CIVIL WARS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 792 safely,but had then somedifficulty infinding the Aquidaban, as she had movedto fresh moorings from her anchorage of the day before. Tlae Sampaio, gliding silently round the bay, came close to an anchored steamer, but was passing on, thinking she looked too small to be the warship, when suddenly out of the dark mass came the flash of machineguns and rifles. The Sampaio, whichhad so nearly missed findingher enemy, turned to attack her.

steam launch to come off from the shore, and at first took the Sampaio for this boat. As she passed without coming alongside, they decided .she was one of the enemy's torpedo boats and opened fire onher without much effect, for only one man was wounded on the Sampaio. Her second torpedo was the only onedischarged that night whichmade a hit. Itblew a large hole in the side of two bow compartments, and, though the ship floated for a while, the forward bulkheads had been started and damaged by the explosion,and the water soon made its wayinto the larger compartments forward of the engineroom. The ship had been got under weigh as soon as her danger was realised, and she was headed for shallow water, where she sank with her deck awash and her bridges above the surface. The crew abandoned her in tlae night, getting ashore easily without any loss of life. Nextday theGovernment flotilla took possession of the vessel. She was patched up,floated, and sent across the Atlantic to be reconstructed as Stettin in 1895 and 1896. With strengthened armour and a modern armament of Canet heavy guns andArmstrongquick-firers, she now figures in theBrazilian navylist under the new name of the Vintc-Quatro de Maio.

Tlae first torpedo, fired too soon, missed the Aquidaban. The second,loosed off just as the Sampaio wasclearing her,struckher on the port bow wellforward. There wasa heavy explosion, but the Aquidaban, which just then lit up her electric searchlights, seemed to be unmoved arid uninjured. Meanwhile, of the other three boats, one, the Pedro Ivo, hadbroken down,but the others were coming to the help of their consort. Tlae Silvado was met in the darkness by an armedsteamlaunch, whichopened fire on her with a Nordenfeldtgun. Thus checked, the Silvadogaveup the attempt andran out to sea. The Ajfouso,however, circled round the ironclad and fired two torpedoes at her before following tlae Sampaio and the Silvadoin their retreat.

The officersof the torpedo boats were under the impression that they had failed. It was only next day that they learned from a passing vessel that the attack had succeeded, and that the Aquidaban had sunk in Santa Caterina Bay. It appears that her officers were expecting a Theloss of tlaeAquidaban put an end to the insurrection. The fort of Santa Cruz, armed only with old-fashionedguns, wasevacuated,and the insurgent bands in the district dispersed. Peixotohadbeenmorefortunate thanBalmaceda.