The second volume is of a character somewhat similar.  It narrates the circumstances under which—­by promises the most inviting, and stipulations the most binding—­I was induced to accept the command, or rather organization of the first Brazilian navy.  It details the complete expulsion of all Portuguese armaments, naval and military, from the Eastern shores of the South American Continent, by the squadron alone, wholly unaided by military co-operation; in the course of which arduous service, ships of war, merchant vessels, and valuable property to the extent of several millions of dollars were captured under the Imperial order, and their value—­in spite of previous stipulations—­refused to the captors, on the falsely assumed ground that the provinces liberated were Brazilian—­though a Brazilian military force had been recently beaten in an attempt to expel the Portuguese—­and though these provinces were, at the period of my assuming the command, in the uninterrupted occupation of the very Portuguese fleets and armies afterwards expelled, it was falsely pretended that the property captured was not enemy’s property—­though expressly described as such in numerous Imperial decrees—­and more especially by the instructions given to me by His Imperial Majesty to seize or destroy it wherever found.

It was, in short, subsequently decided by a Court of Admiralty—­for the most part composed of Portuguese members, acting under the influence of a Portuguese faction in the Administration—­that neither myself nor the squadron were entitled to the prizes made—­though most inconsistently, the same tribunal condemned the ships of war taken—­as “droits” to the crown—­for which, compensation was awarded to the squadron by His Imperial Majesty, but never paid by the ministers to whom the order was directed.

Not to anticipate the contents of the volume devoted to Brazilian affairs.  It being found after the expulsion of the enemy, that the stipulations made with myself were too binding to be easily set aside, several futile attempts were made to evade them, but this being found impossible, the unworthy expedient was resorted to of summarily dismissing me from the service, after the establishment of peace with Portugal—­an event entirely consequent on my individual services.  By this expedient—­of the rectitude or otherwise of which the reader will be able to judge from the documentary evidence laid before him—­I was got rid of without compensation for my claims, which for thirty years were altogether repudiated; but, at the expiration of that period, fully recognised as having been due from the beginning! The Brazilian Government, however, satisfied its own sense of justice by awarding me less than one-half the simple interest of the amount stipulated in my patents; thus retaining the whole of the principal admitted to be due.

The preceding remarks form a synopsis of my career on both sides of the continent of South America; the narrative, where dispute might arise, being carefully founded on, and in all cases accompanied by documentary evidence, which admits neither dispute nor contradiction.