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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

BRITONS
BOBBED, TORTURED, AND MURDERED

IN

PERU.

FKOM THE PEN OF

CAPTAIN MELYILLE WHITE. M.E.

THIRD EDITION.

LONDON:
PUBLISHED FOE THE ATJTHOE
BT
EOBEET HAEDWICKE, 192, PICCADILLY.
1862.

NOTICE.
This work will soon appear in French, Spanish, and other languages.
All orders and letters from abroad are to be addressed to the Author, care
of the Publisher.

TO THE

RIGHT HONOURABLE YISCOUNT PALMERSTON,
HER MAJESTY'S PRINCIPAL SECRETARY OF STATE,
&c. &c. &c.

Mt Loep,
Bt an unprecedented unanimity of national suffrage
your Lordship has been proclaimed the pilot most
trustworthy in the hour of peril, and her Most
Gracious Majesty having wisely giveti the sanction
of her approval to the choice of her people, your
Lordship has had the glory of weathering the past
storm, and you are now engaged in effecting measures
to secure the state ship from possible danger ahead.
Your Lordship is bound by a double obligation, im
posed by the affection of the people and the confidence
of their beloved Sovereign, to see to the honour of the
national flag, and uphold the rights and privileges of
her Majesty's subjects, whose greatest pride it is to
maintain triumphant that flag wherever it may be
unfurled.

IV

A sailor, I have visited many strange lands, and
wheresoever fortune led me, your Lordship's name was
a shield and guarantee against wrong and oppression,
until I found myself in Peru. There your Lordship's
name and that of our august mistress, the Queen, are
impotent to secure protection against a wanton and
unrelenting hatred towards her Majesty's subjects
which animates the present despotic Government of
that oppressed country.
This sentiment of hostility appertains to the Go
vernment only, and is not participated in either by
the gentry or the people. Along the entire sea-board
of North and South America a knowledge of the out
rages perpetrated on British subjects with impunity
by Peruvian officials has long been a source of asto
nishment and comment. Men of all nations cruising
in these latitudes inquire " How it happens that Great
Britain so long allows to remain unpunished the bar
barous conduct of the Peruvian Government towards
her Majesty's subjects ?" and the only solution at
tempted is in the reply, that "her Majesty's Ministers
are kept in ignorance of the real facts." Por some
time I harboured doubts on that point, but they have
vanished before, I regret to say, my own sad expe
rience of the mode in which matters are conducted by
those who should afford full and accurate information
to her Majesty's Government.
In vindication of my name and character, foully
assailed by the slavish minions of General Castilla and
by himself in person, and in the interest of humanity,

I give the following recital, hoping its details may
stimulate to the adoption of protective measures for
my fellow-subjects against British official neglect, and,
further, Peruvian tyranny. '
The present is but an abstract of matter which it is
my intention at a later period to lay before your
Lordship and the public, but as your Lordship's time
is too valuable to permit me to hope you could honour
it with perusal in extenso, I here beg permission
shortly to state that it affords details showing
That —
I, a loyal subject, whose pride and honour it is to
have served her Majesty at a critical moment on the
burning sands of India (when and how there are in
England at this instant living witnesses to attest),
was, on landing at Callao, made the victim of brute
force, arrested without legal warrant or shadow of
justification, then beaten and pricked with bayonets ;
I was flung into a loathsome black hole, kept there
during the day within hail of the British Consulate
without hearing from or seeing Mr. John Barton,
Consul at that port, or his assistant, Mr. Robinson.
Had either of them displayed the slightest interest re
specting a British subject, whose public arrest on the
charge of shooting the President became the universal
topic of conversation and conjecture in the little town,
—had either of them inquired for or come to see me,
which would have entailed about as much trouble as
walking from either extremity of Westminster Bridge
to its centre, and no more, or had they reported that

VI

such an arrest had been made to the Honourable Mr.
Jerningham, the promptitude of that gentleman to
look after the interests and safety of his fellow-sub
jects, would have preserved me from the horrors of an
awful night, to which even now I cannot look back
without shuddering.
That,— I was thence conveyed a prisoner to Lima, subjected
to the most humiliating and brutal treatment, kept in
secret confinement, without food, in a filthy dark cell,
committed to the fearful association of murderers, and
then dragged before an inquisitorial tribunal in the
chapel of the Inquisition.
That,— My first inquiries of the chief Inquisitor were di
rected to ascertain who and what he was ? why I had
been arrested ? if accused of any infraction of the laws
I desired to be informed of its nature, because I was
conscious I had not intentionally infringed any of
them, and proclaiming myself a British subject, I de
manded permission to communicate with the repre
sentatives of my Sovereign.
That,— His reply, conveyed in a haughty and supercilious
tone, intimated that " he did not care for the repre
sentatives of my nation, its flag, its Government, or
its Queen; that he was superior to them all, and
would make me feel it ; that I might as well remon
strate with and protest to the walls of the chapel as
to him ; that he was my sole master, and that he had

TU
ordered me to be brought there to answer his ques
tions, but not to ask any."
That,— His address was obviously intended to impress his
auditory (including the ragged soldiers drawn up with
fixed bayonets to intimidate me), with the impotency
of Great Britain when contrasted with the might of
Peru.That,— This Inquisitor turned out to be the notorious
judge Luis Ponce, who had connived at the escape of
the robbers and murderers of the young and gallant
Captain Lambert, B.JN"., and had met with public
judicial censure for his misconduct on that occasion.
The same who received and harboured the robber
Manuel Winder in his house.
The same who resisted the execution of the judge's
warrant for that robber's arrest when presented to
him by Captain Villar, of the Peruvian police force,
and Captain de Wolfe Carvell, a British officer, victim
of the robbery to the amount of some four hundred
thousand dollars.
The same who, on this occasion, presenting a brace
of pistols at Captain Carvell' s head, swore he would
scatter his brains on the floor if he persisted in at
tempting to enter the closet in which the robber had
that moment taken refuge.
The same who then declared " he had already caused
Captain Carvell the loss of thousands, and would cause
him to lose more ; that he hated the '  ' English ;

vm

that he had it in his power to command the services
of any amount of witnesses he might require at four
reals per head (about Is. 8d.), and that he would ex
ercise that power."
The same whose customary designation of me being
Bribon and Asesino (scoundrel and assassin), wound
up his interviews by consigning me to the degrading
and painful torture of the Barra and Grillos.
My Lord, — During the entire period of my incar
ceration, I never could obtain from this Judge or from
any Government official, information as to the nature
of the crime with which I was accused. I learned it
from a private friend and public rumour. I never
saw, heard of, or knew my accuser or his witnesses,
consequently never had any opportunity of cross-exa
mining him or them, or rebutting any evidence which
might thus in secret be amassed against me.
The charge was that I wounded General Castilla in
the arm with a pistol-bullet, in the public plaza of
Lima, on the 25th of July, 1860.
Luckily for me, I was on that day about a thousand
miles from Lima. Had I been within a day's ride —
say only sixty or eighty miles distant from the town,
— there can be no doubt I should have been convicted
of this crime by Judge Ponce. With his unlimited
command of witnesses to swear as he liked at four
reals a head, he would have easily succeeded under
his system. But even for him, one thousand miles was
too large a span. The abstract further shows the
secret complicity of the Peruvian officials in the
robbery committed by Manuel Winder; the actual

IX

open assistance afforded by the ministers of the Go
vernment, by enabling him to convert into cash at the
Government office sixty thousand of the stolen bonds,
the Government knowing them to be part and produce
of that robbery.
It refers to the shuffling pretexts through which
that Government would seek to evade its pecuniary
responsibility for such conduct.
It further shows that my illegal arrest having taken
place on the 23rd of March, 1861, the Peruvian Go
vernment, on the 16th of the subsequent month —
April — had it satisfactorily established on oath by
their own witnesses, that I was at Tacna, nearly one
thousand miles from Lima, on the 25th of July,
the day on which the crime was committed ; never
theless, the Government detained me in prison in
direct violation of its own code, for nearly nine months
afterwards, occupying this long interval in active
efforts to obtain grounds for trumping up some other
charge against me. Later, when the courts were ob
liged to proclaim that there did not exist a shadow of
justification for the barbarism to which I had been
subjected, and that my acquittal ought to have been
pronounced long before by the judge in charge of the
case, I was still further detained a prisoner for seven
teen days, making in all nine months and seventeen
days of incarceration.
Ultimately General Castilla, for the gratification of
whose morbid vanity all this wrong had been inflicted
(for he wished it to be believed that none but a
b

foreigner would attack him),* instead of seeking to
obtain my pardon for the outrages he had perpetrated,
and offering reparation for his despotic cruelty,
trampled imperiously on the obligations imposed by
treaties, justice, and decency. Adding insult to in
jury, he made my innocence a crime, and arbitrarily
banishing me for ever from the republic, he desig
nated me with his own lips "vagabond and assassin."
General Castilla would not dare to treat Americans
or Prenchmen in such a manner. They are efficiently
represented and protected.
My Lord, I should be wanting in duty to her Ma
jesty's Government, to my fellow-subjects, and to gra
titude, were I to close this brief analysis without
stating that it is to the representative of his Imperial
Majesty of the Prench, M. de Lesseps, that I was in
debted in my extremity for the first official symptom
of sympathy with my sufferings, and the expression of
a determination to insist on having them brought to a
close. My Lord, I have the honour to
Subscribe myself your Lordship's
Very obedient, humble servant,
T. Melville White,
Capitan de Navio, M.E.
Prince's-square, Kennington Park,
London, July 31, 1862.
* Overlooking the fact that on the 23rd of November, 1860, an attack was
made on him in his house in Lima by a body of Peruvian officers, when the
" Grand" escaped in chemise by getting over tbe roofs of the neighbouring
houses.

"SPY OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT "! ! ! !

"BBIBON! VAGO! PETABDISTA! YASESINO!"
LUIS PONCE, ) Judges of tbe Peruvian
Guillermo Carrillo ) Government.
BAMON CASTILLA . . . President of Peru.

" When an attempt is made to deprive a man of
the benefit of his social position, and to depreciate
his acts or services, or convert them into imputations
to his disparagement, — It is then not alone his prero
gative, but it becomes his duty to speak out, and
make all known to the utmost of his power."

MY NARRATIVE.

I was born on the banks of Lough Gill, in the
County of Sligo, the youngest child of John White,
of Carlow (professor of mathematics, and previously a
student of Maynooth College), and Elizabeth Mae
Laugh! in, of Tyrone, cousin of the Bight Beverend
Dr. MacLaughlin, late Boman Catholic Bishop of
Londonderry. While yet a child I emigrated with my family to
Canada, where I soon became the manager of an ex
tensive marine establishment. I had been intended
for either the Church or Bar. After my father's
death (my mother had previously died) I removed to
the United States, and entered, under the distin
guished and powerful protection of Messrs. J. E.
Thayer and Brother (one of the principal banking
houses of that country), the counting-house of Messrs.
Dana and Co. (an opulent and widely-respected firm)
for the purpose of completing my mercantile educa
tion. B

After I had concluded my commercial studies, I
made a voyage to Brazil and the countries bordering
on the Bio de la Plata, in order more intimately to
analyse the important commerce and resources of
those countries. My numerous friends, the better
to enable me to realise the object of my mission,
supplied me with flattering introductions to most
of the principal gentlemen at the points where I
intended touching (I can safely say that few men had
ever been honoured with better), recommending me to
(amongst others), in Bio de Janeiro, his Grace the
Archbishop; Commodore M'Keever, Commander-in-
Chief of the U.S. Squadrons on the Brazil and Biver
Plata stations ; Judge Kent, formerly Governor of the
State of Maine, and then U.S. Consul.; Messrs. Max
well, Wright, and Company; Messrs. Miller, Le
Cocque, and Company, &e. ; in Monte Video, to
William Hamilton, Esq., U.S. Consul; and Bobert
Gowland, Esq., &c. ; in Buenos Ayres, to Messrs.
Delisle Brothers; Messrs. Zimmerman, Erazer, and
Company; Messrs. Daniel Gowland and Company;
Thomas Armstrong, Esq. ; John Langdon, Esq. ; and
the Bev. Mr. Pahey, &c.
Having terminated my travels and researches, I
embarked at Buenos Ayres, and returned to the
United States, no longer fit for what now appeared to
me to be the monotonous duties of a counting-house,
and enchanted with the sea and the Pampas. I had
studied nautical astronomy as a child under my father,
and had since mingled much with experienced practical
navigators. During my South- American voyages I

worked and studied hard, so that at their termination
I found myself not simply a sailor passenger, but a
sailor adjudged fully capable, by men publicly recog
nised as competent judges, to take charge of any ship's
deck. I had formerly laboured hard at the duties of
the desk; I now dreaded them, and looked forward
with pride to the time when, encouraged and sustained
by many powerful friends, I should be able to render
available on my own account the knowledge I had ac
quired. My ambition was to become proprietor on the
Pampas (Haciendado), or commander of a ship. I
selected the latter, and, having read much of our
Indian Empire, I deemed it the most advantageous
field for the gratification of my new-born sentiments ;
consequently, thither I went, and served second in
command of the ships Salamanca, ShA Allum, Shaw
Allum, Arratoon Apcar, Ellen, and Attiet-Hhoman,
after which I had the honour to be appointed to the
command of the ship Fazel Currim. I had passed all
my nautical examinations with success (including one
for the Bengal Marine),1* in conformity with the laws
of the late Honourable East India Company.
At one time, while proceeding through Torres Strait
from the westward, vid Bains Island, I had the delight
to discover and rescue from almost certain death the
unhappy crew of the opium clipper Island Queen,
owned by the wealthy and very influential house of
Messrs. Dent and Co., Hong Kong. This beautiful
little craft had become a total wreck on a treacherous
* This included an examination in Hindoostanee.
b2

4
reef, which has also caused the destruction of many
another noble ship and gallant crew — the "Outer
Barrier." This cast-away ship's company consisted of Captain
Porter, Messrs. Wilson and Murphy (first and second
officers), and between thirty and forty petty officers
and Malay Lascars.
They had been shaping their course for Booby
Island, still a great distance off. At this time it was
generally considered unsafe to seek shelter among the
savages on the far-off coasts of New Guinea and Aus
tralia, bounding the strait. Half an hour after I had ,
picked them up, the boat in which they had been packed,
and which leaked like a basket, foundered alongside.
I was able to supply many of the pressing wants of
the unfortunate officers from my wardrobe. I had
known these gentlemen previously at Amoy and
sundry other ports on the northern coast of China,
and knew them to be excellent specimens of a very
peculiar race, which I pray may never become extinct
or diminished — " Britannia's hearts of oak."
My ship's rudder had become disabled, having
"touched" on one of the almost imperceptible beds
of coral by which the western waters of the strait are
yearly becoming more thickly interspersed.
This accident compelled us to remain anchored at
Ashmore Shoal a few hours, which providential delay
enabled me to achieve the salvation of the valuable
lives of so many brave and adventurous men.
Off the port of Copang— Timor— we found oppor-

tunity to transfer the shipwrecked officers aboard a
Singapore-bound steamer ; the petty officers and sea
men we carried with us to Calcutta.
I arrived on one occasion with my ship in Aden, and
found that it required the incessant and watchful care
of the distinguished and gallant officer commanding
the garrison (Brigadier Coghlan) to prevent neigh
bouring tribes from committing serious depreda
tions against the colonists, and that his exertions to
communicate with the late Honourable Company's
fleet in the Bed Sea had for a considerable time back
proved unavailing. Under such circumstances, I
thought it my duty to volunteer my services, and the
Brigadier, having supplied me with extra ammunition
for my guns and small arms, confided to me his de
spatches. I called in at Mocha to ascertain if any of
the ships were there. Not finding them, I proceeded
on to Bas-Mejambla, where it was officially reported
to me (which report was confirmed by Greek Christians,
brothers of Messrs. Savas, the wealthy merchants, who
were murdered soon after at Juddah) that the senior
naval officer, Captain J. J. Prushard (now, I am
happy to say, officiating Commodore of H.M. Indian
Navy), was with his ship Mphmstone off Hodeidah,
protecting that city against a force of several thou
sand Bedouins, by whom the place was closely belea
guered and hourly threatened with storm. As soon as
I had anchored and otherwise ensured the safety of my
ship, I hired an Arab boat, and, with no other protection
than my side-arms, proceeded in a strong wind and very

heavy sea a distance of about* fifteen miles to deliver to
Captain Prushard the despatches which had been con
fided to my charge by Brigadier Coghlan in Aden. As
it was impossible for me to rejoin my ship by sea iucon-
sequence of the strong southerly wind, I decided, after
having for two days partaken of the hospitality of the
gallant captain and his friend the Pasha (Mahomed),
to make good my return by land. The Pasha furnished
me with a cavalry escort, which, after we had safely
gained the open country and encountered a numerous
foraging party of the enemy, wheeled its horses'
heads round to the city,, and disappeared as if by
magic, leaving me to ride for my life through a country
but very imperfectly known, to me. I was well
mounted however, and soon distanced my pursuers.,
It was about nine p.m. (dark) when I arrived at
the beach in front of my vessel, but as. I heard the.
hooping and hallooing of Arabs, all round, I was afraid
to "hail," and preferred waiting where I had, as a
precaution, waded to, up to my saddle-skirts in. the
sea, until daylight, when I was taken aboard. On my
return from the, Bed: Sea to Bombay, I forfeited my
lucrative command in consequence of the richly-
merited chastisement, which I had, with a hearty good
will, inflicted upon the fanatical Mussulmen at Jud-
dah. The facts of this case were as, follows, :
The Erench and British Consuls at Juddah dined
with me aboard, as they were frequently in the habit
of doing. We proceeded ashore about sunset. A
crowd of Arabs were collected on the. quay who,,

the. moment, we disembarked, closed in. around my
two companions, and spitting into their faces, cried
out, "Away with the Christian dogs.! they want to
trample the people of the Prophet under foot!"
All the land side outlets of the enclosure, wherein
we then were, were closed, and the Consuls having
managed to escape from the midst of the mob (in
effecting which they got severely buffeted), fled, pur
sued by them, into) a sort of vault, close by, where they
were instantly besieged, by their pursuers, who con
tinued to violently abuse and threaten them.
Beyond, my forcible separation from these gentle
men I was not molested.
I was attended, at the time, by the janizaries of the
younger Scherieffe-Ben-Owen, whom I was then on
my way to visit, by invitation, and. I was known to
the people, as being intimately related, in warm friend
ship, with most of the numerous members., of the
Scherieffe's family.
The janizaries, told me they feared a revolution had.
taken place within the city, and that the Consuls,
would not be able to appease their assailants or make
good their retreat. They told me that, I was secure
from all harm* but insisted, nevertheless, on my re-
embarking in my boat and " laying off."
At first I thought the affair, was but a barbarous
mode the Bedouins had of indulging in practical jokes*
but when I had heard their significant cries, and saw
them, spit upon, the representatives of the two mightiest
powers of the earth, I felt convinced the case, had be-

8
come in the extreme grave and critical, and demanded,
on my part, immediate action. I ordered my gig's
crew to " give way," and soon after I returned with
two of my cutters, their crews being well armed.
One of the boats mounted a 12-pounder carronade.
I knew the natives did not Mice the appearance or
use of artillery, and I hoped to attain my object with
out expending aught else than " powder."
I consequently issued orders that nothing save
"blank" was to be fired from the boats "for the
moment." No expectations could have been more effectually
and delightfully realised.
The smoke of my only volley rolled in among the
disorderly Arabs, who were still mounting guard over
my friends, and as it cleared away I had the plea
sure to perceive the " children of the desert" scam
pering off, and making their escape over the walls
in all directions. I released the two justly-frightened
officials, and conducted them in safety to their Con
sulates. Warmly supported by my friend the young Sche-
rieffe, I succeeded in capturing the ringleaders of these
disorders, and amply chastised them while they were
secured to the " heel" of the Consular flagstaff, from
which, at the instant, our glorious "Union Jack"
was streaming.
I afterwards learned, in the Bazar, that these out
rages had been the result of late tidings from British
India, vid Mecca !

9
I informed the Consuls of this discovery, and our
anxiously-expressed opinions were, that " something
unusually strange was about to take place in Ben
gal!" I proceeded to Calcutta en route to Europe, with the
view of making a tour of the Continent. I at
tached myself to the Indiaman Octavia, second in
command. I had the good fortune to be enabled to
render assistance to the famishing crew of a Portuguese
vessel, when we were about four days' sail to the east
ward of Cape Town, in discharging which duty I got
sorely wounded.
I left my ship in a most boisterous sea during a
"lull" of a tremendous gale, in a life-boat manned
by volunteers, to render assistance to the unfortunate
sufferers. I was enabled to convey provisions, &c. aboard the
wreck by means of heaving-lines, as I could not ap
proach close to her without exposing my gallant men
to certain destruction. I jumped overboard hitched
to one of the lines, and was hauled up on to the deck
of the luckless ship, in order to give motion and rate
to the only chronometer which she carried; having
done which, I succeeded in regaining my boat by
similar means. The aged and infirm captain of the
stranger politely declined several other offers of assist
ance which I made to him.
Doctor Livingstone from the Cape, Mrs. J. M'Crae,
Beverend J. K. Stuart, and Captain Bussell from
India, and Captain William Dale of the Octavia,

10
were among the numerous ladies and gentlemen who
watched with anxiety and alarm the successful execu
tion of these exertions, in the cause of less fortu
nate brother sailors and fellow creatures.
My acquirements as a linguist enabled me to render
peculiar little services to my fellow voyagers during a
considerable time our ship was retarded by easterly
winds off the Chops of the Channel, by cruising in. an
open boat manned by young midshipmen, far out of
sight of our ship, in search of strange craft, and
obtaining provisions from them for our ship's use.
I reached London in April. After a short stay I
proceeded on a tour through the north of Germany,
with the intention of extending it to Bussia. During
a short halt which I made at Hamburg I heard for
the first time, with pain and astonishment, of the late
mutiny in India, and some of its early heartrending
consequences. These dire tidings were conveyed aloud to me and a
numerous party of ladies and gentlemen in offensive
and fiendish language at the table d'hote in the Hotel
de l'Europe. My informant spoke in Prench, but his
mode of pronunciation, and the contour of his phy
siognomy, distinctly indicated his, being a mongrel of
some description, and possessed, of no one attribute to
justify a pretension to the honour of being a Preuch-
man. He came floundering into the room after the cloth
had been removed, and planting himself in a chairi
directly opposite to me at table,, vociferated in an arror

11
gant and triumphant tone, "Hurrah! John Bull's
downfal has come at last. The brave Sepoys have.
kicked the boastful English out of India. The last
boatload of them, who ran away like cowards from the.
Sepoys to save, their throats, has come down the
Ganges. Hundreds of others have been slaughtered
by the natives, over whom they so long tyrannised.,
Many of the English beauties have been taken off,
and are charmingly provided for by the black Sepoys^
so that we are not likely to have so many British
puppies coming over here in future."
Being naturally of a quiet and rather affable dispo
sition, it is probable I should have confined myself to
woMs only, in replying to this man's> observations, had
it not. been foir the concluding sentence and the savage
chuckle, with which he accompanied his recital of the.
outrages to which he said our unoffending and peer
less countrywomen had been subjected.
My glass of wine happened to be standing, nearly
full, on the table. I instantly sent it, with its con
tents, right into, the fellow's face, saying as I did
so, that " I had the honour to be one of his British
puppies, and that if he did not make an ample apology
in presence of the company, for his observations, I
would drag him from; where he sat into the public
street, and cane him there*"
He set about wiping his face, and: his only reply was
by a hideous grin. Confusion had arisen in conse
quence of the occurrence, and several gentlemen m-
terfering, it was settled that an adjournment should

12
be made to the adjoining coffee-room, where he was
to come with a friend to arrange another kind of
meeting, which he said he would give forthwith, at
the grove of the Oder Alster.
I had not up to this time been aware that any
person at table spoke my language, and was most
agreeably surprised when three young gentlemen (an
American, a Canadian, and a Scotchman) came for
ward, and shaking me warmly by the hand, told me
that they approved of the course which I had pursued,
and that I might call upon either of them as my friend
in the matter.
My three new acquaintances and I withdrew to the
coffee-room, and having waited for some time in vain
for our adversaries we returned to the dining saloon,
and were not a little surprised when the gentlemen
there smiled while pointing to an open casement,
through which, they informed us, my promised an
tagonist had scrambled out and made his escape. The
name of the Canadian gentleman was Symes, son of
the wealthy and worthy principal of the extensive
house of Messrs. Symes and Co., Quebec.
We soon recognised each other as former playmates
on the St. Lawrence, and the agreeable tidings which
he conveyed to me of many of my numerous warm
friends in his happy land tended to restore me to good
temper. Shortly after, proceeding through the streets
to bid good-bye to some friends of mine in the town,
an officer of police politely informed me that " I was
his prisoner." On inquiring for what, he replied for

13
challenging and disfiguring the face of an amiable
citizen ; that I must either go with him then or pay
the fine.
I accepted the latter alternative, and handed him
the amount demanded, five pounds.
I had left many true friends in India, and in this
sorrowful moment I at once resolved on returning to
participate in their struggles and share their fate what
ever it might be. There was no steamer leaving for
London that evening, so I jumped into the one pro
ceeding to Hull, and by that route having reached my
lodgings (No. 6, Northumberland-street, Strand), I
immediately sent all my cabin furniture, library, &c,
as presents to my friends, one of whom was the late
Duncan Dunbar, Esq., principal ofthe house of Messrs.
D. Dunbar and Sons, of this city. To this gentleman
I sent, as a mark of my esteem, carpets which I had
brought from Persia, toilet-sets which I brought from
China, and curiosities which I had brought from Siam
and the interior of Arabia ; then (three days after I
had received the heart-breaking tidings in Hamburg),
I started a "Volunteer" for India by the overland
route vid Marseilles. On reaching Cairo I found that
the Indian steamer had not yet reached Suez, a delay
caused by some of the company's vessels having been
taken by Government for the transport of troops from
Mauritius, &c, and as I was panting with impatience
to push forward, I engaged a passage down the sea in
a return coal ship on the point of sailing. The dis
tinguished and gallant Generals Sir Hugh Bose and

14

Wyndham were then being detained, in company with
other officers of junior rank, in the hotel at Suez. I
was delayed some days in Aden waiting for the
Bombay steamer, during which time I remained the
guest of my friend Captain Prushard, where I had the
pleasure of again meeting with the gallant Vice-Ad
miral Sir Henry Leeke, late the highly esteemed com
modore of the Indian Navy, then on his way to Eng
land with his family. I was informed on reaching
Bombay that the Bengal Presidency was in a very dis
turbed state. I engaged a passage thither in the
steam- ship England. The gallant General G. W.
Osborne (lately commanding at Vizianagram), and
the gallant General A. Cuppage, with numerous other
officers, can speak, as to my conduct under the trying
ordeal to which the ship was subjected during the ter
rible typhoon in which all nearly perished. I com
municated with the Bengal Government as soon as I
reached Calcutta, and a day or two after I proceeded
into the interior, second in command of a division of
the late Honourable Company's Naval Brigade. My
correspondence at this eventful period would demon
strate what my hopes, aspirations, and exertions then
were, more particularly that portion of it addressed to
my old, warm, and much-valued friends Messrs. Apcar
and Co., the extensive shipowners of Calcutta, and
one of the first commercial firms in the East. The
replies of these gentlemen and the kind aid which
they freely afforded, to supply pressing wants of the
brave and loyal men under my command, reflect upon

15
them infinite honour. I will endeavour to procure
copies of this correspondence.
At the time of my appointment to the Naval Bri
gade, Captain Howe, then officiating Superintendent
of Marine, told me, after he had attentively perused
my testimonials, and forwarded copies of them to Go
vernment, that he regretted exceedingly his inability
to give me an independent command, the commands
of the different sections of the Bengal Naval forces
doing duty on shore having been previously bestowed
upon other officers. The officer in nominal command
of the division to which I was attached had rarely, if
ever, commanded a European seaman, and had been
for some time previous to his appointment to the
Brigade, keeper of a floating light at the Sand Heads.
The officer immediately following me in official rank
was a young man highly connected in India, who had,
as he told me, made one voyage to sea as midshipman
on board a " Blackwaller."
A day or two after our departure from Calcutta, I
found, to my amazement, , that my brother officers
were absolutely totally ignorant of a British seaman's
profession, and knew less than children of the manage
ment of sailors and the use of arms.
We were proceeding to perhaps the richest districts
of India on a most important and critical mission,
and I considered it absolutely indispensable that our
gallant little band should be so disciplined as to
render it capable of successfully coping with and
thrashing any mutinous forces with which it might

16
come in contact, and knowing, as I now did, that I
could not look for assistance of any sort from my
brother officers in effecting this work of vital import
ance, I determined to accomplish it single-handed. I
undertook this difficult duty with love, pride, and
hope, based upon a determined, hearty good-will to
succeed, and I am happy to say my incessant, anxious
exertions were crowned with complete success. I first
asked the officer who had received official command
to make me acquainted with the instructions and
powers which he had received from Government. On
perusing these instruments I found that he had re
ceived stringent orders to thoroughly discipline the
men, while he himself, poor fellow, did not know how
to lay hold of a musket, much less shoulder it, and
dreaded to deliver to our Jacks anything like an order.
No instructions had been furnished to him for the
proper government of the men, and to make matters
still more discouraging, he whiningly informed me
that he knew " nothing at all" about the mode of
discharging the duties which, as he stated, " had been
forced upon him," and that he would return at once
to Calcutta, and relinquish an appointment for which
he felt himself so totally unqualified. I expostulated
with him on the rashness of the course which he had
pursued in undertaking a responsibility involving the
safety and lives not only of our men but also of thou
sands whom we should be called upon to assist and
defend, knowing himself to be so completely unfit for
such a sacred duty; nevertheless, I dissuaded him
from relinquishing his lucrative appointment now

17
that we had marched on our mission, and as he had a
family dependent upon him in Calcutta. I told him,
furthermore, that I had come there a volunteer from
England at my personal expense, to endeavour to
serve my country in any capacity, how humble soever,
and not in search of glittering positions or rich emolu
ments, that I had wherewith to live independent for
life, and had come to pay a portion of my debt to my
country by presenting her with my willing services, and
not to sell them, and that with his permission I would
charge myself from that moment with the thorough
disciplining and government of the detachment. His
gratitude to me appeared to be, and I really believe it
was, unbounded. He joyously relinquished to me the
command which he knew not how to conduct, and
continued in the enjoyment of his handsome pay and
allowances. My first measure after receiving the
entire command, was to give charge of the commis
sariat to my brother officers, having previously given
them cursory instructions how to administer this.
duty, the execution of which under my constant di
rections was the only one they performed, up to the
time when I was compelled to withdraw from the^
Brigade as I thought on my bier.
I retained charge of our heavy train of ammu
nition myself, lest by permitting powder to fall into.
the hands of men who knew as little about it as they
did about shouldering a musket, serious accidents
might happen.
The boatswain was the only warrant officer that had
been appointed to our division in the Presidency, and
c

18
I found myself obliged to select a staff of petty officers
from a body of men who, in consequence of the inca
pacity of the officer whom Government had selected
to command them, were fast falling, and had far ad
vanced into an alarmingly disordered state. I ap
pointed in this manner my gunner and his mate, four
quartermasters, two boatswain's mates, sailmaker,
carpenter, master-at-arms, orderly writer, and hos
pital wardens. In the absence of all instructions from
Government on the subject, I drafted stringent and
equitable codes for the general government and guid
ance of the division ; then I entered with much faith
upon the more important duty of imparting a good
military training to my men, which for months I
made my constant care and study. My routine until
the men had become pretty proficient was as follows :
Prom daylight until eight a.m. I instructed them
by companies in the platoon and manual exercises;
from nine until eleven a.m. I taught them by sub
divisions a course of sword and bayonet exercises;
from two until three p.m. I drilled them in the modes
of working and defending our field battery ; and from
five p.m. until sunset I paraded them as a division,
and trained them to all such manoeuvres and evolutions
as an irregular force such as we were could possibly be
supposed to require. This was my mode of rendering
the hardy and cheerful men under my command
capable of discharging all and every duty which our
Sovereign and country might require from us, and
our reviews at the different stations which we occu
pied, afforded experienced military men an oppor-

19
tunity for publicly affirming, as they did, that such
¦exertions had been crowned with " most extraordinary
suecess." I, too, proudly admitted to myself, and to
the men too, that such had been the case, and I justly
gloried in the weather-beaten British sons of Neptune
who had proved themselves such apt pupils in the
training class of Mars ! I hope that many of these
men are to be found at this day, if not in the Boyal
Navy, in a service no less honourable and important
to our country, the Boyal Naval Beserve. I con
sidered it wrong during this trying time and in those
remote parts to neglect the duties which we all owe to
our benificent Creator, consequently I allotted tents
for churches for the men on the Sabbath, to which I
marched them, after church musters, according to
their religious beliefs,, in sections, when the officers
read service to them. Our harmonious denominations
consisted principally of Episcopalians, Presbyterians,
and Boman Catholics, to the latter of which I read
service. When it was not convenient to pitch tents we held
our truly edifying little services under cover of trees,
feeling confident that the heartfelt supplication from
that lowly spot would prove equally as iacceptable
before the throne to which it was wafted as though
it had been transmitted from more sumptuous
places. I established a court, wherein I sat daily to investi
gate complaints and punish offenders.
I also established a library for the use of all such
men as had not a " black chalk" against their names
c2

20
in the conduct-book. Such of the men as were from
time to time unfortunate enough to merit being placed
under this ban, redeemed themselves from its unplea
sant consequences as soon as possible, and every op
portunity and inducement was held out to them for so
doing. In addition to these mental recreations I esta
blished jockey, foot-ball, and cricket-clubs, to which
was afterwards added that of quoits. Great as the
distance was, and scorching as we felt the climate to
be, we were fast introducing Old England into the
midst of the deadly swamps and jungles of Bengal.
I employed my pay and something more in procur
ing from Calcutta, through the generous kindness of
my valued friends Messrs. Apcar and Co., clothing of
all descriptions for the use of my men, and I arranged
through the same kind friends and loyal fellow-sub
jects for the transmission of money from the men to
their families and relatives in England, and the better
to stimulate them in thus employing part, at least, of
their pay, I took upon myself to have Government
requested to sanction the payment of only a part of
their wages at the expiration of each month, which
granted, the men found themselves in the receipt
(ready money) of "half-pay." I paid to several of
the petty officers whom I had appointed monthly
allowances out of my private purse (for the honour of
having selected them), after I had failed in obtaining
such allowance for them from Government.
I purchased, through the kindness of my much
esteemed friend, the Bight Beverend Bishop Oliffe,

21
testaments and prayer-books for the use of my co
religionists, and from other sources I purchased similar
books for the men of the other religions. I was to
these sturdy men their law maker and law giver ;
their military chief and caterer; their substitute for
clergyman, and oftentimes doctor. In a word, I, a
youth, looked upon them as my family, and they in
return regarded me almost as a father. Some letters
which I addressed about this time to Bishop Oliffe, and
which were afterwards published, with some few com
ments, in the Bengal Catholic Herald, speak plainly as
to the feelings by which I was then and ever have been
actuated. In one of these letters I had the pleasure of
forwarding a handsome subscription of five hundred
rupees, which my men, irrespective of difference of
creed, most nobly and humanely made for the relief of
orphan innocents who had been saved from Lucknow,
and whose Boman Catholic fathers had, side by side,
with their gallant comrades who knelt and worshipped
before different altars, poured out their warm life-blood
in vindicating their common cause. Other little
fatherless ones, equally dear to us, were similarly
rescued, but did not need such humble efforts to be
made on their behalf, as they were handsomely pro
vided for in the Martinear schools of Calcutta.
This work of true charity was performed by my
men (all honour to them for it) on an Easter Sunday.
I felt much pained on learning, months afterwards,
that the connexion of my name with this godlike act
had not {volunteer and all though I was well known to

22
be, from Western Europe- to Central Asia) improved'
my militarty prospects.
I look back to my sojourn in India during the>
mutiny as " the bright green spot in my existence,""
and have throughout life ever entertained a most
peculiar attachment and devotion for the Union
Jack. I could dwell for days in describing scenes,
from whence I wrote- in one of these same letters,
speaking of our churches, " The green sward is our
carpet, and the blue- vault of heaven our canopy ;""
and again, " We are much in want of books of prayer,
to enable us to draw more closely to, and commune
more directly with, our Heavenly Eather." I will
content myself with a hurried description of the Court*,
of which I have before made mention.
Just as " six bells" a.m. had struck, the Union Jack
was hoisted, with, all due solemnity, at the orderly tent
flagstaff, and this having been its first appearance
among the natives of these remote parts, they
seemed not a little puzzled as they gazed in very
evident wonder and surprise upon the graceful wavy-
folds of the "red, white, and blue;"
The jury empannelled for the day (not on oath)3
would then enter and gravely take their seats.
This jury, unlike the incomparable bulwark of the
rights and liberties of all Britons, was composed of
six members.
The defaulters' book was next sedately carried in by
the orderly clerk, after which the judge (the writer),
took his place upon the bench, which for want of
better materials had been constructed with two or

23
three flour-barrels and planks. Then the accused was
brought into Court, and two? quartermasters, one for
the honour of the brigade, the other for the defence of
the accused (the boatswain being accuser), concisely
addressed the Bench..
The jury would say "guilty" or "not guilty," and
the judge ruled accordingly.
Prohibition for a defined time from participation in
the relaxations of the library, or from one or all the
clubs, was almost invariably found sufficiently potent
means to enable me,, after I had admonished him, to
send the thoughtless offender away truly repentant}
and oftentimes crying, and when more energetic
punishment was required, I had only to condemn the
culprit to suffer one, or more days' idleness !
This Court astonished the ladies and gentlemen
who became aware of its: workings, and I have re
peatedly had the pleasure of affording a seat by
my side, while I sat in judgment, to distinguished
members of the Civil Service, who with, assumed
gravity watched, much amused, the proceedings. My
warm friend, Mr. W- J- Longmore (then magistrate
of Bungpore, now, I am happy to find, most worthily
promoted to the collectorship of Behar) favoured me
most in this respect. Whenever a cooja of milk, a
tookree of eggs, a tom-tom, or a hookah, had been
illegally cribbed by a sailor, as was sometimes the
case, the loser complained to Mr. Longmore, and he
immediately communicated with me;
I instantly instituted, an inquiry, tried the offender,
and generally made him pay double the value of the.

24
missing commodity, besides other punishments. The
heaviest and most easily detected larceny which I ever
knew any of my men to be accused of, was effected by
two of them mounting and driving off a full-grown
elephant. The defence with respect to this unwieldy
subject was, that the quadruped having been supplied
by the sailors with a quantity of tobacco (the men said
the elephant had chewed it like an old sailor), had
suddenly taken a great liking to them, and they hav
ing tried in vain to withdraw from his society, had
been gently lifted up by his trunk, and placed upon
his back, after which he galloped off with them to our
encampment. The Court sentenced them to pay the day's hire of
the professedly affectionate animal, and to be deprived
of the right to draw, or have any opportunity to waste,
any more tobacco for a month, it being at the time a
very scarce and much-prized article, among their com
rades. The foregoing may have enabled the reader
to judge somewhat of my relationship with my men.
Believing that the mode of " blowing away from
the guns," has not heretofore been particularised in
print, it may interest the reader who has not had an
opportunity of witnessing this quick and effectual
method of executing the sentence of death, to know
how it has been done. I will therefore, here, endea
vour to describe how we did it, and partly how we
fortunately came to do it at Julpigoree.
The river Teesta ' at this point is as voluminous
as the Thames at Blackfriars, equalling in velocity
many of the rapids of the Ottaway, and forms the

25
boundary in these parts between our possessions and
the independent State of Boutan, the Bajah of which
was then affording very evident grounds for the com
plaints of our Government by receiving and protect
ing bodies of rebels within his Bajahship, and by
uniting with them in seriously menacing our frontier
and grossly insulting our authorities.
A corps of observation, consisting of the 11th Irre
gular Cavalry (Sowars), under the immediate com
mand of Captain Needham, and the 73rd N. I. (Ben
gal) were encamped at Julpigoree. This united force
was commanded by the gallant Colonel G. M. Sherer,
of the 73rd, now, I am happy to find, promoted to the
rank of Major-general.
These troops mutinied against their gallant com
mander and officers, refusing to obey any of their
orders, and all but massacred them. The families of
the officers were, for the safety of their lives, secretly
conveyed from the station to the " hills," to which
destination, and for the same purpose, General Sherer
very humanely and judiciously sent several young
gentlemen who had lately come from home.
A dreadful panic pervaded all classes of the Chris
tian population of Eastern Bengal in consequence of
the threats of this Mussulman force to ravage the
surrounding country, and cut the throats of every
Christian whom they might find between the Sunder-
bunds and Nepaul.
Another numerous native force menaced from among
the Himalayas the adjacent sanitarium of Darjeeling,
then crowded to intensity with refugee ladies and in-

26
valid officers from the plains. The 73rd were constantly
making boast that this isolated and defenceless place
of abode of hundreds of our fair countrywomen should
be their first point of attack and field for " loot."
A well-devised though unavoidably feeble means of
defence was adopted by my gallant friend, General
Hervey, a hero of Mooltan, and the fearless Besident,,
Mr. Murray.
They hastily succeeded in constructing, with but
very scant means, some excellent sand batteries
(basket) at various commanding and strategic points
along the hilly portion of the road (about forty miles),
leading, vid Punkabarre, from Julpigoree to their'
mountain homes. Captain Gerald Hervey, nephew
of the General, is an able officer, and took much in
terest and pains in the planning and erection of these
field works.
The universal opinion then was, that the defeated
rebels from Cawnpore and other places would retreat
into and again rally in Boutan and Sekim.
General Sherer generously sent constant telegrams
to Bungpoor, Dinagepoor, Purneah, Caragola Ghaut,
Darjeeling, and other distant stations, advising the
Christian inhabitants of the terrific state of his Sepoy
command, and his and his officers' expectations of
being momentarily murdered by them, in which case
he counselled all to seek safety in instant flight as
best they could, as there was not a friendly soldier be
tween them and Calcutta.
The gallant General was not then aware that we

27
were impatiently- steaming up the Bramuputra, and
that we had left another band of tars at Dacca.
General Sherer kindly informed me afterwards that
my friends, the- gallant Captains Tickell (this gentle
man has written a very interesting work on the
mutiny of his regiment), Dandridge, and Portescue,
and the dauntless Magistrate (Mr. Drummond), had
acted most nobly on this trying occasion.
Most of the ladies and gentlemen so counselled by
the General fled from their happy and luxurious homes,
accompanied by such of their servants as they deemed
faithful, and hid themselves away mid the recesses of
the jungles.
The immense treasures in the Treasury of Bungpoor,,
under charge of the very energetic and brave collector
of the district (Mr. Macdonald), were borne off during
the darkness and stillness of night, and buried for safe
keeping in secret places, and the dense* populace, after
having grossly insulted the Christian inhabitants and
threatened their Eves, remained rampant masters of
the deserted homes; in hourly expectation of their
Sepoy friends, so that they might, without fear of
chastisement, commence and execute their intended
work of pillage and blood.
Such was the condition of these unrivalled rich tea,
indigo, silk, cotton, tobacco, rice, jute, timber, and
cattle-producing districts, and such the almost hope*
less prospects of their loyal generous, brave, and
hospitable Christian inhabitants when our naval forces
(two hundred rank and file) arrived with a gun-boat at

28
Bugwah, in the vicinity of this desolate scene, on the
right bank of the Bramuputra.
We had gone there from Dacca in hot pursuit of a
wing of the 73rd, which had mutinied in that flourish
ing city.
These men were prevented from carrying their
sanguinary designs into execution by the brave sea
men, commanded by the gallant Lieutenant Lewis,
who made many of them "bite the dust" in a despe
rately-fought engagement at the Allumbagh. We
had been accompanied in our pursuit by the estimable
Judge Abercrombie. We were informed, to our dis
appointment and sorrow, that the fugitives had made
good their retreat into the mountains of Assam.
I was visited about an hour from the time of our
arrival at Bugwah by the indefatigable magistrate of
Bungpoor (Mr. W. J. Longmore), who fully informed
me of the frightful state of the country, and the
desperate condition to which its Christian inhabitants
were then reduced. He besought me to render them
immediate aid if possible. Mr. Longmore had been
taking refuge at Bugwah for some time previously,
hoping thereby to encounter some friendly military
force on the river.
Immediately on receiving Mr. Longmore' s state
ment, I selected fifty of the most robust and com
petent men, supphed them with eighty rounds of ball-
cartridge each, and, carrying with me two cases of the
same material, I marched with my chosen band
on foot eighteen miles, under a broiling mid-day sun,

29
knee-deep in scorching sand, across a " chur," to the
banks of the Lower Teesta.
We commenced this harassing march at seven a.m.,
and did not reach the river until nine p.m., in conse
quence of the difficulty and pain which we expe
rienced in wading through the sands. We were com
pelled to accomplish this march barefooted, in order
to prevent the sand from lodging in our shoes and
cutting and blistering our feet. I left the remainder of
my command to be brought forward at regular
marches, together with our heavy train of commis
sariat and ammunition.
Immediately we had succeeded in crossing on rafts,
the much-swollen Teesta, we mounted eight elephants,
and continued our march throughout the night
without a moment's loss of time. The cold damp
air of the night benumbed our limbs as we sat on the
" howdahs." I had not felt it so cold during boyhood
in midwinter at Quebec as I did during that night's
march, after having been literally baked during the
preceding day. We managed to keep our blood circu
lating by dismounting from time to time and trotting
along by the sides of our animals, whose brisk walk
demanded running on our part to keep pace with
them. The Teesta takes a very circuitous course near where
it empties into the Bramuputra, and we found great
difficulty in crossing it, as we were compelled to do,
again about midnight.
About 3 a.m. we were all suffering— in the very

30
sultriest part of India— intensely from cold, and hap
pening to encounter a hamlet, where a quantity of
straw was lying about in bundles, I ordered a halt,
and making a fire with some of the straw we were
enabled to warm ourselves. Many of my poor fellows,
on throwing themselves among the bundles, instantly
fell fast asleep. On rummaging my haversack I felt
pleased at discovering a few pound packages of tea,
which at the time I felt inclined, to attribute to the
kind offices of some good genii ; but while conversmg
with Mr. Longmore, about a week later, my servant
Bajaballi told me that he had stowed it where I had
found it, for my use and his accommodation on the
road, having expected that I would have taken him
with me in my forced march. By means of the straw
and a cooja, which my gunner fortunately discovered
in one of the huts, we soon succeeded in making warm
water tea, which we drank from the pot in which it
had been made.
My gunner's name well deserves a place here. Ed
ward Porter, an old man-o'-war's-man, had been for
some time attached as A.B. to her Majesty's ship Ex
cellent. He was a loving son of fair Scotia, and, in
deed, the upright and warm heart of that fearless Scot
was well fitted in its humble sphere to do abundant
honour to his " Highland home," from whence has
sprung a countless host of brave and talented men.
Porter was one of the smartest seamen I have ever
met with, and had not, it was very evident, skulked
on board the Excellent He was an admirable
gunner, and rendered me important assistance in

31
drilling the men, as did the boatswain, Mr. Cook,
in their government. They were the officers upon
whom I could place the greatest reliance. I used
oftentimes minutely describe to the men what their
conduct and manoeuvres should be provided we met
the enemy, and that I should deem it judicious to
divide my small force; in which case I should, with
all confidence, entrust the detached command to my
gunner. At such times a murmur of dissatisfaction
would be heard from one and all of them, growling
out as only a British sailor knows how to do, that
"They could only follow me!" that "I had promised
to lead them at all times, and not leave them !" that
" They must always be near me, as if anything was to
happen to me what would become of them:?" and
that " They would knock Sepoys to pieces, ten to one,
whenever it was found requisite ; but that I must be
at their head, in order that they should do it ! " And
on my telling .them that Porter, in such case, would
be my substitute, that veteran sailor would reply,
"No, sir, I can't do that; I must be at your side
wherever you may be. Ned Porter loves his flag and
country, and wherever his commander goes he must
go too, and then, sir, you may knock scores of the
d — d Pandies over, and let us see how they are going
to help themselves. We must all be with you, sir."
I am not aware of ever having been more pleasurably
affected than on such occasions ; and I have seen large
tears start into the eyes of the warm-hearted Magis
trate, Mr. Longmore, when he happened to be with
me during some of them. He was a warm admirer

32
of us. He used familiarly express himself to me,
" Our jolly Tars and their ' Union Jack' for ever !"
Subsequently, on my return to America, I encoun
tered Porter, on my way through New York. The
poor fellow was out of a berth, and I was enabled to
procure one for him. Should I ever meet with him
again I will give him one for life. The making and
drinking of the tea occupied about half an hour, and
as we were about to remount and continue our journey
the sentries I had posted in the " topes " of bamboos,
wholly surrounding our camp fire, gave the alarm
that the Sepoys were upon us.
This report had a magical effect on the waking
sailors, and also on the sleepers among the straw.
I immediately jumped up and hastened to the
point whence the report came. The men who had
been awake instantly fell flat on the ground, and
crept to and clutched their muskets, and their com
rades uttered a grunt, and rolled out of their warm
berths as though they had all been bitten at the same
instant by so many adders.
Nothing could be heard from them above whispers,
and they, leading me thereby to surmise that some
of them must have been bushrangers, immediately
doused the fire. I was kneeling under cover of a tuft
of grubs, looking down the road, where I could dis
tinctly perceive between twenty and thirty lights
moving slowly up in our direction, and from the very
unusual sight I felt convinced I had fallen in with a
numerous body of rebels trying to steal a march. On
turning round, in order to post my men, I found them

33
crouching close to me, and heard the brave Scotchman
Porter say, " I told you, sir, we should catch the Cut
throats. Won't you let us whip them, sir ?" I
again reconnoitred the advancing lights, which were
now within about a quarter of a mile of us, but, in
consequence of the intense darkness, I could not dis
cover more than I had at first. In front of where we
were was a ditch running along the road ; I stationed
my men along it, kneeling, to wait the approach of
the party, and was much amused while doing so by
low growls of satisfaction escaping from the men. I
had ordered them not to fire or move from where I
had stationed them except by a call from the pipe of
the boatswain's mate, whom I kept close to me. The
lights were now near us, and the muskets of the
sailors covered them. It only waited the signal to
send the light -bearers to eternity. Portunately,
however, it had been ordained otherwise, for on the
lights arriving immediately in front of us we disco
vered that our supposed Sepoy force consisted prin
cipally of servants of the Government, and was com
posed of Dak Wallahs, Jemendaries, and Chokeedars.
They were on their way to their different stations
from Bungpore, from which they told us we were
eight miles distant. Such an assemblage of Nokers
had never before been seen in these parts, and they
certainly had a narrow escape. Had there been ten
thousand Sepoys in place of these peaceable people, I
firmly believe not one of my men would have flinched
from assailing them. One of the natives, when he

34
discovered our arms, started back at a run in the
direction he had come from, and I had to send two of
the Jacks to trace him up. They did so, and returned
out of breath to inform me that the men who had just
passed must be Sepoys, as they had discovered an
encampment in the woods.
I proceeded with all my men to examine this
encampment, which, from the gear lying about, I
soon discovered to belong to some European gentle
man. I found a servant-man, but neither promises
nor threats would induce the faithful fellow to tell me
who his master was or where he had gone to.
I discovered afterwards that he had taken us for
strange Sepoys, and had returned in all haste to im
part his erroneous opinions to his master, Mr. Byland.
Day was dawning as we resumed our march for
Bungpore, on our way to which we were joined by
several gentlemen ofthe place, including Mr. Byland,
who had observed us through the trees, and correctly
divined our true character and mission. We dis
mounted at a village about three miles from the
station, to which we marched singing joyously, and
headed by the Union Jack tacked to a bamboo.
As we marched into Bungpore on one side, so did
our " loot" and murder-loving Asiatic fellow-subjects
scamper out at the other.
Our advent completely turned the tables, and the
sable gentlemen then perceived for the first time that
there .must be something wrong, not in the state of
Denmark, but in theirs of Pandydom.
The rusty "bundooks" which they had carefully

35
oiled and polished up for their expected butchery were
cast away; their fond and nearly realised hopes of
gloating over the destruction of the " Sahib loque"
were instantly dissipated by the arrival of fifty " Ja-
nee-ke-butchas" (Imps of the Devil), as they termed us.
They had never before seen British tars, and the
sight of mine with their bare brawny arms and bosoms
covered with hieroglyphics, and black streamers gaily
flying from their broad-brimmed hats, perfectly be
wildered them.
The few natives who ventured to remain hid among
the trees watching us as we wended our way over that
ground which had never before been trodden by
legions from our sea-girt isles, fled afterwards to their
companions, and timidly informed them that myriads
of " Saffaid's ; Jehagees" had come from some strange,
far-off " mullock" to avenge upon them their mis
deeds towards the Sahibs, and maintain the Banee
Sahib. On reaching the station, finding we had
no immediate enemy in arms to contend with, I al
lowed my poor hungry and weary fellows, with the
exception of an efficient guard, to throw themselves
upon the earth, when they instantly fell into profound
sleep. While my men were thus restoring exhausted na
ture, I hastened among our friends the gentlemen of
the station, and procured food and other requisites for
them. These fine fellows had marched nearly sixty miles
without halting, except our bivouac by the straw-
D 2

36
fire, and without having broken their fast except
with tea water and biscuit, from six p.m. the even
ing before we left the gun-boat on the Bramuputra,
until about ten p.m. of the day upon which we entered
Bungpore, fifty-two hours.
This perhaps unrivalled march and the sacred ob
jects with which it was joyously undertaken and nobly
accomplished, were well worthy the fearless defenders
of the " wooden walls of Old England."
Soon after our arrival at Bungpoor, Mr. Longmore
came to my quarters with the grave intelligence that
a numerous body of Sepoys were marching upon the
station. This information consoled me and my men
for our previous disappointment, and supplied us
with herculean energy and strength.
Within a quarter of an hour from the receipt
of these tidings, we had lashed our field-pieces to
carts drawn by fast oxen, placed some raw salt pork
and ship-biscuit in our haversacks, and were on
our march out of the little town singing " Boyal
Charley." I had left a sufficient guard in charge of
our magazine, and marched to meet the enemy in the
open country in order to prevent his taking shelter
behind the stone walls of the settlement. Great was
our mortification when, after having marched a few
miles, we learned that the Pandies had. suddenly
changed their line of march towards our encampment,
and taken the opposite direction. I knew from the
start the rascals had of us, and the excellent legs
they possessed for running away, that it would be im-

37
possible to overtake them, so we countermarched sor
rowfully to our " lines."
A few days later we executed some Havildars
captured in the jungle, and condemned to death
by Judge Glover, they having been some of the
ringleaders in the mutiny at Dacca, who had com
mitted several atrocious murders. Previous to this
the native inhabitants had been restored from their
panic-stricken state, and returned to their homes and
occupations. There could not have been less than twenty thou
sand of them present at the execution of these mur
derers, and Mr. Longmore feared a rescue would be
attempted. I occupied the ground with eighty of my
men and two twelve-pounder mountain train-guns,
which no doubt deterred the evil-disposed from acting
rashly. An incident connected with the hanging of these
culprits astonished us all. One of them was a very
stalwart man. The scaffold was about twenty feet
high. When the trap fell this man's weight snapped
the rope (inch) in two, and he fell to the ground appa
rently Hfeless.
Unassisted, however, he instantly got upon his legs
again, walked briskly up the ladder to the scaffold,
reunited the rope by a well-made knot, and then fell
down dead on the platform !
We received urgent orders from Government to
abandon Bungpore, and march with all possible
dispatch on Julpigoree, between seventy and eighty

S'8
miles distant, to regulate and, if necessary, disarm the
native forces there.
These "orders had been issued in consequence of
representations from the gallant General Sherer of the
horrors of his position, copies of which were enclosed
to us for our information.
At Bungpore we received unbounded kindness
from our countrymen and countrywomen, more par
ticularly from Judge Glover, Mr. Macdonald, Col
lector, and Mr. Longmore, Magistrate. The former of
these gentlemen most generously placed his rich
private library at our disposition, and the latter
laboured night and day for our comfort. At this
distant day I thank them for the attentions which they
then patriotically bestowed upon my much prized
men. When we reached Julpigoree, we found that the
mutinous cavalry had fled, with their horses and arms,
on hearing of our approach.
A day or two after our arrival the instigators of this
mutiny were tried by court-martial, and sentenced to
be " blown away from the guns." The force in camp
consisted of the 73rd N.I., about nine hundred strong, a
small detachment of invahds of her Majesty's 54th Be-
giment, commanded by the Hon. Captain Curzon, and the
Naval Brigade. The sentence having been passed, and
General Sherer having done me the honour to consult
with me as to the most effectual and judicious means
of carrying it into execution, he ordered a general
parade of the forces. He had made me aware of his
apprehensions of a rescue being attempted by the 73rd,

39
and his anxiety for the safety of the district. He
also informed me that each man of that regiment
had eighty rounds of ball-cartridge in his pouch, and
that an almost inexhaustible supply of similar ammu
nition was in their possession in the regimental maga
zine. I had the pleasure of assuring him, in return
for this confidence, that as long as one of my men
and I remained alive he need have no fears or anxie
ties of the sort. The executions took place on an ex
tensive plain separating the Sepoy " lines" from the
Naval Brigade camp.
Julpigoree stands on the immediate right bank of
the Teesta, about one hundred and thirty miles from
its discharge into the Bramuputra.
The 73rd were drawn up in open column parallel to
and distant from it about five hundred yards.
Captain Curzon's command formed perpendicular
to the river, on a parallel about two hundred yards
from that upon which rested the right flank of this
regiment, and the Naval Brigade except their Artillery,
occupied intermediate ground, their right resting on
the left of the 54th, and their left on a point about
three hundred yards distant from the right of the
73rd. Captain Curzon's guns and mine formed in battery
on the bank of the river, towards which they pointed,
directly in front of the Sepoys centre.
The forces thus stationed formed three imperfect
sides of an irregular parallelogram, two of which faced
towards their third, the battery.
Most ofthe Christian inhabitants of the surrounding

40
country had assembled in camp, feeling that, in case
of the worst, safety could alone be hoped for in or near
the ranks of the Naval Brigade.
The condemned were marched to the place of execu
tion by a guard of the 54th, and had been previously
guarded by them in their encampment on a pro
montory in the river.
Captain Tickel, regimental interpreter, read the
sentence in English and Hindoostanee, also a recital of
the dreadful crimes which had demanded it, after
which the prisoners were handed over to Captain
Curzon and me preparatory to their execution. " Blow
ing away from the guns" had been invariably performed
with "blank," but I deemed it prudent on this oc
casion to double grape my guns. The stake for which
we were then playing was precious, and much de
pended on the manner in which the dice were thrown.
I considered that more than the indomitable valour of
a handful of Britons would be requisite to prevent,
should they make the desperate attempt, nine hundred
well-trained Sepoys, with eighty rounds in their
pouches and a magazine at their disposal, from
rescuing their comrades and murdering those whom
we felt bound to protect with our lives.
I therefore took the precaution of carrying with me
to the field a good supply of grape.
The General had given me carte-blanche for my
proceedings, should the dreaded rescue be attempted.
Had I perceived a waver in the Sepoy ranks that day,
I should (after allowing opportunity for their officers
to withdraw into our lines) have wheeled my guns

41
round and raked them, and blown away their con
demned arch-conspirators at one and the same time.
We secured the prisoners with one turn of hemp-
sewing twine, by the arms and legs, to the upper and
lower spokes of the "trucks," giving the guns suf
ficient elevation to bring their muzzles to the waists
of the condemned.
General Sherer conveyed the order "ready;" the
slow-matches were instantly lighted, and the scene be
came truly critical and solemn. It was a strange sight
to see the powerful native force, who but a short
time previously had sworn to steep their hands in the
blood of all Christians whom they might encounter,
staring in bewilderment and awe at these sailors, and
submitting without a murmur to the destruction of
their leaders in infamy, whom they had sworn on
their " salt" to defend to the last.
My men had only fifty-nine rounds of ball-cartridge
in their pouches, the sixtieth being in their muskets.
The painful suspense was terminated by the order
to " fire," and then human trunks, heads, legs, and
arms, could be seen for a moment plunging through
the air, after which they disappeared with a loud
splash into the Teesta. Not a particle of our blown-
away men was to be found near our guns. With
Captain Curzon, however, it was different.
He had not given his guns so much elevation as ours
had received, and he had secured the criminals with
stout rope. It had not occurred to this honourable and
gallant officer, as he remarked to me afterwards, that
for all such purposes, with people so slightly clad, the

42
cutting qualities of such thread, in case of an attempt
to escape, would have proved much more efficient than
rope, in addition to which it offered much less re
sistance to the explosive action. The Sepoys were
peacefully marched off the ground to the music of
their band. The Naval Brigade, after they had silenced
with their voices the roll of their drums, sang in con
cert " God save the Queen ;" after which we marched
to our camp, the naval choral band making the
jungles of this remote corner of Bengal resound
with the inspiring notes and words of " Bule Bri
tannia." A short time previous to the taking of Lucknow,
I wrote to Government from our encampment, soli
citing permission to join, in " any capacity" our Ettle
army then encamped before that place, and I have
ever since deeply regretted my not having had an
opportunity of so doing.
Previous to the final termination of the mutiny I
became sorely afflicted with Ever complaint, and
hoping to obtain some relief, I proceeded on leave of
absence to Darjeeling (one of the Himalayan stations),
where I received much kindness at the hands of my
eountrymen and countrywomen, particularly from
the gaEant and distinguished General Hervey, his
kind lady, and gaEant nephew (Captain Gerald
Hervey), whose guest I had the honour to be during
my stay. My visit to DarjeeEng did not, how
ever, restore my health, and soon after I was carried
on a stretcher on board a steamer in Calcutta, on
my way home.

43
During the passage to Suez my Efe was constantly
despaired of both by my fellow-passengers, who treated
me with constant attention (Commodore Edgell, B.N.,
was one of them), and the truly humane and tender
hearted doctor of the ship, Doctor WaEer, who watched
night and day by my sick couch, and tenderly ministered
to the requirements of my disease. I remained a short
time in Egypt, where I speedily recovered a portion
of my wonted strength ; then I proceeded to Liver
pool second officer of the Egyptian steam-frigate
Voyageur-de-la-Mer ; nevertheless, on my arrival in
London, stEl suffering from the Ever, I was recom
mended travel and change of climate ; consequently,
I obtained my passport from her Majesty's Eoreign
Office, through the Joint- Stock Bank, PaE Mall, armed
with which I proceeded on a tour through Italy, Swit
zerland, Belgium, HoEand, United States, and West
India islands. While in the latter I accepted a lucra
tive appointment on extensive civil engineering works
then being there executed^ I retired from connexion
with these works in consequence of the cruelties which
I found being practised towards the workmen (about
three hundred, mostly feEow-subjects of mine), not,
however, before I had clearly exposed a barbarous
system, and rescued the men from its influence. At
this time intelligence reached me that a serious and
sanguinary border warfare was then being waged on
the Bio Grande del Norte, between citizens of Mexico
and of the United States. I immediately embarked
for New Orleans, thence to Brownsvflle to participate
in and improve myseE* by active service. I went from

44
New Orleans to the Texan frontier to take charge of
artfllery on the side of the Texans at Brownsville.
Having occupied this post for some time, and seeing
no prospect of any further fighting, I returned to New
Orleans and announced the cessation of hostilities.
I next decided on visiting the South American
countries in the Pacific, as they were almost the only
ones in which I had not heretofore been, and, cross
ing the isthmus, I proceeded to travel in Chili. The
public journals officiaEy announced the inteEigence
with which I had returned to New Orleans, and my
subsequent departure for the PacEic. After having
traveEed extensively through the republic of ChEi, I
crossed the Cordflleras, and made long journeys in
Bolivia. I intended to descend the Pilcamayo to
the Paraguay, and thence to the Atlantic. During
my early journeying in this country I was informed
that the Government of Peru were endeavouring to
organise an expedition to explore the river Amazon
and the strangely neglected wEds along its banks. I
had long been possessed of a strong desire to travel
m those parts, caused principaEy by my having
read the beauttful descriptions which my richly-gEted
friend, Count Castebieau, had given to the world
of his most extraordinary adventures and travels in
these hitherto almost totally unknown solitudes. I
had the happiness of enjoying his society in Cape
Colony; his son I previously had the pleasure of
taking in my ship from Juddah to Bombay. Much
gratified with the information respecting the proposed
exploring expedition I proceeded quickly to Luna,

45
where I soon had the rare good fortune to become
personaEy known to a distinguished and widely-
honoured feEow-countryman (Colonel The O'Gorman
Mahon), who, having made himseE aware of many of
my antecedents, very generously gave me handsome
introductions to numerous warm friends of his, among
whom I was not a Ettle pleased to discover the heroic
Generals MEler and Stagg, the former her Majesty's
Commissioner and Consul-General, who had been the
favourite officer of the then Lord Cochrane (late Earl
Dundonald) and the hero of Junin and Ayacucho,
and both having been friends and fellow-soldiers
of the immortal Bolivar while fighting for South Ame
rican independence ; also his ExceEency the U.S.
Minister, the Honourable John Bandolph Clay, &c.
&c. I employed a Government interpreter (Mr.
Woldt) to make translated copies of many of my
testimonials, which copies, together with a letter
from me to the Government, applying for the com
mand of the exploring party, I entrusted to one
Senor Bertenchaump (representing himseE to be a
Wurtemberger) for presentation to President Castilla.
This M. Bertenchaump requested me to " allow him
the honour of so doing," telling me, at the same time,
that "the President was one of his most particular
friends." I met M. Bertenchaump in the streets
about ten days after I had entrusted my documents
to him, and inquiring whether he had yet had an
opportunity of effecting anything in my case, he re
plied, " Last night I was playing cards with the Grand
Marshal, and mentioned you to him, and he, the

46
Marshal, said it was all right — he would instruct the
Minister of War on the subject." I felt quite pleased
to think that I was to have an opportunity of ascer
taining in person the resources of a region which must
at no distant day attract much public attention and
research. A fortnight elapsed before I again saw
M. Bertenchaump, when he returned my documents,
saying, in Spanish, " I am d  h sorry I cannot ar
range your affair, but the President is very busy in
Chorillos, and he cannot spare time for affairs of
minor importance." I. was astonished and disap
pointed. I now resumed my travels in Bolivia, and
extended them to the interiors of Peru, New Granada,
and Ecuador, with the view of publishing my obser
vations and experience after my return to Europe.
During a journey which I made from Quito to Guya-
quil I was suddenly caught by the heavy rains of that
climate, and lost all my luggage ; it was stolen by
Indians at a place caEed Mocha, near Chimborazo,
and although the authorities exerted themselves to
their utmost to recover it, I have never since been
able to obtain any tidings of it.
This was just about the time that the Tumbes and
Guisse (Peruvian ships of war then moored off
Guyaquil) opened fire on the patriotic army of
Ecuador, commanded by the intrepid General Elores,
and shot them down whEe they were gallantly effect
ing the passage of the Salado up to their waists in
water. I felt quite shocked on learning this infamous act
of the Peruvian naval forces in a friendly port agamst

47
a people of equal rank, and with whom the Peruvian
Government professed to be in close friendly relation.
I had hoped the Peruvian Executive would have
discountenanced and made reparation for this act of
vandaEsm. My indignation was proportionately great when
it reached my knowledge that, in place of con-
demnuig the shocking murders then committed by
order of General CastiEa, the Peruvian Government,
Ei order to screen the guEt of the author, were
heaping compEments on the executioners.
The criminal on this occasion was the same Grand
Marshal Bamon CastEla, who has hitherto escaped
from the punishment his presumption and insolence
so weE merited, by crying out,. " Somos debiles,"
and " Por la'fuerza de Canones estrangeros."
When and where were Peruvians ever so treated
by any of the civEised Governments of this side of
the Atlantic ?
Admiral Larrieu, although he very properly brought
the Grand Marshal to the stool of repentance for mis
conduct,, did not murder Peruvians in CaEao with
his broadsides !
It is amusing to read letters, as I have repeatedly
done, from the Peruvian Government to those of
Prance and Great Britain, wherein it is insolently
stated that " Peru is a nation as respectable, impor
tant, and powerful as either of them."
The luggage thus lost contained aE my wearing
apparel, the greater part of my ready money for

48
traveEing expenses, aE my testimonials and letters,
and the record which I had hitherto carefully kept of
my various travels. Among my lost testimonials
were many from some of the principal civE, naval,
and military authorities in India, together with a very
flattering letter, which the lamented late Erench and
British Consuls at Juddah (Messrs. EveElard and
Page) jointly presented to me, referring to the little
duties which I had had the happiness of discharging
in their port while there with my ship, in douig which
I was so much assisted by the close intimacy and at
tachment which, to the satisfaction of Mr. Stephen
Page (our departed Consul, and a friend of my heart),
existed between the famEy of Scherieffe-Ben-Owen
(Archbishop of the Mahomedan world) and me.
The robbery of those valuable documents I felt
much. It might have caused me an almost Ere-
parable loss under any other circumstances, but now
I had the consolation to remember that my much-
esteemed countryman Colonel The O'Gorman Mahon,
after reading them through, took the trouble of sub
mitting them on my behalf to the perusal of the dis
tinguished gentlemen already named, as well as to the
gaEant General Elores, Commander-in-Chief of the
army of Ecuador.
These testimonials, backed by the recommendations
of my generous countryman, shortly after obtained for
me a flattering reception from His Excellency tbe Jeft
Supremo Don G. Garcia Moreno, who honoured me
with the commission of " Capitan de Navio," accom-

49
panied by a promise of chief naval command in the
event of the country being at any future period
unhappily forced into hostilities.
Por the present, the Government having resolved
to steer clear of every possible pretext for dispute, and
to devote itseE to the development of the resources of
the country, he desired me to dEect my attention to
the investigation and study of certain plans and propo
sitions, embracing the construction of public roads of
considerable extent, and a scheme of immigration on a
large scale, with the view, in the event of my reporting
favourably on the merits, to have the execution con
fided to me as Government Contractor, at a fixed
yearly salary of 12,000 dollars, to meet travelling
and ordinary expenses incidental to the general super
vision of the engmeering and other departments,
apart from the customary emoluments arising from
the various contracts, which were to be under my
direction. It was impossible not to recognise in the patriotic
designs of the Government of Ecuador, the essential
requisites for constitutmg this state one of the most.
flourishing in South America.
The advantages to accrue to me from the confidence-.
with which I wasthus honoured by having the execution.
of these important objects entrusted to my hands were-
brilliant in the extreme ; nevertheless, while gratefully
accepting the nomination, I did not allow myself to be
dazzled by gazing on the bright side alone. I resolved,
before incurring such weighty responsibEity, which

50
might compromise my character as an officer and man
of business, to combine aE requisite inquiries and
calculations, and master the subject in aE its bearings.
The repeated and rapid visits which I had paid to the
most interesting points near Lima and along the coast
of Peru were now turned to advantage. Little or no aid
could be obtained from that country beyond what
might be afforded from the iron foundries, so I re
solved on returning to Chili, to ascertain with positive
certamty whether or not the greater portion of the
requisite materials and labour for the contemplated
undertakings might not be had much better and
cheaper there than on the Atlantic side, and, as my
previous experience led me to expect, such I found to
be the case.
Should I on the termination of my researches decide
on accepting the gracious offers which his ExceEency
Don G. Garcia Moreno, President (and formerly Jef6
Supremo) of the BepubEc, had made to me, I was to
report to the Government to that effect, and commence
operations with all possible despatch.
So satisfactory was the result of my inquiries and
personal investigations m the south, that I left Val
paraiso with a conviction, based on positive data, that
the propositions of the Ecuadorian Government
secured to me an ample fortune, and I was on my way
to GuyaquE, for the purpose of closing with them,
according to arrangement, when my hopes and inten
tions were at once foEed, and the certainty of a large
fortune abruptly snatched from me by an act of

51
arbitrary tyranny unsurpassed by that of any Oriental
despot, for the Orientals, when they descend to cruelty,
never fail to assign a motive, but in Peru I was thrown
Eato solitary confinement, and subsequently kept for
months unacquainted with the nature of the abomi
nable charge trumped up against me.
As I stepped on the mole of Callao (where I was
compelled to land, in order to wait the departure of
the other steamer for GuyaquE), I was suddenly seized
by a negro soldier of the Peruvian Government, at the
hour of seven A.M., Saturday, March 23rd, 1861. The
negro griped me by the throat with his left hand, and
holding the point of his naked bayonet pressed to my
breast with his right, told me that E I made any
attempt to move or speak he would kiE me. The black
soldier held me thus untE a man who had come ashore
Ei the same boat with me from the steamer, accom
panied by a person dressed in a sort of naval uniform,
and two soldiers (negroes), jomed us. The man who
had come ashore with me said to the soldier who was
still grasping my throat, " That wiE do," on which he
released his hold and withdrew the bayonet from my
breast. The official in uniform then ordered me to
follow hun, but my bewEderment at the manner m
which I had just been treated, and the exhaustion
consequent on the pressure of my throat, rendered me
incapable of obeying his command, whereon the
soldiers who had come with him struck me several
tunes Ea the back with the butt ends of their muskets,
thus pushing me forward in a staggering state. The
E 2

52
choking which I received from the soldier deprived me
for some minutes of power to articulate, but when I
recovered the use of my speech I asked the person m
unEorm why I was being treated in such a manner.
He repEed by commanding me to keep sEent, and
ordering his men to drive me on. I told him I was a
British subject, produced my passport, inquired if I
had infringed any law of the country, and, if so,
begged to be informed what my offence was, and
required him to show me his authority for arresting
me and subjecting me to such brutal outrage. He
replied that he would show me too much autho
rity; then, making a gesture to the soldiers, they
pricked me in the thighs with their bayonets, on which
he added tauntingly, " WeE, you know my authority
now, don't you ? G— d d — n you and your passport."
The severe pain caused by the bayonets made me
spring forward some distance, then turning to the
official, I again loudly demanded to know why I, a
stranger, who had not offended against any person or
any law, should be outraged in such a manner, and
also what he further meant to do with me. I pro
tested, as a subject of her Britannic Majesty, agamst
his driving me as a beast through the most pubEc
part of the town, as he was doing, at least untE
he had shown me a warrant, or some other writ
ten authority, for at aE interfering with me. A
heavy blow on my head from the butt of a musket
prevented me from hearing his reply, if any, and two
of the soldiers seizing me, one by the coEar, the other

53
by the breast of my coat, pulled and hurried me
onward, almost insensible, the mob following us.
Thus was I dragged into a yard where a number
of officers and soldiers were assembled, and I was
at once pushed into a little wooden box. When
partially recovered from the stunning effects of this
last blow I found blood running from a gash El my
head. A guard of four or five soldiers was over
me, one of whom kept my arms tightly pinioned
behind my back. I felt very faint, and asked for a
drink of water, on which another of my guards, with
a curse, ordered me to be silent, and then struck me
violently in the mouth with his clenched fist, knocking
me down. I remained lying on the floor for about a
quarter of an hour, when my keepers ordered me to
stand up, and pulled me out into the yard, where I
found the official who had brought me from the
quay, and a guard of soldiers drawn up in line. They
marched me back through CaEe de Comercio (Com
mercial-street) into the Arsenal. The official whispered
for some moments with the officers in the Arsenal, and
when theE conference closed, a party of soldiers in
parade order were formed in two lines, facEig inwards
about six feet apart, and I, closely guarded by a
body of armed men, and held by my coat-skirts
by a sergeant, was marched between these lines
through some rooms and passages up to the door
of a black hole, into which an officer, with drawn sword,
ordered me to enter. I had kept totally silent since I
had been knocked down, but upon seeing the horrid-

54
looking place into which I was now about to be put, I
repeated my remonstrances and protests, and besought
this officer, as a gentleman, not to Eisist on my com
pliance with his order. He turned away from me, say-
Eig to the soldiers, "Adelante!" (forward) when the
guards, mstantly bringEig theE arms to the charge,
drove me, after I had received several bayonet pricks,
and my clothes were much torn, mto the dungeon, and
then locked the door. I found myseE Ei total dark
ness, and, groping about, I ascertained that the floor
was thickly strewn with human excrements, and that
m each corner of it (I judged the place to be about
fourteen feet square) there was a heap of sundry putrid
substances. The only source of ventEation was the
keyhole, and the stench of the place was such as could
not long be endured by human bemgs, whEe the heat
(March is one of the hottest months in and near Lima)
was stEEng. In about five minutes I was seized with
a violent pam and dizzuiess in the head, and could no
longer remain standmg. I stripped off my outer
clothes, and wipmg with my vest part of the filth,
with which the floor was covered, to one side. I laid
down, spreadmg my coat and trousers under me,
hopmg thus to escape from some of the vapours,
which, had I stood up much longer, would, I felt, have
overpowered me. I remained in this condition about
seven hours, creeping from time to time to the key«
hole to breathe, and implore the sentries to allow me
a Ettle water to slake my due thirst. The sentries
refused to let me have any, and I had to observe great

55
caution whEe attempting to obtam a Ettle aE through
the keyhole, as they repeatedly thrust sticks, knives,
and the points of their bayonets through it. I was
borne from this calaboose, unable to walk without
support, to a ceE nearly opposite about three p.m.,
and having again asked for a drink of water while
beEig removed, a corporal told me " not to make
him angry, or he wotdd give me that," thrusting his
bayonet into my face, which he said " I would be sure
to get as soon as the general came." This fresh place
of confinement consisted of four bare walls. I had
lain on the floor about an hour, when an officer,
evidently influenced by motives of compassion, threw
me a Spanish translation of "The Bights of Man."
Many of the Peruvian officers are gentlemen by birth
and education, and endure, not without feelmgs of
impatience and disgust, scenes of brutality which but
too frequently they are compeEed to witness.
During the time I had lain on the floor I in
dulged an anxious hope that her Majesty's Consul
in CaEao, Mr. John Barton, would soon come to render
me assistance, concluding that, as I had been seized in
the presence of hundreds of English and Americans in
broad daylight, withm a couple of hundred yards of
her Majesty's Consulate, and afterwards clubbed and
dragged through the most frequented thoroughfare of
the littje town, he must have hastened to investigate
the motive of such gross outrages on a British subject.
My hope, however, proved, I deeply regret to say, ,
vaEi; for about six p.m. two officers arrived, and

56
ordered me to rise up, saying, " You are going on an
excursion to Lima." Alas ! I had not heard a word
from the Consular representative of my Sovereign.
One of the officers brought me paper, pen, and ink,
desiring me to write down my name and nationality,
which I did instantly. A long whispered conversation
ensued between one of the officers, who had told me I
was going to Lima, and another, and having inter
changed large packages of papers, the former said to
the latter, in a loud voice, "No, you need not put
the manacles on him, we are sufficient for him ; I
don't want your guard. If he was the devil himseE,
instead of a mere assassin, we should not be afraid
of him." The officers then led me between them,
without any wanton violence, to the railway station,
thence by train to Lima, and to the Prefecture, fol
lowed by a concourse of people. Mr. John Barton,
though Consul of Callao, resides in Lima, and as I sub
sequently was informed, accompanied me m the same
train to this latter town. It was about 7.15 a.m. when
I was thrust into the wooden box, and 7.45 a.m. when
I was driven into the black hole in the Arsenal. The
man who came ashore in the same boat with me from
the steamer, and who afterwards said to the soldier
who held me by the throat, "That will do," had
annoyed me during the passage by frequent applications
when on deck for a light from my cigar, by peering
at and interrupting me with frivolous observations
while amusing myself with a copy of Shakspeare, my
constant companion. I attributed this mdividual's

57
vulgar importunity to El-breeding, little suspecting
what I have sEice learned, that he had been sent as a
spy, with power to have me arrested at pleasure. We
reached the Prefecture about sunset. I had not broken
my fast since dinner-hour the previous day on board
the steamer, and feeling almost totally exhausted from
the effects of the violence and privation to which I had
been subjected since morning, I requested the Prefect
to allow me to send for a little wine and biscuit. This
request having been granted, I gave to one of the
sergeants at the Prefecture a ten- dollar gold piece to
buy me a bottle of claret and some crackers, but just
as I was about to partake of a little of the wine, and
before I could receive my change, I was commanded
by a man in unEorm to follow him. He at the same
instant possessed himself of my walking-cane, saying,
" I cannot allow an animal like you to carry such an
article of luxury as this." It had cost me a short time
previously sbc dollars.
I was then marched through several streets to the
" Prison of the Inquisition," where, the moment I
entered, the entire guard was ostentatiously paraded.
The official delivered a writing to the prison autho
rities, and they gave him another, after which he took
his departure. I was marched by the prison guards
into the " Capilla" (chapel) of this building, where I
was locked up, and a strong guard was posted out
side the door. I lay down on the. floor, supporting
my aching head against the wall, and remained thus
untE about ten p.m., when an official, followed by a

58
guard with fixed bayonets entered, and ordered me to
accompany him. This guard marched me through
iron-grated doors and filthy alleys, and then into the
most horrible-looking place (it was about sixteen
feet square) that I had ever beheld, the bare sight of
which thriEed me with horror. The official told the
" Caporal" to take special charge of me, adding, as he
did so, that I was " un sugeto muy malo y un hombre
perdido" (a very bad character and doomed man). " Ca-
porals" are aEnost invariably condemned murderers
and robbers, who, in consideration of previous under
hand dealings with the Government officials, and the
abundant supply of money with which their coEeagues
in crime furnish them from without, together with
utter destitution of humane sentiment, are placed in
almost unlimited control of the other criminal pri
soners. The horrible appearance of the den, and the treat
ment which I knew awaited me as the consequence
of the words just uttered, sent a thriE of anguish
through my soul. I turned to the official, and taking
his hands in mine, I implored him by everythmg
he held dear on earth, and his hopes of future hap
piness, not to abandon an unoffending gentleman to
the wretches by whom we were then surrounded.
He answered not a word, but casting me violently
from him I fell against the wall, and heard the key
grate in the lock of the massive door. I, who had
not from my cradle to that moment offended with intent
in thought, word, or deed, man, woman, or child, wept
scorclung tears while I lay groaning and writhing in

59
mental and bodEy agony on the floor. I earnestly
addressed myself m prayer to God, invokmg his mer
ciful protection.
It was only by slow degrees I became aware of the
fuE extent of the horrors of that awful place. Several
candles placed in bottles were burning hi different
parts of the dungeon. The other inmates were, mostly,
in a drunken state, and were still drinking " aguar
diente" (white rum) from bottles, which they con
stantly passed to one another. The major part of
them were heavily manacled by their legs and waists,
and were naked, except small clouts or aprons, which
they wore about the loms. They were reclining in aE
imagmable positions on the floor, the whole of which
was occupied by them, with the exception of the spot
where I was lying, and that occupied by two " sam-
buEos" (sambullo is a wooden vessel open at the
top). These sambuEos emitted a most envenomed
odour, and were, from time to tune, used by these
wretches for one purpose or the other, and theE con
tents, thus disturbed, materiaEy added to their pre
vious most sickenEig Eifluence. The only visible venti
lator the place contained — as Ei the case of my black
hole in Callao — was the keyhole, some of the con
sequences of which were paEifully visible in the
copious streams of steaming perspEation which were
gushing from the pores of the naked and shock-
Eigly duty bodies of the criminals. The heat was so
mtense that I became perplexed in wonder and aston
ishment to think that any human bemg could survive
even one night Ei so poEuted a place.

60
By the time I had concluded my survey of the
dungeon some of its drunken inmates lay sprawling
about, while others, including the " Caporal," were
frightfully uproarious, throwing the empty bottles at
each other's heads, inflicting in some instances deep
wounds. The calaboose was packed with fourteen per
sons, urine was running in streams all over the floor,
the walls were reeking with moisture, and foetid odours
issued from the sambuEos and the bodies of the naked
prisoners. The danger was imminent of the drunken
men succeeding in efforts which they made to set fire
to what they called "la casa de los valientes y felices"
(the home of the brave and happy).* All this, coupled
with the clanking of their chains, the fiend-like ap
pearance of their bodies and features, and the over
whelming heat, presented a spectacle which struck me
with horror.
The noxious atmosphere which I was then breath
ing rapidly undermined my mental powers, and the
little bodily strength I stEl possessed. My vision be
came obscured, and my thoughts errant and confused.
My heart felt as though it was being inflated, and my,
burning brain ached as though it would split. My
Emer and outer garments were saturated with steam
ing moisture, and my veins felt as so many streams of
lava. A violent ague soon after shook my entire frame ;
I got on my legs, but they were unable longer to sup
port their burden; I staggered over the prostrate
bodies of the criminals to the door of the dungeon,
* The major part of the convicts and guards in the Inquisition are con
stantly drunkj and maim each other with knives, with which all are provided.

61
and addressing through the keyhole the guards who
were conversing outside, I begged of them, for God's
sake, to open the door, if only for a few minutes, and
let me get some aE and water, else I must die suffo
cated. Those guards cursed me in the vilest possible
manner, and most inhumanly told me to " die like a
dog," as they called me ; " they would not give me
one drop of water, or allow me to get a mouthful of
aE." I had, in staggering towards the door, unavoidably
brushed against some of the prostrate drunkards.
Hearing the reply I had just received, these latter rose
up, and fiercely assailed me for having, as they stated,
" tried to murder them." They loaded me with every
conceivable base epithet, and swore that unless I gave
them money for aguardiente, they would tie me up
hand and foot, and lodge a charge against me in the
morning before the criminal judge. They Efted
me into their midst and commenced searching for
money, whereon I gave them a golden ounce (seven
teen dollars), and some cigars from my bourse de
voyage, which having been strapped over my shoulder
I stEl retained. My portmanteau and carpet-bag had
been left in the boat, the former containing very valu
able documents, letters, &c, all were lost to me. I
have never since had tidings of portmanteau, carpet
bag, or documents. On the receipt of the money and
cigars, these villains were immediately appeased;
they swore I was " a good fellow, one of themselves,
and of the right stamp ;" asked me for whose murder
I had been convicted, promised to use theE influence

62
for me with the authorities of the place and the
judges ; swore to me theE own lastmg friendship, and
promised the friendship and support of their comrades
outside the walls. Then two of the most ferocious-
looking and heavEy ironed (apparently leaders of
the gang), dragged me in between them, swearing
at the same time that " I was a d  d liberal feEow,
and must sleep with them, as they would not see me
without a bed." They were lying on the floor in pools
of urine.
Previously I had not spoken a word to any of
these convicts, and when I found their chaEis press
ing into my flesh, as I lay helpless, tightly wedged in
between my patrons, although conscious their object
was to protect me from the others, yet indescribable
pangs of anguish shot through my brain and bosom.
I had been thus forced, regardless of my firm remon
strances and protests, and my agonised appeals and
supplications, into association with the vilest of the
vEe, and was now the helpless slave of monsters Ei
human form, whose hands reeked with the blood of
their scores of victims (one was subsequently pomted
out to me who had committed no less, incredible as it
may seem in Europe, than thirty murders).* I felt
my heart withered and breakmg. I could not weep,
and so remained where the murderers had fixed me in
an almost total state of stupefaction until the day was
far advanced.
* The penalty of death for murder had been abolished, but was subsequently
restored.

63
The first fresh occurrence which my shattered
reason enabled me to comprehend was that two
soldiers were supporting me in their arms, whEe a
number of others with fixed bayonets stood around.
The criminals had disappeared. Supported in this
manner I was led back to the Capilla, where, as on
the preceding evening, I was again locked up, and
sentries stationed over the door, with strict orders from
one of the officials to " run me through E I uttered a
word." The soldiers who had supported me thither
laid me on the floor of the chapel, where Iwas left
untE the followuig day, being too feeble to rise up.
This day, Monday, March 25, 1861, I fell into a
troubled slumber, the first of which I had partaken
since the night of the 22nd on board the steamer.
Erom this sleep I was violently aroused by a " Capo-
ral," who, puEing me up, held me on my legs, and
afterwards supported me to the back part of the
chapel, placing me on a wooden form.
Some time elapsed before I could collect my senses
sufficiently to reaEse the scene before me, in which, as
I soon with astonishment and indignation learnt, it
had been intended I should enact an important part.
The large folding-doors of the chapel were thrown
wide open. Inside and across, a detachment of troops
with carried arms, and an officer with drawn sword,
were formed. A large table strewn with papers, at
which sat three persons, stood at the inner extre
mity of the chapel where I was seated. Near to me
two Caporals stood in front of, and close to the table,

64
and the sota-Alcaide (first assistant-keeper of the
prison, late a criminal), occupied a stand near the
centre of the floor, for the purpose, as I afterwards
discovered, of attending to the summonses of a bell
which lay on the table, and conveying to the mEitary
the whispered instructions of one of the three persons
there seated. These latter were dressed as men in
ordinary circumstances of life, Ei suits of garments no
two articles of which corresponded in colour. The
man who occupied the middle seat held in his hands,
and was poring over a large package of manuscripts ;
the one seated on his right hand had all the requisites
for writing, including stamped paper, spread out before
him ; he on the left was looking over the contents of
a printed book, which rested on his knee. It was
about twenty minutes from the time when I had been
lifted from the floor, and I was not yet free from the
effects of the strange sort of sleep from which I had
been aroused, when I was called on by the individual
seated in the middle, dressed in a light brown coat, to
stand up. I had much pain and difficulty in comply
ing with this command, and only succeeded by seizing
hold of the table, by means of which also, I was forced
to support myself the greater part of the subsequent
period, during which I was compelled by menace of
armed force and violent threats, to submit to the in
quisitorial ordeal which immediately followed. The
complete recital of this ordea]. is to be found in No. 1
of the records of somewhat similar processes, which
later I was forced to endure ! I could not then write

65
down in detaE the particulars of this or the previous
two days' vEe treatment to which I had been subjected
by the officials of the Government, otherwise than in
pencE, I was plainly told that E I was discovered speak-
mg or writing to any person, my guards had stringent
orders from a high quarter to " shoot me down or
bayonet me." I received this information from the
official in charge of the prison. I, however, succeeded
m keeping my pencE notes.
During the interview which ensued, I asked the
uidividual actEig as chief inquisitor, and whose
authority the others obeyed, who and what he was,
why I had been arrested and so vEely used, E I was
accused of any Eifraction of the laws, in which case, I
requested to be informed of the nature of the charge,
whatever it might be. I stated that I was , engaged
solely on my lawful and peaceable business; that I had
neither wronged nor injured any one ; that I was a
loyal subject of her Britannic Majesty, under whose
flag I had had the honour to serve with zeal, and I
hoped, efficiently; that I invoked the protection of
that flag, and of the representatives of her Majesty
then in Peru, against the unmerited outrages to which
I was bemg subjected, and that I protested against the
Eiquisitorial course he was pursuing.
He decEned to say who he was, or mention any
charge agamst me, haughtily observing that "he did not
care for the representatives of my nation, its flag, its
government, or its Queen; that he was superior to
them aE, and would make me feel it ; that I might as
p

66
well remonstrate with, and protest to the walls of the
chapel as to him ; that he was my sole master, and
that he had ordered me to be brought there to answer
his questions, but not to ask any." These words, which
I translate literally as they were uttered, elicited a
murmur of applause from his associates, in which the
poor ignorant soldiery participated warmly. His
object clearly was to impress all, with the vast supe
riority of the Government of Peru over that of Great
Britain. He directed from time to time, the secretary to write
on the stamped paper accordmg to his mstructions.
When he had terminated to his satisfaction, he im
periously ordered me to .subscribe my name at the foot
of what had been so written. This I at once decEned
to do, observEig that having heard what he had
dictated, I knew the document was neither consistent
with my statements nor the facts to which they
bore reference ; that it had not escaped me, he had
given a forced construction and false aspect to plain
and unequivocal sentences pronounced by me, as all
who heard must be well aware, suppressing the com
ments which in consequence of his msinuations and
suggestions, it had been necessary for me to make. In
a word, that he might write what he chose, but as that
document was not consistent with truth, it could not
receive my sanction.
He stormed, raged, and bullied; he would be
obeyed, and would permit no resistance to hiswEl. He
said if I longer refused, I should have a taste of the

67
" chicote" (the cowhide strap used for flogging
criminals), and then be sent back in irons to the black-
hole. Suiting the action to the word, he made a signal,
and the " chicote" and manacles were brought in, and
placed before me with studied parade. Two men pro
ceeded to strip me of my clothes, but all to no pur
pose ; I remained obdurate. After some whispering with
his colleagues, he suddenly changed from his course
of menace, saying that before proceeding further, he
wished me to understand, that what he requEed was a
mere formality which bound me to nothing, but was
requisite for the sake of regularity in his proceedings ;
that he beEeved the whole affair was the result of mis
take ; that if I signed he would order me to com
fortable quarters ; that I should no longer be kept in
secret confinement ; that I should be permitted to take
aE in the prison yard and have writing materials at
my disposal ; that he hoped we should be good friends,
and that if I was a friend to myself I would sign with
out further delay.
Catching a ray of hope to be able to communicate
my miserable position to the representatives of her
Majesty, I replied that if he pledged his honour to
perform what he had just promised, I would write my
name, but with the distinct proviso, that by doing so,
it was not to be supposed I gave my sanction to what
the document contained. He gave the required pledge,
and I subscribed my name where he desired. I was
then allowed to pass into the yard, where I soon
learned that my recent inquisitor was no other than
e2

68
the notorious criminal judge, Luis Ponce, that it
would be foEy on my part to place the slightest reEance
on any promises he might give, and that I ought to
lose no time in making my situation known to the re
presentatives of my Government in Lima.
I was looking over a newspaper which one of the
political prisoners had kindly given me, when the
same gentleman who had afforded me the informa
tion and advice just mentioned, came running up to
say that fresh orders had been received by the
Alcaide (head gaoler) from the Government and
the judge in reference to me, and that a guard of
soldiers were coming to consign me again to secret
confinement. But one prospect of procuring assistance now re
mained, and I determined to avaE myself of it before
the guards could again lock me up. Assisted by
one of the prisoners, I succeeded in reaching the
room of the gentleman who had lent me the
journal. I gave him a few hurried instructions,
which he promised to fuEE, about addressing a pro
test against Judge Ponce's shameful conduct, and
getting some letters in my name published in the
press, so that my existence m the prison might be
come known. To this end, I signed my name on four
or five leaves of blank paper, and left twenty-two
dollars to meet expenses. I had barely concluded
signing the papers, when an officer and four soldiers
came rushing mto where I was, and the latter, by
order of the former, lifted me bodily in their arms,

69
and bore me rapidly off into a dungeon fronting the
Capilla. A corporal and five soldiers were placed on
guard, and strictly ordered not to allow me to pro
nounce a word " not even to Christ," or approach
within five feet of the inner side of the doorway. I
protested to the officer against this fresh brutaEty ; he
told me, in reply, that "he was acting in conformity
with orders from Government," and that "if he had
received orders to shoot me he would have done
so." The officer went away as soon as he told me
this, saying to the guard, as he was retiring, " do
your duty." The moment this order was uttered
one of them charged on me with his bayonet,
which, penetrating through my coat, entered my
flesh close above my left hip. I had by this time
been about sixty hours in prison, suffering as few
men have ever done, without havmg received any
food save some boEed rice obtained from a black
woman in the yard, and, now afraid to speak, I en
deavoured by putting my hands to my mouth, and
making signs of eating and drinking, to intimate that
I requEed food. WhEe I was thus occupied, a prison
official rushed in with a naked sword in his hand. He
swung it about his head, swearing most frightful oaths
that he would cut me in pieces, like a "son of a
 5" as he expressed it. He did not, however,
strike me with it, but kicked me about half a dozen
tEnes in my side and back as I lay reclined on one of a
number of heaps of manacles and other irons which the
place contained. After this fellow had ceased kicking

70
me, and before he went away from the calaboose, I
said aloud that I would readily give all the money I
had with me (showing some gold pieces in my ex
tended hand) for a jar of water and some bread. He
ordered me to be sEent, and said " he had a mind to
chain me at the barra for having presumed to speak."
He locked the door of my dungeon, leaving two sen
tinels with bayonets fixed inside; the rest of my
guards remamed outside close to the door. It was
about sue p.m. when the door was locked, and about
twenty minutes might have elapsed from the time I
had been permitted to take air in the yard until I was
borne to my new place of confinement. This den had
a small hole in the wall, through which aE might
have entered, had it not been, as it was, completely
stopped up by two strong shutters firmly secured with
bars of Eon. This hole was about twelve feet from
the floor, and impossible to be reached without the
assistance of a ladder. The keyhole was, as in my
previous calabooses, the only means of ventilation. I
continued lying on the heap of irons until morning.
The floor and waEs of this calaboose were very dEty
and damp, and it did not contain any furniture what
soever. With the exception of the glare produced by
lighted matches which the two inside guards kept
constantly flaring about, I remained m darkness untE
one p.m. on the following day, when the door was
opened. The constant sparkEng of these matches and
the incessant yellings of. the men who used them, to
gether with the responsive howlings of their com-

71
panions outside, and the disgustingly obscene conver
sations of aE my guards and their numerous fellow-
black female companions, rendered it impossible for
me to procure a moment's repose, even though my
aching body and mind had admitted of so doing.
During the short time the door remained open, I
threw on the floor of the dungeon two silver dollars.
I pointed to the money, which the soldiers instantly
picked up, and then I pointed to my mouth, soon
after which the soldiers made signs to me. Acting in
conformity with their signals, I approached within
about a yard of the doorway ; thence looking forth, I
distinguished one of the prisoners holding in his hand
a plate of rice, which he stretched out to me at arms'
length, and which I in like manner most joyfully re
ceived. This rice was the first and only means of
sustenance which had been allowed by the authorities
to reach me since my pubEc arrest three days pre
viously, with the exception, of course, of the claret
and crackers at the Prefecture, which I was not
allowed time to consume. I devoured part of this
boEed rice ravenously, but my stomach immediately
ejected it forth. On examining the rice which stEl
remained on the plate, I found it to be mixed with
human hairs and vermin. I must have died of star
vation before I could again have thought of putting
another handful of that poisonous compound into my
mouth. I passed the following night as I had the
previous one. The next day Judge Ponce came to the
dungeon and asked me, while a sinister smEe played
about his countenance, "WeE, how do you like the

72
room which I have given you ?" I told him forth
with that he had violated all the promises which he
had made to me in order to get me to sign his truth
less writing, and again asked hEn, " now that I had
signed according to his wishes, to inform me honestly
and fully of his reasons for having deluded me." He
said, "The cause is nothing. I think you won't
require any more apartments than this one." I
told him that I could not much longer resist the
constant severe torment which he compeEed me to
suffer, and that " I was dying of starvation," adding
that I would freely pay any price, however exorbitant,
which might be demanded for some nutritious food
and water, and begged of him not to longer persist in
inhumanly witholding them from me.
Judge Ponce's answers to this supplication were :
" There are seyeral other things which you must do
for me, and you are not yet in the right condition for
doing them. I will consider your application to me
for food another time, and see if anything can be done
for you, but at present I cannot permit you to get
anything. Cheer up, friend (Buen animo, amigo), all
will soon be over between us." He then left the dun
geon, laughing heartily while so doing.
I did not see him again until about 2.30 p.m.
the day following, when I discovered him standing in
front of my dungeon door, in the yard, but I also saw
at the same time, with boundless joy and delight,
Colonel The O'Gorman Mahon standing by his side.
I heard the Colonel ask Judge Ponce E he might con
verse with me, but the Senor replied, "No, no; I

73
won't allow any person to speak to him." The Colonel
then suddenly retired, without uttering a syllable
further to any one; but I was too weE acquainted
with his humane and fearless character not to rest
mentaEy satisfied, that he would take speedy steps to
relieve a hapless countryman from the humiEation of
being thus exhibited like a ferocious b$ast in Judge
Ponce's menagerie.
It was evident the Colonel was shocked and in
dignant at what he had witnessed. My heart bounded,
elate with hope, from an internal conviction that I
should not be abandoned by one, who had devoted time
and fortune to the glorious task of vindicating the re
ligious freedom of his countrymen, and had won for
Clare the honour of achieving under his youthful
guidance the emancipation of our native land. In
and out of Parliament he was ever the friend of the
weak and oppressed, and I knew that in my unhappy
case, he could not but be faithful to the instincts of his
chivalrous nature.
Nor were my anticipations on this head disap-
poEited. I received an unfolded letter from him
informing me he had learnt from the newspapers
I had been arrested, and desiring to know whe
ther I required any legal or other assistance. This
letter was handed to me by a prison official, accom
panied by the individual who had been left-hand man
at the Eiquisitorial scene in the Capilla on Monday.
This man brought with him writing materials with
which to reply to the Colonel, who, as I afterwards
learned, was waiting at the inner gate of the prison for

74
my answer. I wrote my response kneeling on the
floor, which I was obliged to use as my desk. During
the time I was writing it, the official punched me on
the back and side, desiring me to make haste and
finish. About an hour after the Colonel had with
drawn from the front of my dungeon door, as just de
scribed, he again returned to it, accompanied by Judge
Ponce, and a young gentleman connected with the
Peruvian Ministry of Poreign Affairs, Mr. Carrasco.
The Colonel and Mr. Carrasco at once entered. Judge
Ponce, at the same time ordering out my guards, said,
addressing himseE to me, "Well, you may now
speak !" Then Senor Carrasco informed me that the
Colonel, on being apprised of my miserable position,
had gone twice that day to the Peruvian Minister
(Senor Melgar), who, in reply to his application and
remonstrances, had sent for Judge Ponce, and ordered
him to release me from secret confinement, and directed
also that I should be allowed to purchase food and see
my friends.
Thus was I rescued from the fate that awaited me
at the hands of Judge Ponce. I felt myself saved;
and by whom ? By him who was hourly riskmg his
own life in that nest of assassins, by his untiring efforts
to bring to justice the villains who, in. broad daylight,
had robbed and murdered his friend Captam Lambert,
B.N. — efforts in which the Colonel was counteracted
by this very Judge Ponce, whose conduct on that oc
casion was publicly reprimanded by the superior
tribunal. Later in the day, an officer entered with a
small brown-paper parcel in his hand, saying it con-

75
tained money sent for me by the Intendente (chief of
police) to purchase food. I told this officer he must
have mistaken me for some one else, but if it were
really designed for me, I requested that he would re
turn it with my compEments, and say that I possessed
sufficient funds of my own, but that I could not avoid
lookuig on the offer as strange, coming at such a mo
ment, after the lapse of five such days of suffering,
during which I had experienced worse than a mad
dog's treatment ; that what I requEed from him and
the officials of the Government, was to know with what
crime, if any, I was charged, why I was arrested, and
why detained a prisoner ! This officer conducted him
self in a courteous and gentlemanly manner, and
having promised politely to deliver my message, we
exchanged salutations, and he retired.
I had been marched regularly, during my previous
days of detention in this prison of the Inquisition, by an
officer with drawn sword, a sergeant and eight privates
with fixed bayonets, from my respective places of con
finement to a " sambullo," which stood in an exposed
part of one of the most frequented and filthy passages
of this edifice. During the indispensable time I had
to remain perched aloft on this receptacle, the guard
formed three sides of a hoEow square facing inwards to
wards me, with arms at the charge, much to the asto
nishment of the convicts. The moment I descended
from this position, I was coEared by one or more of the
soldiers, and hurried into the centre of my guard, who
instantly marched me back to my cell without per
mitting me to readjust my garments. Still I dare not

76
for my life speak. Nevertheless, I found means to
communicate with the gentleman in whose hands I
had left the otherwise blank sheets of paper signed by
me. The mode by which I communicated with him was
as follows : Having pencilled a telegram, and unravelled
a cigar, I rolled the paper on which I had written
into the part of the cigar intended for the mouth ;
then, lighting the other end, and smoking it for a short
time, I would throw it out into the yard through my
dungeon door when I happened to see the gentleman
referred to passing up and down. The cigar would
have to lie there sometimes half an hour, before I could
obtain a safe opportunity for pointing to it, and thereby
inducing the gentleman for wnom it was intended to
pick it up.
The receipt of Colonel The O'Gorman Mahon's
letter, dated from the office of the Peruvian Minister,
in whose presence it had been written, and by whose
orders it had been delivered to me in my den, proved
that my little despatches had produced the desired
effect, and that my friend, the political prisoner, had
not faEed in his promises. Then came the Colonel's
welcome visit, soon after which he sent me a bedstead,
bedding, table, and sundry other articles of furniture.
I was now permitted* to purchase food and speak. I
was allowed to take some exercise in the yard ;, I was
permitted to purchase pens, ink, and paper. I imme
diately wrote down the full particulars of the ruf
fianly bullymg I had undergone from Judge Ponce. I
also made records from my pencEled notes of the

77
inhuman wrong and savage barbarity to which I had
been subjected by the Government officials. About
six p.m. the guards were again placed in my dun
geon and outside the door as usual. I was locked
Ei for the evening. These guards (filthy Indians and
negroes) continued throughout the night to scream to
one another, and hold ignited matches close to my
eyes, as on the night preceding — for what purpose I
never could ascertain, unless it was to be satisfied that
I had not yet cut my throat, which they doubtless ex
pected I should do in such cEcumstances. My door
was opened at nine a.m. the following day, when the
guards were removed until sunset, and then replaced
as before, and so continued to be stationed until the
27th of August, when I was transferred to San Pran-
cisco de Paula.
I am unwEling longer to omit offering my thanks
to the Honourable WiEiam Stafford Jerningham, her
Majesty's Consul-General and Charge d'Affaires at
Lima. Colonel The O'Gorman Mahon assured me,
that the moment he communicated to Mr. Jerning
ham my sad position, the latter, in his official capa
city, addressed firm and energetic remonstrances to
the Peruvian Government. These remonstrances, as
the event proved, were treated lightly, and were of no
avail ; nevertheless, I am thankful for them, as well
as for the sympathy and material assistance which,
while he remained in Peru, I received through the
medium of the Colonel from him. If he had been
apprised, as he should have been, by his subordinate
officer, Mr. John Barton, that any British subject

78
(not to say a gentleman whom he had already known)
had been pubEcly arrested, insulted, and grossly mal
treated within half hail of the British Legation at
Callao, on the 23rd of March, the inquiries which Mr.
Jerningham would not have failed to make, would have
preserved me from the agonies of that terrible night
and the sufferings of the subsequent days ; for Judge
Ponce, E he had not counted on the security of that
complete secresy which he commands within the part
of the Inquisition under his control, would never have
attempted by torture and intimidation to identify me
—a British sailor— with the base and cowardly crime
of attempting to assassinate a poor old man, already
broken down in mind and body, and whom I could
have no real or imaginary motive for injuring.
Viewing assassination, as I do, under any and all cir
cumstances with horror and disgust, E the slightest
Eitimation of an intent to perpetrate so vEe a crime
had reached me, I would have been the first to de
nounce and avert it at the peril of my life, if requi
site. Since the recovery of my liberty I have become
acquainted with a circumstance which I confess
astonishes me. It is that Mr. Jerningham has per
mitted himself to be catechised by the Peruvians
respecting occurrences which took place within the
precincts of her Majesty's Legation ; but at present I
confine myself to the single fact of my having on one
occasion borrowed from him forty or fifty dollars. In
reply to the Inquisitorial examinations of Judge Ponce,
I had mentioned that such was the case ; but I did

79
not add that I had repaid this trifling loan. Con
sidering the persecution I was undergoing from un
principled men, I think when Mr. Jerningham sub
mitted to the mdignity of being questioned regarding
what had occurred in her Majesty's Legation, he might,
Ei common justice to me, have stated that soon after
the loan had been made, it had been repaid to him by
me, according to the promise I had given to that
effect. I hope, and am disposed to believe, this
awkward omission resulted solely from forgetfulness
on his part.
. Protracted confinement in the horrid dens of the
Inquisition had, in the mean while, been steadily un-
dermmmg my health, and especially impaired my
sight, to such an extent that I now despair of its
ever being completely restored. The necessity for my
removal became urgent, there being no alternative
between a miserable death there, or immediate change
to some other locality. Accordingly, on the above-
mentioned day, I was transferred to the poEce bar
racks of San Erancisco de Paula, at the opposite side
of the river, after five months' and four days' incar
ceration in the abommable Inquisition.
During my Enprisonment, there were many who, by
friendly visits, sought to aEeviate my sufferings, and
many more would have done so likewise, if they had
not been restrained by fear of incurring the anger of
the Government, which is unscrupulous, and would
not fail to visit them with ruin in theE mercantile
pursuits ; for, under the name of Bepublicanism, there
reigns in Peru a hideous and unbridled despotism, of

80
which no European, accustomed to the blessings of a
constitutional monarchy, could form any idea before
he had witnessed its excesses.
By the departure of the Colonel from Lima, I lost a
truly warm-hearted and fearless friend ; yet not less
assiduous in visits of kindness were the veteran General
Miller and Captain de Wolfe Carvell, who to the last ,
were in the habit of sending me presents of wine,
pastry, fruits, &c, little luxuries which my faEing
health required, and taught me to appreciate. Both
were accordingly marked out as objects of vengeance
by the Government.
The latter gallant officer was himself speedEy doomed
to taste the tender mercies of Peruvian authority.
An order for imprisonment in the Inquisition issued
against him, apparently because he presumed to think
that he and his famEy had been already sufficiently
robbed by Peruvian officials, and he would have been
ignominiously dragged through the streets, as I had
been, if he had not fortunately obtained from a friend
timely notice of their intention, and found protection
from the spirited and generous representative of H.I.M.,
Monsieur de Lesseps, under the Prench flag. (It is
only right to mention here that Mr. Jernmgham had
previously gone to Europe on leave of absence.) Mine
was a criminal case — Captam Carvell' s exclusively civil.
Both tend to illustrate the hopelessness of an English
man's chance of meetmg fair play or justice, when his
cause conflicts with the views or interests of the Peru
vian Government; and as my object is to make my
own Government and feEow- subjects acquamted with

81
this fact, I avaE myseE of the opportunity to sketch
Captain Carvell's case as it appears in published and
other authentic documents now on record, to the
lasting shame, and it is to be hoped, speedy chastise
ment of the guilty parties.
Mr. Winder, an Englishman whose nationality and
domicEe are not questioned, died in London, where he
had previously resided and made his wEl, in which he
dEected that his executor, Captain de Wolfe Carvell,
should proceed to Peru (where there existed a con
siderable portion of his chattel and real property) in
order to have the instructions of his last testament
carried into effect.
Armed, with the customary letters of administra
tion, Captain CarveE in Pebruary, 1861, arrived in
Lima, the duly sworn legal executor, with, a cheering
assurance from his legal adviser, then the Attorney-
General (at present Lord Chancellor) that the wEl of
the deceased was in perfect conformity with the laws*
and that the duties to be performed in Peru were clear-
and simple, admitting of no difficulty or pretext for ¦
delay, if the people to whom he was going were at alL
civilised, adding that E they proved themselves to be
the reverse, and raised obstacles to the fulfilment of"
the duties of his office as executor, it would be only
necessary to send to him, as first law officer of the-
Crown, information of the fact to ensure the prompt
interference of her Majesty's Government in the asser
tion of his rights. The distribution of the deceased
gentleman's real property in Peru was made in con-
G

82
formity with the laws of that country, but over the
disposition of the chattel property of a foreigner, the
Peruvian law neither has, nor pretends to, any juris
diction. One of the deceased gentleman's agents in Lima was
a man named Manuel Winder, who in that capacity
had access to an iron chest containing accounts, books,
papers, money, and a sum of about four hundred thou
sand dollars in bonds of consolidation and manumis
sion. On arriving at Lima, Captain Carvell received
information which induced him to seek the aid of the
authorities for the protection of this large amount of
property. To this end, Mr. Jerningham proceeded on
Priday, the 22nd of Pebruary, to the office of the
Minister, where he saw Senor Ezeta, the Chief Secre
tary and official representative of the Minister, trans
acting aE public business during the absence of the
latter from town, as on the present occasion. Senor
Ezeta seemed impressed with the necessity of active
steps, and requesting Mr. Jerningham to address an
official communication to the office on the subject,
said that from that moment the Government would
be responsible for the security of the property. The
required despatch was instantly written and deEvered.
Next morning Captain CarveE, having agaEt called
at the Minister's office, saw M. Ezeta, who, showing
the official letter he. had received from Mr. Jerning
ham, assured him that he need be under no apprehen
sion whatever, especially as since the receipt of that
letter from her Majesty's representative, it had become
entirely an affaE of the Government, which thence-

83
forth was responsible for the safety of the property.
AE Saturday and Sunday passed without any steps
having been taken, and on Monday Captain Carvell
having learned that Manuel had robbed and fled with
the property, Enmediately proceeded to the MEEster's
office. Senor Azeta was reported to be sick, but
Senor Melgar was there, and was informed of what
had occurred ; after consulting for a few minutes with
an official, he said he had come to the conclusion that
he would have nothEig to do with the matter. Thus
did the Peruvian Government seek to shake off its re
sponsibility. Captain CarveE then sought for a warrant to have
the robber arrested : it was refused. Advised by his
friends to seek the assistance of the Intendente of
police, he did so, but was received ungraciously and
rudely. This Intendente, when EEbrmed of the robbery, and
of the necessity of at once seizing the man who had
committed it, quietly folded his arms on his chest,
saying he would do nothing of the kind, and that he felt
much more disposed for his dinner than anything else.
Being remonstrated with and informed that in all
civEised countries, under such circumstances, the
robber would be arrested at once, he said, " Captam
Carvell should remember he was now in Peru, where
such things were of ordinary occurrence." Pinally he
said he would send a message to CaUao to prohibit the
embarkation of the robber from that port, but would
do nothing more. This was Ei reality a complete farce,
G 2

84
for the robber had no idea of leavEig the country or
even the town of Lima.
In order to prevent the stolen bonds from being
passed into cEculation, Captain CarveU forthwith had
detailed Ests of their amount, dates, and numbers
placarded in all quarters and advertised m the public
journals, with the usual caution against their negotia
tion, &c. &c.
On the 27th of Pebruary, three days after the
robbery, the MEuster of Eoreign Affairs, Senor
Melgar, gave a positive assurance to Mr. Jerningham
— who had gone to him expressly for the purpose of
obtaining it — that he would issue instant orders to
stop all or any of the stolen bonds whenever they
might be presented at the Consulado (PubEc Credit
Office). It was not Chief Secretary Ezeta, but Minister
Melgar himself, who spoke thus to her Majesty's re
presentative on the 27th of Eebruary.
The mterest on the bonds became payable on the 3rd
of April at the Consulado.
On the morning of the 2nd, the Director of the
Public Credit informed Captain CarveU that up to that
hour, he had received no instructions from Senor Melgar
to stop ihe stolen bonds on presentation.
Next morning, 3rd of April, Senor Suero, the
Director just mentioned, who has the reputation of
being a strictly upright and honourable man, in reply
to Captain Carvell's EiquEies, said that on the previous
afternoon he had received an order for the first time

85
from the Minister Melgar, which -purported to have
been written in Pebruary, since it was so dated, but
unfortunately it had arrived too late, for that a few
days ago he had been obliged to amortise sixty thou
sand of these very bonds. They had been presented
by a man who was charged with being an accomplice
of Manuel in the robbery, and some of his associates.
Senor Suero added that he had refused to negotiate,
and had stopped them, until he received from his
chief (to whom he had written communicating the fact
that they were part of the stolen bonds) a peremptory
order to amortise them. Thus were sixty thousand
bonds of the property of minors swept off, solely and
only in consequence of the Peruvian Government
having again acted with bad faith.
Could such incidents as these just recited have oc
curred in any country possessing pretensions to a
regularly constituted Government, and embued with
regard for national honour, justice, and honesty ?
The Director, Senor Suero, an important confidential
public functionary, famEiar with all the circumstances,
had the courage to stigmatise as "shameful and
scandalous" the robbery effected by Manuel Winder.
Yet by orders from his chief (the Minister of
" Hacienda"), this Director is compelled to convert
into sterling money a portion of the robbery which had
become inconvertible elsewhere, from the moment the
official gazette appeared, giving the numbers and
amount of the stolen bonds, and proclaEning the
reward for the arrest of the robber.

S6
In fine, it was just thus : On the 22nd of Eebruary,
Mr. Azeta, chief secretary— the regularly constituted
and recognised organ and representative of the
Minister, and who discharges the duties and business
of the latter in his absence— gives a solemn pledge in
his official capacity (dependent on a certain condition,
which was forthwith fulfilled), to her Britannic
Majesty's representative, repeated subsequently to
Captain Carvell, that the Peruvian Government held
itself from that moment responsible for the safety of
the bonds. It allows them to be stolen, and then seeks
by subterfuge to evade responsibility.
On the 27th of Pebruary, the MEiister Senor Melgar
in person pledges the Government to issue instant
orders to have the stolen bonds stopped when presented
at the Consulado. He sends no such order untE the
evening of the 2nd of April. In the Exterval, the
robber, through his known accomplice, obtaEis from
the Government hard cash for sEcty thousand of the
stolen bonds, under a positive order from another of its
Mmisters, who, in reply to the protest of the honest
DEector Senor Suero, and his announcement that
these sixty thousand bonds which he stopped, formed
part of the stolen property, actuaUy snubs the virtuous
public officer for attemptmg to discharge his duty in
conformity with the obligations imposed by his oath
and the laws of the country.
Of course the Peruvian Government will try to
shuffle out of its responsibility in this second robbery
of the property of. the orphans, although it has Ei

87
reality rendered the thief as much, E not more,
material aid in this second case, than in the former, for
m the first, they only enabled him to steal the bonds,
which the pubEc placards and advertisements rendered
comparatively valueless, since nobody would be so
foolish as to negotiate stolen notes ; but on this second
occasion, the Government Minister did for him what
none other would do — viz. by express order cashed for
him sixty thousand of these very bonds, for steaEng
which Government had sent strict orders to the remote
districts of Peru to arrest him, well knowing that he
was enjoying himself all the time in the town of Lima,
close to the abode of one of the Ministers, and abso
lutely living with and sheltered in the residence of one
of the judges of the land, whose duty it was not to
harbour and conceal such a criminal, but, on the con
trary, to deliver him up to justiee.
It is clear that Senor Melgar must have decided,
that giving the robber cash for sixty thousand bonds
was sufficient for a time at least, for, as soon as booty
to that amount had been pocketed by him, then Senor
Melgar steps in on the 2nd of April with the order
promised on the previous 27th of Pebruary.
Nor is this all : since the deEvery of Senor Melgar's
tardy order, a large portion of the remaining stolen
bonds were absolutely in the hands of ihe Government
officers, having been presented at the Consulado for
payment of the interest, and although they were re
cognised to be the stolen bonds, and the Eiterest re*
fused on them, yet the officers allowed them to be
taken away.

88
Induced by the large reward offered, and the
avowed anxiety of the Government for the arrest
of the thief, Manuel Winder, an inmate of the
house in which he was concealed, conducted Captain
Carvell and the police thither. It was evening : the
house was illummated inside and out by gas. Their
guide pointed to a room on the ground floor where
three individuals were seated comfortably conversing
together. They were all well-known characters ; the
first to be named, in compliment to his high judicial
rank, was the already notorious criminal judge, Luis
Ponce, master and owner of the house ; second in im-.
portance was the robber Manuel Winder; the third
was Senor Camacho, accused of being Winder's ac
complice, and an employe under the Government,
being the very individual who, with a couple of as
sistants, obtained cash for the sixty thousand stolen
bonds at the Government office, as above detailed.
Captain Villar, commanding the police force, was
armed and in full uniform, and as he and Captain
Carvell entered through the glass door, the judge and
robber took refuge in a side closet, leaving Camacho to
welcome the unexpected guests.
The judge, however, reappeared in an instant, armed
with a pistol in each hand. Then occurred a scene
which is fully described Ei the public journals of the
day— too lengthy to be copied here— but such as could
occur Ei Peru and in Peru only. Suffice to say that
the warrant for the robber's arrest (issued by Judge
Carrillo, of Lima) was poEtely- exhibited; Judge

89
Ponce was requested to lower his pistols, and aEow
the robber to come out of the closet quietly. He
refused, stating "he was as good a judge as the one
who issued the warrant ; that he hated the English ;
that he had already succeeded in causing the loss of
thousands to Captain Carvell, and that he would
cause him more ; that for four reals a head he could
command the services of as many witnesses as he
pleased, and that he would never faE to exercise his
power against the detestable English." Captain Car
veU was wholly unarmed, yet he remained calm and
unshaken. His habitual mode of address is mEd and
almost feminine, presenting a forcible contrast to
that indomitable firmness and mastiff-like tenacity of
purpose, characteristic ofthe more elevated class of the
John Bull genus, better understood by foreigners than
by ourselves. He poEtely requested Judge Ponce to
remove his fingers from the triggers, remarking that
his hands trembled to such an extent, that he might
discharge the pistols sooner than he intended. Then
he reminded him, that as a judge, it was pecuEarly his
province to uphold the law, and respect those who
presented themselves under its authority ; that in place
of opposing the arrest of the robber, he should long
since have delivered him into the hands of justice, and
hoping he would no longer prevent the police-officer
from discharging his duty, he requested Captain
Villar to make the arrest ; but the latter, evidently
yielding to the judge's influence, hesitated, perceiving
which, CaptaEi CarveE said he would himseK bring

00
the culprit out of the closet ; whereon the judge sprang
to the door, and placing his back against it, presented
both pistols at Captain CarveU' s head, swearing if he
advanced a foot further, he would scatter his brains
about the floor, and also that if he did not quit the
room he would take his lEe. Livid with rage, he
called on his servants to arm and come to his assist
ance to expel the "  " EngEsh. They promptly
obeyed, and soon fiUed the apartment, carrying all
sorts of weapons.
The police-officer now sided openly with the judge,
and desired Captain Carvell to quit the house imme
diately. He was thus obliged to leave, but took his
stand outside the glass door, because, from information
previously obtained, he knew that the only outlet from
the closet was into the parlour, of which he could com
mand a full view through the glass, and, as the poUce-
offieer was to remain, the robber could not escape save
by his connivance, of which Captain CarveU and other
gentlemen who came there would be witnesses. But
the worthy judge was too much for him and them.
As they stood gazmg into the room, which up to
this moment was brilliantly iUuminated, they were
suddenly immersed in total darkness. A signal from
the master had extEiguished at one and the same
instant, aU the gas-Eghts both within and without.
The turning of a robmet settled the whole affair. The
crowd which had assembled in fhe court-yard with the
police burst into fits of laughter. When the lights
were aEowed to be reinstated, Captain ViUar was Ei-

91
vited to examine the closet. To whom wEl it appear
wonderful that he could then find no robber there or
elsewhere ? Was not the Intendente of police well
justified in saying " that Captain Carvell should re
member he was in Peru ?"
The eminent house of Graham, Bowe, and Co., of
Lima, had in its possession a box containing letters,
papers, and bonds, the personal property of the de
ceased gentleman. On hearing of his death, the house,
for greater security, deposited this box, because it be
longed to an EngEshman, in the Legation, under pro
tection Of the British flag, affixing to it a label inti
mating that it was to be delivered to the legal executor
whenever he should appear. Captain Carvell pro
duced at the Legation the probate of the wEl and
letters of admEiistration granted to him by her
Majesty's court, aU in due form, their authenticity
being further certified under the seal of the Peruvian
Legation in London, in order to satisfy the authorities
in Lima of their bond fide character,
Mr. Jerningham, having satisfied himself by atten
tive examination that the documents produced were
genuine, recognised Captain Carvell as executor, and
consequently delivered over the box to his custody.
Shortly after, the Peruvian Government having
advertised a call of a eertain number of bonds at par,
Captain CarveU, for the advantage of the estate,
amortised to the amount of 42,000 doUars, and trans
mitted it to England in the usual manner, through
the great mercantile Eouse of Gibbs and Sons, One

92
of the Lima judges, acting under, as he alleged, dEec-
tions from the Government, sent to Captain CarveU
for the wiU of the deceased, when it was immediately
delivered to him. Subsequently this judge was super
seded, and another nominated in his place at the
request of Mrs. Winder (widow of the deceased), a
Peruvian who, although she had abandoned her hus
band, had been munificently provided for by the will.
She resides in Lima, and is a relative of Senor Melgar.
This newly-appointed judge issued an order to compel
Captain Carvell to get back from England the money
he, as executor, had transmitted through Gibbs and
Co., in order that its future appropriation might be
placed at the disposition of a Peruvian judge, and at
the same time he placed an embargo on the remainder
of the property in Captain Carvell's hands. It was in
vain that it was pointed out by the ablest counsel of
the country, that the disposition of the personal or
chattel property of an Englishman was subject to the
enactments of British law only, and that the Peruvian
Code was distinct m admitting that such was the case.
The judge would not understand it, Captain Carvell's
counsel could not understand the reverse, so the judge
ordered the Captain to be imprisoned Ei the Inquisi
tion. To this monstrous proceeding the judge must
have been reconciled, if not instigated, by the con
duct of Senor Melgar, who, in addition to what has been
shown above, publicly designated Captain Carvell as
" soi-disant executor."
The Corps Diplomatique, at a meetEig of theE body

93
called on the 22nd of August, declared in a resolution,
passed unanimously, that the proceedings of the
Peruvian Government in regard to Captain Carvell
constituted a gross and flagrant violation of his rights
as a British subject as guaranteed and established by
mternational law.
Under pretence of making an inventory, Judge
Carrillo took from Minister Melgar's " soi-disant
executor" the memoranda, ledgers, books of account,
&c, of the deceased, and although Captain Carvell has
sEice made repeated applications for them, he has ap-
pEed in vain; neither can he get any information respect
ing important documents belonging to the estate ofthe
Hacienda del Ingenio de Huacira (taken possession of
by the authorities), amongst which is one for no less a
sum than 120,000 dollars in favour of the deceased,
the palpable object of all being to screen the per
petrators in this immense spoEation of British pro
perty. Captain CarveU, when forced into the Peruvian
Courts, secured the advice and assistance of the most
learned and eminent men of the bar. WEl it be
credited in England that the Minister called Captain
Carvell's counsel before him ?
The particulars of that interview rest in the bosoms
of the parties. The amount of intimidation exercised
can be guessed at by the result. One of these gen
tlemen, whose high standing and honourable ante
cedents are universaUy recognised, came to inform
Captain Carvell " that it was with pam and sorrow he

94
felt bound to tell him it would be foUy and madness,
to indulge any further hope of meeting justice Ei the
Peruvian tribunals, for that the combmation to rob
him had become general, embracing the highest chiefs
and lowest subordinates of the judicial and government
administrative bodies ; that he was in a position to
show up the entire fraud with the complicity and
connivance of the parties just mentioned, but he dared
not do so, because he and his family would be utterly
ruined if he did his duty in the matter ; that conse
quently he could no longer appear as his counsel, and
it was with shame as a Peruvian gentleman, he made
this avowal, while he looked with horror and disgust
on such a state of things."
A short time after the wEl had been delivered to the
judge an individual connected with the court, and
known to Captain CarveU, presented himself, and after
some preEmmary observations, said he required im
mediately a considerable sum of money. On the
captain inquiring for what purpose so large a sum
could possibly be required, he replied : " SE, I must
frankly tell you that the judicial machine must be well
greased or it will not revolve favourably ; it is neces
sary for your interests that I give gratEications to all
the authorities before whom your case may come. I
must commence with the judge's clerk, and go up to
the head of the judicial tree ; it is the custom of this
country, and no one can hope to gain a cause, or get
business through the courts, without giving handsome
gratifications to the judicial authorities, accordEig to
their rank and importance."

95
Captain CarveU was struck with astonishment at
receiving this information from such competent autho
rity, but replied by saying that " as an English gentle
man he would feel himself disgraced by giving coun
tenance to such a shameful system, and desired aU
those concerned, should be told, they had nothing to
expect from him in the shape of bribery, and that they
were mistaken in supposing he would lend himseE to
any such infamous transactions."
It was after this, that Senor Melgar gave publicity
to his communications, El which he designated Captain
CarveU " a soi-disant executor," and accused him of
seeking to " subvert the laws of the country," ob
viously, with the object of stimulatEig prejudice against
the English stranger, and diverting attention from
the barefaced plunder and personal violence of which
he was the victim.
Captain Carvell was warned that the executive were
resolved on getting rid of his importunity for justice,
and the known delicate state of his health, for which
change of air and exercise had been prescribed, sug
gested the easy mode of effecting the object in view, by
consigning him to the abominable dungeons of the In
quisition, mcarceration in which would have ensured
his death in less than twenty-four hours. As already
stated, this fate was happily averted by the timely in
timation of a friend and the spirited conduct of his
Imperial Majesty's representative, M. de Lesseps.
Curiously enough, just at the moment Minister
Melgar and his judges were proclaiming their con
tempt for the validity of a British testamentary docu-

96
ment and the authority of the unoffending gentleman
who bore it, under the insolent pretence that British
rights should succumb to Peruvian interests, there
appeared in the public journal of Lima, called El
Comercio (the Times of Peru), the following remark
able paragraph :
" Yesterday a circumstance occurred at the hospital
of St. Andrew, which clearly demonstrates that the
laws designed for the most sacred rights of man are
in Peru nothing more than Utopian and frivolous
enactments framed for vitality on paper only."
At the period of my escape from Lima, CaptaEi
Carvell, the innocent victim of the enormous robbery,
remained still deprived of his liberty, by which means
greater facility is afforded for further plundering the
property of the Englishman, while the robber Manuel
Winder was gaily amusing himself with his accom
plices under the protection of another judge since his
removal from the house of Judge Ponce, the Govern
ment professing all the while to be most anxious for
his arrest ; but although they have their spies in every
house in the town, with three or four thousand sol
diers, and a large body of police within the walls, yet
they state themselves wholly unable to effect it.
One of the accomplices has, however, given his ex
planation of this enigma, by stating openly, " that out
of the stolen four hundred and odd thousand dollars,
Manuel can well afford to pay the government officials
for present and future security."
Comment on the foregoing would be superfluous.

97

It affords an idea of the Peruvian mode of deaEng
with an Enghshman and his rights in civil cases.
April 22nd a respectable Englishman, named James
Edwards, then apparently in robust health, was
brought to the Inquisition and flung into my former
den. The poor feEow communicated to me a state
ment in reference to his arrest. His case was one of
the most wanton and cruel that has come under my
notice. I made in his behalf repeated demands and
protests, which were only scoffed at. On the 29th he
was carried out in a dying state, and expired. I have,
however, the consolation of feeling that I did my duty,
and by the pecuniary aid in my power to afford, pre
vented his dymg from inanition. Before death, he
scrawled in his pocket-book (quoting from memory),
"Should I die here, they will have murdered me;"
and on another page, "They are murdering me."
June 4th. Judge Ponce commanded me to his pre
sence in the chapel. The particulars of that interview
are recorded in Interrogatory No. 3. August 9th.
Judge Ponce again ordered me to appear. Interroga
tory No. 4 contains what transpEed on that occasion.
August 12th. The judge had me again brought before
him. A narrative of our interview is to be found in
Interrogatory No. 5. August 19th. Another meeting
took place between the judge and me, of which a fuE
account is given m Interrogatory No. 6. This was the
first occasion on which the judge afforded me the pre
sence of any interpreter whatsoever, to enable me
clearly to understand him, and convey my sentiments

98
accurately Ei reply. The person who accompanied him
as my Eiterpreter was his intimate friend, Mr. Chris
topher Conroy, closely connected by marriage with
members of the Government, and the Peruvian son of
a British father. This Mr. Conroy has never been
publicly recognised as an interpreter, and went there
"for the purpose," as he informed me, "of obliging
his friend Judge Ponce." Judge Ponce introduced
Mr. C. Conroy to act as my interpreter, instead of Mr.
Woldt, the sworn Eiterpreter, who, being on his oath,
would not have attempted to make a false record. It
suited the judge's purpose, no doubt better, to intro
duce his friend, instead of the responsible interpreter.
My final interview with Judge Ponce took place
August 22nd, at the termination of which, he had me
publicly manacled with the " Grillos and Barra."
This meeting is described Ei Interrogatory No. 7.
During the night I wrote the following letter :
JOHN BARTON, ESQ.,
H.B.M.'S OFFICIATING CHARGES D'AFFAIRES, &C,
LIMA.
Sir, — After the close of an interview which took place be
tween Judge Ponce and me in the chapel of this place yesterday
evening, that personage, after having threatened me in the most
violent manner, ordered me to he put in irons, and secured by
the legs with massive iron shackles to the " barra,"* in which
state I remained until after sunset. In consequence of the
fierce threats of Judge Ponce against me, I entertain fears of
an attempt being made on my life before morning. I have bar
ricaded the door of my dungeon on the inside, with my cot and
* A solid bar of iron, about fourteen feet long and six inches in circum
ference, rove through, the eyes of the Grillos, which were pressed by it hard
down on my ankles.

99
the few other articles of furniture which my calaboose con
tains. I will keep watch until the day breaks, when (if I am allowed
to live so long) I will inform you more fully.
My life is in most imminent peril. I demand an immediate
guarantee for my safety against assassination by the minions of
this Government. I am suffering intense agony.
Yours veiy obediently,
T. Melville White.
In my dungeon, 1 a.m.,
Prison of the Inquisition, August 23, 1861.
Monsieur de Lesseps, H.I.M. Charge d'Affaires,
having heard of the manner in which I was being
treated, kindly and generously came to my dungeon at
nEie A.M., and nobly assured me that " he would no
longer permit an innocent man, the subject of his
Sovereign's gracious and firmest ally, to be so inhu
manly tortured." Mr. John Barton, my Sovereign's
representative, then presented himself, for the first
time since my incarceration, and very cooUy told me
that " although I had threatened him in my letter of
the 20th instant, he would see whether something.
could not be done for me."
The following extract from that letter contains the
threat aUuded to :
" I a^ain respectfully ask of her Majesty's representative here,
how much longer shall I be allowed to continue the innocent
victim of the horrible machinations of this Government and its
dishonest agents,' and be further tortured by them on the vile
statement of their paid minions, when, if afforded the opportu
nity I can at any moment produce irrefutable documentary proo
and the testimony of hundreds of most respectable persons to the
effect, that at the instant when the Peruvian Government, their
agents and perjured accomplices, maliciously accuse me of having
H 2

100
committed a base crime in this city, I was a thousand miles from
Lima. It cannot be that you will so neglect the sacred trust con
fided to you by our beloved Sovereign and country, as to permit
me (tortured and reviled as no other man has ever been), to
remain longer the helpless victim of the fiends who seek my
destruction. May God deal with them in his wisdom !
" Give me an opportunity of showing to you and the world
the horrid system under which I have for so long a time groaned
and wept in bitterness of soul; give me the opportunity to hurl
back on the heads of my guilty torturers, their abominable slanders
against me.
" I hope that without further loss of time, you will demand my
immediate liberation from the cruel tyranny of this Government,
which still so villanously persecutes me, and from the pestiferous
calabooses of this old Inquisition ; and also I hope that you will insist
on obtaining for me the amplest satisfaction and reparation for the
terrible sufferings which I have been compelled to endure, for 'tis
a bounden duty which you owe to our Sovereign and country, as
well as to your personal reputation and to me. Should I still be
consigned to the inhumanity of the Peruvian Government and
their agents, I feel certain our justice-loving countrymen will
loudly denounce the wrong, for none know better how to deal
with public servants who forget or neglect their most sacred
duties." August 27th. I was removed by a guard of police,
in a covered waggon, from the Inquisition to San
Erancisco de Paula.
Before I was removed from the prison of the Inqui
sition, the dungeon in which I had been confined the
first night was totally transformed, as was also the case
with my other dungeons.
During the whole of the time this transfer of me
was being effected, I was held tightly by the coUar of
my coat by one of my police guards, armed with a
sword and a Sharp's rifle, capped.

101
In the dungeon to which I was consigned was a
mass of Grillos, chains, fetters, manacles, barras, anvils,
pincers, hammers, punches — in a word, all the iron
materials for torture, amounting in the aggregate to
about a ton weight ; and as if the presence of these
detestable implements was not considered sufficient to
impress my mind with the fearful power at Judge
Ponce's disposal, I was compelled to witness their ap
plication to the unfortunate wretches subjected to his
control, and thus were the horrors of my calaboose
aggravated. To illustrate, I wEl give one instance,
that of the 12th of April :
Two convicts, aEeady heavily ironed, were brought
Ei for the purpose of having other irons added to
them. They had ripped up the abdomen of one
of their feUow-crimEials, and then attacked each
other with knives, the consequence of which was
innumerable gashes, from which blood flowed freely.
They presented a loathsome and soul - harrowing
sight, and they were swearing by most dreadful
oaths that the death of one of them should alone
end theE strife. The punishment for this inter
change of threats consisted in linking them closely
together by chains encircling their waists, from
which hung other chains secured round the legs
and ankles. These latter were drawn together by
means of Grillos, so as to prevent the possibEity of
walking, and as theE hands and arms were manacled
they could no longer inflict injury on themselves or
others, except with their teeth. When about to be
removed, one of them said to the official presiding

102
over the operation which had rendered them helpless,
" I am as good a man as you, although your 
for the General has made you an officer. When I
get free I wEl inquire how you, a zapatero (shoe
maker), can be allowed to trample in this manner on
the best friends of the Grand Marshal."
This official, dressed Ei unEorm, in addition to his
sword carried a heavy stick, which (on hearing the
above-quoted words) he flourished rapidly, and striking
the speaker on the head, floored him, both convicts
going down together. The man who had received the
blow lay motionless, whEe the official showered on
him kicks, and blows with the club until it became
difficult to distinguish eyes, nose, or mouth, to such a
mass of gore were aU battered and reduced.
The political prisoners who witnessed this scene
strove, by crying out "Shame! shame!" to restrain
the fury of the savage, whEe I protested as loudly
against havmg my dungeon made the theatre of such
barbarities, and demanded that he and the disgusting
implements of torture should be removed from my
cell, whereat he turned like an enraged tiger on me,
and swore by his Creator, that "if I again opened my
lips, he would serve me in a sEnilar manner, E not
worse." That he would have attempted to reaUse this
threat there can be little doubt, had he not been re
strained by a universal burst of indignation from the
gentlemen prisoners who were looking on.
He is well known Ei Lima as one of a legion of a
similar stamp with whom CastEla has surrounded
himself since his accession to power.

103
I told the inhuman creature at the time, that I
would hand his name down to posterity, and I now do
aU in my power to fulfil that promise by announcEig
that he is caEed Manuel EspEiosa, poEce agent.
September 17th. A man came and desired me to
sign my name on a sheet of paper, which already
bore a single signature, and nothing else.
I decEned doEig as this man wished, and recorded
what passed Ei a writing headed " Extraordinary m-
terview." Mr. John Barton visited me twice during the time
I was confined in San Erancisco de Paula.
On the first of these occasions that official con
siderately Eiformed me that " he knew I was an
innocent man from the first moment," and that
" every one in Lima had also known meto be innocent
all along, and they also knew the man who had com
mitted the crime for which I was suffering."
I stated to this representative of my country's flag
that " I could not very well understand why I had
been permitted to be so tortured by the Government
whEe he and aU Lima knew me to be innocent," and
asked him " E he could inform me why it had been
so?" Mr. John Barton told me, after having otherwise
freely discoursed, that " he could not take any steps
m my case except such as he might be instructed from
home to take, as ' Lord John' was a jealous booby,
and would be sure to knock him over the knuckles E
he did."
I considered it hardly fair that for such motives, my

104
Efe should have been aU but sacrificed and my
prospects whoUy ruined ! ! !
Por some reason or other, of which no doubt Mr.
John Barton is fuUy aware, that diplomatist appears to
have pursued a very hostile and culpable course
towards me (of which I have kept minutes) during
my late misfortunes.
On the latter occasion (eight months from the date
of my arrest), Mr. John Barton said, very patronisingly,
that he wished to be acquainted with my antecedents,
and the motives with which I had visited America.
I told him that I considered the time which he had
selected for asking me such Enpertinent questions sadly
mappropriate, more particularly after his having stated
that he could not do anything for me, and I assured
him that E I was ever aUowed to leave my prison, and
could succeed in reachEtg London with Efe, I would
answer fuEy to our country's Government the ques
tions which, with so little grace, had just come from
him. On which he observed he suspected I was an Irish
man. To which I repEed, " Most certamly, yes. Do*
you pretend you did not know it already ?"
There are incidents connected with Mr. John Bar
ton's visits which, though simple in themselves, per
plexed me somewhat, and deeply wounded my fond
love of our Union Jack.
When Monsieur de Lesseps, Prench Charge d'Affaires,
came to visit me, the entire guard were " turned out"
to do him honour. When Mr. John Barton, British
Charge" d'Affaires (acting), visited me, the negro sen-

105
tmels continued seated, smoking their dudeens, whEe
he almost brushed against them arriving and de
parting ; the officers, lolling about on benches and
among corners, pointed to him, while they remarked
to one another, " Si, es el Ministro Ingles, Senor Bar
ton." " Yes, it is the English Minister, Mr. Barton."
November 30th. The Judge of first Instance, Senor
CarrElo, passed sentence in my case, the tenor of
which was that I was innocent, and being so, was
banished perpetually from Peru.
The copy of this sentence, which I succeeded Ex
obtaining, was the first information I had received
from any of the Peruvian officials of the nature of the
crime of which the Government had accused me.
On the 14th of December the Comercio published
the sentence which the Superior Court passed with
reference to me.
This sentence states that as I had been in Tacna,
about one thousand mEes from Lima, from the 21st to
the 28th of July, I860,* I could not have been the
perpetrator of the attack made on the President, Ei
Lima, on the 25th of the same month.
Consequently, the Court fuEy acquitted me from the
charge which had been made, and censured the Judge
of first Instance, " for not having pronounced judg
ment within the period commanded by law," eighty
days at the utmost from period of arrest.
December 23rd. "La Corta Suprema" confirmed
* This fact was proved by the sworn testimony of my hotel-keeper on the ] 6tb
of April and confirmed by additional testimony taken on the 17th and 18th.

106
the sentence of " la Corta Superior," and commanded
my immediate liberation from prison.
" La Corta Suprema" is the highest judicial au
thority in the BepubEc to which such cases as mine
can be referred.
No officer of the Government informed me, previous
to my liberation, of the sentences passed by the Supe
rior and Supreme Courts, although the law ordams
that such Eiformation shaU be duly furnished.
On the 9th of January, 1862, the Colonel com
manding at San Prancisco de Paula told me I was at
liberty, but that I was to call at the Prefecture on the
foUowing mornEig, at ten o'clock, to learn the tenor of
a decree which the Supreme Government had passed
against me. He showed me at the same time a letter,
signed by General Preire, Minister-at-War, instruct
ing hun to that effect.
I protested to the Colonel against being compelled
to leave the prison untE I had communicated with
her Majesty's representative ; but he said the orders
he had received were peremptory, and that he should
see them obeyed. It was about seven p.m. when I
left the prison, and I engaged apartments Ei Maury's
Hotel. I proceeded to the Prefecture next day at the hour
appointed, when the Intendente, Colonel Secada, read
to me a decree of President CastiEa, signed by Senor
Morales, Ministro de Gobierno, which, after referring
to my complete acquittal by the Courts, commanded
me to immediately leave the Bepublic. As mv busi-

107
ness required my personal presence in Lima, I pro
tested against this decree as being a serious infraction
of my rights as an unoffending Briton. I appEed for,
and after much difficulty obtained, a legaEsed copy of
the process (expediente) which had been formed
agamst me.
Judge CarrElo and his Secretary compelled me
to pay #100.4 for this copy, notwithstanding my
havmg pointed out to them the written law of the
State, which commanded that I should be furnished
with it gratis., I hold the Secretary's receipt for the
money, with the exception of three doEars, which
three dollars I had to pay to the escribanos for legal
ising his signature. Several forgeries were committed
by the Judge and his Secretary, in the origmal ex
pediente, whEe it was being copied for me.
While stiE Ei prison, Mr. John Barton told me he
would feel pleasure in advancing on my note the
amount necessary to defray my expenses home on my
Uberation, and I necessarily felt thankful for so kind
an mtimation; but, to my astonishment, when I
caUed on hun after leaving the prison, to say I would
avaE myseE of his kind proposition, he had altered
his mind, and so far from affording me the sum re
quisite to pay my passage home, he told me I should
not leave Lima until I had repaid hun the sums he
had already advanced.
I merely recaUed to his recollection, that he it was
who had broached the subject, and made the offer,
while I was yet ' in prison, and then proceedmg to

108
ascertain the entire amount due from me, I trans
mitted it to him, with the followmg letter :
JOHN BARTON, ESQ.,
H.B.M.'s OFFICIATING CHARGfe D'AFFAIRES, &C,
LIMA.
SiE, — I have the pleasure to forward to you, herewith, $126.00,
one hundred and twenty-six dollars, being the amount (as I am
informed) of the money disbursed by you, on my account, during
my imprisonment.
I beg leave to tender to you my thanks for the accommodation
thus extended to me, and I shall feel much obliged if you will
kindly acknowledge the receipt of the money.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
T. Melville White.
Maury's Hotel,
Lima, "Pebruary 4, 1862.
This note had the effect of extracting from hEn the
only written communication which ever reached me,
although I had addressed to him some thirty letters.
On that account alone it merits to be prized ! But as
a specimen of CaEao Eterature, it surpasses anythEig
of the kind in the Museum of Peruvian Curiosities.
It acknowledges the receipt of the 126 doUars. It
enumerates his disbursements, accurately particularis
ing the sum for " maintenance." There is notlEng of
the bombastic or patronising air about it. Had it
come from behind the counter of the Pulperia it could
not be more unpretending or modest. It brought,
enclosed, a receipt signed by his secretary, John
Cheeseman, for money paid to the taEor for what
Mr. John Barton writes, in his own classic style,
" CLOATHS" 1 ! ! !

109
The letter is all in his own handwriting, and I
purpose having the interesting document framed and
glazed. It wEl serve to refresh my memory should it
ever begin to faE in due appreciation of those official
and non-official exertions, which this worthy Consul
forgot to make in alleviation of my sufferings whEe
still a wretched prisoner in the dungeons of the Inqui
sition. I here insert a note received from the Honourable*
Stafford Jerningham, to show how that zealous repre
sentative of Her Majesty's Government acted, and
thus better enable the reader to contrast the bearing
of a weU bred and educated gentleman with that of
Mr. John Barton :
Lima, July 7, 1861.
Dear Sir, — I have just received both your notes, and beg in
answer to state, that in order to be officially informed of the reasons
why you have been arrested, and in order to obtain the docu
mentary intelligence which you say the 18th Article of the con
stitution entitles you to be furnished with, you must present an
Escrito to the judge for them.
If he refuses to give them to you, then it becomes my task to
write to the Peruvian Government on the matter.
In the mean time I will continue, as I have constantly done both
in writing and in conversation, to urge the speedy conclusion of
your case. Your s, very obediently,
W. Stafford Jerningham.
To Captain Melville White, &c. &c. &c.
In conformity with Mr. Jerningham' s instructions,
I sent in the escrito, which, after having been detained
by the judge for nine days, was returned to me, with

110
an intimation that my demand was rejected, and my
application considered to be a piece of impertinence.
I forthwith communicated the facts to Mr. John
Barton, who in consequence of Mr. Jerningham' s de
parture for Europe had become acting Charge, but, as
already intimated, my communication met with sEent
contempt and neglect.
On the 1st of Eebruary, whEe in the Legation, very
¦strange and disagreeable language was addressed to
me by Mr. John Barton. The reputed cause of this con
duct of Mr. John Barton, and the conversations which
he then and previously dEected to me, wiU be partly
understood by perusing the two followEig letters, the
latter of which, the supplications of a friend of his
prevented me from leaving after I had arrived at the
Legation with it, but which I have since transmitted
to him.
This friend pointed out to me the long years Mr.
John Barton had been employed and his then hand
some expectations, and begged of me to overlook
his stupid pomposity, and pardon the wrongs which
he had done me. The Legation was, as it has
almost constantly been of late, closed that day, so
I aUowed myself to be persuaded by the gentle
man who had interceded for the erring Consul, and
returned with my communication to the hotel.
JOHN BARTON, ESQ.,
H.B.M.'S ACTING CHARGfc D'AFFAIRES, &C,
LIMA.
Sir, — I have, at this moment, been informed on good autho
rity that you have stated in public that " you would not send
certain letters of mine to her Majesty's Government."

Ill
I most respectfully but firmly protest against any such proceed
ing on your part, and I respectfully but firmly demand that you
will send all my letters to our Government.
I know much of the present state of British interests in Peru,
and I will endeavour to fully inform our Government of the very
efficient manner in which our Gracious Sovereign and country
are represented here at present.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
T. Melville White.
Maury's Hotel, 7.30 a.m.,
Lima, January 13, 1862.

H.B.M.'S ACTING CHARGfe D'AFFAIRES, &C,
LIMA.
Sir, — You took it on yourself to tell me on the 1st instant, in
my Sovereign's Legation, that " you had been grossly insulted by
my presuming to address to you my letter of the 13th ultimo,"
and that "you would insist on my withdrawal of that note;"
that " you would not transmit to your Government copies of any
communications I might send to you," and that " you would not
have anything more to do with me."
I, sir, respectfully but most solemnly protest against this lan
guage of yours to me, and I trust that in this instance you will
not, as you have hitherto repeatedly done, disown your state
ments. You are, no doubt, aware that it is in consequence of the
absence of the Honourable Mr. Jerningham, her Majesty's Charge^
d'Affaires, &c, thatyou are for the time being, the representative
of our Sovereign in this country, therefore you must permit me
to say, that such being the case, I will, during my forced stay
here communicate with you whenever I may find that my rights
are beino- further invaded or withheld from me with your con
nivance. I wrote to you on the 10th of last month (the day after
my liberation from prison), informing you that Grand Marshal
Castilla, placing his heel on the written laws of the country, the
judgments passed in my favour by the courts, and on international

112
treaties and rights, had issued a formal decree against me, order
ing my immediate banishment from the Republic.
I will not undertake to say, at present, what your course should
then have been, and will only remind you of what it really was.
You sent John Cheeseman, your secretary, the deaf and half
blind tailor, with your card to the Intendente (police magistrate),
requesting as a favour that he would be " pleased to allow " Mr.
Cheeseman to read the " decree," at a moment when you knew
that Senor Melgar (Ministro de Negocios Estrangeros) was not
inaccessible to your written communications.*
When I received, on the 3rd of December, a copy of the sen
tence passed against me by Judge Carrillo, I sent it to you forth
with, without remark, feeling quite assured that the face of that
extraordinary document carried upon it convincing evidence of
the infamous system which your friend General Castilla, and his
agents, had long barbarously practised towards me.
You visited me in San Francisco de Paula the following day
(your last and third visit in ten months !), and while sitting there
you had the unkindness to tell me that " you and all the rest of
Lima knew from the first that I was wholly innocent," and that
"you and they also knew, all along, the person who had com
mitted the crime for which I had been imprisoned;" and when I
indignantly demanded to know why then it was, that you had so
long allowed me to be tortured, and still permitted me to be per
secuted, you very deliberately informed me that " Lord John was
a jealous booby, and did not allow his subordinates to do anything
* Mr. J. Cheeseman has spent his life in Peru ; is married to a native, and
has a numerous grown-up family; he frankly acknowledges that his interests
render it politic on his part to conciliate the favourable opinion of the Peru
vian Government. The knowledge of these facts has better enabled me to
understand how it was, that the Peruvian Government and Judges became
aware, as they did, of the tenor of my correspondence with Mr. John Barton.
The greater part, if not all, the official documents passing through H.M.
Legation, are copied by this individual at his tailoring establishment. Surely
H.M. Government cannot have been aware of all this.
My Expediente establishes the startling fact, that from either Mr. John
Cheeseman or Mr. John Barton, their mutual friend, Ramon Castilla, Grand
Marshal, became aware of the import of my communications with my Sove
reign's present representative in Peru.

113
without instructions from home ; " and that " you did not want to
lay yourself in his power, to get a 'knock over the knuckles.' "
1 told you there were British Naval officers, seamen and guns in
Callao, and asked whether you intended permitting the Peruvian
Government to longer continue their nefarious system towards
me, and you replied that " if you asked assistance, in such a case
as mine, from any Naval Commander in H.M.'s service, he would
think you mad, and laugh at you." Why did you thus mock at
my misfortunes? You all along knew I was innocent of the vile
crime, yet you permitted me to be the victim of unlawful tyranny.
Nevertheless, I know not what you and they are placed here for
— if not to protect unoffending British subjects from unlawful and
arbitrary violence. Why did you thus endeavour to cajole an
officer and gentleman, who perfectly understood what his rights
were, and who felt himself victimised, solely because you had un
worthily failed in your duty, by not stepping forward to assert
the innocence of a fellow-subject, when, as you said, you were
well aware of it? Permit me to inform you that I have rendered
more efficient service, at the risk of my life, during one hour, in
the maintenance of the honour of that flag, whose protection you
withheld from me, than you have during the many years you
have continued to shut your eyes and ears to the sufferings of a
large and very valuable body of your fellow-subjects at Callao.
Your countrymen of Lima and Callao saw you suddenly emerge
from the humble, but not discreditable position of shop-assistant,
and all at once elevated to a post which entitled you officially to
seek association with gentlemen.
A modest deportment, combined with zeal and firmness in the
discharge of simple but important functions, would have won for
you their respect. Unfortunately, you allowed yourself to be
dazzled by the rather ambiguous honour of being permitted to
participate in the orgies of a Grand Marshal, and preferred card-
playing, smoking, and swilling with that congenial spirit, to as
serting the dignity of the flag confided to your charge by man
fully protecting from illegal oppression the devoted subjects of
her Majesty.
There are few men, if any, who prize honourable friendships
nd their sacred duties more than I do; but the clandestine
I

114
truckling which effects cloaked injustice must, sooner or later,
obtain a not very enviable notoriety, and public awards, commen
surate with the peculiar merit of its practitioners.
Sir, I hope you will not again arraign me for " gross insult "
towards you, when I respectfully beg leave to inform you, as I
now do, that the representatives of my country in foreign parts are
handsomely paid, and are intended by their Sovereign and nation,
not to be abettors and attorneys of the perpetrators of wrong, but
to be guardians of the rights and liberties of their fellow-subjects
who pay them.
It must be cheering to the heart of every true Briton to know
that both far and near, our country's ministers have, except in a
few rare and unfortunate cases (among which I regret having to
include mine, during the time it has been subject to your jurisT
diction), nobly discharged their important duties, with distin
guished honour to themselves and advantage to H.M.'s subjects.
Some of your oft-mentioned statements fully justify the tenor
of my well-meant letter of the 13th (it had been, I assure you on
my word of honour, fully justified before I wrote it), and I neither
withdraw nor intend to withdraw it.
I trust our Government, in justice to you, may adjudge it as
requiring explanation and justification from me, for I confess its
language must appear somewhat ambiguous to any person whose
name is not therein mentioned. As a necessary precaution I will
enclose a copy of the present to Earl Russell, her Majesty's prin
cipal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and I also propose
sending to his Lordship copies of all the other letters which I have
heretofore addressed or may in future address to you.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
T. Melville White.
P-S. — I feel nonplussed at the queer aspects which you have
made a pecuniary transaction, partly between you and me to
assume. By referring to my letter of the 30th of August, you will per
ceive that 1 requested from you a " temporary loan."
You allowed that letter, as you have allowed all my other letters

115
to you (save the one enclosing the money), to remain unacknow
ledged; and after my liberation from prison, and after I had re
quested you, in my letter of January 16th, to inform me of the
amount of my indebtedness to you, so that I might at once liqui
date the debt, you went, without my knowledge, and disbursed a
paltry sum of money on my account to Captain Carvell, and then,
evidently with intent to wound, sent me in a bill for "main
tenance." Not the least extraordinary, however, of your proceedings in
this part of the affair is, that after having informed me, you had
debited her Majesty's Government with what you call " main
tenance," you should have afterwards insisted, as you did, upon my
paying the amount to you before my departure from Peru, as if
the money had been a private loan from you to me, which was in
reality what I had all along supposed.
Permit me to say that in my humble opinion this was but a
fresh manoeuvre on your part, and although ably designed was un
fortunate in its execution.
T. M. W.
Maury's Hotel,
Lima, Pebruary 5, 1862.
I am now fully aware that Mr. John Barton will soon
retire on a pension of (I understand) 1000Z. per annum,
and my exposure of his neglect, which nearly cost my
life, cannot affect in any way his pecuniary prospects,
otherwise I would still have hesitated before giving it
publicity. My sore tortures have, thank God, been un
dergone, and Mr. John Barton, who permitted them,
will soon be comfortably settled down into placid
private life on the ample income which our noble
country has provided for him, and which I sincerely
wish he may long live to enjoy. We cannot influence
the past, and our sway over the present is partial and
fleeting, but the bright future holds out to us abun-
12

116
dant field for noble and humane action, and perhaps
means of achieving great and good works.
Our glorious country and storm- worn flag deserve
to be represented, as they almost invariably are, by
educated gentlemen — men of integrity, action, and
position, who will not permit their fellow-subjects to
be outraged and our flag insulted by every petty tyrant
who may have the fortune to be enabled to effect for
himself a sudden transition from the poncho of an
" Ariero" into the laced coat of a Grand Marshal. I
have travelled much, and have acquired a little ex
perience, and I am firmly persuaded that in no
countries should Britain be more ably represented at
the present important moment, than in those on the
Pacific coast of South America, more particularly in
Peru. During the time I was compelled to remain in Lima,
after I left the prison, I received constant warnings
from the police, and my steps were constantly dogged
by spies of the Government in the streets and in my
hotel. Police agents were placed at the door of my apart
ments, and also at the door of the apartments of the
Duke of Begla, a Spanish nobleman, who resided at
the same hotel.
An individual connected with the establishment,
whose good will, it would seem, had been unconsciously
won by some little marks of kindness and confidence
on my part, suddenly presented himself in my room,
and, having carefully closed the door, approached me

117
m a hurried manner, speaking in a suppressed tone, as
if afraid of being overheard, asked my pardon for
desiring me not to remain any longer in Lima, and to
leave the hotel and the country with all speed. More
amused than otherwise at his strange manner and
language, I inquired the cause which had impelled him
to make so extraordinary a request, and on his de
clining to "afford this information, I said he seemed to
be playing a buffoon's part, and must have taken me
for a timid fool. I was rather tickled at detecting
what at the moment appeared to be a stupid joke,
intended to test my nerves, so I conveyed my feelings
as much by derisive laughter as by words.
Perceiving the manner in which I received his com
munication he became much agitated, suddenly flung
himself on his knees, and wept, saying that, if I pro-
noised not to betray him, he would speak more plainly,
and then I would no longer laugh at him ; for that
" he was playing with his own life to protect mine,
because I had been good to him." I pledged my word
his name should never be divulged by me without his
consent, whatever might happen. Then, seizing both
my hands in his as I stood near him, and trembling all
over, he hurriedly whispered, " A handsome reward
has been offered to dispose of you and the Duke of
Begla. His doom is already sealed, but you may yet
escape. Por the love of the Holy Virgin don't lose
any time, but leave here this moment. Bemember
the past, and the powerful party who caused it."
His manner and the unmistakable earnestness of
countenance and language in which he conveyed this

118
intelligence, effectually terminated that disposition to
raillery in which I had previously indulged. Informa
tion so startling, and communicated in a shape so dis
interested and obviously sincere, sobered me down to
calm reflection. I felt that a warning given under
such peculiar circumstances should not be treated with
levity, which I knew had proved fatal to so many
others in Lima. "Without being able to extract any
thing positive, I yet could collect that it was by the
quiet means of slow poison it was intended to dispose
of me if I remained. I would readily have prolonged
our interview, but my informant was impatient to cut
it short, and, evidently fearful of being seen leaving my
room, he listened at the door, and peeped carefully out
before passing through. He satisfied me fully that my
life was now the aim of secret assassins. I resolved to
escape with all speed before, if possible, my dose
should be administered. I wrote to Mr. John Barton,
and got from him a note to the officer commanding
her Majesty's ship Naiad, instructing him to afford
me asylum on board until an opportunity offered for
leaving the country.*
I reached the Naiad after sunset, leaving my luggage
at the hotel, the door of my apartments locked, and a
portion of my bill unpaid, in order to distract the
attention of the Government spies, by whom I was
closely watched.
On the following morning, I sent the amount of
my bill to the hotel by the servant of the command-
* I would have given instant warning to the Duke of Begla, but unfortu
nately it was too late. He had already quitted Lima in disgust at the insults
and indignities heaped on him.

119
mg officer ; by him I also sent the key of the door of
my rooms, and received my luggage.
Two or three days afterwards I embarked in the
steamer and proceeded to Guyaquil. During my stay
there, I was informed by the leading gentlemen of the
place that the man David Douglas, who had played so
strange a part in the base proceedings to whieh I had
lately been subjected, had presented himself to the
Government there, representing himself as an " in
veterate enemy" of his late patron and friend, General
Castilla, and soliciting employment under the autho
rities of Ecuador as a " well-digger."
Part of Douglas's story on this occasion, as preserved
by the gentlemen to whom he related it, is as fol
lows : "I have known General Castilla intimately for
a very long time, ever since the battle of Ingavi.
Immediately after the termination of that battle he
was stripped of his clothes and cowhided, and I
took him into my house in Cochabamba, Bolivia,,
clothed and fed him ; he Hved with me as a member
of my family. Since his return to Peru, I have inces
santly laboured in his interest in Bolivia, and a short
time since he promised to pay me a large amount of
money for some business which I had performed for
him. He sent for me to Tacna, and kept me living
with him in Lima for months, after which he refused
to pay me the money. Castilla is a great villain, and
I know all about most of his villanies. I will tell
everybody I know about them, and why he quarrelled
with me after we had been friends more than twenty
years."

120
I was informed, on reliable authority, before leaving
Lima, that this Douglas had been living with Pre
sident Castilla, in that city, during the greater part
of my imprisonment, and that they only separated
about the time I was acquitted from their charge.
I was told, before leaving Guyaquil, that Douglas
had gone from that port to the Gallapagos Islands to
sink wells on the Ploreana, one of the group. I was
also told he had gone to Panama.
On reaching Panama I learned with pain and regret
that the Duke of Begla, who had reached there a short
time previous, was already dead ! ! ! I received this
sad intelligence with feelings not unmixed with sus
picion as to the true cause of that death, and the person
<or persons who had been instrumental in it. I remem
bered the disclosure made to me in the hotel, and I
also remembered that in Peru there were those who
prided themselves on their efficiency in the adminis
tration of slow but deadly poisons which are unknown
to the generality of Europeans, and which defy de
tection. May the future prove my suspicions to be
groundless !
The Peruvians are naturally kind-hearted, hospit
able, and courteous, thoroughly monarchical at heart,
and proud of their ancient Spanish lineage ; it is con
sequently with feelings of aggravated bitterness that
they endure, and speak in private of the degrading
iron yoke imposed by a Dictator wholly illiterate,
uncouth, and, what to them seems worse than any
thing else, sprung from obscurity; for although in
reality he lays claim to be half-bred, and might have

121
in consequence some Christian blood in his veins, yet
stunted stature, physiognomy, and colour, indicate
unmistakably that the dark drop predominates, and
mark him out as a son of that wretched people over
whom Pizarro once tyrannised.
Is it not a singular dispensation of Providence which
has ordained that this man should now avenge the
past wrongs of his miserable Indian race, by a super
cilious and arbitrary despotism over the descendants
of its former oppressor ?
He endeavours to conceal a configuration peculiarly
grotesque by the adoption of enormous boots. Hence
the sobriquet, which it is said rather pleases him,
"OLD BOOTS."
When rigged out in these cumbrous pedal integu
ments, with spurs, laced coat, and cocked-hat, the
Grand Marshal, tied to a long sword, presents an irre
sistibly comical picture, so that the most sedate can
not suppress a smile at his approach.
Nevertheless, most melancholy it is to contemplate
the injury which this man has it in his power to inflict
on the human race within the sphere of his malevo
lence. Peru possesses internal resources, which, if
properly developed, would render it prosperous and
happy ; but the blessings bestowed by Providence are
rendered nugatory by the misappropriation of a
peasantry destined by God to sow, reap, and increase
the essential comforts of the human family.
Vast tracts of naturally productive soil remain
barren for want of cultivation. The hands which
would render the land fruitful are forcibly torn from

122
their families to swell the ranks of an already over
grown army, maintained as a standing menace to the
countries north and south of Peru.
In perpetual dread of some treacherous raid on the
part of this man, impotent for good, the neighbouring
States are reluctantly obliged, as a measure of precau
tion, to maintain large bodies of forces under arms.
Apprehension, uncertainty, vigilance to prevent
surprise, unsettle men's minds, and render them unfit
and unable to devote themselves to the pursuits of
peace. Industry and commerce are paralyzed. Agri
culture is reduced to an ebb so low that food for horses
has to be purchased in the south of Chili, and brought
thence to Arica, whence it is transported on mules
three hundred miles to the naturally rich lands in the
neighbourhood of Puno.
The Grand Marshal has recently had the glory of
squandering eighteen millions of dollars in a most
unwarrantable raid on the neighbouring state of
Ecuador. This sum, properly applied, would have
effected the construction of roads, which would have
opened up a fertile country, now lost for want of
means of communication.
Will it be credited that notwithstanding the inter
nal wretchedness of the country, resulting from causes
just glanced at, this mischievous disturber of the pub
lic peace of South America, has absolutely sent, at
enormous expense, a Naval commission to London,
where it is at this moment occupied in negotiating
the building and purchase of iron-clad men-of-war.
The natural inquiry necessarily is, Por what pur-

123
pose are these men-of-war destined ? Not, surely, to
protect Peru! No one is disposed to assail that
country. Then it must be for purposes of attack on neigh
bouring States in amity with Great Britain, to the
interruption, if not total destruction, of commerce,
now beginning to be extensively developed along the
western seaboard of that continent.
Surely some steps should, be taken to restrain the
mad pranks of this man !
The Huano, which supplies the means for indulging
in all this monstrous extravagance, is fast vanishing,
and may be exhausted much sooner than men are
taught to believe, or its intrinsic value may at any
moment be depreciated by the march of science. The
strides of chemistry cannot be shackled, and its com
binations are boundless. Huano once superseded,
Peru becomes bankrupt.
It behoves the intelligence of the Peruvian nation
to look ahead, and not permit itself to be regarded as
the plague-spot of the Pacific, and the pest of neigh
bouring nations.
I truly sympathise with the hospitable and kind
people of Peru, and I now frankly and gratefully
thank them for the many little kind acts which they
performed towards me during my eventful stay among
them. I feel it incumbent upon me to state here that I
experienced in almost all parts of South America, and
from almost every South American whom I met,
abundant genuine kindness^ and that I constantly

124
received most flattering attentions from a numerous
and brilliant circle of distinguished and talented gen
tlemen there.
I shall always think with pleasure of these kind
friends, and our happy intercourse.
To the gallant Colonel Salazar I feel very grateful
for the gentlemanly manner in which he acted towards
me during the five long and painful months I was
under his charge in San Prancisco de Paula. His
humane and generous disposition reflect much honour
upon his country and profession. Should I have the
pleasure of encountering him at any future time in
my own free and happy land, I hope to be enabled to
prove to him that Britons are keenly alive to the
beauties of thorough gentlemanly demeanour.
Alas for the country of the noble-hearted Colonel
Salazar and of the numerous other distinguished and
truly honourable officers of the Peruvian army, with
whom it was my good fortune to become acquainted
during my travels in their country, that they should
be compelled to bend the knee and bow the head be
fore an alien Dictator.
A noble-hearted countryman of mine (the distin
guished and gallant Colonel The O'Gorman Mahon),
prevented me, under God, from being murdered by
violence and starvation in the awful calabooses of
the Inquisition, by generously coming forward to
my rescue.
My heart feels duly grateful to God and him, for
the reprieve from a terrible death, of which Provi
dence then made him the bearer to me.

125

INCIDENTS.
ROBBERY OP ADMIRAL BRUCE.
While enjoying a promenade in the public walk of
Callao, Admiral Bruce, accompanied by his daughter
and a young Irish lady, Miss Dartnell, was stopped
and robbed by footpads. The Admiral, being wholly
unarmed, could offer but unavailing resistance to
superior force ; yet he was bravely assisted by my
spirited young countrywoman, who flew at and seized
hold of one of the ruffians, nor could he succeed in
shaking her off until, by the Admiral's direction, she
relinquished her hold. The gallant Admiral, during
his subsequent stay in port, made it a point to extend
his walks, armed but unattended, to the more seques
tered spots in the neighbourhood, in the hope of falling
in with some of the gang, but they, divining his object,
were too cunning and wary, and so gave him a wide
berth ever after. BARTON'S RUN.
Mr. John Barton is a powerfully-built man, and
might be considered rather good-looking did he
not disfigure his countenance by mounting a mili
tary moustache. On one occasion, while accompany
ing; some male friends on the Alameda, at Lima, which
runs along the river in front of a line of thickly-
inhabited houses, his party was, as the Admiral's had

126
been, accosted by thieves ; his friends immediately
showed fight, but the doughty British Consul showed
his heels, leaving his companions to carry on the
struggle. Long, long after his final departure will
this Consul's name be remembered in Lima.
The town boasts of two Alamedas, where parties con
stantly invite each other to meet, and as these charm
ing promenades are both on the same side of the river,
confusion frequently occurs as to which was the one
designated for the rendezvous. To obviate this diffi
culty in future, some wags, chatting of the occur
rences above mentioned, proposed to christen the
Alameda which was the scene of the Consul's exploit
"Barton's Bun;" and the suggestion having been
adopted with general acclamation, by that name it
will be known to British inhabitants and visitors long
after the present generation shall have passed away,
while the contrast between the conduct of the prudent
burly Consul and the noble Irish girl will survive
to point a moral to both natives and foreigners.
MURDER OE MR. S. H. SULIVAN, HER MAJESTY'S LATE
POPULAR MINISTER.
Consequent on the limited extent of Callao, and the
cosmopolitan character of its occupants, no unusual
event, however insignificant in itself, can occur, there
without becoming in ten minutes a topic of chat all
over the town. Hence an idea may be formed of the
sensation produced in this gossiping community by
the arrival from the Chincha Islands of a Peruvian

127
officer, sent expressly to escort an individual who pro
fessed to be able and willing to point out the party
that had murdered her Majesty's late popular Minister,
Mr. S. H. Sulivan, while seated at table in Lima.
One would naturally suppose that such an event
would have aroused her Majesty's Consul (Mr. John
Barton), and induced him to communicate the circum
stance to his superiors, even although the knowledge
acquired had not been through an official report made
to him at his office within the prescribed official hours
— for it would seem these are the indispensable re
quisites to the acquisition by Mr. John Barton of any
information touching British subjects and their inte
rests — " official report to him at his office within office
hours." The Consuls of all other countries reside at Callao,
and are to be found there day and night to assist and
protect their fellow-subjects in case of need.
But Mr. John Barton, residing in Lima, or Chorillos,
distant the one eight, the other sixteen miles, locks the
ground-floor room, which is styled H.B.M.'s Consulate,
sets off in the train, and British subjects resident
in Callao, or arriving there during his absence, must
look in case of emergency to the American or Prench
Consuls for aid and protection, and to the honour of
both these nations it must be avowed that they are
always most ready and willing to assist her Majesty's
subjects when they find them thus helpless and aban
doned by their natural protector.
Deeply interesting to all as the arrival of this Peru
vian officer was — and he made no mystery ofthe nature

128
and object of his mission — no report of it was made to
the Hon. Mr. Jerningham' s department, and the men
dacity of the Peruvian Government was never more
forcibly portrayed than when Mr. Jerningham, having
heard through a private friend of the arrival of the
officer from the Chinchas, wrote to the Government for
information on the subject, the Minister, Senor Melgar,
replied that no such circumstance had taken place, or,
if it had, the Government knew nothing about it. The
object of the Government being to stifle inquiry, it did
not hesitate to give this reply. Notwithstanding which
I now repeat, for the information of her Majesty's
Ministers at home, and of my fellow-subjects, that
what I state is correct, and what the Peruvian Govern
ment aver in contradiction is false !
INDIAN VINDICTIVENESS TOWARDS GENERAL MILLER.
I lament to say the good and valiant General William
Miller did not long survive his old and illustrious chief,
the Earl of Dundonald.
Miller, a true soldier, had learned to fight while
serving under my countryman, the immortal Welling
ton, that noble Irishman, the brightest leaf in whose
garland of victories is the one which records that he
preserved his native land from the horrors of civil
war, by coercing a reluctant English monarch to ac
quiesce in the national sentiment which proclaimed
"Preedom of worship to be the birthright of all
British subjects."
True it is, that the Duke's action at the moment

129
was influenced by the great Whig party who had
long and disinterestedly advocated Catholic emancipa
tion, sacrificing office, place, and power to the stead
fast maintenance of their principles.
The Duke wisely counting on their co-operation,
and actively supported by his faithful Lieutenant, the
late Sir Bobert Peel, bravely faced difficulties long
insurmountable, and which, without his leadership,
might have continued to be so for an indefinite period,
but we can never forget that the Whigs fought the
long and harassing battle, and had driven intolerance
to seek refuge behind its last stronghold, when the
Duke at the critical moment, boldly assaulting, carried
the citadel.
The true political status of the Irish Catholic sub
jects of her Majesty Queen Victoria is misunderstood
in many foreign countries, consequent on misrepre
sentations made from selfish and sinister motives, by
those who would fan the flame of religious and poli
tical discord between the inhabitants of the United
Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland.
As it is my intention to have this little memoir
translated into four or five different languages, I hope
to dissipate from the minds of my foreign readers, any
delusion that may exist as to the real position of my
co-religionists under the dominion of her Majesty.
I make it known, then, in contradiction to what is
believed and repeated from mouth to mouth in foreign
lands, that we Irish Boman Catholics enjoy perfect
equality in the eye of the law with our Protestant
fellow-subjects, and are eligible to all posts of honour,
k;

130
dignity, and. emolument under the Crown, save,, of
course,, those identified with the Protestant Churchy
in the administration of which, it would be obviously
unbecoming to permit others than Protestants to exer
cise control.
The Bight Honourable Bichard Lalor Shiel and the
Bight Honourable Thomas Wise, members of the late
Catholic Association, both died, occupying, the. respon
sible posts of Ambassadors, or Ministers of the Queen
at Poreign Courts; while other Catholic gentlemen. at
this moment occupy high diplomatic — civil, judicial,,
military, and naval — positions in the service of the
United Kingdom. While I write, the seat of Lord
Chief Justice of Ireland, is filled by au Irish Boman:
Catholic — Monaghan. Other seats on the Judicial
Bench are occupied by Keogh, Pitzgerald, Ball,
Murphy, &c. &c. — all Catholics. Besides, Irish Boman
Catholics, since the passing of the Emancipation Act,
sit in the Houses of Peers and. Commons.
There is no branch of the service of her Majesty, in
which Boman Catholics are not to be found filline?
posts with honour to themselves, and benefit, I am
proud to say, to the Commonwealth. When, there
fore, it is sought to detach Irishmen from their:
allegiance, other incentives must be tried than those
suggested by the plea of disqualification, for in that,
there exists no truth.
The memory of wrongs inflicted on our fathers in
ages gone by, is fast fading under the influence of the
more equitable and benign administration of our
Queen, and my own personal experience of my coun-

131
trymen tells. me, that,r as on the arid sands of India,
so m any other' quarter of the globe, where the exi
gencies of her- service might require it, her Majesty's
Catholic subjects would be amongst the first to rally
around and sustain her standard against any amount
of hostile odds. I therefore say, that they count
without their host, who imagine that it would now be
possible to convert Irish Catholics into traitors. The
day for reducing them to such unhallowed degrada
tion has passed away for ever.,
Proud of their Milesian descent and historic remi
niscences, and faithful to their ancient Spanish tra.-
ditions, my countrymen cherish an undying attach
ment to monarchical government,, strengthened into
love by the salutary mutation which- has rendered it
responsible, and in accord with free institutions.
Where, within the almost boundless, sway of her
Majesty's constitutional government, could an Irish
man be seized without warrant, clubbed, bayoneted,
starved, flung from one black hole into another, and
kept in solitary confinement, subjected in a chapel to
inquisitorial questions, cunningly devised in order, to
entrap him, denied all knowledge of the nature of the
charge fabricated against him ? The names of accusers
and witnesses studiously concealed from him, no. open
court, no reporters to give publicity, no Queen's Bench,
no Habeas Corpus, no counsel, no trial by jury, to pror
tect the innocent and feeble against such ministerial
corruption and executive tyranny as that which wound
up the aggregate of its despotism, by an arbitrary and
arrogant decree of perpetual banishment, fulminated
K 2

132
with equal audacity and insult, by a military despot ?
It will naturally be asked why and wherefore was this
insolent decree so issued? The answer is, because
the tribunals were obliged to acknowledge that at the
period of the perpetration of the crime, I, the accused,
was one thousand miles distant, and that the shadow
of no other offence could be laid to my charge, not
withstanding the efforts of ministerial minions and
spies for nine months and seventeen days, during which
I was subjected to the cruelties of their inquisitorial
tribunal, and held up to the world, branded with the
imputation of being a cowardly assassin !
Such was the treatment which I, a Catholic Irish
man, received from a Catholic administration in a
Catholic South American Bepublic ! ! !
Again I ask, where, under the Protestant govern
ment of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, could
an Irish Boman Catholic be so treated ? and I answer
my own question, for the information of all foreign
readers, by saying, " Nowhere !" Under our glorious
constitutional Monarchy, it would be, and is, utterly
impossible. Prom the earliest periods of history, we have it on
record, that suspicion is the inseparable companion of
the tyrant.
The facts proved against me, as I now learn from
the records which I have purchased since my liberation,
amount in their greatest enormity to this — that,
having been dogged by spies during thirteen months
previous to my arrest, I travelled through South
America, visiting every part of it, one day here, next

133
there, and the succeeding in an opposite direction,
following no trade, and having no defined object or
destination, one day appearing in humble habiliments
— an old shooting or monkey-jacket — seemingly devoid
of resources, the next, in handsome costume, with
bags of gold and silver, and associating with men of
rank and fashion.
All this being unintelligible to the spies, by whom
I was quite unconscious of being so carefully attended,
became a crime in the eyes of the wary Grand Mar
shal, whose vulgar and untutored mind was incapable
of mounting even to the lowly elevation, which would
have enabled him to comprehend that spirit of travel,
and ardent thirst for information, which has actuated
me from infancy.
In my alterations of dress, and eccentricities of
movement, the suspicions of the old dolt could trace
nought but conspiracies, wiles, and stratagems. Yet
so completely indifferent to me was this man's name
and existence, that the appearance in my wanderings
of a rose, a thistle, or a shamrock, would have excited
more lively interest in me, than the apparition of the
" Grand" himself struggling for importance in the
seven-leagued boots.
Contemplation of the beauties of nature ever pro
duces grateful sensations, its whimsical monstrosities
the reverse, unless where they are combined with the
grotesque, when a mind sensitively alive to the
ridiculous, becomes reconciled to them for the passing
moment. General Miller had come to Lima, on leave of absence

134
from her Majesty, to recover arrears of pay long due to
him as Grand Marshal of Peru, a grade he had won, not
by treachery or intrigue, but by the brilliant services of
his sword in the. field. He it was who decided the two
last battles which established the independence of the
country. Esteemed by all — for he shad served in Chili,
Ecuador, Bolivia, and Buenos Ayres — he was idolised by
the. Peruvians. This in itself would have been sufficient
to make him an object of Castilla' s enmity, but there
were other incentives to bring Indian vindictiveness
into play.
Castilla had beenserving in the ranks, of the Spanish
King, while Lord Cochrane and Miller were leading
the patriots from victory to victory, Castilla per
ceiving, with that cunning which is the leading cha
racteristic of his race, that the cause of his Prince was
on the wane, resolved on betraying his companions,
and, forgetful. of the sacred obligations of his oath, he
availed himself of the first opportunity to desert to the
enemy. General Miller, who was the very soul of honour
and loyalty to the cause which he had espoused, could
not but. regard with secret contempt the traitors who
sought his patronage. Castilla got: employment under
-him, but as no confidence could be reposed in such
men, and as he was reported for .misconduct, instead
of inflicting summary punishment before the troops,
the General kindly sent him off to a position where he
might, by good conduct, make atonement without
enduring the humiliation of public exposure.
When Castilla ^attained to power,.be of course. made

135
himself a Grand Marshal, and ordered the pay of
Miller to be stopped, and his name to be effaced
from the military roll.
But, crushed as the country is under Castilla, this
shameless act was too much to be borne. The spirit
of chivalry and gratitude which is enshrined in the
bosoms of the Peruvian gehtry, and which, though
trampled on, could not be extinguished by the
Dictator's tyranny, developed itself in a unanimous
vote of the Congress, announcing to the world that
" Peru, recognising the deep debt of gratitude it owed
to Grand Marshal William Miller, decreed to him the
possession of his rank, titles, and emoluments."
There is still a hope for the salvation df a country
where a body of gentlemen is to be found, capable of
thus struggling in vindication of national honour.
Many of them have received the advantages of Euro
pean education, and are sincerely desirous to have the
blessings of civilisation and peace enjoyed by their
country, but hitherto their best efforts have been
counteracted by the mischievous satrap who, while
swearing to observe the constitution, crushes it with
an iron'heel, insisting that his capricious and arbitrary
will, shall be substituted- for it and recognised as law.
These patriotic and enlightened gentlemen should not,
however, be discouraged in their constitutional efforts,
nor should they for one moment forget that
" Freedom's battle once begun,
Bequeathed from bleeding Sire to Son,
Though baffled oft,
Is ever won."

136

GENERAL ECHENIQUE.
This thoroughly honourable and enlightened gentle
man and distinguished officer was, by the almost
unanimous voice of the nation, elected President of
the Bepublic.
During the short period he was permitted to remain
in office he effected a greater number of public im
provements than any other President who has ever
governed the country.
Castilla, who had preceded him as head of the State,
finding that this patriot was about to secure happiness,
respect, and prosperity for his countrymen, imme
diately commenced a revolution, and after deluging
the country with blood, he unfortunately succeeded in
driving this upright Magistrate out of Peru.
General Echenique wandered in exile in Europe and
the United States, acquiring a rich store of important
knowledge. .
The spirited Legislature of Peru at length enacted
a decree inviting him back to his native soil and the
bosom of his family ; but although he made repeated
attempts to avail himself of this act of justice, the
jealous and intriguing spirit of Castilla effectually
barred up his entrance.
Pinally, as I learned from the public journals, the
exile proceeded to Callao to demand from his country
men that Castilla should not longer be allowed to
torture him by excluding him from the side of his
wife, who was not at that time expected to live.
The Grand Marshal had him arrested on board a
British steamer and dragged off into one of his filthy

137
hulks, where he was subjected to every species of
indignity and privation.
Castilla fabricated all sorts of charges against him,
upon which he was tried and honourably acquitted by
the Courts of the Bepublic.
The tyrant, nevertheless, had General Echenique
spirited away out of Peru in defiance of the judicial
sentences, the protests of the Legislative bodies, and
the united indignant demands of the People.
One of Castilla' s (professed) motives for thus acting
was, that " General Echenique was a Monarchist, and
wanted to monarchise Peru."
Another of the " Grand's " excuses for having thus
trampled under foot the laws of the country, was, that
" since the Courts had declared General Echenique to
be his innocent victim, it became ~all the more indis
pensable to his (Castilla's) own interests that Eche
nique should again be driven into banishment."
No man could be more highly esteemed by his
countrymen than General Echenique.
I had the happiness of making the acquaintance of
the gallant general during my travels in Bolivia, and
from what I was enabled to learn of his noble cha
racter, I feel confident it will be a happy day for
Peru when she can exchange the iron sway of the
despot, Bamon Castilla, for the pacific and enlight
ened administration of the distinguished Echenique.
The gallant and distinguished General Castillo is
another of the countless victims of the Grand.
The barbarous murder of the heroic General Iguain
in the hulks at Callao leaves but slender hope of ex
citing remorse in the bosom of Castilla.

138
THE GRAND'S INSOLENCE IN ITS ZENITH.
A short time since, when the great maritime
powers of Europe very wisely and humanely decided
on rescuing the rich domain of Montezuma from its
unparalleled horrors, the Pariah Castilla, who now
represents Nero in " La Ciudad de los Beyes," inso
lently dared to hurl forth an illiterate and insulting
protest against their highly enlightened and com
passionate behests in the cause of justice and hu
manity. He employed the unenviable talents of Manuel
A. Puentes, and other such notorious characters, to
assail in his scurrilous Independiente and other
journals the chivalrous policy ofthe Allies 'towards the
oppressed people of Mexico.
He did not (in consequence perhaps of distance)
threaten to devastate " La belle Prance" and " Merry
England" with his fellow sable legions.
He had the audacity, however, to publish to the
world his purposed plans for wresting from her
Castilian Majesty the brightest gem in her diadem
by means of " ten thousand negroes to be transported
vid Panama to Habana !"
The Grand Marshal did not content himself with
these means of fancied intimidation.
He deputed his favourite diplomatist, Manuel
Nicolas Corpancho, to the Mexican capital, to further
stimulate barbarism, murder, and fraud, by placing
at the disposition of the Mexican Government the
wealth of Peru and the blood of his Indian race.
This representative of the worthyBamon Castilla

139
is at this moment in the city of Mexico, and is the
most inveterate and efficient supporter of the bar
barous system Which our gracious Sovereign's most
gallant andfaithful ally (his Imperial Majesty of the
Prench) is nobly labouring to eradicate from that un
happy country. INGAVI. — CASTILLA' S CANTER.
During the Presidency of General Gamarra, Don
Bamon Castilla managed, ignorant and illiterate
though he was, to obtain command of an important
force of the Peruvian army, and, thanks to his in
trigues, war was constantly waged between the Be-
public and the adjoining State of Bolivia.
The strife was finally in a measure terminated in
favour of the latter country on the plateau of Ingavi,
near La Paz, when the numerically far superior army
of Peru suffered a complete defeat through the
treachery or cowardice of Castilla, he having kept
himself and command out of the range of fire until
the rout of the Peruvians was completed, and the
disgrace of Peru consummated.
The Grand Marshal now loves to be styled " El
Jenio Militar y Naval del nuevo Continiente;" "El
Napoleon de las Americas.;" " El Gran Capitan del
Mundo <de Colon."
On the occasion just referred to, he indulged a -hope
that the manner in which he had "effected the deep
humiliation of his fine country and confiding country
men would insure for him a warm reception among
the victors. His expectations were not disappointed

110
as to the temperature of the reception in store for
him, although, no doubt, he would have preferred
having had other forms observed in its extension.
A Bolivian officer, whose brother on a previous oc
casion had been brutally treated by Castilla, instituted
a hot pursuit after him amongst the luggage trains
and camp followers amidst whom he had sought
concealment, and clutched him amongst a score
or so of " Babanas," who, unfortunately for him,
were, as he lay coiled up in a heap of dirty sheep
skins, addressing him by the endearing term "Titi"
(Daddy). The indignant Bolivian hauled the Grand Marshal
out from where he was thus snugly stowed away, into
clear ground, so that he might have every possible
facility for making a good run, and the army a favour
able opportunity for observing his motions while
flying. He was then deprived of his nether garments
by the officer, who, at the same time, gave him no
very gentle dose of the " chicote" (a buU's-hide thong
well seasoned, and varying in circumference from one
to three inches).
The Bolivian liberally allowed to the Grand Marshal
the free use of his legs, the very thing of which
that military chieftain deprived me by means of his
Grillos and Barra on the 22nd of August, 1861.
The chicote must have produced an unpleasant effect
upon the Marshal, for he immediately started off with
rapid strides across the country.
The officer careered after him, and although Grand
Marshal Liberator Don Bamon Castilla, like all the

HI
other Tarapaca half-casts (a race of extraordinary
beings verging between the negro and Indian), was, I
understand, in other days remarkably nimble, he failed
in his efforts to avoid constant whacks from the thong,
until the gentleman who wielded it ceased from sheer
fatigue. Thus did " Su Eccelencia el Libertador Gran Ma
riscal" ("Benemerito en alto grado," &c), make his
exit from the army, to encounter at Cochabamba
his friend "Don David" (Senor Douglas), a yarn-
dyer, who humanely replaced the missing garments,
took him into his house, and fed him.
I ascertained these already notorious facts from
several Peruvian gentlemen (officers of distinction),
while travelling in the vicinity of Cuzco and Titicaca,*
where Castilla had at that time clandestinely collected
a large quantity of arms to supply factions in Bolivia,
which he and his Government publicly professed to
discountenance. The statements of these officers were entirely con
firmed by Douglas, who added several details respect
ing Castilla, which I reserve for a future occasion.
I have also been assured that General Castilla was
the prime instigator of the late dreadful butcheries at
La Paz, the knowledge of which horrified civilised
mankind. Prom my knowledge of his dealings, I feel
perfectly justified in placing implicit reliance in the
statement. His foible consists in believing himself to be a great
* I had during my late travels in South America, the pleasure of crossing
the Cordilleras twelve times.

142
military genius, and his ambition is to impress others
with that idea. To promote this object he squanders
millions on millions of the Peruvian money, while, if
the poor man could be brought to learn anything use
ful, he would see that if all his military pretensions
could be realised, they would not in reality warrant
his aspiring to a higher grade in a European regiment
than that of sergeant-major, if indeed so high.
A Peruvian ecclesiastic has prophesied that the
Grand Marshal is destined to end his days in the
lunatic ward of the Penitentiary now being built in
Lima. Pending the realisation of the good priest's pre
diction, would it not be an act of charity towards, the
Grand himself, as well as of humanity to the public,
that his friends should so arrange as to prevent him
from inflicting further injury on the country ?
Why should the meeting of the Conseil de Pamille
and the Medical Board be further postponed, to the
risk of the community at large ?
HORRIBLE MURDER OP A BRITON.
One day, during my imprisonment at San Prancisco
de Paula, several Peruvian gentlemen informed me
that a dreadful tragedy had been perpetrated by the
Government officials in Callao.
These gentlemen appeared horror-stricken and terri
fied at this fresh act of atrocity on the part of their
Government. They described this horrid occurrence to me as
follows :

143
" Pour or five days since, when the mate of an
English ship was taking a walk on the Alameda, in
Callao, he was attacked by two well-known robbers
and murderers. He fortunately happened to be armed,
and shot one of his assailants. He pursued the other,
and, having captured him, brought him before the
Intendente, frankly stated the facts of the case, and
gave the culprit into custody.
"The Intendente told the Englishman he admired
his brave conduct, and that it would be requisite for
him to remain a short time at the Intendencia, in order
to have his testimony recorded.
" Your countryman was then locked up in an awful
calaboose, and his intended assassin was placed, at
liberty. " The door of his dungeon was not opened until
after the lapse of four days, during which he was
totally deprived of food and water, consequently, when
his dungeon door was opened, his corpse was found
extended on the floor.
" The Chalaco published the particulars of this
horrible murder, but our Government suppressed the
edition containing them. Good Heavens ! what will
Great Britain think of all this ?"
I instantly wrote off to. some friends, instructing
them to purchase for me,, at any price, a number of
the Chalaco containing the recital.
One of my friends offered twenty dollars for a
number of the edition iu, question, and was assured
the Government had effectually prevented all possi
bility of availing of his handsome offer.

APPENDIX.

JOHN BARTON, ESQ.,
H.B.M.'S ACTING CHARGE D'AFFAIRES, &C, LIMA.
Sir, — On the 5th of last February I wrote to you from my
hotel in Lima, in consequence of language and conduct which
you had permitted yourself to employ towards me.
When I reached the Legation about noon, in order to deliver
my note, I found the door locked, and learned that you were, as
usual, rusticating at Chorillos.
I then allowed myself to be dissuaded by a compassionating
friend of yours from leaving my letter. He, with very great
benevolence, pleaded in extenuation of your unbecoming con
duct that, having been employed a long time, you were on the
point of retiring on a handsome pension.
This friend of yours also told me that you had allowed the
contents of my previous little notes so to operate upon your
equanimity, that if I persisted in delivering my letter you would
become clean demented.
Being now about to publish, for the information of our Govern
ment and fellow-subjects at home, a short statement of the mode
in which her Majesty's interests (the protection of whose subjects
abroad, forms one dear to her heart) are neglected by her paid ser
vants, or some of them, it becomes requisite that the letter in
question shall see the light. I therefore beg leave to mention the
matter to you, and to state in addition, that it is only in conse
quence of delay on the part of the printer that I am deprived of
the opportunity of transmitting you a copy by this mail. By the
next you shall have it. But I desire to assure you that the pass-

145
mg allusions to your conduct are given merely with the view of
protecting our fellow-subjects from a repetition of such neglect on
the part of the Consular body as I have experienced at your
Hands. I am happy to say no injury can accrue to you. Were
that possible-much as I have suffered-I would refrain from
mentioning your name; but your comfortable future being as
sured, were I to abstain from naming you there would be a sup^
pression of truth, to the detriment of thousands of loyal subjects.
I have the honour, to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
T. Melville White.
Princes-square,, Kennington Park, ,2 a.m.
London, August 1, 1862.

JOHN BARTON, ESQ.,
H.B.M.'S ACTING CHARGE r>?AFFAIRES, &C, LIMA.
SlR, — I have the honour to inform you that you should have
received the accompanying letter by last mail, had it not been
detained in London for the reasons assigned by the Postmaster-
General on the fly of the envelope, to which I beg to direct your
notice. When taking a last farewell of your friend and patron, dear
"OLD BOOTS," should he, while giving you thanks for past
favours, affectionately style you his dear OLD « CLOATHS," you
may resent the' playful insinuation against your well-established
erudition, by telling him, in serious tone, that the hour has sounded
when cajolery on the part of the Peruvian Government must cease,
as well as toadyism- on the part of British officials.
Say that a, knowledge of his outrageous executive excesses,
domestic and foreign, is at length beginning to attract the notice
of this country;, that British forbearance carried beyond certain
limits becomes criminal, and that if his scandalous disregard of
the rights and privileges of British subjects does not at once ter
minate, he will infallibly come to " grief.""
Tell him from me, to whom he presumed to apply the epithets
*Vago, Bribon, Petardis-ta, and Asesinoj" that the Queen of
Great Britain recognises no distinction' between the most humble
L

146
and the most exalted of her subjects, when compelled by foreign
tyranny to fly to her for redress of their wrongs.
Point out to the " Grand Marshal" that H.M. Minister
in the House of the People, stands pledged to the world to exact
ample compensation for the outrages committed by him, in his
insolence of pride, on -Captain de Wolfe Carvell and me; then add
that the plighted word of a Minister in this country is sacred and
inviolable. Should you succeed in impressing this truth on a Government
which regards mendacity and evasion, as proofs of administrative
capacity, you will, before your departure, have rendered another
and by far the greatest of services to Peruvian authority.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
T. Melville White.
P.S. You may allow the Grand Marshal to read this note, or
you may furnish him with a copy.
T. M. W.
Princes Square, Kennington Park,
London, Aug. ]0, 1862.

The "Times" of August 5, 1862.
"outrages in peru.
" Captain Jervis asked the Under-Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs whether any steps had been taken to obtain from
the Government of Peru satisfaction for the outrages committed
against Captain Melville White and Captain Carvell.
" Mr. Layard said the treatment by the Peruvian Government
of British subjects had been such as to call for the most grave
remonstrance on the part of her Majesty's Government. The
two cases referred to by the hon. and gallant member were only
examples of the unjustifiable proceedings which the Peruvian
Government had taken with respect to Englishmen in Peru.
Captain White had been arrested, thrown into prison, treated
in the most barbarous manner, refused a statement of the charges

147
against him, and suddenly sent out of the country. He was
now preparing a statement of his case, which as soon as it was
received at the Foreign Office would be acted upon by the Go
vernment and redress demanded for Captain White. Captain
Carvell had had the misfortune to fall into the jaws of what must
in courtesy be called a court of justice. Until the legal proceed
ings were exhausted, her Majesty's Government could not inter
fere : but the case had been referred to the law officers of the
Crown, and further papers were expected from Peru. When the
Government were in a position to act they would endeavour to
obtain justice for Captain Carvell. Both these cases were most
serious, and the House might rest assured that her Majesty's
Government would insist on full reparation. (Hear, hear.)"
Mr. John Barton having through a mutual friend conveyed that
he did not wish to receive from me any further written communi
cations, because he had already been plagued with too many of
them, I was placed under the necessity of addressing the following
note to that friend for Mr. John Barton's information :
Dear Sir, — When Mr. Barton was with me yesterday we
differed in opinion relative to the tenor of the sentence passed
against me by Judge Carrillo.
To me it appears quite evident that the Judge absolves me
from the charge of being an assassin or a disturber of public order;
but that on account of my being " very poor," and " not know
ing," as he says, " any profession," the Peruvian Government
possess the right to banish me, and he framed his sentence ac
cordingly. Kindly call Mr. Barton's attention to this important point.
All my fellow-prisoners understand the sentence as I do.
Slight misconceptions at present might lead to future miscon
struction and complication, and I do not like after corrections.
This is the all-important stage of my case, and I am particularly
desirous that it should be faithfully chronicled, so that the public
may hereafter distinctly understand it.
Mankind will be my judges, and whatever amount of damages

148
they may award me, that amount will I claim and insist on as my
due. I will be no party to any compromise.
I want and must obtain ample justice !
My profession (of which these rascals pretend to be ignorant)
renders me perfectly independent.
Our country owes me justice, and if she does not insist on it for
me, the fault will not be mine.
The violation of the integrity of the Peruvian constitution, as
well as the violation of the specific articles of the written code, in
every stage of the course pursued towards me, proclaim that no
amount of pecuniary compensation can make adequate amends for
the mass of outrages of which I have' been made the victim.
Yours very truly,
T. Melville White.
Police Barracks of San Prancisco de Paula,
November 5, 1861.*

Before terminating this hasty sketch I wish to assure my dis
tinguished kind friends and fellow-subjects that no single act,
word, or thought of mine has ever been calculated to sully the
honour of the flag under which I have served, or the land of my
birth. Can General Castilla venture to say as much ? or any one for
him ?
I close for the present, as I begun, with a quotation from an
old Roman, inculcating that,
" When an attempt is made to deprive a man of the
benefit of his social position, and to depreciate his acts
or services, or convert them into imputations to his
disparagement, — It is then not alone his prerogative,
but it becomes his duty to speak out,, and make all
known to the utmost of his power."
* The Comercio (Times of Peru) had sufficient public spirit to stigmatise the
judgment pronounced against me by Judge Carrillo as
" SENTENCIA MONSTKUOSA."
THE END.

E