BRAZIL. 



83 



tween the naval and the military commanders 

 they were severely beaten, losing 200 men. 

 When they re-embarked Mello conveyed the 

 Uruguayan auxiliaries to their own country. 



In the mean time the Government fleet sailed 

 for the south. On April 15 they bombarded the 

 forts at Desterro, which returned the fire. In 

 the night the torpedo boats advanced cautiously 

 to attack the " Aquidaban." The " Aurora," 

 now called the " Gustavo Sampaio," approached 

 within 200 yards before being observed, and, 

 ^manoeuvring quickly when the ironclad opened 

 fire with machine guns, threw a Whitehead tor- 

 pedo, which missed, and then immediately 

 another, which struck under the forward turret, 

 causing the vessel to fill and sink in the shallow 

 water. The " Sampaio " was allowed to approach 

 through being taken for a steamer that was ex- 

 pected from Desterro. The bow torpedo that 

 went wide of the mark was launched in too great 

 haste before the torpedo cruiser was in position. 

 The ' Sampaio " then backed and turned under 

 the stern of the " Aquidaban," steaming slowly 

 along the port side not more than 20 yards from 

 her, and when she was nearly past the starboard 

 after torpedo was discharged, striking just abaft 

 the stem with terrific effect, lifting the bow out 

 of the water and tearing a great hole in the hull. 

 The " Aquidaban " fired on the attacking vessel 

 with her secondary battery, but owing to the 

 darkness of the night and the proximity of the 

 vessels few of the shots hit, most of them going 

 over. The " Aquidaban " was the mainstay of the 

 revolt, which would easily have been crushed but 

 for her operations, and was the principal target 

 of all the guns of the Government forts in Rio 

 harbor, and yet she sustained but little harm. 

 After she went down all the forts and vessels at 

 Desterro were abandoned by the insurgents. 

 The rebel junta fled to the south. Gen. Saraiva's 

 forces retreated toward the frontier, and Gen. 

 Pena's band was shattered near Porto Alegre. 

 Admiral de Mello, after leaving Gen. Salgado 

 with 400 men on Uruguayan territory, departed 

 for Argentina, and on April 16 surrendered him- 

 self and command of 1,200 men, his 5 vessels 

 and his arms, on condition that his people should 

 not be delivered up to the Brazilian Government. 

 President Peixoto, while he continued the state 

 of siege till June 30, proclaimed amnesty to all 

 privates concerned in the rebellion, and on April 

 20 sent a communication to the members of 

 the diplomatic body informing them that the 

 revolt was at an end except for small and power- 

 less disaffected groups that would speedily be 

 brought into subjection. The fugitives, num- 

 bering in all 2,600, who landed in Uruguay and 

 Argentina in a destitute condition, were cared 

 for by means of generous subscriptions raised in 

 Montevideo and Buenos Ayres. 



The Revolt in Rio Grande. A guerilla war 

 had been in progress in the southern province 

 for more than a year before the naval revolt oc- 

 curred. The Government at Rio Janeiro be- 

 came involved in the contest by throwing the 

 protection of its authority over one of the con- 

 tending parties and upholding Gen. Castilhos in 

 the governorship by force of arms. After Ad- 

 miral da Gama had surrendered, and after Ad- 

 miral de Mello, having lost all foothold on the 

 land and having neither money, nor ammunition, 



nor coal, nor provisions left, had thrown himself 

 on the protection of the Argentinian authorities, 

 the savage and protracted struggle still went on 

 in Rio Grande do Sul, especially near the 

 southern border, where the insurgent bands, 

 when hard pressed by the loyalist forces, could 

 escape into Uruguay and there reorganize and 

 collect strength for a fresh raid. Mello's old 

 ally, Gumersindo Saraiva, after retreating from 

 Parana, assumed the leadership of the Rio Gran- 

 densian guerrillas. Sometimes he had 5,000 or 

 6,000 men, operating in military formations and 

 laying regular siege to the posts occupied by the 

 Government forces with Krupp batteries and 

 Gatling guns. Some of the German and Italian 

 colonists joined his bands, also many of the 

 soldiers and sailors who had fought under Mello 

 and Saldanha da Gama. In June there were ris- 

 ings in Santa Qatarina and Parana, which the 

 Government had difficulty in suppressing. A 

 battle occurred on June 27 near Passo Fundo, in 

 the State of Rio Grande, in which a large part 

 of Saraiva's forces were defeated by Gen. Lima. 

 By the end of July the insurgents were ex- 

 hausted, and Gen. Saraiva was reported dead. 

 The Uruguayan Government, as a precaution 

 against fresh incursions that the rebel commit- 

 tees in Montevideo and Buenos Ayres were or- 

 ganizing, ordered all Brazilian refugees to regis- 

 ter their names and to notify the police if they 

 desired to leave the country. In the beginning 

 of October new bodies of raiders gathered on the 

 Uruguayan frontier, and, taking the Government 

 unawares, gained several successes. 



Diplomatic Disputes. When the Congress 

 met early in May, President Peixoto sent a mes- 

 sage in which he declared that Brazil enjoyed 

 friendly relations with all the world except Por- 

 tugal. The attitude of Portugal, sending gun- 

 boats to Rio at the outbreak of the rebellion, had 

 appeared suspicious to the Brazilians; the atti- 

 tude of the English officers and merchants also. 

 But Peixoto's Government would rather avoid a 

 rupture with England, and when English officers 

 were arrested among the rebels on Enchadas 

 Island the Brazilian Government not only apolo- 

 gized, but gave a salute to the British flag, as 

 was demanded. When Capt. Castilho, of the 

 Portuguese corvette "Mindello," allowed the 

 conquered insurgents to go aboard his ship for 

 safety, Peixoto protested against the right of 

 asylum that is not founded on international law, 

 but has been formerly accorded in South Ameri- 

 can revolutions ; when, furthermore, he allowed 

 them to escape, then the Brazilian Government 

 took serious umbrage. On May 14 Count Paraty, 

 the Portuguese representative at Rio de Janeiro, 

 received his passports, and the Brazilian min- 

 ister at Lisbon, Vianna de Lima, was ordered to 

 withdraw. The English Government undertook 

 to act as mediator, the Portuguese Government 

 having court-martialed and dismissed Capt. Cas- 

 tilho. Of the refugees who obtained an asylum 

 on the Portuguese ships 148 were finally carried 

 to Portugal. A controversy with the Govern- 

 ment of Uruguay regarding the violation of the 

 frontier by Peixoto's forces in 1898 was settled 

 by the payment of $19,000 to the families of 

 Uruguayan officials who were killed while giving 

 shelter to fugitives. The Italian Government 

 brought claims against Brazil for pecuniary 



