Information having been conveyed to the two captains, that a
war-schooner, the 'Chacabuco,' and two gun-boats, belonging to
General Rosas, were at anchor in the Arroyo del Paebon, Captain
Hotham directed the 'Firebrand,' in company with the French vessel
the 'Fulton,' to go in search of them, and to destroy them.
Accordingly, on the 24th November, the 'Firebrand,' taking the
'Fulton' in tow, proceeded on that service. On arriving at the mouth
of the Paebon, Captain Hope discovered that there was not water
sufficient to enable his ship to get up it. Taking, therefore, three
boats and fifty men, he started in pursuit of the schooner, which he
found had gone up the river. On his way up he learned, from an
intelligent native, that the whole force of the enemy collected to
protect the schooner, amounted to no less than 250 men, and that
below where she lay, a strong iron chain was drawn across the river;
so that he could not hope to take her by surprise. This was very
vexatious, but as he would have risked the destruction of all his
people, without anything like an adequate benefit to be gained, he
very wisely returned.
At his request, however, Captain Hotham again despatched him by
another channel to intercept the schooner, should she venture to
attempt escaping by it.
This she did before long, and the 'Firebrand' would soon have caught
her, had not the windings of the river enabled the people on her
decks to descry the approach of the English vessel, at a considerable
distance. The Spaniards soon saw that if they kept to the main
stream the 'Firebrand' would overtake them, they accordingly
commenced hauling the 'Chacabuco' up a narrow and shallow creek, by
means of warps, manual labour, and horses. Captain Hope still
pursued her as long as there was water to float the 'Firebrand;' but
after a chase of sixty miles, she grounded. Captain Hope had now
driven the schooner into a net, and was about to send his boats away
to bring her out, when the enemy, convinced that they had no prospect
of saving her, set fire to her, and blew her up. After this little
affair, the squadron re-assembled at Punta de las Pedras. During the
night of the 2nd, the enemy brought down four field-pieces, and
opened a fire on them, but without doing any injury. On the 3rd, the
squadron, on their passage up the Parana, passed the strong point of
the Rosario, where they expected to meet with much opposition; but,
instead of troops, a number of country people, women and children,
were collected on the beach, to see the ships pass, and not an armed
man was visible. Rosas, not yet knowing exactly what stuff British
seamen are made of, contemplated the possibility, perhaps, of
catching them all in his net, and of preventing them ever returning.
Or, it is possible, that the lesson he had just received at Obligado
made him unwilling again to interfere with them. However, as we
shall see, he did attempt to stop them on their way down, whether or
not he then thought of so doing. As the convoy proceeded up the
river, the enemy took every opportunity of annoying them with their
flying artillery, and as they possessed an unlimited supply of
horses, this they were able to do whenever the channel of the river
approached the shores of the Argentine Republic.
The most formidable position, however, on the whole river, was the
cliffs, or barrancas, as they are called, of San Lorenzo. They run
for several miles along the banks of the river, and are nearly
perpendicular, with a perfectly level surface on their summit, along
which artillery can travel without any impediment whatever. It is
thus evident that flying artillery could be run to the edge of the
cliff, and, after firing at the passing vessels, could again retire,
without a chance of a shot in return, from the ships' guns.
To add to the difficulties of the passage, a strong current is always
running down, so that sailing-vessels require a fresh breeze, and
steamers have to put on all their power to go ahead.