the Hood bases, as they would mean a capitulation. Britain and France sent two new diplomats, John Hobart Caradoc and Alexandre Florian Joseph Colonna, who would pretend to agree with the Hood bases but surreptitiously change the terms. Rosas realized the trick, and did not accept their new proposal. They moved then to Uruguay, and negotiated an armistice with Oribe. Oribe accepted the British terms, but Rivera did not. This broke the alliance: the British diplomat was convinced that the terms were reasonable, and decided to go on with his original mission of ending the conflict. The French one declared instead that they would keep the blockade, even if it meant doing so alone. Rosas received new diplomats, Henry Southern and Lepredour, but refused to have an interview with them before being aware of their intentions. Rosas wanted them to agree to the Hood bases, and would not accept anything else. The Arana-Southern Treaty with Britain was finally signed on 3 March 1849, in strict conformity with the terms negotiated with Hood. Britain would return the captured ships, the Martín García island, remove their troops from Uruguay, accept the Argentine sovereignty over its internal waters, and condition the whole treaty to the approval of Oribe. Finally, the British navy would make a 21-gun salute to the flag of Argentina. Negotiations with France took a longer time. There was a strong nationalism in France by that time, and a second defeat with Argentina would hurt the national pride. The parliament was divided in two proposals: to send Lepredour with a very powerful navy, to make a treaty favourable to the French terms by intimidating Rosas, or to openly declare war. The first proposal was accepted by 338 votes over 300. Rosas refused to negotiate unless the threatening navy was removed from Uruguay, and refused to acknowledge Lepredour as a diplomat. Lepredour made up an excuse for the navy, and negotiated for nearly five months. Rosas finally agreed on 31 August 1850, to a pair of small concessions that did not actually modify the important points of the treaty: Rosas would remove the Argentine troops from outside Montevideo at the same time that the foreign legion evacuated Montevideo, but keeping a portion of them during the first months of Oribe's rule to prevent anarchy; and Argentina would refer to Oribe in the document as "President of the Republic" while France would do