stance which obliged me to return with my officers to the port. Accounts had reached Santiago, that a French line-of-battle ship and a frigate had touched at Conception, and intended soon to visit Valparaiso. The arrival of such a force at this moment, excited considerable sensation among the Chilians, many of whom entertained apprehensions of its object being hostile. Whatever might be the intention of the French Admiral towards the Chilians, I felt it right to be on board the Conway at the time of his arrival; and therefore lost not a moment in returning to Valparaiso. To quit the capital at this time was to me a matter of considerable regret, both on account of the agreeable society, and of the importance of cultivating the personal acquaintance of men with whom I was likely afterwards to hold official intercourse.
“The independence of the South American states had not yet been acknowledged by England; neither had any consuls, or accredited political agents, been sent out. The commercial intercourse, however, between the two countries, being already very extensive, and every day increasing, points of doubt often arose, which made it necessary to open frequent correspondence of a diplomatic aud commercial nature with the various local governments. The only constituted authority on the part of England, in that quarter of the globe, was the naval commander-in chief; and upon him necessarily devolved the whole responsibility of all these discussions. The task was one of great difficulty and importance, chiefly from the vast extent of his command, and the uncertainty and delay of all communications. The varying nature also of every political relation in those countries – the instability and inexperience of the governments – the agitated state of the public mind, with the consequent absence of mercantile confidence – the novelty, in short, of every institution – all conspired to complicate, in a remarkable degree, a subject at no time simple, or of easy management. Owing to the difficulty of communication between the different parts of the station, it became impossible for the commander-in-chief to attend to the details of business at more than one spot: the ships of the squadron were therefore distributed at those points where the presence of a British authority was most essentially required, namely, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil; Buenos Ayres in the River Plate; Valparaiso in Chili; Lima in Peru; and San Blas on the coast of Mexico. There were, besides, many intermediate ports, where the activity of our merchants had found means to introduce a taste for our manufactures; and all these places required to be occasionally visited, that the British interest might not want protection.
“Without going into details which might perhaps seem tedious, it would be difficult to give a comprehensive view of the various duties, which at this juncture devolved upon the captains of his Majesty’s ships, stationed along the coast of South America and Mexico, It may be sufficient to mention, that as the whole of the consulate affairs fell to their charge, every dispute which arose between British subjects and the local