Mr. Thompson to Mr. Gresham.
Petropolis, December 4, 1893. (Received January 2, 1894.)
Sir: Since the transmission of my No. 74, November 14, the most important event which has taken place here was the departure of Admiral Mello from the waters of the bay of Rio de Janeiro. On the 29th of November he notified the foreign naval commanders that he was preparing to leave, and at 1 o’clock in the morning December 1 sailed out of the bay in his flagship the Aquidaban, accompanied by the Esperanza, an armed transport belonging to his fleet. I witnessed the departure of the insurgent commander from the deck of the Charleston. The transport was in advance of the flagship and they passed the entrance to the sea under a blaze of fire from the forts, which was hotly returned by the Aquidaban and the insurgent fort Yillegaignon. Mello sailed south, and has since been reported at anchor off Ilha Grande, a quarantine station 60 miles south of Rio. During the firing, as the ships went out, they were struck; the engineer of the Esperanza was killed and her machinery damaged. No other damage has been reported on either side. The destination of Mello is supposed to be Desterro, the seat of the Provisional Government set up by him, or Montevideo, though it is conjectured he may change his course and go north to Pernambuco for the purpose of intercepting there some new war vessels arriving for the Government. The effect of Mello’s change of base is variously estimated, one theory being that he has made an agreement with the neutral admiral, Saldanha da Gama, by which the latter is to unite with him and aid in the overthrow of Peixoto, and in the event of success the proposition of da Gama to reestablish the empire is to be submitted to the people. Certain it is that Admiral da Gama has been actively engaged in fortifying the Ilha das Cobras, and it is believed h£ will in the course of a few days assume command of all the insurgent forces in the bay. Except as to his past attitude of neutrality in the pending crisis, he seems to be well thought of by the [Page 78] people. From conversations had with them on the subject I conclude that the commandants of the foreign naval forces are of the opinion that in the recent engagements preceding the departure of Mello, the insurgents suffered some irreparable losses, chiefly in ships and munitions of war.
I have, etc.,