On the 31st of January, the interim President apprised me that the Junta refused to liquidate any part of the claim made in behalf of the squadron.  Upon this refusal, I wrote to the Junta that, such being their decision, I would hold them personally responsible that no bills, debts, nor claims of any kind beyond the current expenses of government should be paid, till this prior claim—­in honour and justice due to the officers and seamen, who had generously advanced their prize money to meet state exigencies—­should be liquidated; adding, that the seamen relied on me for justice, and if my warning were not attended to, I should be compelled to take such steps as the necessity of upholding the interests of the crown and the efficiency of the naval service appeared to demand.

In taking this step, I frankly admit that it was the only way to obtain from the Government of Maranham even a compromise for the amount owing by the province to the captors.  I had every confidence in His Imperial Majesty that as far as lay in his power justice would be done, as evinced by the acknowledgments given in his own handwriting in opposition to the measures of his ministers, on whom, or the prize tribunal, no reliance could be placed; the former having done all in their power to thwart my efforts in His Majesty’s service, whilst the tribunal, acting by the sanction or in conformity to the known wishes of the ministry, had delayed adjudication, with the evident intention of evading it altogether, except in cases which gave a colour for condemning me in damages, in which respect—­apparently their only object—­they were prompt enough.

I therefore determined that as a specific portion of the prize property taken at Maranham in 1823, had, at its own request, been given up to the provisional Government, upon the express understanding of repayment —­without which it could not have been thus surrendered—­the Junta should be made to preserve their own good faith, as well as mine, to the squadron, which, relying on my promises, had been influenced temporarily to devote to the exigencies of the State that which by imperial decree, as well as according to the laws of all nations, was their undoubted right.

My orders to the Junta of Fazenda not to pay any claims—­with the exception of the ordinary expenses of Government—­till those of the squadron had been satisfied, were, however, almost superogatory; for, on a visit of inspection to the arsenal on the 2nd of February, it appeared that they had established a system of not paying any debts, even those incurred for the provisions of the squadron, the contract prices being set down at treble the market price! This overcharge was accounted for by the merchants on the ground of dilatory payments, which could only be obtained at all from the Junta by fees to those whose duty it was to pass the accounts!  To counteract this, I requested the interim President to forbid any further purchases on the part of the provincial Government, as, in future, I would make them myself, and, what was more to the purpose, pay for them.