ade the acquaintance of Dr.
Perera, owner and editor of "El Commercio Jornal," and soon after the
_Spray_ was safely moored in Upper Topsail Reach, the doctor, who is a
very enthusiastic yachtsman, came to pay me a visit and to carry me up
the waterway of the lagoon to his country residence. The approach to
his mansion by the waterside was guarded by his armada, a fleet of
boats including a Chinese sampan, a Norwegian pram, and a Cape Ann
dory, the last of which he obtained from the _Destroyer_. The doctor
dined me often on good Brazilian fare, that I might, as he said,
"salle gordo" for the voyage; but he found that even on the best I
fattened slowly.

Fruits and vegetables and all other provisions necessary for the
voyage having been taken in, on the 23d of October I unmoored and made
ready for sea. Here I encountered one of the unforgiving Mello faction
in the person of the collector of customs, who charged the _Spray_
tonnage dues when she cleared, notwithstanding that she sailed with a
yacht license and should have been exempt from port charges. Our
consul reminded the collector of this and of the fact--without much
diplomacy, I thought--that it was I who brought the _Destroyer_ to
Brazil. "Oh, yes," said the bland collector; "we remember it very
well," for it was now in a small way his turn.

Mr. Lungrin, a merchant, to help me out of the trifling difficulty,
offered to freight the _Spray_ with a cargo of gunpowder for Bahia,
which would have put me in funds; and when the insurance companies
refused to take the risk on cargo shipped on a vessel manned by a crew
of only one, he offered to ship it without insurance, taking all the
risk himself. This was perhaps paying me a greater compliment than I
deserved. The reason why I did not accept the business was that in so
doing I found that I should vitiate my yacht license and run into more
expense for harbor dues around the world than the freight would amount
to. Instead of all this, another old merchant friend came to my
assistance, advancing the cash direct.

While at Pernambuco I shortened the boom, which had been broken when
off the coast of Morocco, by removing the broken piece, which took
about four feet off the inboard end; I also refitted the jaws. On
October 24,1895, a fine day even as days go in Brazil, the _Spray_
sailed, having had abundant good cheer. Making about one hundred miles
a day along the coast, I arrived at Rio de Janeiro November 5, without