It would seem probable that Admiral de Mello, the insurgent
leader in Brazil, intends to follow the precedent set in Chili. A strongly organised, though small, army has grown up in Rio Grande do Sul, and has beaten the Republican troops ; and Admiral de Mello proposes to bring that army to fight Marshal Peixoto's men. He has therefore broken out of the harbour of Rio, and steamed south, where he will em- bark his new force for Rio. Without strength on land, in fact, he cannot hope to terminate the contest; for neither fleet nor army can quite destroy the other. On his side, Marshal Peixoto is trying to bring up a new fleet purchased in New York ; but he is unlucky, and his best vessel has been so injured in her engines that she has gone to the West Indies for repairs. The injury was, it is believed, wilfully caused by an engineer devoted to the insurgents. The chances of an immediate settlement are therefore very feeble, and of course every month of the war not only diminishes the resources of Brazil, but increases the inclination of the maritime provinces to break away from her.
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