23 
lie of the object of the meeting, and praised the merits of the brave 
general. He then addressed the general in Spanish, informed 
him of the decision of the committee, and finally displayed the 
diploma which accompanied the sword: this was drawn up in 
English and Spanish with great calligraphic splendour. The di¬ 
ploma and sabre were then presented to the general. The sword 
has a gold hilt, with the generaPs arms on it, and a richly gilt 
sheath, the sides of which were beautifully embossed with em¬ 
blems of the generaPs services. Mina returned an answer in 
Spanish, and gave it to Mr. Bowring. One of the company 
quickly translated it into English, for the benefit of the public, 
whose long-continued applauses expressed their admiration of the 
brave general. Mr. Bowring invited me to a friendly entertain¬ 
ment that was to be given to Mina; unfortunately I was obliged 
to decline it, as I had already made another engagement. 
[The 5th of June was fixed upon for the sailing of the Pallas 
for Falmouth, but bad weather and high head winds detained her 
until the 7th. On the 9th, at 6 A. M she arrived at Falmouth .] 
This tolerably long town lay at the foot of a hill, on our left, 
and contains seven thousand inhabitants. It has by no means a 
brilliant appearance, as it is, like Devonport, built of grey lime¬ 
stone, and the roofs are slated. It is not visible from the sea, as 
a hill intervenes, upon which the citadel stands. On the right 
side of the bay there is an old castle, called St. Mawes, with about 
five houses, tenanted by poor fishermen; this castle is one of the 
often-mentioned rotten boroughs: it formerly was a town, and 
still sends two members to parliament. 
The hills are mostly cultivated; some are employed as pastures. 
Trees are very rare, and few ships lay in the harbour. We an¬ 
chored not far from the frigate Astrea, a guard-ship, and saluted 
her with eleven guns, which she returned. When we fired a 
salute on our arrival at Spithead, the oil was spilled from the 
sympisometer , and Captain Ryk was obliged to obtain a new one 
from London. To avoid a similar catastrophe, the sympisometer 
and chronometer were both kept in hands during this salute. The 
frigate Astrea, commanded by Captain King, serves as a depot 
for all the packets, which sail hence to all parts of the world lying 
south and west of England, and are collectively under command 
of Captain King. The packets were formerly private property; 
the conveyance of the mail to foreign parts, was consequently not 
only very irregular, but a wide door was opened for smuggling. 
—On this account, the government, after having contracted with 
the former proprietors of the packets, assumed the sole direction. 
When a packet is no longer retained in service, a corvette or brig, 
commanded by a lieutenant of the navy, is substituted. At this 
time thirty-four packets were in service, of which fifteen were 
