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And
in the event of the people of that country
holding out against the Troops of Santa Anna,
Lieutenant commanding
Seeger was to communicate
with the Governor and endeavor to obtain funds to
fit out the Navy.
I received a letter from the Secretary of
Nav[y]
and Marine of Yucatan in the early part of
November, from the tener [tenor] of which I have
been expecting
funds from that quarter, but from an arrival here
from
there two days since I fear that nothing can be
expected
from that quarter, for the enemy are upon them both
by Sea and Land[.] [T]he letter stated that in a
short
time the Government intended sending an Agent
to Washington City for the purpose of making arran-
gements for the acknowledgement of their Indep-
endence which would be declared in a short
time.
I have been compelled to discharge in the
the [sic] last month about thirty men whose
term of
service had expired and had not one dollar
to pay them off. [T]his frequent occurrence, which
I have repeatedly communicated to the Department,
is one having a most injurious tendency and creating
greater difficulty in procuring Seamen for the service[.]
[T]hese men were shipped in May last in this
Port, and on the 14th Inst there are
not more
than six men in both vessels whose term of
service
will not have expired[.] [U]nder this state of
things the Department will see the utter impossi-
bility of moving the Vessels from their present
anchorage without means to ship Seamen and
not one will ship until
those who are in the city
(and they are running after me whenever I am
on shore for their pay) are paid off.
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