Very soon after the firing of the first shot, Italian, English, German, Austrian, and Portuguese warships appeared at Rio, ostensibly to protect the rights of their citizens, but their prompt arrival, made possible only by the fact that they were cruising close at hand, which was in itself significant, and the attitude they assumed, made it plain to me that they were there under secret orders to aid in the restoration of Dom Pedro. Mello was not a rebel but a pirate, yet the commanders of these foreign ships, all representing monarchies, gave him their moral support, and I have always believed that only the belated arrival of an American naval force prevented them from giving him their active support as well. Their influence was so strong that when Rear Admiral Oscar F. Stanton, of the United States Navy, finally reached Rio, he made the inexcusable mistake of saluting Mello. For this he was speedily recalled, Rear Admiral Gherardi being sent down to succeed him. Stanton’s excuse was that he wished to maintain a neutral position, but no question of neutrality was involved. I know that several of the American naval officers who arrived later shared my view that Mello was a pirate and should have been blown out of the water by the combined fleets. It was evident, from the prompt recall of Stanton, that the Navy Department at Washington held the same opinion but had not sufficient courage in its convictions to order the suppression of Mello. The ranking officer of the combined fleets was the Italian Vice Admiral, Magnani. The senior British officer present was Captain Lang, of the “Sirius.” Until the arrival of an officer of flag rank Captain Henry F. Picking, of the “Charleston,” was the senior officer present of the American Navy, and next to him was Captain (now Rear Admiral, retired) Silas W. Terry, on the “Newark.”