On the following day His Imperial Majesty invited me at an early hour to the palace, in order to accompany him on a visit to the ships of war, with some of which I was much pleased, as demonstrative of the exertions which must have been made within a short time to get them into such creditable condition. Great care had evidently been bestowed upon the Pedro Primiero, rated as a 74—though in the English service she would have been termed a 64. She was evidently a good sailer, and was ready for sea, with four months provisions on board, which scarcely half filled her hold, such was her capacity for stowage; I had therefore reason to be satisfied with my intended flagship.
Another showy vessel was the Maria da Gloria—a North American clipper; a class of vessels in those days little calculated to do substantial service, being built of unseasoned wood, and badly fastened. Though mounting 32 guns, she was a ship of little force, having only 24-pounder carronades, mixed with short 18-pounder guns. As a redeeming feature, she was commanded by a Frenchman, Captain Beaurepaire, who had contrived to rally round him some of his own countrymen, mingled with native Brazilians—in which he displayed considerable tact to free himself from the unpromising groups elsewhere to be selected from.
The history of this vessel was not a little curious: she had been built in North America at the expense of the Chilian Government, and sent to Buenos Ayres, where an additional 40,000 dollars was demanded by her owners. Payment of this was demurred to, when, without the slightest consideration for the expense incurred by Chili in her building and equipment, her captain suddenly got under weigh, and proceeding to Rio de Janeiro, sold her to the Brazilian Government.
I was further much pleased with the Piranga, a noble frigate mounting long 24-pounders on the main deck. Not to enter into any further details, with regard to the ships, a brief notice must be taken of the men, who, with the exception of the crew of the Maria da Gloria, were of a very questionable description,—consisting of the worst class of Portuguese, with whom the Brazilian portion of the men had an evident disinclination to mingle. On inquiry, I ascertained that their pay was only eight milreas per month, whereas in the merchant service, eighteen milreas was the current rate for good seamen,—whence it naturally followed that the wooden walls of Brazil were to be manned with the refuse of the merchant service. The worst kind of saving—false economy—had evidently established itself in the Brazilian Naval Administration.
The captains complained of the difficulties they had to contend with as regarded the crews, particularly that the marines were so much gentlemen that they considered themselves degraded by cleaning their own berths, and had demanded and obtained attendants to wait on them! whilst they could only be punished for offences by their own officers! or, to use the words of one of the captains, "They were very much their own masters, and seemed inclined to be his!" It was, indeed, evident to me that neither seamen nor marines were in any state of discipline.
Not having as yet had experience of political party in the Empire, it struck me as an anomaly that Portuguese should be employed in such numbers to fight their own countrymen, though I afterwards became but too well acquainted with the cause of a proceeding at the time beyond my comprehension. In the course of our visit of inspection, the phrase "attacking the Portuguese parliamentary force," was frequently used by the Emperor, and was no less singular, as implying that the Brazilian Government did not make war against the King or country of Portugal, but merely against the Cortes; the distinction, as regarded the conduct of hostilities, being without a difference.
A curious circumstance occurred after this visit of inspection. On landing—hundreds of people of all ages and colours, crowded round to kiss His Majesty's hands—paternally extended on both sides to rows of devoted subjects, who, under no other circumstances, could have come in such familiar contact with royalty. To this ceremony the Emperor submitted with the greatest possible good humour and affability, his equanimity not even being ruined by familiarities such as I had never before seen taken with King or Emperor.
On the 17th, a visit was paid to me by the Minister of Marine, Luiz da Cunha Moreira, relative to the terms of my appointment, he being evidently desirous that my services should be obtained at as cheap a rate as possible, notwithstanding the concurrence of the Prime Minister with the offers which had been made through the Consul-General at Buenos Ayres. The pay now offered was that of an admiral in the Portuguese service,—notoriously the worst paid in the world. On enquiring what this might be, I found it less than half what I had received in Chill! My pay there being 8000 dollars per annum, with permission from the Supreme Director to appropriate another 4000 from the Government moiety of captures made.
By way of reply, I produced a letter from the Chilian Minister of Marine, counter-signed by the Supreme Director, acknowledging the receipt of an offer subsequently made to the Chilian Government voluntarily to give up to public exigencies a portion of my pay greater than the amount now tendered—at the same time telling the Minister, that by accepting such an arrangement I should lose more annually by entering the Brazilian service than the whole sum offered to me. Without condescending to chaffer on such a subject, I added that His Imperial Majesty had invited me to Brazil on specific promises, which, if my services were required, must be strictly fulfilled; if not, it would be candid in him to say so, as it was not the amount of pay for which I contended; but the reflection, that if the first stipulations of the Brazilian Government were violated, no future confidence could be placed in its good faith. If the State were poor, I had no objection, conditionally, to surrender an equal or even a greater proportion of pay than I had tendered to the Chilian Government; but that it was no part of my intention to be placed on the footing of a Portuguese admiral, especially after the terms, which, without application on my part, had been voluntarily offered to induce me to accept service in Brazil.
The Minister of Marine seemed hurt at this, and said the State was not poor, and that the terms originally offered should be complied with, by granting me the amount I had enjoyed in Chili; a decision the more speedily arrived at, from an intimation on my part, of referring to the Prime Minister, as requested in cases of difficulty. This the Minister of Marine begged me not to do, saying that there was no occasion for it.