Revolution and State of Guayaquil....Squadron leaves....Island of
Cocoa....Bay of Fonseca....Visitors from the Shore....Leave
Fonseca....Volcano....Arrive at Acapulco....General Waevell and
Colonel O'Reilly....Letter from Iturbide....Leave Acapulco....
Description of....Gale of Wind off Tehuantepec....Tacames or
Atcames....News of the Enemy....Arrive at the Puná....Guayaquil
....Lord Cochrane hoists the Chilean Flag in the Vengansa....
Conduct of the People at Guayaquil....Treaty with the Government
....Letter from General La Mar....Leave Guayaquil, and arrive at
Huambacho....Callao.
Guayaquil, early in the morning of the ninth of October, 1820, effected
her glorious revolution. The officers belonging to the Peruvian
garrison, and many of the principal inhabitants, had, during the
preceding night, formed the plan, and at daybreak the governor and
several other Spaniards were embarked on board the schooner Alcance, and
sent to the head quarters of the army under General San Martin.
During the first month after the revolution Guayaquil experienced the
oppression of its governor Escobedo, who, being at the head of the
military force, constituted himself the supreme political and military
chief; but the cabildo circulated the necessary convocation for a
meeting of the deputies of the different towns: they met, and Escobedo
was deposed, and sent to San Martin's head quarters. A Junta was now
formed of three individuals, by the general vote of the deputies; at the
head, as president, was placed Dr. Olmedo, the other two being Ximena
and Roca, who were governing the province on our arrival; but the people
were very much divided in their opinions. Some were in favour of an
incorporation with Peru, under San Martin; others with Colombia, under
Bolivar; while a third party were equally loud in favour of absolute
independence, and seemed to support their opinions with the most solid
arguments.
A division of the Colombian army was stationed, at this time, at
Babaoyo, commanded by General Sucre, with the view of invading Quito as
soon as the season should permit; yet, excepting such troops as had been
sent from Guayaquil, and placed under the command of General Sucre, the
armed force was under the direction of the government; but the fear of
being invaded by the Spaniards under Aymerich, the president of Quito,
was very visible, and, as a defence to the city, a large fosse had been
cut to the northward of Cuidad Vieja.
The arrival of the Chilean vessels of war gave the government of
Guayaquil an opportunity of addressing themselves to the Quitenos,
"assuring them, that Peru was entirely free, and that the liberating
naval force had arrived at Guayaquil for the protection of that part of
the new world." This was a ruse de guerre not uncommon in the new world,
and under similar circumstances practised even in the old. On our
arrival General Sucre sent Colonel Ibarra to compliment Lord Cochrane,
as the hero of the Pacific, the magnanimous supporter of Colombian
liberty.
The repairs of the vessels of war being completed so far as they could
be, on the first of December we left Guayaquil, but to our great
annoyance we found, that the leak in the O'Higgins was as bad as ever;
indeed, such was the state of this frigate, that ever since our arrival
at Pisco a hundred and fifty men had been constantly kept at the pumps.
It may be asserted, that no expedition ever left port under such
peculiarly disadvantageous circumstances as the present. The flag-ship
was as rickety as an old basket; indeed it need only be told, that she
was a Russian built fir vessel, nine years old, and was one of those
presented by the Emperor to the King of Spain. Scarcely a bolt could be
found that was not loose, her foremast and bowsprit were both rotten in
the step, the dry rot had taken possession of the greater part of her
timbers; and, it may be added, her crew was composed of every thing but
sailors; for we had only thirteen men on board who could be said to
merit the name, especially if we except the officers. Such was her
state, that when his lordship was asked at Guayaquil, by a gentleman, if
he would come into action with the Spanish frigate Prueba?--"yes," he
answered, "I will lay the O'Higgins alongside the Prueba, and tell our
crew that on board the enemy there are no pumps; this will be quite
sufficient to secure the victory." The crews of the Independencia,
Valdivia, and Araucano were composed of the same materials as that of
the O'Higgins. They had just a sufficient number of seamen to steer
them, natives of different parts of America, marines and runaway
negroes, with about half their complements of officers; yet such was the
persevering spirit of the Admiral, and such his determination to
extinguish the last remains of the Spanish naval force in the Pacific,
that his only wish was to come to close quarters with them.
Having left the Guayaquil river, we touched at a small port in the
province of Guayaquil, called Salango, where we watered the ships, not
having done this before because his lordship wished to drop down the
river as light as possible; besides, at the Puná it is very difficult to
procure a sufficient quantity of _good_ water. On the eleventh, we
reached the small island of Cocos, so called from the abundance of palms
which grow there. Lord Cochrane landed, and a Felucca hove in sight; a
signal was immediately made to the Valdivia to chase, and having
captured her, she proved to be a deserter from Callao. The men on board
informed his lordship, that after the departure of the Chilean vessels
of war, San Martin not only objected to pay them their arrears, even
those who left the Valdivia at Ancon without the year's pay given to the
rest, and the reward or premium promised, but the foreign seamen at
Callao, who had served in the Chilean fleet, were pressed into the
service of Peru.
The felucca had been thus manned and sent to the Chorillos, to prevent
all kinds of smuggling; but she had taken up a cargo of contraband
goods, part of which were still on board. When the captain was on shore,
the crew rose and took possession of the vessel, which they immediately
named the Retaliation, and went to sea. Their pretence was, that they
were in search of the squadron; this was ridiculous; but as they had
committed no depredations his lordship did not feel himself justified in
punishing them, but allowed them afterwards to escape from the vessels
of war. On the fourteenth we made the coast of Mexico, the leak of the
O'Higgins increasing daily, and on the nineteenth we fortunately entered
the bay of Fonseca or Amapalla, with five feet water in the hold, the
pumps choaked and worn out, without a carpenter on board, without
buckets to bale her, and without a cooper; some beef casks were slung,
and by using every exertion, the frigate was brought to an anchor under
a small island in the bay. Two pumps were now taken out of the Valdivia,
but they proved to be too short for the O'Higgins. Under these
circumstances his lordship ordered two holes to be cut through her
sides, on a level with the birth deck, and two old pumps were placed in
them to carry off the water. She was thus kept from sinking; but on
examining the magazine a great part of the powder had been damaged by
the water, and the remainder was taken on shore and exposed in the sun
to dry.
While at anchor here, a canoe came to the island, having two indians on
board, and a young man of a respectable appearance, who informed me,
that every thing was in the most perfect state of tranquillity in
Mexico, and all under the regularly established royal authorities. The
fact was, the young man had been sent from San Miguel, to learn who and
what we were; but of this, by order of the Admiral, I kept him ignorant,
and he began to fear, on hearing the Spanish language spoken, that ours
was a Spanish force sent from Manilla. After conversing a considerable
time, and having been repeatedly assured by him that all was under the
kingly authority in Mexico, I asked him why he bore the tri-coloured
ribbon in his hat; he blushed, hesitated, and then said, "it is too late
to deceive you, the whole of Mexico is independent of Spain; Mexico
declared its independence on the thirteenth of June last, Guadalaxara on
the fourteenth, Tepec on the seventeenth, and San Blas on the
nineteenth; the provinces of Guadalaxara, Tlascala, Guanajuato, Puebla,
Zacatecas, Oajaca, Valladolid, Bajio, Purnandia, and Vera Cruz, have
also declared themselves independent of the capital."
All things being ready, we left the bay of Fonseca on the twenty-eighth
of December, and on the following night and the five successive ones, we
were delighted with the sight of a volcano in its greatest state of
activity. The streams of ignited lava rolled down the sides, and at
intervals enormous masses of fiery matter were thrown into the air, and
falling on the sides of the mountain rebounded and fell to the bottom.
We calculated that our distance from the mountain was about thirty
miles; we were sometimes nearer to it. From its situation we conceived
it to be San Miguel el Viejo, but of this were not quite certain. We
sailed along the coast, which is generally very bold; in some parts the
forests extend to a considerable distance from the sea side, and near to
the coast are a great abundance of coco-nut palms; from some of them we
procured nuts, but they were very small, perhaps from a want of salt at
the roots of the trees. This supposition is founded on the fact, that I
have seen at different places, where the palms do not grow near the sea,
that the proprietors had occasionally put a quantity of salt to the
roots, without which they produced no fruit. In other parts the coast
was intersected with small ravines, having generally a stream of water
in each, and some few huts were scattered about on the sides. At one of
these places, called San Pedro, two indians came on board in their
canoe, and brought us some eggs and capsicum pods; for which they were
presented in return with biscuit and tobacco, and they seemed highly
pleased with the exchange. They were both of them low in stature, but
very muscular; their features and complexion much resembling those of
the indians on the coast of Peru; but they could neither of them speak a
word of Spanish, nor could we understand any part of their dialect.
On the twenty-seventh of January, 1822, we made the mouth of the port of
Acapulco, where we found the brig Araucano, and schooner Mercedes; the
former having been sent ahead to watch the entrance to the harbour, and
the latter to Realejo to obtain information respecting the Spanish
frigates; but unfortunately no intelligence had been received, except
that they had sailed from Acapulco on the third of December, with a
secret destination. On the evening of the same day we entered and came
to an anchor, and his lordship was honoured with a visit from a
deputation sent by the governor in the name of his most serene highness
Don Agustin de Iturbide, then President of Mexico; and of the bishop of
Guamanga, who had been exiled from Peru by the Protector, San Martin,
and who fortunately had been appointed by the government of Mexico to
the see of Puebla de los Angeles, having exchanged a bishopric of twelve
thousand dollars a year for one of forty. The President Iturbide had
been apprized of the arrival of Lord Cochrane on the Mexican coasts by
General Waevell and Colonel O'Reilly, two officers whom the government
of Chile had promoted, and to whom they had given passports, judging
that their services to the state were not tantamount to their pay.
When at Guayaquil we met with these two gentlemen. They had impressed
the government with the hoax, that they were ambassadors from Chile to
the newly-established authorities in Mexico; but unfortunately the dates
of their passports by the Chilean government were prior to the news of
the establishment of the new authorities in Mexico. After this
anachronism was discovered. Lord Cochrane requested the government to
close the port until the Chilean vessels of war should be ready to sail,
to which they agreed: this was done to prevent any intelligence being
given to the common enemy. The ambassadors remonstrated, and the
government, not wishing to offend that of Chile, was intimidated; but,
when Lord Cochrane requested that they would shew their credentials,
the whole hoax became public. Owing to our delay on the coast they had
arrived first at Acapulco, and, in revenge for the disclosure made at
Guayaquil, they had reported both by letter and personally to the
Mexican government, that Lord Cochrane had possessed himself, in a
mutinous manner, of the Chilean squadron, plundered the vessels
belonging to the government of Peru, committed innumerable piracies at
sea, and was coming on the coast of Mexico to repeat such atrocities;
however, at Amapalla I met with her excellency Doña Gregoria Gainsa, the
lady of the present Captain-general of Guatemala, who was at Guayaquil
when the disclosure was made, and when I informed her that I suspected
they would arrive first, her husband had reported the whole of the
transaction to the Mexican government. The information given by Waevell
and O'Reilly had, to our surprize, when we arrived at Acapulco, caused
the fort to be strictly guarded, and afterwards a subsequent
reinforcement entered the town. Thus notwithstanding the politeness of
the governor a suspicious reserve was at first visible. This, however,
in a short time wore off, and the most solemn assurances were given by
the governor of the wish of his Serene Highness Iturbide to cultivate
the friendship of the governments on the southern continent of
emancipated America.
On the third of February, after the squadron was under weigh, his
lordship received the following note from the president of Mexico:
"Most Excellent Sir,--The governor of Acapulco has informed me, by note
dated the twenty-eighth of January, of your happy arrival, and that of
the squadron you honour by commanding, at that port, one of those
belonging to this empire, and adds, that every respect has been paid to
yourself and those who have the glory to serve under you, who have been
treated as friends, ready to assist us in the sacred cause--the
protection of our liberty. Interested, as I am, in the prosperity of my
country, I feel the greatest pleasure in the generous offer of your
excellency, and the liberal determination of our brethren of Chile. I
have ordered the governor of Acapulco to offer to your excellency, on
the behalf of this government and my fellow citizens, our most grateful
acknowledgments.
"Two commissioners will leave this capital, with orders to communicate
to your excellency matters of high importance to the state: I hope you
will receive them as freemen--the representatives of this great empire,
and with that goodness which is so characteristic of your excellency.
"I should feel extremely gratified at having the honour of presenting
to you my respects personally, that we might discuss some points which
would contribute to the glory of this empire, in addition to the many
and interesting services you have rendered to other free states; but a
multiplicity of business deprives me of this honour, which my
commissioners will enjoy, unless your excellency can allow me the
pleasure of accepting our sentiments of gratitude in this court, where
you would be received in the honourable manner you deserve, and every
care would be taken to render your journey and residence as comfortable
as possible.
"I remain with all due respect, &c., (Signed) Agustin Iturbide. Mexico,
February 1st, 1822."
The news obtained from a vessel which entered the port on the second of
February, and the day of the arrival of the commissioners, not being
mentioned, his lordship determined to follow the Spanish frigates,
composing the last relic in the Pacific, and on the destruction of which
he was fully determined.
Acapulco lies in 16° 36´ north latitude, 99° 53´ 45´´ west longitude:
the port enjoys every advantage that can possibly be imagined: it is
capacious, has a good anchorage, and is completely land-locked; so that
from the vessels when at anchor, or from the town, the sea cannot be
observed; however, the extreme heat is highly disagreeable. The town is
composed of a parish church, two convents, and about forty houses, with
many huts built of reeds and rushes. The inhabitants are a mixture of
Spaniards, Negroes, Indians, and Chinese, which in several families that
I noticed seems to have produced almost a new race of mortals; for a
great sameness exists in their colour and features. The tinge or colour
of these people is similar to that of the Malay tribes: their foreheads
broad, eyes small and black, rather prominent cheek-bones, small but
tolerably well shaped nose, large lips, and beardless chin; their hair
black and long, their form slender, yet muscular, but none are of a high
stature. A kind of wild ferocity was visible in their countenances, and
rather a haughty independence in their manners, heightened a little,
perhaps, with the idea of being now imperialists; indeed, every thing
here was imperial: the town, the port, the flag, the market, nay, even
the language was imperial. The greater part of the inhabitants wore a
species of uniform, mostly composed of a blue nankeen, or stuff jacket
with a red collar, blue trowsers, and a cap; but without shoes or
stockings. The lower classes of females wore full petticoats, and a
chemise, with a long blue and white shawl: their hair is platted in long
slender tresses, and they have no other covering on their heads. Some
indians from the interior had a kind of short shirt, not reaching down
to their waists, breeches, and sandals of raw hide, with a hat, the
crown of which is about three inches high, and the skirts more than
thirty inches in diameter: it is made of the leaves of a tree.
Some of the muleteers from the interior wore a very picturesque dress;
over an under shirt they had a short one, like the indians, sitting
close to their bodies and arms, blue breeches, the seams being
tastefully embroidered with coloured silks; the calves of their legs
wrapped in buff-coloured leather, carefully tied on, and hanging loose,
with laced boots of the same material and colour; a coloured sash round
their waists, and large black hats on their heads, with a thick roll of
different coloured cloths for a hat-band.
All the people seemed to be particularly clean both in their clothes and
persons; but this is generally the case in hot climates.
The market is but indifferently supplied, and provisions on the whole
are scarce, dear, and of an inferior quality.
The appearance of the country in the neighbourhood is extremely sterile
and naked; scarcely any vegetables are to be seen, the sandy mountains
rising almost abruptly from the water's edge.
The climate is excessively hot, the access of cool air being precluded
by surrounding mountains, and very little benefit is derived from the
cut or opening made at the north end of the town, called _la ábra de San
Nicolas_, for the admission of the sea-breeze: the winter or wet season
is so unhealthy, that few of the white inhabitants remain in the town,
almost every one retires into the interior.
A large battery stands on an elevation at the southern extremity of this
place; it mounts thirty-one pieces of heavy artillery, and is called the
fort of San Diego. It contains barracks, magazines, and dungeons, named
the gaol, carcel.
The town was formerly of commercial notoriety, on account of the vessels
which arrived here, commonly from Manilla, called naos de la China; but
as this traffic will now cease, and on account of the mountainous
country lying between it and the capital, a distance of eighty-five
leagues, it is probable that this port will shortly be almost abandoned,
unless, indeed, a commercial intercourse be kept up with the British
East India colonies, which might become of considerable importance, and
which is at present worthy of the attention of English speculators, as
the principal returns would be the precious metals, cochineal, and
indigo.
On leaving Acapulco, the Independencia, Captain Wilkinson, and Auracano,
Captain Simpson, were ordered to proceed to the bay of California, for
the purpose of purchasing provisions for the vessels of war, and then to
follow us to Guayaquil, Callao, and Valparaiso.
On the night of the tenth we experienced a very severe gale in the bay
of Tehuantepec, and owing to the bad state of the frigate, we expected
she would go to pieces with every sea that struck her: our only
consolation was, that the Valdivia being almost within hail we should be
enabled to save our lives by taking to the boats, and going on board.
In the morning the gale subsided, to our no small joy; but a signal of
distress was made by the Valdivia, and afterwards a communication by
telegraph, that a sea had struck her, and that seventeen timbers had
given way on her larboard side; that for want of pumps the water was
gaining on them considerably, and the men were nearly exhausted with
baling. Some logs of wood were sent from the O'Higgins, together with
every man who fancied himself a carpenter, and the damage done was soon
repaired as well as circumstances would permit.
On the fifth of March we made the coast of Esmeraldas, and early on the
morning of the seventh we came to an anchor in the port of Tacames or
Atacames.
After I had landed, my old subjects were both astonished and delighted;
they had heard no tidings of me since the year 1812, and supposed me to
be dead. The news that we obtained here was, that the Spanish general
Crus Mourgeon arrived at this port from Panama, with a number of
officers, and eight hundred men, on the twenty-fifth of December, and
marched to join the forces at Quito; that immediately after he left
Panama, which was on the twenty-eighth of November, the inhabitants
rose, and declared their independence; and this they did although the
two frigates Prueba and Vengansa had arrived after the departure of Crus
Mourgeon; these two frigates, they told us, left the port of Tacames on
the first of January, for Guayaquil and the coast of Peru. With these
advices Lord Cochrane immediately proceeded to Guayaquil river, and we
arrived at the island of Puná on the tenth.
The intelligence obtained here was, that the Prueba and Vengansa were
several days at anchor off the island; that deputies had been sent from
the city to negotiate with the two captains Don Jose Villegas of the
Prueba, and Don Jose Joaquin Soroa of the Vengansa; that on the
twenty-third of February the Vengansa and sloop of war Alexander had
proceeded up the river to Guayaquil, and on the twenty-fifth the Prueba
had left the river for the port of Callao. On receiving this advice his
lordship stood up the river with the following tide, and came to an
anchor off the city on the morning of the thirteenth, where we found the
Vengansa bearing the Peruvian flag.
Lord Cochrane was directly informed, that the captains Villegas and
Soroa had negotiated the surrender of the Spanish frigates Prueba and
Vengansa with the commissioners appointed by Don Francisco Salasar, the
Peruvian envoy at Guayaquil; which treaty was ratified by the respective
parties on the fifteenth and sixteenth of February last, the principal
condition being, that the whole of the officers and crews should
receive from the government of Peru all the arrears due to them; that
those who chose to remain in America should enjoy all the privileges of
citizens; and that those who preferred returning to Europe should have
the expenses of their passage defrayed by the government of Peru. After
several inquiries made on shore, it appeared, that when the negotiations
were about to be interrupted by the mutinous crews and some Spanish
officers, who, indignant at the conduct of the captains, in thus selling
the Spanish vessels of war to the enemies of Spain, began to canvass an
opposition, the government of Guayaquil availed themselves of the
subterfuge of having had a correspondence with Lord Cochrane, who with
the Chilean squadron had anchored in the bay of La Manta, in the
province of Guayaquil, on his passage to the capital. This stratagem had
the desired effect: the officers and crews came to the terms offered,
rather than decide the controversy by honorable warfare. On being
positively assured of the transaction, and conscious, that had not the
Chilean squadron driven them to this last action the Spanish captains
never would have surrendered their vessels, his lordship on the morning
of the fourteenth sent Captain Crosbie on board the Vengansa, with
orders to hoist at her peak the flag of Chile jointly with that of Peru.
This act created great confusion in the city, the gunboats were
immediately manned, and pieces of cannon were brought down to the side
of the river, where the people employed themselves in placing logs of
wood to serve as a breastwork; the Spanish sailors appeared to take a
more than active part in resenting this insult offered to the vessel,
which a few days previously they had cowardly sold to their enemies,
through the fear of having to defend her while under the Spanish flag;
indeed every thing on shore bore the most hostile appearance; while on
board the O'Higgins and Valdivia no preparations whatever were made, the
Admiral being too busy in smiling at their warlike preparations and mock
means of defence. On the night of the seventeenth the courage of our
self-constituted enemies was put to the test.
With the return tide the Valdivia drifted up the river near to where the
Spanish officers and seamen had anchored the gunboats, which the
government had allowed them to manage, as being more acquainted with
naval tactics; but these heroes, supposing that the frigate was about to
attack them, ran the boats on shore, and fled to the back of the city,
leaving the natives to replace them on the water before daylight. This,
however, was in vain, and the effects of the preceding night's alarm
were visible on the following morning.
After some correspondence between the government and the admiral, it was
agreed on the nineteenth, that deputies from both parties should meet
ashore, and adjust such terms as should be most conducive to the public
tranquillity, and to the honour and welfare of all parties. Accordingly,
the government appointed the captain of the port, Don Manuel Lusuriaga,
Dr. Don Bernabé Cornejo, and Captain Indaburu. Lord Cochrane appointed
Captain Crosbie, Captain Cobbett, and myself. Having met at the cavildo,
the following articles were agreed to, and immediately ratified by
Olmedo, Ximena, and Roca (forming the junta of government) and Lord
Cochrane.
"First.--The frigate Vengansa shall remain as belonging to the
government of Guayaquil; she shall hoist the flag of this state, which
shall be saluted by the Chilean.
"Second.--The state of Guayaquil guarantees to the Chilean squadron
under the responsibility of forty thousand dollars, that the frigate
Vengansa shall not be delivered to, nor negotiated for with any
governments until those of Chile and Peru shall have decided on what
they may esteem most just. And, moreover, the government of Guayaquil is
bound to destroy her rather than consent that the said vessel shall
serve any other state, till such decision be made.
"Third.--The corvette Alexander shall be delivered to her owners, or
their assigns, according to the right which they possessed before she
was taken by violence from this river. The owners are to pay the arrears
due to the crew from the date of their last leaving Panama to that of
the fifteenth of February, 1822, with all the other expenses which may
have been incurred; and, in the mean time, she shall not be employed in
any way whatever without the consent of her owners.
"Fourth.--Any government whatever which henceforward may be established
in Guayaquil shall be bound to the fulfilment of the articles here
expressed.
"Fifth.--These articles, herein written and agreed to, shall be
understood literally, in good faith, and without any mental
amplifications or restrictions. Guayaquil, &c."
After the ratification of these articles, the government of Guayaquil
addressed a polite note to Lord Cochrane, expressing the highest
sentiments of respect for the most important services which the free
states of America had received from him, assuring him, at the same time,
that Guayaquil would always be the first to honour his name, and the
last to forget his unparalleled services, to which she owed her
emancipation from the yoke of Spain.
On the twentieth the Guayaquil flag was hoisted on board the Vengansa by
Captain Lusuriaga and Captain Crosbie, to whom the Peruvian and Chilean
flags were delivered. The O'Higgins immediately saluted the flag with
twenty-two guns, and the salute was returned from the guns placed on
shore; and afterwards the gunboats hoisted the Chilean flag, and saluted
it with twenty-two guns.
It having been asserted in Peru, before Lord Cochrane left the bay of
Callao in October, 1821, that he would supply the garrisons of the
fortresses with provisions, on condition that they would not surrender
to San Martin, his lordship availed himself of the present opportunity
with General la Mar, who was the governor of Callao, and who being now
at Guayaquil, to write to him through the hands of the government,
requesting him to answer, whether he did succour or promise to succour
the garrisons of Callao, during the time that he was employed in the
blockade of that port?
To this La Mar answered:
"Most Excellent Sir,--In consequence of the official note which I
yesterday received from your excellency, through the hands of the
government, it is my duty to assert, that I have neither said nor
written, nor ever heard that you did supply or propose to supply with
provisions the place of Callao during the whole of the time that it was
under my charge. God preserve your excellency many years. (Signed) Jose
de la Mar. Guayaquil, March 13th, 1822."
On the twenty-first we weighed, his lordship giving orders to Captain
Crosbie to trip the anchor, and to kedge down the river, by which means
he would have a better opportunity to mark the channel, and form a plan
of it, should it ever become necessary to ascend it without the
assistance of a pilot. The second tide took us to the Puná, where we
remained till the twenty-fifth, the boats being employed in bringing
water and some provisions from Balao, on the opposite side of the river.
Having left Guayaquil river on the twenty-fifth of March, we arrived on
the twelfth of April at the small port of Huambacho, on the coast of
Peru, where to our surprise and astonishment the alcalde of the village
shewed his lordship a written order from San Martin, stating that should
any of the vessels of war belonging to Chile touch at the said port, he
was to forbid their landing, and to deny them any assistance whatever,
and not even to allow them to wood or water there.
Exasperated at this conduct, his lordship proceeded to Callao, but not
before he had convinced the alcalde, that he had not the power to
enforce such orders from his master. We arrived at Callao on the
twenty-fifth, where the first object of instability in the new
government which we observed was five different Peruvian flags flying in
the bay and on the batteries.
We here found the Prueba under Peruvian colours, and commanded by one of
the captains who had deserted the Chilean squadron; but such was the
dread that Lord Cochrane would take possession of her, that she was
immediately hauled close in shore under the batteries, her guns housed,
her ports closed, and so crammed she was with soldiers, for her defence,
that three men died with suffocation the night after our arrival. I was
assured, that no less than two thousand men were crowded on her upper
deck, as if such a mob could have intimidated Lord Cochrane, had he been
authorized to take possession of her, after she had been driven into the
bay of Callao by his efforts, and there purchased from her traitorous
crew by the Peruvian government.