unt was sent
away from the capital to Ancon. Seeing that no intention existed on the
part of the Protector's Government to do justice to the Chilian
squadron, whilst every effort was made to excite discontent among the
officers and men with the purpose of procuring their transfer to Peru, I
seized the public money, satisfied the men, and saved the navy to the
Chilian Republic, which afterwards warmly thanked me for what I had
done. Despite the obloquy cast upon me by the Protector's Government,
there was nothing wrong in the course I pursued, if only for the reason
that if the Chilian squadron was to be preserved, _it was impossible for
me to have done otherwise_. Years of reflection have only produced the
conviction, that, were I again placed in similar circumstances, I should
adopt precisely the same course.

CHAPTER IX.

ARRIVAL AT GUAYAQUIL--ADDRESS TO GUAYAQUILENOS--INJURIOUS MONOPOLIES
--MINISTERIAL FOLLY--DEPARTURE FROM GUAYAQUIL--ARRIVAL IN
MEXICO--ANCHOR AT ACAPULCO--MOCK AMBASSADORS--PLOT AGAINST ME--RETURN
TO GUAYAQUIL--VENGANZA TAKEN POSSESSION OF--AGREEMENT WITH
JUNTA--GENERAL LA MAR--ORDERS TO WITHHOLD SUPPLIES--ABOMINABLE
CRUELTY--COURTLY SPLENDOUR--DESTRUCTION OF A DIVISION OF THE
ARMY--DISSATISFACTION OF OFFICERS--RENEWED OVERTURES FROM SAN
MARTIN--THEIR REFUSAL BY ME--WARNING TO THE CHILIAN GOVERNMENT.

The orders of the Protector to proceed to Chili were not complied with,
1st, because having thrown off his allegiance to Chili, he had no right
to interfere with the squadron; and, 2ndly, as the Spanish frigates
remained at large, my mission was incomplete till they were taken or
destroyed.

Before going in quest of them, it was essential to repair, equip, and
provision the ships, none of which purposes could be effected in Peru,
the Protector not only having refused supplies, but having also issued
orders on the coast to withhold necessaries of all kinds even to wood
and water. From want of stores, none of the ships were fit for sea; even
the _Valdivia_, so admirably found when captured, was now in as bad a
condition as the rest, from the necessity which had arisen of
distributing her equipment amongst the other ships; and to complete her
inefficiency, the Protector refused to restore the anchors which had
been cut away from her bows at the time of her capture, thus adding to
our embarrassment.

Many of the officers had gone over to the service of Peru, and the
foreign seamen had been ke