Azcarate, more than compensated for this loss by the staunchness and good-comradeship they displayed from start to finish. At the lofty mining town of Cerro de Pasco they came across some mining machinery which had been erected by an English company in 1827. The company had failed, but considering this remarkably early enterprise, it surely deserved a better fate! After this, it may be mentioned in parenthesis, occurred a certain disappointment in the expected escort, for instead of two hundred soldiers only nine made their appearance. And these-perhaps to render their numbers more formidable-were accompanied by their wives and children! In the end-owing to the reduced circumstances of the party and the continued desertions of the Indians-the route originally chosen had to be given up, and it was decided to make for the Huallaga River instead. There was no more question now of mountain sickness, snow, and barren peaks. Passing downwards through coffee plantations and pleasant vegetation, they embarked at length on the lovely little stream of the Chinchao, with the keen delight of sailors setting foot even in the frailest of canoes. The Chinchao almost immediately led into the Huallaga, and the party soon found itself negotiating the rapids of that important stream. At one of the tiny river ports the two British naval officers organized a ceremony such as those waters had never witnessed before. The occasion was the launching of a new canoe to hold the Peruvian officers. Thanks to the festal exertions of the entire party, the canoe took the water fluttering with British and Peruvian colors, while the drums and pipes of the Indians sounded at their very loudest! After this laudable joviality it was a little disconcerting for the expedition to find that the new Indian crews refused to start unless they were accompanied in the canoes by their wives, children, dogs, cats, and a number of pots and pans. But there was nothing for it, and so it was with the gunwales of its canoes almost submerged by this unwelcome and heterogeneous load that the party went on its way downstream, the genial Indians presently killing for food some red-bearded monkeys which, owing to the unshaven state of Smyth and Lowe, they insisted on calling the Englishmen's countrymen! It is more instructive to note that even in these remote Indian settlements on the banks of the various streams printed cottons, green baize, ribbons, cutlery, glass beads, and other objects of the kind were to be met with, all of British manufacture. In fact, "we never entered a place, that was more than a small village," say the joint authors, "in which we did not meet with some of the manufactures of our own country." It is on reading such phrases as these that it is difficult to refrain from the condition of a laudator temporis acti! At the next halting place of importance the party found itself received with an amazing amount of pomp and ceremony. This, it eventually appeared, was owing to the strategy of a messenger sent in advance, who had little faith in the half-savage inhabitants. As a precautionary measure against their wilder instincts he had announced that a general, his aide-de-camp, a saint, and a priest were about to arrive! The prospect of this militant, ecclesiastical, and haloed galaxy completely overawed the villagers, and when the officers of the expedition saw the wealth of fowls, fish, and plantains which awaited them they forgave the fertile imagination of their messenger! In due course the party emerged upon the broad, glassy stream of the Ucayali, and both the Samarang officers justly congratulated themselves on being the first Englishmen to float on these waters. Soon after this the expedition became the guests of a notable Peruvian missionary, Padre Plaza, who used his very important influence over the Indians in their favor. This solitary mission station at Sarayucu, a few miles up a tributary stream of the Ucayali, was the limit of the Peruvian officers' journey, and it was with a sincere mutual regret and an exchange of cheers that Beltran and Azcarate separated themselves from their British comrades, who started on their long journey downstream, their quaint craft adorned at all points with live specimens of the rarer birds and monkeys such as the two had been able to collect. The remainder of the journey down the great network of the Amazon basin streams was safely effected. No cannibal attacks were encountered, and, indeed, it was only when the party began to approach the more important Brazilian centers toward the Atlantic coast that a vital but prosaic inconvenience began to be felt-the lack of funds. It seemed something of an anomaly that an expedition which had braved climate, cataracts, and cannibals, and had penetrated the heart of the continent from west to east should be held up for the sake of a few dollars! It was so, however, and the situation was only relieved by the sale of a double-barreled gun, a valued gift of Captain Paget's of the Samarang. On the proceeds of this gun they continued their journey to Pará—and even had a few coppers to spare for a canoe ornamented with a silver-gilt crown which they encountered on its way upstream on a religious begging expedition, a craft which came gliding along the tropical stream with flag flying and to the pomp of drum beats and the music of hymns! After this they floated down without further incident of note to Pará where, having occupied eight months on the journey, they met with a most cordial welcome from the officers of H.M. sloop Dispatch which happened to be lying in the port, as well as from the British merchants of the place. Thus ended a small but notable expedition, the value of whose surveys was freely and fully acknowledged by the Peruvian Government. It was some ten years later that the upper reaches of the second greatest river system of the continent were opened to foreign traffic. In 1845 a treaty was entered into between Great Britain and Paraguay, which gave British subjects the right to navigate the Paraguayan rivers. Incidentally, it permitted them to reside in any part of Paraguay-their area of residence had previously been confined to the town of Asuncion-and to marry Paraguayans: a privilege of which they had not legally been considered as worthy until then! CHAPTER XIV THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL (1) Influence of the Spanish occupation on the policy of Brazil-Some attempt at settlement in the North-Irrigating port regulations— Bahia as a place of call-The court of Portugal-Political situation in the Peninsula-Dilemma of the regent, Prince João-The result of vacillation-Eventual adoption of the British proposals-Advance of Junot-Flight of the court-Arrival of the royal fleet at Bahia-The event described-Enthusiasm of the Brazilians-The British vessels-Inconveniences endured by the royal party and the court on the voyage-Assistance rendered by the sailors in a delicate situation-The manufacture of garments at sea-Prince Pedro's clothes-Arrival of the royal party at Rio de Janeiro-Joy of the inhabitants-The British fleet in Brazilian waters-Arrival of Sir W. Sidney Smith-Opening of the Brazilian ports-Concessions to foreigners-Erection of an English church-Differing views of the local ecclesiastics-A subtle bishop-Testimony of English and American clerics-Mercantile collections and consular fees-Enterprise of the British merchants-An overflow of imported goods-Want of judg ment and its results-Consequences of climatic ignorance-Incidents of some naval cruises-Loss of the Agamemnon-Contemporary midshipmen's quarters. HE influence of the Spaniards on the policy of T Portuguese Empire had thrown off the dominion of Spain. Notwithstanding the genuine friendship which existed between the British and Portuguese in Europe, several armed collisions between the two nations occurred in Brazil. The British occasionally joined the expeditions of the Dutch West India Company, that had been formed for the conquest and colonization of the north of Brazil, and in 1629 we find an Irishman of the name of James Purcel in command of a settlement established on the Island of Tocujos. After a desperate resistance the place capitulated on |