 supreme importance that he should delve into the dark 
 places where the typical dodges and evasions of our chief 
 competitor are hatched. In sympathy he must be heart 
 and soul with the business people of his nation. In fact, 
 he must be a diplomat in his shirt-sleeves, and should rep- 
 resent to the minister or charge d'affaires that which the 
 engineer does to the commander of a battleship. Finally, 
 he should be reasonably endowed with the qualities of 
 mental elasticity and detective power. 
 
 How is all this to be effected? There are a dozen ways 
 that suggest themselves to the person of average intelli- 
 gence, given a loosening of some of the more rigid of the 
 official tenets — a process that should not be difficult in 
 these frankly experimental days. In fact, this new offi- 
 cial, if he is to succeed, must be under the protection of 
 a specially founded ministry — a ministry of anti-red 
 tape! 
 
 Doubtless there are a dozen more or less valid objec- 
 tions which might be brought against this suggested inno- 
 vation. But those which confine themselves to the diffi- 
 culties of finding the right men and of training them, 
 should not, I think, be taken seriously, since a moderate 
 
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 54j5 
 
 display of organizing power will overcome an obstacle 
 which is important only in the minds of those averse to 
 a new order of affairs. 
 
 Quite possibly in the first instance the British merchant 
 himself would look askance at the new departure, and 
 would utter a few sturdy and outspoken objections against 
 an attempt on the part of outsiders to teach him his 
 business. But, if the service were in any way efficient, it 
 would take the new officials a comparatively short time 
 to prove themselves invaluable allies instead of mere 
 chastening agents. In which case the average merchant 
 would soon have cause to admit the incalculable benefits 
 to be derived from the presence of an official whose whole 
 mind and time were given to tasks which the merchant 
 possessed neither time, inclination — nor perhaps even 
 ability — to achieve for himself — in fact, an ally whose 
 chief aim would be to supply an intelligence service on 
 tap, as it were. 
 
 Surely the importance of a successful work of this 
 kind cannot be over-estimated. It must not be forgotten 
 that in spite — or because — of its dubious morality, this 
 German commercial policy has paid! The ocular evi- 
 dence of German prosperity in South America is so sa- 
 lient that the traveler in that continent needs none of 
 the numerous attendant statistics to help to prove it ! In 
 one or two spots the advertising genius of the Germans 
 has even gone the length of implanting a German settle- 
 ment — sufficiently ostentatious to make a blaring parade 
 of success — on a spot previously inhabited by the British, 
 which had been abandoned with a dignified but incom- 
 prehensible calm. Yet more striking evidence is pro- 
 vided by the pretentious buildings of the German clubs 
 and institutions, edifices which suggest the work of an 
 iron fist in a monumental mood toying with bricks and 
 mortar! But let it never be forgotten that the founda- 
 tion of these peace-time equivalents of the Hindenburg 
 statue in Berlin have been set in a prosperity caused, not 
 
546 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 by superior manufactures, but by a more obsequious at- 
 tention to the customer's wants, and a more cunning way, 
 officially assisted, of selling them ! 
 
 And now to deal with the situation of to-day. At the 
 present juncture it is very doubtful how fully the depth 
 of South American unpopularity into which the circum- 
 stances of the war have plunged the Germans is under- 
 stood in Great Britain. Here are a few extracts from a 
 prominent Brazilian merchant's letter written to a friend 
 of mine some six months after the outbreak of hostilities, 
 which will — very mildly — illustrate this, as well as some 
 other important points : 
 
 **The useless German propaganda attributing to Eng- 
 land the responsibilities of the war are of no avail. ... I 
 bear no hatred toward the Germans in general and I am 
 sorry for them, but I detest the Kaiser and his militar- 
 ism, which it is necessary to destroy once and for all. 
 The blood of so many brave men killed calls for justice, 
 and justice will be done, for the God of Humanity is not 
 He whom the Kaiser calls his ally. 
 
 "I follow daily in several newspapers all that is writ- 
 ten as to the war, and I think that we are here almost 
 as well informed as you in Europe are, because our tele- 
 graphic news service is very good. In our press there 
 is not one single journal that is not on the side of the 
 Allies, except one little Italian rag that is published here 
 and sold to Germans. Of the Brazilian and Portuguese 
 inhabitants of Rio also 95 per cent, is in favor of the 
 Allies, and if this current of sympathy were ably devel- 
 oped it would be easy for English and French merchants 
 to push the Germans right out, but I know both one and 
 the other well enough to be aware how difficult it would 
 be to induce them to alter their manner of working. . . . 
 Now that England, France, and Belgium have put their 
 hands to the defense of their countries, let them also do 
 it in defense of their commercial interests. . . . Business 
 propaganda should start from the English and French 
 
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 547 
 
 chambers of commerce, backed by official support, but 
 without the interference of self-seeking politicians. Send 
 business men who can get to business with our merchants ! 
 Only thus will something be attained. All the rest is 
 throwing away time and money. ' ' 
 
 These are the phrases of an intelligent and practical 
 merchant. The sound commonsense expressed in his 
 opinion is undeniable. As to its reference to South 
 American sentiment, it must be remembered that these 
 lines were written when the German propaganda was at 
 its height, and very long before the declaration of war 
 by Germany on Portugal had stirred the consistent South 
 American resentment to its present pitch. I have tried 
 to show that the South American has always looked with 
 some favor on the Englishman: but if the regard was 
 warm before the war, it is burning now! 
 
 Surely all the energies which can be spared from the 
 vital needs of the war should be turned to that ** devel- 
 opment of sympathy" to which the Eio merchant refers. 
 It would be a poor ambition, moreover, which would con- 
 tent itself with the mere seizing of a strategic advantage 
 offered by our enemies' preoccupation. If we desire to 
 continue in our rightful place in the industrial world, how 
 can we fail to prepare ourselves — as is well within our 
 power — to cope with the full blood of German industry 
 should it resume its attempts to swamp our own ! ' ^ Quien 
 se hace miel le comen las mo seas," says the Spaniard. 
 *'He who lets himself be honey is eaten by the flies !" 
 
 Should Germany continue a nation, without a doubt 
 such an attempt will be made sooner or later, and it re- 
 quires no gift of foresight to judge that it will be con- 
 ducted on an important scale. No doubt, following a pol- 
 icy which has proved successful in the past, she will 
 attempt a lavish short cut to reinstatement, and will en- 
 deavor to dull the memories of the war by sending out a 
 stream of dollars — from however diminished a hoard — in 
 as close an order as she sent her soldiers to the attack. 
 
548 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 A fluffy hailstorm of notes will play about the centers of 
 journalism, officialdom, and general commerce: it needs 
 not a very astute seer to prophesy so much. Then would 
 arise a great opportunity for the proposed new officials ; 
 for an attitude of passive resistance is as profitless in a 
 war of commerce as in a battle of shells. 
 
 To forsake the topic of the German trade hostilities 
 for that of the North American competition is to experi- 
 ence the sensations of one emerging from an entangled 
 forest path on to an open high-road. Yet this affords no 
 reason for regarding it lightly. The North American 
 competition with which we have to contend is straight- 
 forward, of a fairly simple order, but very powerful. It 
 relies for its success largely on a sheer weight of dollars. 
 It enjoys forming a trust and buying up the control of 
 an entire trade as it has done in the case of the river 
 Plate chilled meat industry and the banana trade of the 
 extreme north of the Continent. In its industrial enter- 
 prise, moreover, it has set itself a very high standard — if 
 not quite so lofty an ideal of political morality — at Pan- 
 ama. 
 
 The North American has already given ample proof 
 that he means business — very big business — in the South. 
 But, seeing that no question of imperial aggression is 
 concerned, there would seem no reason why his ventures 
 and those of the British should not thrive side by side. 
 Generally speaking, the North American's experience of 
 the Southern continent has up to the present been limited. 
 The newcomer from the United States finds it difficult 
 to realize how many races teem, and how many rivers 
 run, between New York and Buenos Aires. Moreover, 
 seeing that South America is so essentially a Latin con- 
 tinent, refusing to open the doors of her intimacies to any 
 chance knocker ignorant of her tongues, manners, and cus- 
 toms, this condition of affairs cannot be altered very rap- 
 idly. But the importance of the work which the United 
 States is already achieving in this direction may be gaged 
 
STREET SCENE IN RIO DE JANEIRO 
 
 AVENUE EIO BRANCO, RIO DE JANEIRO 
 
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 549 
 
 from the ** Bulletin of the Pan-American Union," an ad- 
 mirably edited organ, with which we in England, to our 
 loss, have nothing to compare. 
 
 In many respects the North American has only just 
 begun to feel his feet in South America. Being a rapid 
 worker, he has already begun to compete with us in our 
 railway enterprises, and in general commerce he is nat- 
 urally making the most of the opportunities afforded him 
 by the European conflagration. Nevertheless, I do not 
 think that the United States will be in a position to make 
 her full force felt until she has largely increased the 
 number of her workers who are genuinely conversant 
 with South American affairs. 
 
 There is a final point to be considered, bearing rather 
 on our relations with the South Americans themselves 
 than with our industrial and commercial competitors. 
 In what manner would the proposed policy of imperial 
 preference affect the inhabitants of the Southern con- 
 tinent? It would, I think, leave them calm. The con- 
 tinuous progress of industry tends to keep the various 
 fields and markets in a state of flux. To-day the competi- 
 tion between South America and our colonies is not in 
 food products (neither can produce sufficient to meet the 
 world's demand) nor in the command of the markets. 
 Such rivalry as exists concerns the attraction of immi- 
 grants and capital. 
 
 How fully alive are our colonies to the importance of 
 removing the bushels from their lights may be judged 
 from those well-planned agencies and shop-window ex- 
 hibitions which they have established in London and 
 elsewhere. If there be a canker in the British Empire, 
 it is, I think, a parochial spirit, which occasionally flour- 
 ishes at its heart (where the best and least mingle) and 
 which finds nothing on which to thrive in the colonies 
 and younger lands. It seemed a stroke of genius that 
 at the Argentine Centenary Exhibition held a few years 
 ago gallant little New Zealand should have had a section 
 
550 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 all to herself. More of this kind of thing — from infor- 
 mation bureaus to exhibition shops — would greatly facili- 
 tate our relations with the great Southern continent. 
 Who would not strongly advocate a more thorough edu- 
 cation of the British in South American affairs: a more 
 thorough education of the South Americans in British 
 affairs ! 
 
 So much is, I suppose, a platitude. But the ignorance 
 which from time to time is displayed in London on the 
 part of even those financially interested in the Latin Con- 
 tinent is sufficiently amazing to justify many platitudes ! 
 I myself know of one minor loan (of seven figures never- 
 theless) that was floated largely on the misapprehension 
 that it was for a fashionable South American seaside re- 
 sort, when its object was really a commercial port on the 
 banks of one of the great rivers. The names of the two 
 somewhat resembled each other! No harm was done; 
 but that was not on account of the geographical knowl- 
 edge of the financiers ! 
 
 So much for a few considerations affecting our com- 
 mercial relations with our competitors and with the South 
 Americans. Apart from every question of business, 
 there is surely every ethical reason why the British should 
 work hand in hand with the Iberian in the development 
 of a continent which has every right to call itself the most 
 industrially remarkable in the world. 
 
 The duty of assisting in this task has appealed to the 
 British for more than a century, and their sympathies 
 with the South Americans have remained unbroken 
 throughout. It is seldom enough that a note is struck 
 such as that of C. B. Mansfield, a splendid but rather 
 visionary personality — beloved and admired of Charles 
 Kingsley — who, seething with ecstasy at the splendors a 
 trip in South America revealed to him, wrote, ''What a 
 monstrous folly, to guarantee by treaties the possession 
 of these lands to these Iberians ! ' ' 
 
 This cry rises from the pages of a sufficiently remark- 
 
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 551 
 
 able book wbich Mansfield wrote in 1852. It is instruct- 
 ive in its way, since it proves that a person of even Mans- 
 field's genius mistook for a normal state the convulsions 
 that accompanied the birth of the new nations. He fore- 
 saw neither the great prosperity which was to come into 
 being nor the intellectual field which has already given 
 strong evidence of its power, and which will undoubtedly 
 provide some of the most remarkable achievements of 
 the future. 
 
 But his commercial countrymen who were settled in 
 the Continent at the time of Mansfield's visit, guided per- 
 haps by instinct rather than observation, made no such 
 mistake. No nation, surely, has proved itself so well fit- 
 ted as Great Britain to serve as a practical guide for 
 that South American brilliancy which for the first half- 
 century of the independence of the Continent shone only 
 in fitful gleams. Now that the time for guidance is pass- 
 ing, may we not more than maintain our position by con- 
 tinuing our assistance — as an ally? 
 
APPENDIX 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 BIBLIOGEAPHY OF MODERN WORKS 
 FROM 1870 
 
 1870 Resources of the Argentine Republic. By Major Rickard. 
 
 1870 Letter of Colombus, with other Original Documents Re- 
 lating to his Four Voyages to the New World. Translated 
 by R. H. Major. (Hakluyt Society.) 
 
 1870 The Andes and the Amazon. By James Orton. 
 
 1870 Letters from the Battle Fields of Paraguay. By Sir 
 Richard Burton. 
 
 1870 Pioneering in the Pampas. 2nd edition. By R. A. Sey- 
 mour. 
 
 1870 Seven Eventful Years in Paraguay. By G. F. Masterman. 
 
 1870 Ten Months in Brazil, with Notes on the Paraguayan War. 
 By J. Codman. 
 
 1870 Flint Chips: A Guide to Pre-historic Archeology, as Il- 
 lustrated by the Collection in the Blackmore Museum, 
 Salisbury. By Edward T. Stevens. 
 
 1871 Emigration to the River Plate, Success of British Subjects 
 in Buenos Aires, List of Landowners, Description of the 
 City and Province of Buenos Aires. By S. Webster. 
 
 1871 Notes on the Natural History of the Straits of Magellan 
 
 and West Coast of Patagonia. By R. D. Cunningham. 
 1871 Three Years' Slavery among the Patagonians. By A. 
 
 Guinnard. 
 1871 The Coolie, his Rights, Wrongs: Notes of a Journey to 
 
 British Guiana. By Edward Jenkin. 
 1871 At Home with the Patagonian. By Commander G. Cha- 
 
 warth Masters, R.N. 
 
 1871 Travels in Uruguay. By J. H. Murray. 
 
 1872 Rough Notes on a Journey through the Wilderness, from 
 Trinidad to Para, Brazil, by Way of the Great Cataracts 
 of the Orinoco and Rio Grande. By H. A. Wickham. 
 
 555 
 
556 APPENDIX 
 
 1872 Round the World in 1870 : An Account of a Brief Tour 
 Made through India, China, Japan, California, and South 
 America. By A. D. Carlisle. 
 
 1872 Reports on the Discovery of Peru. Translated and edited, 
 with notes and an introduction. By Clements R. Mark- 
 ham. 
 
 1872 Reports on the Discovery of Peru by Pizarro and Others. 
 Translated and edited by Clements Markham. (Hakluyt 
 Society. ) 
 
 1873 Two Years in Peru : with Exploration of Its Antiquities. 
 By T. J. Hutchinson. 
 
 1873 British Guiana, the Essequibo and Potaro Rivers, with an 
 
 Account of a Visit to the Recently Discovered Kaieteur 
 
 Falls. By Lieut.-Colonel Webber. 
 1873 At Home with the Patagonians. By G. C. Musters. 
 1873 Brazilian Colonization : from an European Point of View. 
 
 By Jacare Assu. 
 1873 The Amazons: Diary of a Twelvemonths' Journey on a 
 
 Mission of Enquiry up the River Amazon. By R. S. 
 
 Clough. 
 1873 Reports Respecting the Condition of British Emigrants 
 
 in Brazil. 
 1873 Narratives of the Rites and Laws of the Yneas. Translated 
 
 and edited, with notes and an introduction. By Sir 
 
 Clements Markham. (Hakluyt Society.) 
 1873 Life and Missionary Travels of the Rev. J. F. Ogle. 
 
 Edited by Wylie. 
 
 1873 A Journey across South America. By Paul Marcoy. 
 
 1874 The Western World : Picturesque Sketches of Nature and 
 Natural History in North and South America. By W. H. 
 G. Kingston. 
 
 1874 Memoir of Lady Ana de Osorio, Countess of Chinchon and 
 Vice-Queen of Peru. By Sir Clements R. Markham. 
 
 1875 Explorations Made in the Valley of the River Madeira, 
 from 1749 to 1868. Published for the National Bolivian 
 Navigation Company. 
 
 1875 Geological Survey of British Guiana. By C. B. Brown 
 
 and J. G. Sawkins. 
 1875 The Amazon and Madeira Rivers. By Franz Keller. 
 1875 History of British Guiana. By Geo. W. Bennett. 
 
APPENDIX 557 
 
 1876 The Argentine Republic. By Richard Napp. 
 
 1876 Handbook to the River Plate. By M. G. and E. T. Mul- 
 hall. 
 
 1876 Sporting Adventures in the Pacific whilst in Command 
 of the Reindeer. By W. R. Kennedy. 
 
 1876 Recollections of Four Years in Venezuela. By C. D. 
 Dance. 
 
 1876 Dutch Guiana. By "W. G. Palgrave. 
 
 1876 Canoe and Camp Life in British Guiana. By C. Barring- 
 ton Brown. 
 
 1876 Over the Sea and Far Away. By T. W. Hinchliff. 
 
 1877 The Two Americas. By Major Sir R. Lambart Price. 
 ^ 1877 Peru and its Creditors. By W. Clarke. 
 
 1877 Brazil and the River Plate, 1870-76. By W. Hadfield. 
 
 1878 Fifteen Thousand Miles on the Amazon and its Tributar- 
 ies. By C. B. Brown and W.. Lidstone. 
 
 1878 The Land of Bolivar. By J. M. Spence. 
 1878 The English in South America. By M. G. Mulhall. 
 1878 Pioneering in South Brazil. By T. P. Brigg-Wither. 
 1878 Visit to South America, with Notes and Observations, etc. 
 
 By Edwin Clark. 
 1878 The Land of Bolivar; or, "War, Peace, and Adventure in 
 
 the Republic of Venezuela. By J. M. Spence. 
 
 1878 On the Supply of Nitrate of Soda and Guano from Peru. 
 
 1879 Wanderings in Patagonia; or. Life among the Ostrich 
 Hunters. By Julius Beerbolm. 
 
 1879 Notes by a Naturalist on the Challenger. By H. N. 
 
 Moseley. 
 1879 Roraima, and British Guiana, with a Glance at Bermuda, 
 
 the West Indies, and the Spanish Main. By J. W. Bod- 
 
 dam-Whitham. 
 1879 Waterton's Wanderings in South America. Edited by 
 
 the Rev. J. G. Wood. 
 1879 Brazil, the Amazons, and the Coast. By H. H. Smith. 
 1879 Report of Robert Cross's mission to South America in 
 
 1877-8 to Collect Plants of the Quinine Bark Tree, etc. 
 1879 Up the Amazon and Madeira Rivers. By Edward D. 
 
 Mathews. 
 1879 Brazil and the Brazilians (9th edition). By J. C. 
 
 Fletcher and D. P. Kidder. 
 
558 APPENDIX 
 
 1880 Voyages of the Elizabethan Seamen to America. By E. 
 J. Payne. 
 
 1880 Eight Months on the Gran Chaco of the Argentine Re- 
 public. By Giovanni Pelleschi. 
 
 1880 The Natural and Moral History of the Indies. By Father 
 Joseph de Acosta. Edited by Sir Clements Markham. 
 (Hakluyt Society.) 
 
 1880 Legends and Myths of the Aboriginal Indians of British 
 Guiana. By W. H. Brett. 
 
 1880 South America. By A. Gallenga. 
 
 1880 Six Weeks with the Chilean Army, being a Short Ac- 
 count of a March from Pisco to Lurin, and the Attack 
 on Lima. By Commander William Acland, R.N. (Pri- 
 vately printed at the Melanesian Mission, Norfolk Island.) 
 
 1880 Across Patagonia. By Lady Florence Dixie. 
 
 1880 Peruvian Bark: a Popular Account of the Introduction 
 of Chinchona Cultivation into British India. By Sir 
 Clements Markham. 
 
 1881 The Prospects of Peru, the End of the Guano Age and a 
 Description Thereof, Etc. By A. J. Dufifield. 
 
 1881 Between the Amazon and Andes; or. Ten Years of a 
 
 Lady's Travels in the Pampas, Gran Chaco, Paraguay, 
 
 and Matto Grosso. By M. G. Mulhall. 
 1881 Chapters from a Guianese Log-Book. By the Rev. C. D. 
 
 Dance. 
 1881 Sketches of Chili and the Chileans during the War, 1879- 
 
 1880. By R. W. Boyd. 
 
 1881 Cameos from the Silver Land; or, The Experiences of a 
 Young Naturalist in the Argentine Republic. By E. W. 
 White. 
 
 1882 A Year in the Andes. By R. Carnegie-Williams. 
 
 1883 Among the Indians of Guiana. By Everard F. im Thum. 
 1883 The Geology of the Goldfields of British Guiana. By J. 
 
 B. Harrison. 
 
 1883 Travels in Uruguay. By J. H. Murray. 
 
 1883 The Colony of British Guiana and its Laboring Popula- 
 tion. By the Rev. H. V. P. Bronkhurst. 
 
 1883 Researches into the Lost Histories of America; or, The 
 Zodiac Shown to be an old terrestrial Map in which the 
 Atlantic Isle is delineated, etc. By W. S. Blacket. 
 
APPENDIX 559 
 
 1883 The Republic of Uruguay. Stanford. 
 
 1883 The War between Peru and Chile 1879-82. By Sir 
 Clements Markham. 
 
 188- ? A Year in the Andes; or, A Lady's Adventures in 
 Bogota. By Rosa Carnegie-Williams. 
 
 1884 Spanish and Portuguese South America. By R. G. Wat- 
 son. 
 
 1884 The Peruvians at Home. By George R. Fitz-Roy Cole. 
 1884 The Temple of the Andes. By Richard Inwards. 
 
 1884 Across the Pampas and the Andes. By Robert Crawford. 
 
 1885 Central America, the West Indies, and South America. 
 (Stanford's Compendium of Geography and Travel), 
 edited and extended by H. W. Bates. 
 
 1885 Brazil and Java. Report on Coffee Culture. By C. F. 
 
 Learne. 
 1885 Ascent of Mount Roraima. By Sir Everard im Thurn. 
 1885 Sketches of African and Indian Life in British Guiana. 
 
 By Ignatius Scoles. 
 
 1885 Description of the Collection of Gold Ornaments from the 
 "Huacas" or Groves of Some Aboriginal Races of the 
 Northwestern Provinces of South America, Belonging 
 to Lady Brassey. By Bryce-Wright. 
 
 Undated. The Cruise of the Falcon. By E. F. Knight. 
 
 1886 A Year in Brazil, with Notes on the Abolition of Slavery, 
 Etc. By H. C. Dent. 
 
 1886 Venezuela: A Visit to the Gold Mines of Guiana, and 
 Voyage up the River Orinoco during 1886, Etc. By 
 William Barry. 
 
 1886 Travels in Guiana and Venezuela. By H. Ten Kate. 
 
 1886 Travels in the Wilds of Ecuador and the Explorations of 
 the Putumayo River. By Alfred Simson. 
 
 1886 Exploring and Traveling Three Thousand Miles through 
 Brazil. By J. W. Wells. 
 
 1886-89 History of America. By J. Winsor. 
 
 1887 Notes of a Naturalist in South America. By John Ball. 
 1887 The Apostle of the Indians. By W. H. Brett. 
 
 1887 Zephyrus: A Holiday in Brazil and on the River Plate. 
 By E. R. Pearce Edgecumbe, LL.D. 
 
 Undated. Missionary Pioneering in Bolivia, with some Ac- 
 count of Work in Argentina. By W. M. Payne. 
 
560 APPENDIX 
 
 1887 The Great Silver River, Notes of a Residence in Buenos 
 Aires in 1880-81. By Sir Horace Rumbold. 
 
 1887 Sketch of the City of Iquique, Chile, South America: 
 Its Past and Present during the last Fifty Years. By 
 Captain W. M. F. Castle. 
 
 1888 The Amazon Provinces of Peru as a Field for European 
 Emigration, and the Gold and Silver Mines. By H. 
 Guillaume. 
 
 1888 Three Cruises of the United States Coast and Geodetic 
 Survey Steamer Blake in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean 
 Sea, Etc., 1877-1880. By Alexander Agassiz. 
 
 1888 The Venezuela Central Railway and its Sources of Traf- 
 fic. By G. E. Church. 
 
 1888 Prospects of Gold Mining in Venezuela. By W. G. 
 Wears. 
 
 1888 Among the Hindus and Creoles of British Guiana. By 
 the Rev. H. V. P. Bronkhurst. 
 
 1888 The Apostle of the Indians of Guiana. By W. H. Brett. 
 
 1888 The Capitals of Spanish America. By W. E. Curtis. 
 
 1888 Annals of Guiana: Chronological History of its Discov- 
 ery and Settlement. By James Rodway and Thomas 
 Watt. 
 
 1888-89 Argentine Ornithology. By P. L. Sclater and W. H. 
 
 Hudson. 
 1899 Recollections of Travel Abroad. By A. J. Duffield. 
 1899 Textile Fabrics of Ancient Peru. By W. H. Holmes. 
 
 1889 From Peru to the Plate Overland. By Patrick A. Evans. 
 
 1890 A Visit to Chile and the Nitrate Fields of Tarapaca. By 
 William H. Russell. 
 
 1890 The Great Silver River; Notes of a Residence in Buenos 
 Aires in 1880-81. Second edition, with an additional 
 chapter on the present commercial position of the coun- 
 tiy. By Sir Horace Rumbold. 
 
 1891 The Conquest of the River Plate, 1535-1555, Translated 
 by Don Luis L. Dominguez. (Hakluyt Society.) 
 
 1891 Twelve Months in Peru. By E. B. Clark. 
 
 1891 History of the Bucaneers of America. By B. J. Burney. 
 
 1891 Story of the Filibusters, Etc. By James J. Roche. 
 
 1891 Adventures amidst the Equatorial Forests and Rivers of 
 
APPENDIX 561 
 
 South America, West Indies, and Florida. By Villiers 
 Stuart. 
 1891 Travels and Adventures of an Orchid Hunter. By Albert 
 Millican. 
 
 1891 A Winter's Cruise in Summer Seas. By C. C. Atchison. 
 
 1892 Sporting Sketches in South America. By Sir W. R. 
 Kennedy. 
 
 1892 Paraguay. By Dr. E. De Bourgade La Dardye. 
 1892 The South American Republics. By Theodore Child. 
 1892 The Naturalist in La Plata. By W. H. Hudson. 
 1892 The Discovery of America, with Account of Ancient 
 
 America and the Spanish Conquest. By John Fiske. 
 1892 The Voyage of the Nyanza Three Years in the Atlantic 
 
 and Pacific. By J. Gumming Dewar. 
 1892 Writings of Colombus, descriptive of the Discovery and 
 
 Occupation of the New World. Edited, with introduction 
 
 by P. L. Ford. 
 1892 Career of Colombus. By Chas. J. Elton. 
 1892 Life of Colombus. By C. K. Adams. 
 1892 Life and Labors of John Wray, Pioneer Missionary in 
 
 British Guiana. Compiled by Thomas Rain. 
 
 1892 Notes on British Guiana. By Sir Everard im Thum. 
 1892 Argentina and the Argentines. By T. A. Turner. 
 
 1892 Travels among the Great Andes of the Equator. By 
 Edward Whymper. 
 
 1892-94 History of the New World Called America. By E. J. 
 Payne. 
 
 1893 An Enumeration of the Plants Collected in Bolivia by 
 Miguel Bang, with Descriptions of New Genera and Spe- 
 cies. By H. H. Rusby. 
 
 1893 The South American Republics. By T. C. Dawson. 
 1893 Handbook of British Guiana. By James Rodway. 
 1893 Idle Days in Patagonia. By W. H. Hudson. 
 1893 Christopher Colombus: His own Book of Privileges, 
 
 1502, Etc. With historical introduction by H. Harrisse, 
 
 the whole compiled and edited with preface by G. F. 
 
 Stevens. 
 1893 Journal of Colombus, during his First Voyage, 1492-3, 
 
 and Documents Relating to the Voyages of John Cabot 
 
562 APPENDIX 
 
 and Gaspar Corte Real. Translated, with notes, etc., by 
 
 Sir Clements Markham. (Hakluyt Society.) 
 1893 Tropical America. By L. N. Ford. 
 1893 The History and Present State of the Sheep-Breeding 
 
 Industry in the Argentine Republic. By Herbert Gibson. 
 
 1893 The State of Para, Notes for the Exposition of Chicago, 
 as Authorised by the Governor of Para, Dr. Lauro So- 
 dri. 
 
 1894 Travels of a Naturalist. By A, Boucard. 
 
 1894 By Order of the Sun to Chile to See his Total Eclipse. 
 By J. J. Aubertin. 
 
 1894 In the Guiana Forest. By James Rodway. F.L.S. 
 
 1895 The Gold Diggings of Cape Horn : A Study of Life in 
 Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia. By J. R. Spears. 
 
 1896 Venezuela; or. Two Years on the Spanish Main. By W. 
 E. Wood. 
 
 1896 Over the Andes, from the Argentine to Chile and Peru. 
 By May Crommelin. 
 
 1896 John Cabot. By Henry Harrisse. 
 
 1896 Documents and Maps on the Boundary Question between 
 Venezuela and British Guiana from the Capuchin Ar- 
 chives in Rome. By J. Strickland. 
 
 1896 The West Indies and Spanish Main. By James Rodway. 
 
 1896 Venezuela: A Land where it 's Always Summer. By 
 W. E. Curtis. 
 
 1896 Three Gringos in Venezuela and Central America. By 
 Richard Harding Davis. 
 
 1897 Records of the Scottish Settlers in the River Plate and 
 Their Churches. By James Dodds. 
 
 Undated. Argentine, Patagonian, and Chilean Sketches, with 
 a few Notes on Uruguay. By C. E. Akers. 
 
 1898 Boundary Agreement in Force between the Argentine 
 Republic and Chile. By Dr. Erailio Lamarca. 
 
 1898 Twenty-five Years in British Guiana. By Henry Kirke. 
 1898 South American Sketches. By Robert Crawford. 
 1898 Spanish America. By J. W. Root. 
 1898 Bibliography of the Anthropology of Peru. By Geo. A. 
 
 Dorsey. 
 1898 The Establishment of Spanish Rule in America. By 
 
 Benjamin Moses. 
 
APPENDIX 563 
 
 1898 The Dwarf Tribe of the Upper Amazon. By D. G. Brin- 
 
 ton. 
 1898 Twenty-five Years in British Guiana. By Henry Kirke. 
 
 1898 Spain and Her Colonies. By J. W. Root. 
 
 1899 Temperate Chile. By W. A. Smith. 
 
 1899 Notes on the Natural History of the Aconcagua Valleys, 
 from Fitzgerald's "Highest Andes." By Philip Gosse. 
 
 1899 The Highest Andes, a Record of the First Ascent of Acon- 
 cagua and Tupungato in Argentina, and the Exploration 
 of the Surrounding Valleys. By E. A. Fitzgerald. 
 
 1899 The Ores of Colombia. By H. W. Nichols and 0. C. Far- 
 rington. 
 
 1900 South America. By F. G. Carpenter. 
 
 1900 The Colombian and Venezuelan Republics. By Wm. L. 
 
 Scruggs. 
 1900-4 The Spanish Conquest in America in Relation to the 
 
 History of Slavery and of the Government of Colonies. 
 
 New edition, with introduction and notes. By M. Oppen- 
 
 heim. 
 
 1900 Traveling Impression in, and Notes on, Peru. By F. 
 Seebee. 
 
 1901 The Bolivian Andes: Climbing and Exploration in the 
 Cordillera Real in 1898-1900. By Sir Martin Conway. 
 
 1901 The Land of the Amazons. By Baron de Santa-Anna 
 
 Nery. Translated by George Humphrey. 
 1901 Through Patagonia. By W. D. Campbell. 
 1901 A. H. Keane's Central and South America. Edited by 
 
 Sir Clements Markham. 
 1901 The South American Republics. By W. F. Markwich and 
 
 W. A. Smith. 
 1901 The Question of the Pacific. An edition in English of 
 
 Dr. Maurtua's work. By F. A. Pezet. 
 
 1901 A Vanished Arcadia. By R. B. Cunninghame Graham. 
 
 1902 The Great Mountains, and Forests of South America. By 
 Paul Fountain. 
 
 1902 Ancient Peruvian Art. By A. H. Keane. 
 
 1902 The Caura. By E. Andre. 
 
 1902 Aconcagua and Tierra del Fuego, a Book of Climbing, 
 
 Travel, and Exploration. By Sir Martin Conway. 
 19 — Picturesque Paraguay. By Alexander K. Macdonald. 
 
564. APPENDIX 
 
 1902 Climate of the Argentine Republic, Compiled from ob- 
 servations made to the end of the year 1900. By Walter 
 G. Davis. 
 
 1902 Down the Orinoco in a Canoe. By S. Perez Triana. 
 
 1902 Through the Heart of Patagonia. By Hesketh H. Prich- 
 ard. 
 
 1903 Great Argentina. By Francisco Seeber. 
 
 1903 The Independence of the South American Republics. By 
 
 F. L. Paxon. 
 1903 The South American Republics. By Thomas C, Dawson. 
 1903 To the Falls of Iguazu. By W. S. Barclay. 
 
 1903 Trade and Travel in South America. By F. Alcock. 
 1903-4 Christopher Columbus, his Life, his Work, his Remains, 
 
 as revealed by Original Records, with Essay on Peter 
 Martyr and Las Casas. By J. B. Thacher. 
 
 1904 A Naturalist in the Guianas. By E. Andre. 
 
 1904 The Great Mountains and Forests of South America (2nd 
 edition). By Paul Fountain. 
 
 1904 South American Sketches. By W. H. Hudson. 
 
 1904 An Account of the Spanish Settlements in South Amer- 
 ica. Anonymous. 
 
 1904 A History of South America (1854-1904). By C. E. 
 Akers. 
 
 1904 Argentine Shows and Live Stock. By Professor Robert 
 Wallace. 
 
 1904 The Countries of the King's Award. By Col. Sir Thomas 
 Holdich. 
 
 1904 Among the Indians of the Paraguayan Chaco. By W. B. 
 Barbrooke Grubb. 
 
 1905 The Colombian and Venezuelan Republics. By W. L. 
 Scruggs. 
 
 1905 Through Five Republics of South America. By Percy 
 F. Martin. 
 
 1906 Panama to Patagonia. By C. M. Pepper. 
 1906 The Republic of Colombia. By F. L. Petre. 
 1906 Bolivia. By Marie Robinson Wright. 
 
 1906 Christopher Colombus, and the New World of his Dis- 
 covery. By Filson Young. 
 
 1907 ]\Iodem Argentina. By W. H. Koebel. 
 
 1907 The Birds of Tierra del Fuego. By R. Crawshay. 
 
APPENDIX 565 
 
 1907 Humboldt's Voyage. Translated and edited by T. Ross. 
 1907 The Continent of Opportunity, the South American Re- 
 publics. By F. E. Clark, D.D. 
 
 1907 Chile. By G. F. Scott-Elliot. 
 
 1908 Richard Spruce. Notes of a Botanist on the Amazons and 
 Andes. Edited and condensed. By A. R. Wallace. 
 
 1908 American Supremacy: The Rise and Progress of the 
 Latin American Republics, and Relations to the United 
 States under the Monroe Doctrine. By George W. Crich- 
 field. 
 
 1908 A Bibliography of Sir Walter Raleigh, Knight. By T. N. 
 Brushfield. 
 
 1908 The Andes and the Amazon: Life and Travel in Peru. 
 By C. R. Enock. 
 
 1908 Peru. By Reginald C. Enock. 
 
 1909 Explorers in the New World, before and after Colombus ; 
 and the Story of the Jesuit Missions of Paraguay. By 
 Marion McMurrough Mulhall. 
 
 1909 The Argentine Year Book. By H. W. Farrell. 
 
 1909 Bartholomew de Las Casas. By F. A. Macnutt. 
 
 1909 Yachting in the Pacific. Notes of Travel in Peru, Ecua- 
 dor, Etc. By A. Mann. 
 
 1909 The Great Pacific Coast. By C. R. Enock. 
 
 1909 The Journal of an Expedition across Venezuela and Col- 
 ombia. By Hiram Bingham. 
 
 1909 Peru, its Story, People, Religion. By Geraldine Guin- 
 ness. 
 
 1909 Official Handbook of British Guiana. 
 
 1910 Argentina : Past and Present. By W. H. Koebel. 
 
 1910 ManUal of Argentine Railways. By S. H. M. Killik. 
 
 1910 Ups and Downs of a Wandering Life. Roaming Adven- 
 tures in Argentine, Paraguay, Venezuela, Etc. By Wal- 
 ter Seymour. 
 
 1910 On Sea and Land. By H. W. Case. 
 
 1910 The Andes and the Amazon. By C. R. Enock. 
 
 1910. The Argentine Republic. By A. Stuart Pennington. 
 
 1910 Our Search for a Wilderness, An Account of Two Or- 
 nithological Expeditions to Venezuela and to British 
 Guiana. By M. B. and C. W. Beele. 
 
 1910 Simon Bolivar, "El Libertador." By Lindon Bates. 
 
566 APPENDIX 
 
 1910 Up the Orinoco and down the Magdalena. By H. J. Moz- 
 
 ans. 
 1910 Life of Sir Woodbine Parish, or Early Days in Argentina. 
 
 By the Hon. Nina Kay Shuttleworth. 
 1910 The United States of Brazil, with a Chapter on Uruguay. 
 
 By C. W. Domville-Fife. 
 1910 The Other Americans. By A. Ruhl. 
 1910 The Amazons in Antiquity and Modern Times. By G. 
 
 C. Rothery. 
 
 1910 Argentina. By W. A. Hirst. 
 
 1911 Early Spanish Voyages to the Strait of Magellan. Trans- 
 lated and edited, with a preface, introduction and notes 
 by Sir Clements Markham. (Hakluyt Society.) 
 
 1911 An Unknown People in an Unknown Land. By W. Bar- 
 
 brooke Grubb, 
 1911 Brazil. By Pierre Denis. 
 1911 The Family and Heirs of Sir Francis Drake. By Lady 
 
 Elliot Drake. 
 1911 A Woman's Winter in South America. By Charlotte 
 
 Cameron. 
 1911 Uruguay. By W. H. Koebel. 
 1911 The Argentine in the Twentieth Century. By Albert B. 
 
 Martinez, 
 1911 Under the Roof of the Jungle. By Charles Livingston 
 
 Bull. 
 1911 The Ten Republics. By Robert P. Porter. 
 1911 Peru of the Twentieth Century, By Percy F. Martin. 
 1911 The Wilds of Patagonia. By Carl Scottsberg. 
 1911 South America To-day. By Georges Clemenceau. 
 1911 Through the Wilderness of Brazil. By W. A. Cook. 
 1911 In the Guiana Forest (2nd Edition). By James Rod- 
 way, F. L. S. 
 1911 Wheat Growing in Canada, The United States, and the 
 
 Argentine. By W. P. Rutter. 
 1911 The Rise of British Guiana. Compiled by C. A, Harris 
 
 and J. A, J. de Villiers, (Hakluyt Society.) 
 1911 Along the Andes and down the Amazon, By H. J, Moz- 
 
 ans. 
 1911 Adventures in Search of a Living in Spanish America. 
 
 By "Vaquero." 
 
APPENDIX 567 
 
 1911 Simon Bolivar. By F. L. Petre. 
 
 1911 Across South America. By Hiram Bingham. 
 
 1911 Old Panama and Castillo del Oro. By R. D. Johnson. 
 
 1911 The Incas of Peru (2nd Edition). By Sir Clements 
 Markham. 
 
 1912 The Putumayo, the Devil's Paradise. By W. E. Harden- 
 burg. 
 
 1912 The Sea and the Jungle. By H. M. Tomlinson. 
 
 1912 Venezuela. By Leonard V. Dalton. 
 
 1912 Early Man in South America. By Ales Hrdlicka in col- 
 laboration with W. H. Holmes, B. Willis, Fr. E. Wright, 
 and Clarence N. Fenner. 
 
 1912 South America. By W. H. Koebel. 
 
 1912 Where Socialism Failed. By Stewart Grahame. 
 
 1912 The Secret of the Pacific. By C. Reginald Enock. 
 
 1912 Aborigines of South America. By Colonel Church. 
 
 1912 The Conquest of New Granada. By Sir Clements Mark- 
 ham. 
 
 1912 South American Archgeology. By Thomas A. Joyce. 
 
 1912 <^ In Jesuit Land : The Jesuit Missions of Paraguay. By 
 W. H. Koebel. 
 
 1912 The Independence of Chile. By A. S. M. Chisholm. 
 
 1912 South America: Observations and Impressions. By 
 James Bryce. 
 
 1912 In the Amazon Jungle. By A. Lange. 
 
 1912 The Path of the Conquistadores. By L. Bates. 
 
 1912 Guiana : British, French and Dutch. By James Rodway. 
 
 1912 High Mountain Climbing in Peru and Bolivia. By A. 
 S. Peck. 
 
 1913 South America (The Making of the Nations Series). By 
 W. H. Koebel. 
 
 1913 Modem Chile. By W. H. Koebel. 
 
 1913 The Lords of the Devil's Paradise. The Ptitumayo 
 
 Atrocities. By G. Sidney Paternoster. 
 1913 The Putumayo Red Book. By N. T. 
 1913 To the River Plate and Back. By J. W. Holland. 
 1913 Latin America: Its Rise and Progress. By F. Garcia 
 
 Calderen. 
 1913 The Venezuelan Boundary Controversy. By Grover 
 
 Cleveland. 
 
568 APPENDIX 
 
 1913 Panama: the Creation, Destruction, and Resurrection. 
 
 By Bunau-Varilla. 
 1913 Colombia. By Phanor J. Eder. 
 1913 South America: A Supplementary Geography. By J. F. 
 
 and A. H. Chamberlain. 
 1913 Observations on the Natives of the Patagonian Channel 
 
 Region. By Carl Scottsberg. 
 1913 Across Unknown South America. By A. Henry Savage 
 
 Landor. 
 1913 The Travels of Ellen Cornish. 
 
 1913 A Tour through South America. By A. S. Forrest. 
 1913 In the Wonderland of Peru. By Hiram Bingham.^ 
 1913 Brazil in 1913. By J. C. CakenfulL 
 1913 Brazil and Portugal in 1809 (Manuscript Marginalia). 
 
 By George W. Robinson. 
 
 1913 O'Higgins of Chile. By J. J. Mehegan. 
 
 1914 Ecuador. By C. Reginald Enock. 
 1914 Bolivia. By Paul Walle. 
 
 1914 Chile. By George J. Mills. 
 
 1914 Argentina. By G. J. Mills. 
 
 1914 North Brazil. By E. C. Buley. 
 
 1914 Peru. By E. Charles Vivian. 
 
 1914 South Brazil. By E. C. Buley. '' 
 
 1914 New Light on Drake. By Zelia Nuttal (Hakluyt Society). 
 
 1914 The Romance of the River Plate. By W. H. Koebel. 
 
 1914 The Upper Reaches of the Amazon. By Joseph F. Wood- 
 ruffe. 
 
 1914 The River Amazon. By Paul Fountain. 
 
 1914 The Spanish Dependencies in South America. By B. 
 Moses. 
 
 1914 The Amazing Argentine. By John Foster Eraser. 
 
 1914 A Walloon Family in America. Lockwood de Forest and 
 his Forebears, 1500-1848, Together with a Voyage to 
 Guiana, being the Journal of Jesse de Forest and his Col- 
 onists. By Mrs. Robert W. de Forest. 
 
 1914 Under the Southern Cross in South America. By Wil- 
 liam Buckman. 
 
 1914 The Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. The Whale 
 Fisheries of the Falkland Islands and Dependencies. By 
 Theodore E. Salvesen. 
 
APPENDIX 569 
 
 1914 The Lower Amazon. By Algot Lange. 
 
 1914 Northern Patagonia: Character and Resources. By Bai- 
 ley Willis. 
 
 1914 Mysterious South America. By A. Henry Savage Landor. 
 
 1914 Through the Brazilian Wilderness. By Theodore Roose- 
 velt. 
 
 1914 The New Brazil (2nd Edition). By Marie Robinson 
 Wright. 
 
 1914 The Timbers of British Guiana. By Herbert Stone and 
 Dr. W. G. Freeman. 
 
 1914 West Indies and Guiana. By Algernon E. Aspinall. 
 
 1914 Chile : Its Land and People. By F. J. G. Maitland. 
 
 1914 Colombia. By V. Levine. 
 
 1914 The South American Tour. By Annie S. Peck. 
 
 1914 The Two Americas. By General R. Reys. 
 
 1914 Forty Years in Brazil. By Frank Bennett. 
 
 1914 A Church in the Wilds, the South American Mission to 
 the Paraguayan Chaco. By W. B. Grubb. 
 
 1915 Brazil and the Brazilians. By G. J. Bruce. 
 1915 South of Panama By Dr. Edward Alsworth Ross. 
 
 1915 The Rubber Industry of the Amazon and how its Suprem- 
 acy can be Maintained. By Joseph F. Woodrofe and 
 Harold Hamel Smith, with a foreword by Viscount Bryce. 
 
 1915 The Real Argentine. By J, M. Hammerton. 
 
 1915 The Northwest Amazons. Notes of Some Months Spent 
 Among Cannibal Tribes. By Captain Thomas Whiffen. 
 
 1915 Mineral Resources of Minas Geraes (Brazil). By Albert 
 F. Calvert. 
 
 1915 The Amazon as a River, a Problem, and a Call. By the 
 Rev. O. R. Walkey. 
 
 1915 The South Americans. By W. H. Koebel. 
 
 1915 ( ?) The Plateau Peoples of South America. By Alexan- 
 der A. Adams. 
 
 1915 Colombia and the United States. By Norman Thomson. 
 
 1916 Through South America's Southland. With an Account 
 of the Roosevelt Scientific Expedition to South America. 
 By the Rev. J. A. Zahn (H. J. Mozans). 
 
 1917 Paraguay. By W. H. Koebel. 
 
BBITISH ARRIVALS IN THE RIVER PLATE 
 
 AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 
 
 XIXTH CENTURY 
 
 FROM ENGLAND 
 
 Names Tear of Arrival 
 
 Robert Jackson 1802 
 
 Oliver Jump 1808 Proprietor 
 
 Philip Parkin 1809 
 
 James Barton 1809 Proprietor 
 
 Robert Billinghurst 1809 Proprietor 
 
 John Postlethwaite 1810 
 
 John Ludlam 1810 Proprietor 
 
 D. M'Kinlay 1811 Proprietor 
 
 S. Puddicomb 1812 
 
 John Stevenson 1812 
 
 James Brittain 1812 Proprietor 
 
 William Cope 1812 Proprietor 
 
 Thomas Nelson 1814 
 
 Spenser Davis Weller 1815 
 
 Joseph Lee 1815 
 
 Sam Chapman 1813 
 
 David Price 1813 
 
 Thomas Newton 1811 
 
 John Turner 1814 
 
 Joshua Thwaites 1816 Proprietor 
 
 N. B. Nisbet 1816 
 
 T. H. Bayley 1817 Proprietor 
 
 John Appleyard 1818 Proprietor 
 
 John Carlisle 1818 
 
 John Harratt 1818 
 
 John Tabberer 1818 Proprietor 
 
 Thomas I. C. Gowland 1812 
 
 James Kelshaw 1819 
 
 John Sillietoe 1820 Proprietor 
 
 670 
 
APPENDIX 571 
 
 "Names Year of Arrival 
 
 George Nuttall 1820 
 
 George Brown 1822 
 
 E. S. Harvey 1822 
 
 John and Wm. Downes 1822 Proprietor 
 
 Joseph Crowther 1822 
 
 Samuel Lafone 1823 
 
 Merchants 36 
 
 Proprietors 13 
 
 FROM IRELAND 
 
 Names Tear of Arrival 
 
 John Dillon 1806 
 
 Richard Duffy 1811 
 
 R. Montgomery 1814 
 
 Peter Sheridan 1817 Proprietor 
 
 John Gullinan, M. D 1818 Proprietor 
 
 Merchants 5 
 
 Proprietors 2 
 
 FROM SCOTLAND 
 
 Names Tear of Arrival 
 
 Thomas Fair 1809 Proprietor 
 
 David Spalding 1806 Proprietor 
 
 Alexander Wilson 1808 
 
 John Miller 1810 Proprietor 
 
 John Orr 1811 Proprietor 
 
 George M'Farlane 1813 Proprietor 
 
 John Parish Robertson 1 
 
 l 1813 Proprietors 
 
 Wm. Parish Robertson J 
 
 John Carter 1806 Proprietor 
 
 John Watson 1815 
 
 William M'Quake 1816 Proprietor 
 
 Andrew C. Dick, M. D 1817 Proprietor 
 
 John M'Farlane 1818 
 
 Duncan Stewart 1818 
 
 Henry Hoker 1818 
 
 Stewart D. Campbell 1820 
 
572 APPENDIX 
 
 Names / Year of Arrival 
 
 Duncan M'Nab 1820 
 
 John Gibson . .") 1820 
 
 George Gibson J 1^24 Proprietors 
 
 Adam Butters 1822 
 
 Thomas Duguid 1822 
 
 William Thompson 1822 
 
 John M'Dougall 1822 
 
 James Miller 1821 
 
 John Stewart 1824 
 
 C. Watson 1824 
 
 William Loekhart 1824 
 
 Robert Mathison : 1824 
 
 John M'Clelland 1824 
 
 Merchants 28 
 
 Proprietors 12 
 
 The above list is taken from "Records of the Scottish Settlers 
 in the River Plate and Their Churches," by James Dobbs. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Alfinger, the Prussian, 529 
 Aljubarrota, field of, 6 
 Alliance, between England and Port- 
 ugal, 5 
 Alligator, Waterton's adventure 
 
 with an, 402, 403 
 Althaus, Colonel, 276 
 Amazon, valley explored by Bates 
 and Wallace, 408-415 
 characteristics of the, 410, 412, 
 
 413 
 yellow fever attacks valley of the, 
 417 
 Andes, early crossings of the, 262, 
 276 
 Darwin crosses the, 408 
 Anson, Commodore George, 117, 240 
 Aquatints, Sir Henry Chamberlain's 
 
 South American, 449 
 Argentina, fate of British prisoners 
 in, 153 
 character of army of, 202, 203 
 William Brown becomes admiral 
 
 for, 229 
 war between Brazil and, 328 
 character of navy of, 376 
 financial crisis in (1890), 484 
 center of British South American 
 settlers, 485 
 Araucanians, Benavides becomes 
 leader of, 219 
 conversion of the, 491 
 Armitage, History of Brazil by 
 
 John, 455 
 Australians, settle in Paraguay, 506 
 Authors, professions and occupa- 
 tions of British South Amer- 
 ican, 440 
 
 s 
 
 Bacalhao, (dried cod), Anglo-Bra- 
 zilian trade in, 319 
 Bahia, English trading post founded 
 at, 47 
 raided by Withrington, 59 
 visited by Sir Home Popham, 143 
 Portuguese Court stops first at, 
 
 285 
 negr esses of, 286 
 
 573 
 
 Bahia — continued 
 
 United States ship Constitution 
 defeats British frigate Java off, 
 297 
 attacked by Admiral Cochrane, 
 
 303, 305 
 Irish colony sent to, 334 
 Baker, Admiral, assists Emperor and 
 Empress escape from Brazil, 
 344-363 
 Balenar, town of, 112 
 Bancroft, "Essay on Natural His- 
 tory of Guiana," by Edward, 
 478 
 Barcelona, treasure of, 182 
 Barker, Andrew, 38 
 
 death of, 39 
 Bates, Henry, explores the Amazon, 
 
 408-412, 458 
 Bats, characteristics of the vampire, 
 399 
 Spruce's combat with, 416 
 Beamish, Major, 170 
 Beggars, in Brazil, 317 
 Beltran, the monk, 202 
 Benavides, career of, 218-223 
 captured by Chileans, 219 
 wins favor of San Martin, 219 
 commands Araucanians, 219 
 captures x\merican ships, 220 
 prepares invasion of Chile, 220 
 end of, 222 
 Beresford, campaign of General, 147 
 Berrie, Captain, 77 
 Bibliography, prior to 1870, 421-480 
 Billinghurst, Robert, 501 
 Biscay, Bay of, 5 
 Blair, incident of famous duelist, 
 
 160 
 Blanco, Commodore, 205, 242 
 
 Mrs. Commodore, 207 
 Bogota, Mrs. English's house at, 186 
 gas plant built in, 187 
 Bolivar's house near, 245 
 Christmas celebrations at, 273 
 Bolivar, character of, 167, 184-186, 
 451 
 signs contract with Devereux, 
 
 176 
 thanks British and Irish Legions, 
 
 180 
 navy of, 183 
 
574 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Bolivar — continued 
 
 cordiality to British, 184, 185, 212, 
 227, 243 
 
 gives portrait to Captain Brown, 
 236 
 
 ball in honor of, 245 
 
 home of General, 245 
 
 interests himself in Peruvian min- 
 ing, 250 
 Bolivia, W. Wilson appointed min- 
 ister to (1837), 241 
 Bowles, Captain, 237 
 Boyaca, battle of, 173, 185 
 Brazil, English trade with, 49, 291, 
 319 
 
 end of English relations with, 56 
 
 Cavendish raids, 63 
 
 attacks on, 70 
 
 Portuguese policy toward, 104 
 
 Jesuits in, 105, 106 
 
 influence of Spanish on policy of, 
 281 
 
 British fight Portuguese in, 282 
 
 hostile to British, 282 
 
 offers refuge to Portuguese roy- 
 alty, 283 
 
 Portuguese Court arrives in, 287 
 
 receives Prince Joao of Portugal, 
 288 
 
 becomes a kingdom, 289 
 
 makes commercial treaty with 
 England, 289 
 
 grants ecclesiastical rights to 
 British, 289 
 
 invaded by British merchants, 291 
 
 guarded by British fleet, 293, 297 
 
 experience of royalty in, 298, 299 
 
 begins rebellion against Portugal, 
 300 
 
 Admiral Cochrane builds up navy 
 of, 303 
 
 revolution breaks out in, 305 
 
 revolution is suppressed by Brit- 
 ish, 306 
 
 British prize money claims re- 
 fused by, 309 
 
 court regulations in, 312, 314, 315 
 
 character of royalty in, 313, 314, 
 315 
 
 American Minister resents regula- 
 tions of, 314-316 
 
 Portuguese beggars in, 317 
 
 British merchants in, 318-320 
 
 gets first taste of mutton and 
 champagne, 323 
 
 hospitality of landowners in, 323- 
 324 
 
 British goods fill shops of, 326 
 
 British buy mines in, 326 
 
 Brazil — continued 
 establishment of regular army in, 
 
 327 
 makes war on Argentina, 328 
 treatment of Irish in, 331 
 Irish and German soldiers revolt 
 
 against, 333 
 appeals to British, French and 
 
 Portuguese ships for help, 333 
 Dom Pedro I abdicates throne of, 
 
 341-363 
 expiration of British Commercial 
 
 treaty with, 364 
 steamer communication line stim- 
 ulates British trade, 365 
 amount of annual British capital 
 
 engaged in, 365 
 Quakers begin anti-slave trade 
 
 campaign in, 369 
 first official railway journey in, 
 
 370 
 History of Brazil, by Charles 
 
 Brockwell, 432 
 History of Brazil, by Robert 
 
 Southey, 446 
 History of Brazil, by James Hen- 
 derson, 447 
 books on the court of, 448 
 History of Brazil, by John Armi- 
 
 tage, 455 
 Travels in the Interior of, by 
 
 George Gardiner, 458 
 Brazil and the Brazilians, by Kid- 
 der and Fletcher, 471 
 British shipping trade with, 514, 
 
 515, 532 
 German trade increases with, 532 
 present unpopularity of Germans 
 
 in, 546 
 Brion, Admiral, 183, 184 
 British, attitude toward South 
 
 American independence, 164, 
 
 165 
 enlist in South American War of 
 
 Independence, 168, 170 
 in Venezuela, 171 
 sickness among, 172 
 defeat Spanish, 173 
 merchants in South America, 174, 
 
 244, 260 
 thanked by Bolivar and Colombian 
 
 Congress, 180 
 find treasure at Barcelona, 182 
 serve in Bolivar's navy, 183 
 oflficers settle in Colombia, 187 
 officers in Chilean navy, 203 
 friendship for Chileans, 206 
 build racecourse at Valparaiso, 
 
 206 
 
INDEX 
 
 575 
 
 British — continued 
 
 South Americans erect monuments 
 
 to, 213 
 surrender to Argentines, 150 
 commanders on Pacific Coast, 217, 
 
 218, 236 
 officers on staff of Bolivar, 227 
 naval warfare with United States, 
 
 239 
 consuls appointed to South Amer- 
 ica, 240 
 population in Valparaiso (1823), 
 
 247 
 speculate in Peruvian mines, 249 
 vessels survey South American 
 
 coast, 251, 275 
 first called "Gringo," 253 
 occupations after war of Liber- 
 ation, 257, 258, 485 
 doctors in South America, 257 
 open hotels throughout South 
 
 America, 258 
 become South Americans; 259, 267, 
 
 496-498, 528 
 shopkeepers in South America, 260 
 attracted to Chile, 260 
 trade methods with South Amer- 
 ica, 264, 527, 533 
 exports to South America, 265 
 defense against Indians, 268 
 win ten years' pearl fishing rights, 
 
 274 
 cross South American Continent, 
 
 276 
 navigate Huallaga River, 277 
 first to navigate Ucayali River, 
 
 278 
 allowed to reside, marry and navi- 
 gate in Paraguay, 280 
 attempt to settle in Brazil, 281 
 convoy Portuguese Court to Bra- 
 zil, 287 
 make commercial treaty with Bra- 
 zil, 289 
 build their first church in Brazil, 
 
 290 
 fleet guards Brazil, 293, 297 
 naval commanders' increasing dif- 
 ficulties, 300 
 sympathies divided in South 
 
 America, 301, 528 
 blockade Rio Harbor, 301 
 suppress revolution in Brazil, 306 
 are cheated of prize money by 
 
 Brazilians, 309 
 take Pernambuco and gain prize 
 
 money, 310 
 introduce table mutton and cham- 
 pagne into Brazil, 322, 323 
 
 British — continued 
 
 stock Brazilian shops with goods, 
 326 
 
 buy Brazilian mines (1825), 326 
 
 organize Brazilian cavalry regi- 
 ment, 328 
 
 aid Dom Pedro I to escape from 
 Brazil, 342-363 
 
 commercial treaty with Brazil ex- 
 pires, 364 
 
 capital annually engaged in Bra- 
 zil (1853), 365 
 
 introduce slave trade into Brazil, 
 365 
 
 attitude toward negro in theory 
 and practice, 370 
 
 hotels in Rio, 372 
 
 and French make expedition up 
 river Parana, 380 
 
 tortured by Paraguayans, 388 
 
 naturalists in South America, 
 395-419 
 
 early geographical works on South 
 America by, 427-430 
 
 officers meeting with Bolivar, 451 
 
 as capitalists in South America, 
 480 
 
 nitrate industry in Chile, 483 
 
 banking system in South Amer- 
 ica, 484 
 
 commimities in South America, 
 484-488 
 
 Buenos Aires greatest South 
 American center of, 485 
 
 churches and missionaries in 
 South America 486-493 
 
 hospital in Buenos Aires, 488 
 
 sheep industry in South America, 
 498 
 
 cattle industry in South America, 
 500 
 
 develop meat shipping industry in 
 South America, 500 
 
 sport in South America, 511 
 
 shipping and railway achieve- 
 ments, 512-524 
 
 coffee trade with Brazil, 516 
 
 prestige in South America due to 
 their railways, 517 
 
 lay first cable to South America, 
 523 
 
 build tramways in South America, 
 524 
 
 financial assistance to South 
 America, 525, 526 
 
 good faith in South America, 530- 
 531 
 
 trade falls off with South Amer- 
 ica, 531, 533, 535 
 
576 
 
 INDEX 
 
 British — continued 
 
 trade fight with Germans in South 
 America, 541 
 
 future relations with South 
 Americans, 549 
 Brockwell, History of Brazil, by 
 
 Charles 432 
 Brown, Adniiral William, 229-231 
 
 founds Argentine navy, 229 
 
 destroys Spanish fleet, 229 
 
 blockades Callao, 230 
 
 captures Guayaquil, 230 
 
 taken prisoner, 231 
 
 exchanged for governor of Guaya- 
 quil, 231 
 Brown, Captain Thomas, 236 
 
 sails for South America, 236 
 
 receives Bolivar's portrait, 236 
 
 wins General Rodil's friendship, 
 237 
 Bucaneers, origin of, 80 
 history of, 86-91 
 
 Basil Ringrose, 90 
 
 Captain Sharp, 91 
 
 Captain Dampier, 93 
 
 Sir Henry Morgan, 94 
 Buenos Aires, slave establishments 
 in, 108 
 
 capture by British, 145 
 
 surrender by British of, 146 
 
 takes possession of Falkland Is- 
 lands, 162 
 
 Scottish milkmaids introduced to, 
 258 
 
 blockaded by Anglo-French squad- 
 ron, 378, 380 
 
 character of squadron of, 383 
 
 "Narrative of a Journey from 
 Santiago to," 443 
 
 greatest British South American 
 community in, 485 
 Burton, South American books by 
 
 Sir Richard, 475 
 Byron, Commodore, 131 
 
 Cable, British lay first South Amer- 
 ican (1874), 523 
 
 Cabot, Sebastian, story of, 11 
 
 Cabral, Pedro Alvarez, 4, 282 
 
 Cacafuego, capture of, 35 
 
 Callao, Admiral William Brown 
 blockades, 230 
 frigate Briton visits, 240 
 
 Campbell, Vice Admiral, 130 
 
 Cape of Good Hope, expedition to, 
 143 
 
 Cape Town, capture of, 144 
 
 Carabobo, battle of (1821), 180 
 Caracas, premature capitulation of, 
 
 181 
 Carrera, Josg Miguel, 194 
 opposes Colonel Mackenna, 194 
 obtains control of Chile, 195 
 deserts O'Higgins at Rancagua, 
 
 195 
 kills Colonel Mackenna in duel, 
 196 
 Cartagena, capture of, 36, 174 
 
 game hunting in, 270 
 Cavalry, capture of British vessel 
 by South American, 147 
 feats in war of South American, 
 
 148 
 William Miller commands Peru- 
 vian, 209 
 Cavendish, Thomas, career of, 61 
 
 cruelty of, 62 
 Chagres, character of river, 252 
 Chamberlayne, tragic death of Cap- 
 tain, 180 
 Champagne, Brazil introduced to, 
 
 323 
 Chanticleer, voyage of the, 251, 252 
 Character, Drake, 34, 37 
 Edward Fenton, 56 
 Thomas Cavendish, 62, 63 
 Straits of Magellan, 66, 131 
 James Lancaster, 69 
 Sir Walter Raleigh, 74, 77- 
 Antonio de Berreo, 75 
 Orinoco River, 75 
 Gondomar, 79 
 of the Bucaneers, 82-92 
 Sir Henry Morgan, 94, 95 
 Ambrose O'Higgins, 112, 190 
 Commodore George Anson, 127 
 Vice-Admiral Campbell, 131 
 Portuguese, 131, 143, 282 
 British missionaries, 137, 247, 
 
 489-493 
 Brazilian soldiers, 143, 283, 305, 
 
 335 
 English in Buenos Aires, 146 
 Lieutenant-General Whitelock, 150 
 Argentines, 151, 202 
 Guiana, 159, 160 
 South American document, 165 
 Latin Americans, 165, 248, 256 
 San Martin, 167, 199, 215, 216, 
 
 217 
 South American War of Inde- 
 pendence, 168, 169 
 Colombians, 169, 170 
 British troops in South America, 
 
 174 
 General English, 175 
 
INDEX 
 
 577 
 
 Character — continued 
 
 General Devereiix, 176-179 
 Irish Legion, 179 
 Admiral Brion, 183, 184 
 Liberator Bolivar, 167, 184-186, 
 
 243, 246, 451 
 Mrs. English, 186 
 Bernardo O'Higgins, 190, 191, 192 
 Colonel John Mackenna, 193 
 Jose Miguel Carrera, 194, 195, 196 
 Admiral Cochrane, 197-199, 303, 
 
 304, 310 
 Lady Cochrane, 200 
 the Gaucho, 201, 252 
 William Miller, 202 
 Chilean fleet, 204 
 Peruvian cavalry, 209, 210 
 British naval officers in South 
 
 America, 218, 301, 302 
 Benavides, 218, 219, 226 
 Peneleo, 222 
 Araucanian Indians, 223, 267, 268, 
 
 277 
 Admiral William Brown, 229 
 General Eodil, 242 
 South American society, 256 
 British in South America, 259, 
 
 321, 441, 504, 528, 530, 540 
 South American priests, 263, 413 
 South American trade, 264, 527 
 a Colombian dinner, 272 
 Prince Joao of Portugal and Bra- 
 zil, 84, 295, 297, 299, 319 
 British merchants in Brazil, 291, 
 
 318, 320 
 British military rule in Brazil, 
 
 306, 307 
 the Brazilians, 320, 321, 322, 323, 
 
 366 
 sailors in Brazilian navy, 303 
 Irish immigrants to Brazil, 329, 
 
 332 
 Brazilian Court, 312, 313, 314, 
 
 315, 316 
 Emperor Pedro I, 313, 328, 331, 
 
 337, 339, 341-363 
 Empress Amelie of Brazil, 345, 
 
 347, 357, 361 
 slave trade in Brazil, 365, 366, 
 
 368 
 General Eosas, 376, 377, 382 
 river fleets of Buenos Aires and 
 
 Montevideo, 383 
 the Santafecinos, 384 
 Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia, 384 
 Francisco Solano Lopez, 386, 387 
 warfare in Paraguay, 387 
 South American revolutions, 388, 
 
 389 
 
 Character — continued 
 
 tropical forests of South America, 
 396 
 
 a naturalist in South America, 
 397 
 
 Charles Waterton, 397^04 
 
 the Amazon Valley, 408, 409 
 
 Henry Bates, 410, 411 
 
 A. R. Wallace, 414 
 
 Richard Hakluyt, 424, 425 
 
 early British South American 
 books, 427-434 
 
 early British South American au- 
 thors, 440 
 
 Charles Mansfield, 462-470 
 
 Paraguay, 467-468 
 
 British enterprise in South Amer- 
 ica, 482 
 
 the Spanish South American, 495 
 
 the Irish in South America, 503 
 
 British railroad pioneers, 518-519 
 
 British progress in South Amer- 
 ica, 526 
 
 the Germans in South America, 
 530, 537, 541 
 
 success to-day in South America, 
 536 
 
 necessary for a commercial trav- 
 eler in South America, 538 
 
 German South American diplo- 
 macy, 542 
 
 British diplomats in South Amer- 
 ica, 543 
 
 United States' South American 
 trade policy, 548 
 Charles, Colonel, 208 
 Chile, census of (1788), 103 
 
 governed by Ambrose O'Higgins, 
 113 
 
 Bernardo O'Higgins arrives in, 
 190 
 
 Bernardo O'Higgins becomes dic- 
 tator of, 192 
 
 Jos§ Carrera obtains control of, 
 195 
 
 British command navy of, 203, 
 204 
 
 attracts British trade, 260 
 
 "Journal of a Residence in," 
 444 
 
 nitrate industry in, 483 
 
 direct steamship line between 
 England and, 513 
 
 first South American railroad in, 
 520 
 Chilton, John, 35 
 Churches, British, in South America, 
 
 486-493 
 Clipperton, Captain, 97 
 
578 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Cochrane, Admiral Lord, 166, 197, 
 268, 269, 302, 303 
 Colombians described by, 169 
 Chilean navy founded by, 198 
 Spanish navy conquered by, 198 
 breaks with San Martin, 199 
 popularity of Lady, 199, 207 
 gives banquet to Chileans, 206 
 builds up Brazilian navy, 303 
 attacks port of Bahia, 303, 305 
 methods employed by, 304 
 drives Portuguese from Brazil, 
 
 305 
 suppresses Brazilian revolution, 
 
 306 
 made Marquis of Maranhao, 308 
 Emperor Pedro refuses prize 
 
 money to, 309 
 suppresses revolution at Pernam- 
 
 buco, 310 
 sails for England with prize 
 
 money, 310 
 "Journal of a Residence and 
 Travels in Colombia," by, 452 
 Cockaram, Martin, of Plymouth, 18 
 Cockburn, Alexander, 241 
 "Cock Mass," description of the, 453 
 "Cockney" Sam, 381 
 Coffee, trade with Brazil, 516 
 Coleman, Nicholas, 102 
 Colombians, character of, 169, 170, 
 272, 452 
 Irish enlist with, 170, 171 
 rations in army of, 171, 172 
 climate and conditions of, 172 
 announcement of freedom of, 186 
 Alexander Cockburn appointed 
 British minister to (1826), 241 
 mountain crossing methods of, 263 
 sacred lake of, 270 
 typical dinner of the, 272 
 early costume of the, 274 
 fandango dance of the, 452 
 Columbus, voyages of, 4 
 Condor, adventure of a Cornish 
 miner with a, 261 
 attacks Richard Spruce and com- 
 panion, 418 
 Convicts, meet missionaries at Mon- 
 tevideo, 136 
 Cook, Captain, 134, 252, 282 
 Comwallis, voyage of H.M.S., 138 
 Cotton, Edward, 59 
 Courtney, Captain Stephen, 95 
 Cricket, introduced at Valparaiso, 
 206 
 
 D 
 
 da G9,ma, Vasco, 4 
 
 d'Almeida, history of Joao, 105 
 
 Dampier, Captain, 4, 93 
 
 d'Arset, story of Anna, 8 
 
 Darwin, experiences in South Amer- 
 ica of Charles, 404-408 
 "Voyage of a Naturalist" by, 454 
 
 Davie, adventures in South America, 
 of John, 436 
 
 de Berreo, Antonio, Spanish gov- 
 ernor of Guinea, 75 
 
 de Castro, Don Beltran, victory of, 
 43 
 
 de Courcy, Admiral, 297 
 
 de Francia, Gaspar Rodriguez, 384- 
 386 
 
 Delight, voyage of the, 60 
 
 de Navares, Heronima, letter of, 37 
 
 de Rute, Juan, 17 
 
 de Souza, Martin Alonzo, 59 
 
 Desire, voyage of the, 63 
 
 Devereux, career of General, 176-178 
 
 Dias, Francisco, 202, 204 
 
 Dinner, a typical Colombian, 272 
 
 Diplomat, character of German 
 South American, 541 
 necessary characteristics of the 
 British South American, 544 
 
 Document, South American (1797), 
 164, 165 
 
 Dona Maria, Queen of Portugal, 
 346, 360 
 
 Drake, fate of John, 56, 57 
 
 Dream, Drake's, 35 
 
 Dutch, English join with, 72 
 
 E 
 
 el Dorado, Sir Walter Raleigh seeks, 
 
 74 
 Elizabeth, Queen, shows favor to 
 
 Drake, 29, 36, 526 
 renames Hawkins' ship, 42 
 English, Expedition to Venezuela by 
 
 General, 175 
 character of Mrs., 186 
 Colombia's freedom announced at 
 
 home of Mrs., 186 
 language, as taught to Don Pedro 
 
 I, 339 
 Englishmen, regarded as pirates, 55 
 circumnavigate the world, 29, 62 
 in service of Spain, 102 
 aid revolution in South 'America, 
 
 142 
 emigrate to Guiana, 157 
 volimteer in Argentine revolution, 
 
 196 
 get pearl fishing rights, 274 
 as shopkeepers in Brazil, 320 
 
INDEX 
 
 679 
 
 Englishmen — contirmed 
 empressed into Buenos Aires 
 squadron, 383 
 Esmeralda, capture of frigate, 198 
 
 Lautero's fight with, 204 
 Esquemeling, history of freebooting 
 by, 85, 80 
 "Bucaniers of America," by, 426 
 
 F 
 
 Fahy, Father, 487 
 
 Falkland, founding of islands of 
 (1766), 161 
 British ejected from, 161 
 restored by Spain to England, 161 
 description of, 161 
 Argentina takes possession of, 162 
 becomes penal settlement, 162 
 present prosperity luider British 
 
 of, 162 
 naval battle of, 162 
 Dr. Samuel Johnson on, 433 
 books on, 480 
 Fandango, as danced in Colombia, 
 
 452 
 Fenten, disastrous voyage of Ed- 
 ward, 51 
 fights with Spanish fleet, 55 
 Ferguson, escape of Colonel, 226 
 Fields, Father Thomas, 106 
 Forest, characteristics of the South 
 
 American, 396, 405-407 
 French, English join with, 72 
 aid Dom Pedro I to escape from 
 
 Brazil, 344-363 
 aid Queen of Portugal to escape 
 
 from Brazil, 358-360 
 and British blockade Buenos 
 
 Aires, 378 
 early illustrations of South Amer- 
 ican Indians by the, 431 
 Friendship, English and Portuguese 
 end, 47 
 of Bolivar for the English, 227 
 Frobisher, Martin, 36 
 Fructuoso, Gaspar, 10 
 
 G 
 
 Galleon, capture by Anson of Ma- 
 nila, 130 
 Game, types of South American, 270 
 Garibaldi, South American service 
 
 of, 378, 379 
 Gas, Bogota first illuminated by, 187 
 Gauchos, habits of the, 201, 252, 
 
 406, 473, 474 
 Gaunt, John of, 6 
 
 Germans, in South America, 328, 
 530 
 employed as troops by Brazilians, 
 
 328 
 revolt against their officers, 333 
 increase trade greatly with South 
 
 America, 532 
 compete with British in South 
 
 America, 537, 541 
 methods and organization in 
 
 South America of, 541, 542 
 prosperity of South Ainerican, 
 
 545 
 unpopular to-day in Brazil, 546 
 future policy in South America of, 
 547 
 Goats, abolishment on Juan Fernan- 
 dez of, 89 
 on island of Juan Fernandez, 126 
 Gondomar, 79 
 Gongo Soco, mines bought by the 
 
 British, 326 
 Gordon, Geographical Grammar by, 
 
 427-429 
 Grenfell, Admiral, 335-337 
 Gringo, origin of word, 253 
 Grubb, W. Barbrooke, the "Living- 
 stone of South America," 491 
 Guanaco, hunt of, 133 
 Guatavita, lake of, 271 
 Guayaquil, capture of, 230 
 character of army of, 247 
 William Brown exchanged for 
 governor of, 231 
 Guiana, explorations of, 77, 398 
 voyages to, 156 
 
 Raleigh's description of, 156, 398 
 cultivates sugar, tobacco, cattle, 
 
 157 
 British immigrants to, 157 
 series of wars in, 157 
 revolt of negroes in, 158 
 emancipation of slaves in, 158, 
 
 159 
 characteristics of, 159, 160, 399 
 books about, 478-480 
 Guinea, ship of Edward Cotton 
 wrecked on, 60 
 
 Hadfield, "Brazil, the River Plate, 
 etc.," by William, 458 
 
 Hakluyt, Richard, account of Span- 
 ish prizes by, 45 
 collection of South American voy- 
 ages by, 423-425 
 
 Hall, Captain Basil, 166, 448 * 
 
680 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Hall — continued 
 
 friendship with San Martin, 215, 
 
 238 
 bandits' experience with, 217 
 adventure with Penele6, 221, 222 
 records life on South American 
 
 Pacific Coast, 239, 448 
 account of a Chilean ball by, 244 
 Hamilton, sole right to navigate 
 steam vessels on Orinoco given 
 to Colonel James, 187 
 Harcourt, Robert, 77 
 Hart-Dyke, exploit of Admiral, 390- 
 
 392 
 Hastings, Gilbert of, 5 
 Hawkins, William, 4, 8, 11, 16, 17 
 Sir John, 14, 19, 37 
 Sir Richard, son of John, 40, 42 
 observations of Sir Richard, 426 
 Heath, "Jolly," 373 
 Helps, "Spanish Conquest of Amer- 
 ica," by Sir Arthur, 458 
 Henry, Prince, the Navigator, 6, 7 
 Hispaniola, Island of, 21 
 Hotels, British establish South 
 American, 258 
 Rio famous for British, 372, 373 
 Huallaga, river, 277 
 Huantajaya, story of lady of, 210 
 Himt, R. J., the South American In- 
 dian missionary, 491 
 
 Illustrations, in early British geo- 
 graphical works, 431 
 Independence, South American War 
 
 of, 164 
 British leaders in War of, 166, 
 
 197 
 British seamen in War of, 183 
 Bernardo O'Higgins enlists in War 
 
 of, 191 
 Colonel Mackenna enlists in War 
 
 of, 194 
 Captain Basil Hall records first 
 
 years of War of, 238 
 complications with United States 
 
 in War of, 239 
 chief benefit from the War of, 264 
 Indians, South American, 13, 267, 
 
 268, 270, 277, 278, 413, 414, 417, 
 
 491 
 prove friendly to Drake, 32 
 are friendly to Captain Wallis, 
 
 133 
 Araucanian, 219 
 in Chilean service, 223 
 war exercises of, 223 
 
 Indiana — continued 
 
 New Testament translated for 
 Peruvian, 247 
 
 sacred lake of, 270 
 
 incident of Darwin with Fuegian, 
 407 
 
 Wallace describes customs of for- 
 est, 414 
 
 missionaries to, 491 
 Inquisition, established in Lima, 19 
 
 in Lima, 102, 246 
 Invalids, taken on Anson expedition, 
 
 118 
 Investments, British, in South Amer- 
 ica to-day, 526 
 Irish, in Spanish America, 109, 110, 
 487 
 
 South American partnership with, 
 110 
 
 enlist for Venezuelan service, 170, 
 171, 176 
 
 capture town of Rio de la Hacha, 
 179 
 
 thanked by Bolivar and Colombian 
 Congress, 180 
 
 in command of first settlement in 
 Brazil, 281 
 
 duped into immigration to Brazil, 
 328-330 
 
 Brazil's treatment of the, 331 
 
 mutiny against Brazilians, 332 
 
 sent back from Brazil to Ireland, 
 334 
 
 domestic servants come to South 
 America, 485 
 
 28,000 Irish in Argentine Repub- 
 lic (1865), 485 
 
 sheep farmers found college at 
 Buenos Aires, 487 
 
 prosperity in river Plate district, 
 487, 503 
 Islands, Porto Santo, 4 
 
 Madeira, 4 
 
 of Santa Catherina, 120, 121 
 
 Pitcairn's, 134 
 
 Falkland, 161, 162 
 
 of Tocujos, 281 
 
 of Trinidad, 293 
 
 Jesuits, in Brazil, 105, 106 
 fight with bucaneers, 107 
 Joao, Prince of Portugal and King 
 of Brazil, 283-289, 295, 296 
 opens commercial exchange with 
 Britain, 319 
 Johnston, Rock-salt mines granted 
 to Colonel, 187 
 
INDEX 
 
 581 
 
 Journey, of Lieutenant Smyth and 
 
 F. Lowe, 275-279 
 Juan Fernandez, significance of is- 
 land of, 88, 98 
 Anson's visit to, 123, 125, 126 
 American ship visits, 135 
 first hermit of, 94 
 Judith, Drake's first ship, 24 
 
 K 
 
 Keymis, Captain, 77 
 
 King James I, grants patent to Eob- 
 ert Harcourt for all country be- 
 tween Amazon and Essequibo, 
 77 
 
 Kingsley, admiration for Charles 
 Mansfield of Charles, 461 
 
 Lancaster, Blanche of, 6 
 
 James, history of, 69 
 Las Casas, Bishop, 13 
 Lautaro, Chilean frigate, 203 
 Ledger, llama transported to Aus- 
 tralia by, 508-510 
 Leigh, Captain, 77 
 Liberation, Northern War of, 170- 
 187 
 British engaged in War of, 170 
 end of War of, 187 
 Benavides in War of, 218 
 Captain Hall records War of, 238 
 conditions after War of, 248 
 occupations of British after War 
 of, 257 
 Lima, inquisition in, 19, 102, 246 
 San Martin captures, 216-217 
 bull fighting at, 236 
 theater in, 238 
 ladies of, 240 
 
 Consul Eowcroft killed in, 241 
 stage coach established in, 242 
 ball in honor of Bolivar in, 245 
 Englishman superintends mint of, 
 249 
 Liman, Richard, 102 
 Limon, Richarte, 17 
 Lisbon, capture of city of, 4 
 Llama, transported first to Aus- 
 tralia (1858), 508-510 
 Lopez, Carlos Antonio, orders Brit- 
 ish to build railroads in Para- 
 guay, 521 
 Francisco Solano, 386-388, 469 
 permits British to enter Para- 
 guay, 465 
 
 Lopez — continued 
 
 renews work on railroads (1886), 
 
 522 
 Lowe, South America crossed bv F., 
 
 275 ^ 
 
 Lynch, Madame Eloisa, 387 
 
 M 
 
 Machico, town of, 10 
 Machin, story of Robert, 8 
 Mackenna, Colonel John, 193-196 
 McGregor, Sir Gregor, 170 
 Madeira, discovery of, 10 
 Anson's fleet stops at, 120 
 Wallis' fleet stops at, 133 
 twice occupied and twice restored 
 by British, 630 
 Manby, Bogota illuminated by gas 
 
 by Colonel, 187 
 Mansfield, career of Charles B,, 461- 
 471 
 character of, 462, 550 
 Marriage, of Philippa to King John 
 of Portugal, 6 
 of Mary of England to Phillip II 
 of Spain, 103 
 Martilini, Captain Roberton's blood- 
 feud with, 224 
 taken prisoner to France, 225 
 Martinez, Juan Apostol, 202 
 Maw, Lieutenant H. Lister, first 
 Englishman to descend Ama- 
 zon, 454 
 Mendoza, Pedro de, 12, 17 
 
 life in, 202 
 Miller, General, 166 
 
 William, 202-213, 368 
 Mines, Colonel Johnston granted 
 rock-salt, 187 
 English speculate in Peruvian, 
 
 249, 251 
 South America invaded by men 
 
 from Cornish, 261, 262 
 Imperial Brazilian Mining Asso- 
 ciation of London buys, 326 
 British, in South America, 482 
 Miranda, General, the South Amer- 
 ican patriot, 142 
 places South American Document 
 
 before British Cabinet, 165 
 son of, 274 
 Missionaries, meet convicts, 136, 435 
 found Lancasterian schools, 247 
 translate New Testament for In- 
 dians, 247 
 fail to convert Fuegians, 407 
 in South America, 489-493 
 
582 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Missionaries — continued 
 
 first missionary society in South 
 America established (1814), 490 
 Monkey, characteristics of the howl- 
 ing, 409 
 Montevideo, convicts and mission- 
 aries meet at, 136 
 British besiege, 149 
 Spanish fleet simk off, 229 
 Gauchos besiege, 252 
 blockaded by Admiral Brown 
 
 (1843), 378 
 besieged by Argentina, 381, 385 
 cholera sweeps, 390 
 description of ladies of, 438 
 British population of, 488 
 paved with British flag-stones, 488 
 Monuments, British honored by 
 
 South Americans with, 213 
 Morality, of John Hawkins, 21 
 
 of Bolivar, 186 
 Morgan, Sir Henry, 82, 94 
 Morphi, Don Carlos, governor of 
 
 Paraguay (1766), 109 
 Murray, Reverend J. H., visits Uru- 
 guay and Argentina, 488, 489 
 Musicians, on the Pelican, 31 
 
 loaned by Captain Rogers to the 
 Portuguese, 96 
 Mutiny, on voyage of Captain Am- 
 brose, 122 
 
 N 
 
 Narbrough, Admiral Sir John, 427 
 Naturalist, the British, in South 
 America, 395-419 
 
 "Voyage of a Naturalist," by 
 Charles Darwin, 454 
 
 "A Naturalist on the River Ama- 
 zon," by Bates, 458 
 Navigators, Iberian, Portuguese, 4 
 
 Prince Henry the Navigator, 6 
 
 English, 14 
 
 obtained first records of South 
 America, 423 
 Navy, founding of Chilean, 198 
 
 Pacific Ocean cleared of Spanish, 
 198, 207 
 
 British officers command Chilean, 
 203-205 
 
 deeds of Chilean, 207 
 
 founding of Argentine, 229 
 
 Admiral Brown commands Argen- 
 tine, 247 
 
 Admiral Cochrane builds up Bra- 
 zilian, 303 
 
 type of sailor in Brazilian, 303 
 
 character of Argentine, 376 
 
 Negroes, introduction into South 
 America, 13, 20 
 
 imported to Buenos Aires, 108 
 
 revolt in Guiana, 158 
 
 great size of Bahia, 286 
 
 use warming pans as sugar skim- 
 mers, 292 
 
 story of the "diamond" and the, 
 324 
 
 Brazilian army largely composed 
 of, 328 
 
 of Rio attack Irish, 330-333 
 
 well treated in Brazil as slaves, 
 366 
 
 purchase freedom from Brazil and 
 return to Africa, 369 
 New Testament, translated for Peru- 
 vian Indians, 247 
 Nitrates, British South American 
 industry in, 483 
 
 Ogilby, "History of South America" 
 
 by John, 426 
 O'Higgins, Ambrose, career of, 110- 
 
 114, 190 
 Bernardo, career of, 114, 115, 189- 
 
 193 
 O'Leary, career of Colonel, 227 
 Orinoco, Sir Walter Raleigh sails 
 
 up, 74, 75 
 Osomo, Colonel Mackenna becomes 
 
 governor of, 193 
 Oxenham, story of John, 27 
 Oysters, British get exclusive rights 
 
 to fish for pearl, 274 
 
 Padilla, succeeds Admiral Brion, 184 
 Paez, guerilla leader, 168, 173 
 
 wins battle of Carabobo with aid 
 of British and Irish, 180 
 Panama, the "golden road" of, 86 
 sack of, 94 
 
 failure of British at, 129 
 astronomical observations taken 
 
 at, 252 
 British consulate at, 269 
 Paraguay, English settle at, 103 
 description of a ball in, 469 
 exclusion of foreigners from, 104 
 missionary work in, 490 
 Father Fields in, 107 
 Don Carlos Morphi, governor of, 
 
 109 
 Great Britain makes treaty with 
 (1845), 280 
 
INDEX 
 
 583 
 
 Paraguay — continued 
 
 foimding of despotic rule in, 385 
 visited by Charles Mansfield, 461- 
 
 471 
 Australian colony in, 506 
 introduces railroads (1854), 521 
 Payta, capture by Anson, 128 
 Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil, 313, 328, 
 331, 337 
 abdication and flight of, 340-363 
 Pedro II, the Emperor, visits a 
 United States steamer, 299 
 first and only white monarch born 
 
 on American soil, 348 
 acclaimed as Emperor by Rio de 
 Janeiro, 353 
 Pelican, Drake's ship, 30 
 
 name changed to Golden Hind, 33 
 Peneleo, Captain Hall's adventure 
 
 with, 221 
 Penguin, Island; ship Delight 
 touches at, 60 
 men from ship Desire kill 14,000 
 penguins, 66, 68 
 Perestrello, Bartholomeu, 4 
 Pernambuco, Lancaster seeks, 70 
 Admiral Cochrane suppresses rev- 
 olution at, 310 
 Pert, Sir Thomas, 16 
 Peru, Bernardo O'Higgins, Viceroy 
 of, 114, 115, 189 
 William Miller commands cavalry 
 
 of, 209 
 San Martin's policy in, 215 
 New Testament translated for In- 
 dians of, 247 
 English speculate in mines of, 249, 
 
 251 
 aids British to cross continent, 
 
 276 
 acknowledges value of British sur- 
 veys, 279 
 origin of "The Present State of 
 
 Peru" (1805), 434 
 "Conquest of Peru," by W. H. 
 Prescott, 457 
 Philip, of Spain, 29 
 Pig, Sir Francis Head's story of the, 
 
 442 
 Pitcairn's Island, discovery of, 134 
 Placentia, Island of, 67 
 Plate, River, 57, 58, 236 
 
 British expedition to, 141, 144, 
 
 152 
 William Brown's ship wrecked at 
 
 mouth of, 229 
 naval actions in, 382 
 Robertson expedition to river, 
 385 
 
 Plate — continued 
 
 "States of River Plate," by Wil- 
 fred Latham, 473 
 condition of Irish in, 487 
 Pope, Alexander VI delimits globe 
 between Spanish and Portu- 
 guese, 19 
 Popham, Sir Home, 143-149 
 Porter, Sir R. Ker, 241 
 Portuguese, end of friendship with 
 English, 47 
 Lancaster refuses to treat with, 73 
 cordiality to English, 95 
 armed collisions with English in 
 
 Brazil, 281, 282 
 Court moves to Brazil, 285 
 abandon port of Bahia to Brazil- 
 ians, 305 
 control ends in Brazil, 305 
 beggars in Brazil, 317 
 have a king (Dom Pedro I) for 
 six days, 338 
 Prescott, "Conquest of Peru," by W. 
 
 H., 457 
 Preston, Captain Amyas, 77 
 Priests, hostile to British in South 
 America, 183 
 character of some South Ameri- 
 can, 263, 413 
 Prisoners, Spanish and English ex- 
 change, 140 
 fate of British, in South Amer- 
 ica, 154 
 Puerto Cabello, capture of, 186 
 
 Q 
 
 Quakers, begin anti-slave trade cam- 
 paign in Brazil (1852), 369 
 
 R 
 
 Race-Course, Pacific Coast's first 
 
 regular, 206 
 Raids, by English on Spanish com- 
 merce, 44 
 Railroads, British prestige in South 
 America due to their, 517 
 difficulties of building South 
 
 American, 519 
 William Wheelwright founder of 
 
 South American, 520 
 Chile gets first of South Amer- 
 ican, 520 
 introduced into Paraguay (1854), 
 521 
 Raleigh, Sir Walter, 4, 74, 78, 79 
 description of Brazil by, 76 
 description of Guiana by, 156, 
 426, 427 
 
584» 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Raleigh — continued 
 description of South American In- 
 dian by, 431 
 Rancagua, battle of, 195 
 Recife, capture of, 71 
 Rennie, practical jokes of Mr., 269 
 Revolution, beginnings of South 
 American, 142 
 British assist South American, 
 
 152, 196 
 Irish assist South American, 170, 
 
 171 
 battle of Carabobo, 180 
 conditions following, 238 
 chief benefit of the, 264 
 character of a South American, 
 388-390 
 Ringrose, Basil, 90, 92 
 Rio de Janeiro, Captain Rogers's 
 expedition to, 95 
 Portuguese Court arrives at, 288 
 British church built at, 290 
 British mercantile community at, 
 
 291, 321 
 opera or ballet in, 298 
 blockaded by British fleet, 301 
 commercial exchange opened in 
 
 (lo20), 319 
 English pot-houses at, 322 
 table mutton introduced at, 322 
 Irish immigrants arrive at, 329, 
 
 330 
 German and Irish uprising in, 
 
 333 
 acclaims little emperor, Dom 
 
 Pedro II, 353 
 rioting in, 357 
 slave market glutted, 367 
 British hotels famous in, 372 
 direct steamship line from South- 
 ampton to, 516 
 British post ofiice in, 517 
 Rio de la Hacha, storming of, 25 
 
 capture by Irish Legion of, 179 
 Riquelme, Isabel, mother of Ber- 
 nardo O'Higgins, 189 
 Roberton, career of Captain, 224, 
 
 225 
 Robertson, Dr. William, writes 
 standard work on South Amer- 
 ica, 434 
 Rodil, Spanish general, 237, 241, 
 
 242 
 Rogers, Captain Woodes, 95, 96 
 Rosas, General, 376, 382 
 Royal Mail, Steam Packet Company 
 
 extends service to Brazil, 515 
 Rush, exploit of Captain, 180 
 Rutter, John, 102 
 
 S 
 
 St. Lawrence, British despoil tomb 
 
 of, 182 
 San Juan de Ulloa, fight at, 25 
 San Julian, execution at, 32 
 San Martin, career of, 167, 199, 215- 
 
 217, 257 
 Santa Catherina, island of, 121 
 Santaf6cinos, character of the, 384 
 Santiago, Chilean capital of, 205, 
 242 
 receives William Miller, 205 
 Benavides hanged in, 223 
 Santos, Portuguese-English troubles 
 at, 47, 53 
 captured by Cavendish (1591), 
 63 
 Sao Vicente, burning by Cavendish 
 
 of, 64 
 Schools, South America introduced 
 to Lancasterian, 247 
 public examination in schools at 
 Bogota, 273 
 Scotch, colony in South America, 
 
 498 
 Selkirk, Alexander, abandonment 
 
 and rescue of, 94, 97 
 Sheep, British South Americans be- 
 gin to raise, 498, 499 
 Slave Trade, foiuider of negro, 7 
 beginnings of, 21 
 in eighteenth century, 108 
 extended to all South America, 
 
 108 
 abolished in Guiana, 158 
 introduced by British into Brazil, 
 
 365 
 conditions of Brazilian, 366 
 Sloth, picturesque description of 
 
 the, 430, 456 
 Smith, Sir W. Sydney, 284, 287, 289, 
 
 293, 295-297 
 Smuggling, by English vessels, 108 
 Smyth, journey across. South Amer- 
 ica by Lieutenant, 275 
 Snake, capture of the great Coula- 
 
 canara, 400-402 
 Sobremonte, Viceroy of Buenos 
 Aires surrenders to British, 145 
 Society, Bogota center of Anglo- 
 South American, 186 
 character of South American, 256 
 South America, colonial period in, 
 101 
 criminals in, 109 
 greatest British subject in, 114 
 beginnings of revolution in, 142 
 fate of British prisoners in, 153 
 
INDEX 
 
 585 
 
 South America — continued 
 asks British military aid, 165 
 Admiral Cochrane commiands 
 
 navy of, 166 
 conditions of soldiering in, 172 
 erects monuments to British, 213 
 popularity of Captain Thomas 
 
 Brown in, 236 
 receives British consuls, 240 
 diplomatically equipped, 241 
 courtesy and hospitality in, 243 
 Lancasterian schools established 
 
 in, 247 
 mining boom in, 250 
 British survey coast of, 251, 275 
 character of society in, 256 
 British occupations in, 257 
 Cornish miners come to, 261 
 British trade methods with, 264, 
 
 527 
 table habits in, 266 
 shooting game in, 270 
 sport in, 271, 511 
 Lieutenant Smyth and F. Lowe 
 
 cross, 275 
 position of foreigner in, 374 
 grimmest chapter in history of, 
 
 388 
 policy of revolutions in, 388, 389, 
 
 390 
 British naturalists in, 395-419 
 nature of tropical forests in, 
 
 396 
 visited by Charles Darwin, 404- 
 
 408 
 in English print, 421-480 
 John Ogilby's history of, 426 
 early British ignorance of, 427- 
 
 434 
 as illustrated in early British 
 
 books, 431 
 "Letters on," by J. P. and W. P. 
 
 Robertson, 445 
 "Wanderings in," by Charles 
 
 Waterton, 454 
 British financing of, 482, 525 
 nitrate industry in, 483 
 British banking system in, 484 
 church and missionaries in, 486- 
 
 493 
 Scotch colony in, 498 
 sheep raising and cattle industry 
 
 in, 498-500 
 meat-shipping industry in, 500 
 Welsh colony in, 506 
 influence of British sport on, 511 
 British shipping and railway 
 
 achievements in, 512-524 
 first cable laid to (1874), 523 
 
 South America — contin/ued 
 
 British financial assistance to, 
 
 525, 526 
 nature of British progress in, 526 
 Germans in, 530 
 British good faith in, 530, 531 
 British trade falls oflf with, 531, 
 
 533 
 British diplomats in, 543 
 present German unpopularity in, 
 
 546 
 future German policy in, 547 
 United States trade policy toward, 
 
 548 
 future relations of British with, 
 
 549-551 
 Spain, raiding of commerce to, 44 
 openly at war with England, 62 
 policy toward bucaneers, 81 
 South American policy of, 102, 
 
 135, 169 
 Admiral Cochrane conquers navy 
 
 of, 198 
 last stronghold in South America 
 
 (Lima) captured, 217 
 treatment of British prisoners by, 
 
 226 
 William Brown destroys fleet of, 
 
 229 
 General Eodil, last hope of, 237, 
 
 242 
 policy of Brazil influenced by, 281 
 Spaniards, enmity against English, 
 
 25, 37, 422, 423 
 attack Ajidrew Barker expedition, 
 
 39 
 courtesy to Sir Richard Hawkins, 
 
 44 
 courage against bucaneers, 86 
 methods in South American War 
 
 of Independence, 169 
 deprived of property and social 
 
 position, 246 
 Spruce, Richard, botanist, explores 
 
 South America, 415-419 
 Straits, of Magellan, 33, 64, 133 
 Sugar Loaf, Mountain, ascents of, 
 
 372 
 Summers, Captain George, 77 
 Sumpter, American Minister, resents 
 
 Brazilian regulations, 315 
 Superstition, of the English, 41 
 of the Indians, 271 
 of the Irish, 332 
 Surrender, of British to the Argen- 
 tines, 150 
 
 Tagus river, 4, 6, 7 
 
586 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Talmayancu, Araucanian Indian, 
 202 ~ 
 
 Teola, German regiment kills their 
 Brazilian major, 332 
 
 Theater, in Lima, 238 
 in Rio de Janeiro, 298 
 
 Tierra del Fuego, visited by Cap- 
 tain Cook, 135 
 
 Tinian, island of, 130 
 
 Tison, Thomas, 17 
 
 Tocujos, British settlement on is- 
 land of, 281 
 fight between British and Portu- 
 guese at, 282 
 
 Tortuga, island of, 84 
 
 Tramways, British South American 
 system of, 523 
 
 Treasure, British find Barcelona, 
 182 
 
 Treaty, of Windsor (1386), 6 
 
 Trinidad, British locate island of, 
 293 
 
 Tristao, Nufio, 4 
 
 U 
 
 Ucayli, British first navigators of 
 
 river, 278 
 United States, South American 
 
 trade policy of, 548 
 Uruguay, British in, 488 
 
 first railroad in (1868), 523 
 Uruguayana, the, 388 
 Ushant, 6 
 Utrecht, treaty of, 108 
 
 Valparaiso, Colonel Mackenna made 
 
 governor of, 194 
 Lord Cochrane arrives at, 205 
 first regular race-course in South 
 
 America at, 206 
 cricket and life in, 206, 207 
 prominent British merchants in, 
 
 237 
 account of a ball at, 244 
 British population in 1823 of, 
 
 247 
 Venezuela, climate and conditions 
 
 in, 172 
 General English's force in, 175 
 General Devereux's force in, 177 
 Sir R. Ker Porter appointed 
 
 Charge d' Affaires to (1835), 
 
 241 
 Cornishmen employed in mines 
 
 of, 262 
 first railroad (1873) in, 523 
 
 Venner, Captain, 71 
 Voyages, Columbus, 4 
 
 English, 4 
 
 first equatorial, 8 
 
 William Hawkins, 17 
 
 Robert Reniger, 19 
 
 Thomas Borey, 19 
 
 Thomas Pudsey, 19 
 
 Sir John Hawkins, 19, 22, 23 
 
 Sir Francis Drake, 23, 26, 36 
 
 around the world by Drake 
 (1577), 29 
 
 Golden Hind, 35 
 
 last expedition of Drake (1595), 
 37 
 
 Andrew Barker, 38 
 
 Richard Hawkins, 40 
 
 Edward Fenton, 51 
 
 Robert Withrington, 58 
 
 Delight, 60 
 
 Thomas Cavendish, 61, 63 
 
 James Lancaster, 70 
 
 Sir Walter Raleigh, 74, 78 
 
 Captain Woodes Rogers, 95 
 
 Captain Clipperton, 97 
 
 Commodore George Anson, 117- 
 131 
 
 Commodore Byron, 131-132 
 
 Captain Wallis, 132-34 
 
 Captain Cook, 134 
 
 H. M. S. Cornwallis, 138 
 
 Sir Home Popham, 143 
 
 General English, 175 
 
 Colonel John Mackenna, 193 
 
 Captain Thomas Brown, 236 
 
 H. M. S. Cambridge, 240-243 
 
 Captain Henry Foster, 250-252 
 
 Agamemnon, 293 
 
 Dom Joao VI, 317 
 
 J. P. Robertson to River Plate, 
 385 
 
 Charles Darwin to South Amer- 
 ica, 404-408 
 
 Admiral Sir John Narbrough, 426 
 
 "Captain R. Boyle," 432 
 
 W 
 
 Wallace, A. R., explores Amazon re- 
 gion, 408, 412-415, 458 
 
 Wallis, Captain, 132 
 
 Warspite, British ship, acts as ref- 
 uge for Dom Pedro I of Brazil, 
 344-363 
 
 Waterton, career of Charles, 397- 
 404, 454 
 
 Welsh, colony in South America, 
 506 
 
INDEX 
 
 587 
 
 Wheelwright, William, introduces 
 steam navigation to Pacific 
 (1840), 513 
 career of, 519-521 
 Whitall, John, makes profitable 
 Portuguese marriage, 48 
 starts British trade with Brazil, 
 
 50 
 end of, 59 
 Whitelocke, Lieutenant-General, sur- 
 renders to the Argentines, 150 
 
 Wilson, career of Colonel Bedford, 
 227 
 W., minister to Bolivia, 241 
 Withen, feat of Major, 186 
 Withrington, Robert, 58 
 
 Zarco, Joan Goncalves, 4, 10 
 
JAM ^ 
 
 6 1951 
 

 
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