e of the United States warships in the harbour of Rio on
behalf of some merchant vessels of their nationality threatened by the
revolutionary squadron. By this means the rebels lost prestige, and the
situation of Admiral da Gama, who had been left in command of the rebel
fleet, became serious.

On March 7 the vessels ordered by Peixoto from Europe arrived off Rio,
and da Gama, hearing no news from Mello, took refuge, with his officers
and men, on some Portuguese men-of-war. The authorities of Rio demanded
that these crews should be given up, but the Portuguese refused to
surrender them, and sailed away from the harbour with the insurgents on
board, a proceeding which caused a diplomatic rupture between Portugal
and Brazil.

A few days after this a misunderstanding occurred between the Government
and the Commander of the British vessels, and the _Cirius_ threatened to
open fire on the Brazilian vessels. The matter was, however, settled
without a shot being expended.

In the meanwhile affairs had not been favouring the revolutionists in
the south. Admiral de Mello's silence had been due to a breakdown in the
machinery of his ships, and not to any lack of initiative of his own.
After some time the Admiral arrived at Curitiba, from which point he
journeyed inland to Punto Grosso, where he met General Saraiva. At a
council held between the two, a Governor was named for the State of
Parana, and Southern Brazil was declared independent of Peixoto's
Government. When the news of Admiral da Gama's surrender came to
Curitiba, the unexpected blow tended greatly to the disorganization of
the movements of the insurgents, and when a division of 5,000 Government
troops marched from Sao Paulo to Curitiba, it met with no resistance.

While this was occurring, the revolutionist cruiser _Republica_ and
three armed transports, having 1,500 men on board, had sailed for the
harbour of Rio Grande. The summons to surrender was ignored by the town,
and Mello, after bombarding the place, landed a force which in the end
was repulsed. After this, despairing of success, Mello sailed to the
Argentine port of La Plata, where he surrendered to the Argentine
Government, who at once handed his vessels over to Brazil. The
_Aquidaban_, the remaining insurgent warship, was torpedoed a little
later by a Government vessel, and the stricken ship was run ashore and
abandoned.

General Saraiva in the south was shot in the course of a skirmish, and
the revo