had left the city returned and dismissed the Junta. The second maritime expedition aimed to revolt the Andalusian coast from Almería to Málaga. On 28 July, under the command of General Contreras the steam frigate Almansa and the Vitoria left Cartagena, acclaimed by the crowd, with two regiments on board plus a Marine infantry battalion. When the next day the expedition arrived at Almería, Contreras demanded a commission of representatives of the Provincial Council and the City Council who proposed on board the Numancia the payment of 500,000 pesetas as a war contribution and the abandonment of the city of military forces so that the people could freely decide whether to proclaim the Canton or not. The response was negative and the local authorities prepared the defense of the square, while the majority of Almería's civilian population left the city. On the morning of the 30th, the bombing of the city defenses and military buildings began, which was answered from Almeria. The city did not give up, so General Contreras that same night set course for Motril on the coast of Granada where he arrived at dawn the next day. Contreras landed the injured, visited the city and received financial aid in the form of promissory notes to be paid in Málaga for an amount of 160,000 reales. On 1 August when the Almansa was in the waters of Málaga it was flanked by the British ironclad warship and German , that in application of Salmerón's "piracy decree" forced it to return, along with the Vitoria that had lagged behind – the reason they argued was that the Cantonal frigates were preparing to bomb Málaga. Upon arriving at Escombreras, near Cartagena, the crews of the two frigates were forced to disembark and unload the cannons while General Contreras remained detained in the ``Friedrich Carl, although he was released shortly thereafter. The Almansa and the Vitoria remained in British custody and were taken to Gibraltar where they would be returned to the Spanish government. The second land expedition was organized in Cartagena on 30 July and was aimed at Orihuela, a city of Carlist predominance. It was sent, as the first terrestrial expedition to Lorca, by "Antonete" Gálvez and had forces from Cartagena – the Iberia and Mendigorría regiments – and from Murcia – a body of volunteers under the command of a brother-in-law from Gálvez. They entered the city at