On the faith of this understanding, I despatched one of my lieutenants and my paymaster to St.Pierre, to make the necessary purchases, and they have returned and reported to me that they found an abundance of coal in the market, and at reasonable rates, and that the owners of it are anxious to supply me with it, but that your Collector of the Customs had _interposed_, and prohibited the merchants from selling or delivering it to me.

For the information of your Excellency, I will here state that I have been permitted to coal in all the ports I have heretofore visited, except only at the French port of Cayenne, where I was informed that there was no coal in the market, and where it was insisted that I should undergo a quarantine of five days before communicating with the town.

As it was not convenient for me to undergo this quarantine, I sailed immediately.

I have coaled at Cienfuegos in the island of Cuba, at Curacao, at Trinidad, at Paramaribo, and at Maranham.

It appears that Spain, Holland, England and Brazil have each deemed it consistent with their neutrality in the present war to permit me freely to supply myself with coal.