of
Brazil.

These, however, were but empty honours. His sailors remained unpaid; by a
system of wholesale fraud they received but an insignificant fraction of
the prize-money due to them; for the Portuguese faction were still
predominant in the Brazilian ministry, and Lord Cochrane was so openly
insulted that he felt his position untenable. He remained, however, for a
year longer in the service, in order to obtain for his sailors some
portion of the arrears of pay and of the insignificant amount of
prize-money that was admittedly their due. His resignation could not be
much longer delayed, but finally it was brought about by accident. He was
cruising in the _Piranza_, to which he had shifted his flag, when he was
carried far out to sea by strong easterly winds. These increased to a
heavy gale, when it was discovered that many of the spars were so
unserviceable that sail could not be set on them.

The rigging was absolutely rotten, as were the provisions on board. He
could do nothing but run before the gale as long as it lasted, and by that
time he had sailed far across the Atlantic. Return was impossible for him,
seeing the condition of the ship, and the fact that there was not more
than a week's supply of wholesome food remaining. He therefore decided
that the only chance of safety was to continue his voyage to England. This
he did, and reached Portsmouth in safety, and his first step was to
advance L2000 to refit the ship. But his enemies in Brazil made out that
his voyage to England was an absolute desertion, and sent instructions to
the officers and crew no longer to obey his orders. He therefore sent off
the letter of resignation he had so long intended. Thus, at the close of
his two commands, in which he had brought about the expulsion of the
Spaniards from the western coast of South America, and that of the
Portuguese from the eastern, Lord Cochrane, so far from having reaped any
personal benefit from his splendid services and daring exploits, was
absolutely a poorer man by L20,000 than when he left the shores of
England.

Stephen had, by Lord Cochrane's advice, resigned his commission as soon as
the admiral saw that there was no hope of obtaining fair treatment from
the Portuguese faction, who determined that the sailors should derive no
benefit from the work they had done.

"Chili was bad," he said; "but in Chili there was some honest popular
feeling, and this acted as a check and prevented the council carr