Shortly previous to this, the Chevalier Gameiro addressed a letter to Lieutenant Shepherd, under the title of "Commander of the Piranga!" unjustifiably informing him officially that "I had retired from the service of His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil!" notwithstanding my letters to him in contradiction. Indeed, the letter just quoted is sufficient to shew that not only had I not relinquished the service, but that I refused to obey Gameiro's order to proceed to Rio, because I knew that if the frigate returned to Brazil, the impression her presence had produced on Portugal would be altogether neutralized, and the negociations for peace might be indefinitely prolonged; so that his order to run away from the good which had been effected, was so truly absurd, that I did not choose to comply with it. Had the negociations for peace been broken off, I had formed plans of attacking Portugal in her own waters, though with but a single frigate; and I had no reasonable doubt of producing an impression there of no less forcible a character than, with a single ship, I had, two years before, produced on the Portuguese fleet in Brazil. The order was, therefore, one commanding me to run away from my own plans, of which the Envoy however knew nothing, as I did not feel justified in entrusting him with my intentions.

On receiving the above-mentioned intimation to proceed to Rio de Janeiro—without my intervention, Lieutenant Shepherd very properly forwarded the Envoy's letter to me—when, of course, I apprised him that he was under my command, and not under that of the Chevalier Gameiro. At the same time I wrote to the latter, that "it would be the subject of regret if anything should cause the spurious decree of the 28th of February, 1824, to be brought into operation, but that, at present, being in full possession of my office and authority, my opinion was in no way changed, that the Piranga should be first fully equipped, and then wait for a reasonable time for the decision of those important matters in discussion."

Finding that Lieutenant Shepherd would not fly in the face of my authority, the Envoy finally resorted to the extraordinary measure of stopping the seamen's wages and provisions. On the 6th of October, Lieutenant Shepherd wrote to me, that "in consequence of their wages not being paid they had all left off work, and though Clarence did all he could to pacify them, and get them to return to their duty, they had determined not to go to work until they were paid." On the 8th, Lieutenant Shepherd again wrote, "that Gameiro having ceased to supply the frigate with fresh provisions, he had, on his own responsibility, ordered the butcher to continue supplying them as usual." On Lieutenant Shepherd waiting upon the Envoy to remonstrate against this system of starvation, he replied—and his words are extracted from Lieutenant Shepherd's letter to me, that as "His Lordship did not think proper to sail at the time he wished, he would not be responsible for supplying the frigate with anything more—nor would he advance another shilling." In all this, Gameiro—acting, no doubt, on instructions from the Portuguese faction at Rio—resorted to every kind of falsehood to get the officers to renounce my authority and to accept his! Of the character of the man and his petty expedients, the following extract from Lieutenant Shepherd's letter of the 8th of October, will form the best exponent:—

I have had another visit from General Brown, when he began a conversation by mentioning the evils which would arise from the feeling between your Lordship and Gameiro, who was at a loss how to act, as he had no authority over you—Gen. Brown suggesting how much better it would be for me to place myself under Gameiro's orders. Finding that I refused—on the following morning he called again, and told me that he had seen Gameiro, and had heard that the misunderstanding between your Lordship and him was at an end, but that Gameiro wanted to see me. On this I waited on Gameiro, who after some conversation told me that if I had any regard for His Imperial Majesty's service, I should never have acted as I had done. I told him that all I had done had been for the good of the service, and that I was ready to put to sea as soon as I received your Lordship's orders. He then asked me if I was the effective Captain of the ship? and whether I was not under the orders of Captain Crosbie? I told him that I was not acting under the orders of Captain Crosbie, but that I was Captain of the ship by virtue of a commission from the Emperor, and by an order from Lord Cochrane. He then said—Are you authorised to obey the orders of Captain Crosbie? and I said, I was not. Suppose you were to receive an order from Captain Crosbie, would you obey it? I said I would not. Then you consider yourself the lawful Captain of that ship? I do.

Upon this Gameiro remarked, "You are not an officer of Lord Cochrane's, but of the Imperial Government. It is impossible for Lord Cochrane to return to the Brazils as the Admiralty Court there has sentenced him to pay £.60,000 sterling, and his command will cease as soon as peace is made between Brazil and Portugal! Besides, Lord Cochrane's motive for detaining the Piranga is the expectation on his part of receiving £.6000 per annum at the termination of the war, which the Government will never give him!"

Finding that this made no impression on me, he began to threaten, saying that "he would state to his Government that all delay was occasioned by me, and that I should have to answer for it." I told him that, in the event of my sailing without your orders, I subjected myself to be tried by a court-martial for so doing, and leaving your Lordship behind. He answered that "I must be aware that he was the legal representative of His Imperial Majesty, and that he would give me despatches of such a nature as would not only exonerate me from all blame, but would shew the great zeal I had for His Imperial Majesty's service."

I asked Gameiro—if I were to act in such a manner, what would people think of me? The answer was, "Never mind what Lord Cochrane says, you will be in the Brazils and he in England, and I will take upon myself all the blame and the responsibility." He gave me till the evening to think of his proposals, and if I would not consent to them, he had other means of sending the Piranga to sea. He further requested me to keep this secret from your Lordship, as if you heard of it you would come post and stop it; adding that if I would consent, he would send a sufficient number of men in a steamboat, with every kind of store and provisions required to complete us, and we were to sail immediately.

This deep laid plot of Gameiro's was not to be carried on as Portuguese plots are in general, but was to be done—using his own words—at a blow, before anybody could know anything about it.

With this I send a copy of my answer to Gameiro's proposals, and a
letter representing the state of the ship.

I have the honour to remain
Your Lordship's obedient Servant,
JA'S. SHEPHERD.