ABSTRACT
At the time of our departure from Guayaquil all the most recent news from Europe led us to believe that the present disputes in the north and England’s increasing naval armament 1 might lead our court to break off relations. So it seemed best to do nothing about our scientific operations until I had certain knowledge of the true current state of Europe, which of course would most probably reach me in this country where letters sent via Portobelo usually took no more than fifty to sixty days. With this in mind, having entrusted to Don Dionisio Galiano the responsibility of taking the corvette to the appropriate anchorage, I went in the pinnace at dawn to see the Governor and Capitán General of the province, Brigadier de la Real Armada José Domas y Valle.
