The time we had agreed to wait had not quite expired when we were all
taken aback again. It appeared that one of our sailors, an Irishman,
who had deserted, had given information that we had many kegs of
dollars on board, stowed under the ballast. As he had pointed out
precisely where they were, an armed force came on board by order of
the Governor, and, proceeding directly to the place indicated by the
sailor, found, instead of kegs of dollars, kegs of quicksilver, of
which they took away four, giving a receipt for them.
We flattered ourselves that this aggression would be the means of
opening the way for our going to the capital. Renewing, therefore,
our correspondence with the Captain-General, to complain of this
outrage, and remarking on our entire want of confidence in the
capacity or honesty of the Governor and his advisers, we reiterated
our request for leave to repair to Santiago for the more speedy
adjustment of our grievance. In reply, his Excellency remarked on the
loss of time which our coming to Santiago would cause, and observed
that the difficulty could be easily adjusted at Valparaiso by
answering satisfactorily the following questions, viz.: Why was the
quicksilver hidden under the ballast? To whom does it belong? To what
port destined? These interrogatories, being solemnly propounded by
the Governor to Mr. Shaler, a notary public being present, he replied
to the first that it was not hidden; to the second, that it belonged
to the owners of the vessel and cargo; to the third, that its
destination was round the world; and to this deposition he took an
oath on an odd volume of Shakespeare, presented him by the Governor
for that purpose.
The result of this investigation was immediately despatched to the
Captain-General, and an answer returned by his Excellency with
the least possible delay, the purport of which was that the four
kegs of quicksilver should be restored to us on board, and that
we should then leave the port without further delay.... During
this controversy, the men whom we intended taking to Masafuera had
dispersed in various directions, so that having on board only our
original small complement of men, the authorities had no cause to
apprehend any acts of piracy from us.