propose to Chili to pay its own seamen! As to his promises to give the
men a twelvemonths' pay in acknowledgment of their services, this was
neither intended nor given; whilst, as to the 50,000 dollars promised to
the captors of the _Esmeralda_, which he is "endeavouring to collect,"
he had long before "collected" many times the amount from the old
Spaniards--who had offered a similar reward for the capture of any
vessels of the Chilian squadron--and kept it. Fortunately, his own
letters prove these matters, which otherwise I should have hesitated to
mention, unsupported by testimony so irrefutable.

General San Martin afterwards denied to the Chilian Government that he
refused, on the 4th of August, to pay the squadron. Here is the same
assertion, in his own handwriting, on the 9th! During the whole of this
time the squadron was in a state of literal destitution; even the
provisions necessary for its subsistence being withheld from it, though
the Protector had abundant means of supplying them; but his object was
to starve both officers and men into desertion--so as to accelerate the
dismemberment of the squadron which I would not give up to his ambitious
views.

The sound advice contained in my letter General San Martin never
forgave--and he afterwards fell exactly as I had predicted--there was no
merit in the prophecy, for similar causes lead to like effects. Adhering
to my own duty, I felt that I was free from his command, and determined
to follow no other course than to carry out, as far as lay in my power,
the pledge of the Chilian Government to the Peruvian people.

Concealing for the present his resentment, and reflecting that the forts
of Callao were still in the hands of the Spaniards, the Protector
endeavoured to explain away the disagreeable nature of our interview on