sentences:  His finances largely exhausted, he served as a mercenary in the Ottoman and Austrian armies before returning to England in 1858.Late that year, he left for South America, where he attempted to finance the construction of a canal through Central America.He investigated the disappearance of Commander Lionel Lambert, captain of the paddle sloop , on which Mahon had voyaged, and forced the Peruvian Government to instigate an investigation which revealed that Lambert had been murdered.