, would take this view of the case, was a subject of
conjecture, of course, but the captain's counsel strongly advised him to
take position upon the ground that he was entitled to half the treasure.
Under present circumstances, when Captain Horn was so well prepared to
maintain his rights, it was thought that the Peruvian authorities might
easily be made to see the advisability of accepting a great advantage
freely offered, instead of endeavoring to obtain a greater advantage, in
regard to which it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to legally
prove anything or to claim anything.

Therefore, it was advised that a commission should be sent to Lima to
open negotiations upon the subject, with instructions to make no
admissions in regard to the amount of the treasure, its present places of
deposit, or other particulars, until the Peruvian government should
consent to a satisfactory arrangement.

To this plan Captain Horn consented, determining, however, that, if the
negotiations of his commission should succeed, he would stipulate that at
least one half the sum paid to Peru should be devoted to the advantage of
the native inhabitants of that country, to the establishment of schools,
hospitals, libraries, and benefactions of the kind. If the commission
should not succeed, he would then attend to the matter in his own way.

Thus, no matter what happened, he would still insist upon his claim
to one fifth of the total amount as his pay for the discovery of the
treasure, and in this claim his lawyers assured him he could be
fully secured.

Other matters were in a fair way of settlement. The captain had made
Shirley and Burke his agents through whom he would distribute to the
heirs of the crew of the _Castor_ their share of the treasure which had
been apportioned to them, and the two sailors had already gone to America
upon this mission. How to dispose of the _Arato_ had been a difficult
question, upon which the captain had taken legal advice. That she had
started out from Valparaiso with a piratical crew, that those pirates had
made an attack upon him and his men, and that, in self-defence, he had
exterminated them, made no difference in his mind, or that of his
counsellors, as to the right of the owners of the vessel to the return of
their property. But a return of the vessel itself would be difficult and
hazardous. Whoever took it to Valparaiso would be subject to legal
inquiry as to the fate of the men who had hir