44 



CHIT.I. 



introduce goods without paying the established 

 duties ; sometimes the merchants were accused of 

 concealing Spanish property in their ships ; at 

 others the laws of the port, or of the country ge- 

 nerally, were said to be infringed, the imputed de- 

 linquency being followed by imprisonment, or by 

 confiscation of property. On these, and many 

 other occasions, appeals to Government, from the 

 captains of his Majesty's ships, were looked for : 

 it was, however, their special duty merely to re- 

 monstrate, and, if possible, to arrange matters 

 amicably, but on no occasion to threaten or to 

 act hostilely without instructions from the Com- 

 mander-in-chief, in reply to the representations 

 made to him of all the circumstances. But, in 

 almost every case, it was of immediate consequence 

 to the advancement of the commercial interests, 

 that such disputes as have been alluded to should 

 be settled at the moment. The state of trade, 

 indeed, and of every political circumstance in 

 those countries, was liable to such perpetual fluc^ 

 tuation, that, long before an answer could be re- 

 ceived from the Commodore, every thing material 

 in the case might be altered. The impossible 



