Such is war, and its concomitants!
In the course of half an hour's conversation, I discovered that the
Spaniard intended to touch at Valparaiso, and called, in order to get
men, his own having suffered, up the coast, with the small-pox. His
ship was large, carried a considerable armament, and he should not
deem her safe from the smaller English cruisers, unless he doubled the
Cape much stronger handed than he then was. I caught at the idea, and
inquired what he thought of Frenchmen? They would answer his purpose,
for France and Spain had a common enemy, and nothing would be easier
than to send the French from Cadiz to Marseilles. A bargain was
consequently struck on the spot.
When I got back on board the Crisis, I had all the prisoners mustered
on deck. They were made acquainted with the offers of the Spanish
captain, with the fact that peace now existed between our respective
countries, and with the chance that presented itself, so opportunely,
for them to return home. The proposition was cheerfully accepted,
anything being better than captivity. Before parting, I endeavoured to
impress on the French the necessity of prudence on the subject of our
recapturing the Crisis in Spanish waters, inasmuch as the circumstance
might induce an inquiry as to what took the ship there; it being well
understood that the mines were the punishment of those who were taken
in the contraband trade in that quarter of the world.
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