The _Destroyer_, by the way, carried a submarine cannon of enormous length.
In the same expedition went the _Nictheroy_, the ship purchased by the United States government during the Spanish war and renamed the _Buffalo_.

The _Destroyer_ was in many ways the better ship of the two, but the Brazilians in their curious war sank her themselves at Bahia.

With her sank my hope of recovering wages due me; still, I could but try to recover, for to me it meant a great deal.

But now within two years the whirligig of time had brought the Mello party into power, and although it was the legal government which had employed me, the so-called "rebels" felt under less obligation to me than I could have wished.
During these visits to Brazil I had made the acquaintance of Dr.
Perera, owner and editor of "El Commercio Jornal," and soon after the _Spray_ was safely moored in Upper Topsail Reach, the doctor, who is a very enthusiastic yachtsman, came to pay me a visit and to carry me up the waterway of the lagoon to his country residence.

The approach to his mansion by the waterside was guarded by his armada, a fleet of boats including a Chinese sampan, a Norwegian pram, and a Cape Ann dory, the last of which he obtained from the _Destroyer_.