stretched out his hand to the Admiral, asking him to forget what had passed.
"I will forget when I can," replied Cochrane.
The Admiral seems also to have regretted his haste, for on returning on board he wrote to San Martin a letter in English, full of profuse compliments, to which San Martin replied in similar terms, but neither of them touched at all upon the question between them. The correspondence continued, but no money was paid, and Cochrane wrote to O'Higgins that he could not answer for the loyalty of his crews, who were in want of common necessaries, and hinted his fears that they would seize the ships and turn pirates.
When Cochrane returned on board, after the refusal of San Martin to attack Canterac (see last chapter), he found his men on the verge of mutiny. On the approach of Canterac, San Martin had, as a measure of precaution, sent the coin and bullion from the mint and treasury on board a ship at anchor at Ancon, and had given permission to private individuals to embark their valuables on the transports, or on board of neutral vessels. When Cochrane heard of this, he seized the whole of this treasure, under pretext that they were contraband shipments, but gave receipts for the packages. He received a peremptory order to return them to their owners, but wrote to San Martin that he could not obey the order, as he had no other means of preventing a mutiny, than by paying his men with whatever money he could lay hands on.
If the blockade were raised Callao could not be captured, so San Martin was forced to temporise, and insisted only on the restitution of private property, to which Cochrane acceded.
When Callao surrendered, the Peruvian Government ordered Cochrane to give up the rest of the treasure to an official of the War Office. Cochrane regretted that his duty to Chile obliged him to prevent by any means in his power insubordination and rebellion in the Chilian fleet. San
