Sandy Bay Colony--Governor Benjamin Numoz Gamero--Insurrection of
Cambiaso--Forged Message from the Governor--Landing of Captain
Avalos--Escape of Governor Gamero--Boat sent on shore--Return of the
boat--Capture of the Florida--Mr. Shaw and myself seized--Taken on
shore--Our imprisonment at the barracks--Privations--Mr. Shaw removed.
Sandy Bay Colony lies on the Patagonian side of the Straits of
Magellan, on a level spot of ground which slopes down gently towards
the water on the south-east. The settlement had formerly been made
at Port Famine, at a short distance to the south-west of the present
colony; but that situation was found to be very bleak, the site of
the buildings being on a hill somewhat higher than the surrounding
country, and exposed to the sweep of the williwaws. The change had
been made under the direction of Don Benjamin Numoz Gamero, governor
of the colony, and the new site had been selected with great judgment.
The land proved very fertile, being well fitted to raise all the
crops which the short summers of that latitude will allow to come to
maturity; and the governor had cleared a good deal of ground around
the barracks, and laid out many gardens, which were cultivated by the
convicts. A street ran in front of the barracks, towards the water, and
on the slope of the shore were some very good houses. These houses were
made of boards that had been sawed from logs by the convicts. They used
hand-saws, and usually sawed about twelve or fourteen boards a day.
As I looked towards the shore from the vessel, as the sun went down,
on the evening of the 26th, there was all around the quiet and peace of
early summer, and the barracks shone out with the neatness that belongs
to all buildings for military purposes. How little did I guess the
violence and mutiny that were going on within!
There had been an insurrection in the colony about five days before,
headed by one Cambiaso, second lieutenant of the troops stationed
there; who, as I learned afterwards, had committed some offence and
been imprisoned a short time before by the order of the governor. At
his liberation, he had declared that he would have his revenge, and
I have some reason to suppose that he was instigated to seize the
place by some of the political offenders confined there, who were
adherents of General Cruz, and who still held some communication with
the revolutionists in the province of Conception. Cambiaso had been
joined by most of the convicts and prisoners. This attack on the troops
had been successful, but the governor, priest, some soldiers, and
one woman, a wife of one of the soldiers, had escaped outside of the
fort, and were then hiding in the woods. Cambiaso was in possession of
the fort when we anchored in the bay, but of this, of course, I knew
nothing.
Early in the evening, indeed as soon as it was dark, a boat put off
from shore and came alongside, with five men in her, bearing a letter
purporting to be from the governor of the colony, and signed Numoz
Gamero, desiring me to keep the prisoners on board until the next day,
when I should receive assistance from the shore, in landing them. I
showed the letter to captain Avalos, who, tired of his confinement on
ship board, determined to go on shore for the night, taking with him
some twelve prisoners in the boat which had been sent from the land,
and leaving the remainder of the prisoners and the troops under my
charge.
About twelve at night, I was aroused by the firing of cannon from the
shore, and I sprung upon deck, but I found all quiet in the vessel. In
a few moments, however, the watch gave the alarm that a boat was coming
near us, and crying for assistance. The wind blew so very fresh that it
was impossible to hear what was said from the boat, (the voices being
blown away from us,) but I conjectured that the prisoners who were
landed the evening before, and about whose security I had some doubts,
had made their escape from captain Avalos, and had probably stolen a
boat and were trying to get on board, where, with the assistance of the
other prisoners, they could seize the vessel and make their escape.
I immediately ordered a gun to be fired in answer to those from the
shore, to show that we were on the lookout, and then had the larboard
quarter boat lowered away and sent her out with five men, armed with
cutlasses, with orders to seize the shore boat.
After being gone for a whole hour, they returned, saying that they had
not been able to find her. Soon after, the noise of firing from the
shore ceased. In the boat were the governor, priest, some soldiers,
and a woman, who had escaped from the barracks, and, seizing a boat,
had put off, in hopes to reach me and warn me of the insurrection on
shore. Having but one oar, however, and the wind blowing very fresh,
they were unable to make the vessel, but drifted across the Straits and
attempted to land on the Terra del Fuego side.
As soon as captain Avalos reached the barracks, he was seized, his
papers taken from him, the prisoners who landed with him set at
liberty, and himself put into double irons and thrust into a calaboose,
as the buildings for confining the soldiers are called. During the
evening, he could hear the prisoners whom he had brought on shore, in
the full enjoyment of a drunken frolic. He told me afterwards that no
answer was made to his inquiries as to the reason of his seizure, but
that he obtained some idea of what was the real state of the colony,
by overhearing the conversation of the drunken prisoners. Late in the
evening, the door of the calaboose was opened, and five men, double
ironed, were thrust into the room. These, he found, were the Secretary
of the colony, a Brazilian by birth, the captain and first lieutenant
of the troops of the colony, the apothecary, and governor’s steward.
The escape of governor Gamero had been discovered by Cambiaso, and
these men were thrust into the calaboose with captain Avalos, a guard
of eighteen men stationed on the outside, with lighted torches in their
hands, and with orders to set fire to the four corners of the building,
and burn them alive, in case the Florida made her escape during the
night. But the morning came, and the Florida, fortunately for them if
not for us, was still at anchor. It would be inquiring somewhat too
curiously of weak human nature, to ask if the prisoners felt any thing
but joy at hearing of our fatal security. Captain Avalos and Mr. Dunn
(the secretary) told me afterwards, that during the night their guards
were cursing their tiresome watch, and wondering why Cambiaso did not
shoot them at once, or burn them, without waiting to know the result of
the governor’s escape. But Cambiaso was not so daring a villain as not
always to remember the possibility of the re-taking of the fort.
Early in the morning of the 27th, I sent my boat on shore, with the
first mate, Mr. Buela, the passenger, (he understanding Spanish,) three
seamen, and one soldier, with orders to bring off captain Avalos, and
to obtain from the governor orders with regard to the landing of the
rest of the prisoners. These also were seized the moment they arrived
at the barracks, and thrust into a little building about six feet
square.
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The firing and disturbance during the night had roused some sense of
uneasiness in my mind, lest all should not be right on shore; and early
in the morning I had gone into the cabin to consult with Mr. Shaw. He
was then quite unwell, and most anxious to reach the shore, where he
supposed he would be able to obtain medical advice; while I hoped to
land all the prisoners during the day, and be able to proceed that
afternoon on our way to Rio Janeiro.
We waited very anxiously, therefore, for the return of the boat, and
at about nine o’clock she came alongside, but to my surprise, manned
with six or seven men dressed as officers, who handed me a letter
purporting to be from governor Gamero, stating that my men were
drunk, and not able to row the boat back to the ship. The letter also
requested me to commence landing the prisoners. All this seemed to me
very singular. I had never seen any disposition to drunkenness among
my crew, and even if the seamen had been incapable of returning in the
boat, the first mate and captain Avalos would have been on board of
her. I went into the cabin, and, holding out the letter to Mr. Shaw,
said “Depend upon it, there is something wrong here. My men are not
drunk, and if they are, where are Mr. P----n and captain Avalos?”
While I was speaking, a voice was heard on deck, the cabin door was
burst open, and four of the officers rushed in, two of them with drawn
swords. Mr. Shaw, who was sitting down, was seized at once. One of the
officers struck at me with his sword, but his arm was caught by one of
the prisoners, who rushed between us. In a few minutes I was secured,
in spite of my struggles, and we were told that we were prisoners.
I asked to whom, and by whose authority we were taken, but to this
I received no answer. We were carried on deck, and I found that the
prisoners had been freed. The struggle with the troops and the crew
was still going on, but as the prisoners rushed up from the hold, it
became every moment more unequal. The prisoners being unarmed, wrested
the guns from the hands of the soldiers, and overpowered them by force
of numbers. As I came on deck, the corporal called out that he would
not give up his gun unless I ordered him to, for it seems the guns had
at first been demanded of the soldiers by the officers who came from
the shore, and in the confusion some of them had given them up. As the
corporal called to me, three of the officers threw themselves upon him,
and after a long struggle he was disarmed, and put in irons. The whole
attack was so unexpected, the rush of the prisoners from the hold so
overwhelming, and the confusion so great, that I do not wonder that the
soldiers and crew were overpowered.
Preparations were soon made for sending Mr. Shaw and myself on shore,
and a sufficient guard was detached to accompany us in the boat. While
rowing to the shore, our captors were continually firing off their
muskets, with shouts of “Viva la Cruz!” These cries gave happened in
the colony, for they were the same which had met my ear during the
insurrection, (previous to my leaving Valparaiso,) of which struggle
I had been a witness. On leaving, we were met by several soldiers
on foot and horseback, one of whom seemed to be of some authority.
This was Garcia, one of the officers in the service of the governor,
Gamero, who had joined Cambiaso in his revolt, being compelled to do
so, as he afterwards pleaded, by fear of his life. However that may
be, I certainly found him much more gentle and humane in his actions
and expressions than Cambiaso, and was indebted to him for several
kindnesses. From him I gained the first idea of what had occurred in
the colony.
As we left the boat, I noticed Mr. Shaw’s extreme weakness, and feared
that if we were to be taken far from the shore, he would not be able
to stand the fatigue. I therefore appealed to general Garcia, as I
afterwards learned to call him, and, calling his attention to Mr.
Shaw’s state of health, asked him if some arrangement could not be made
by which he could ride. Garcia ordered one of his soldiers to dismount,
and Mr. Shaw took his place. We were taken up the slope from the water,
towards the barracks, and passing by the platform, under the mouths of
the cannon which were mounted upon it, entered the great gate of the
fortification. As I looked around, military preparations met my eye
on every side, but there was none of the order of a regular garrison;
on the contrary, the shouts of drunken rioters, the quarrelling and
swearing of the soldiers, the shrill screams of the women which
struck my ear, gave me a tolerably correct idea of the sort of people
into whose hands we had fallen. Conspicuous among them all, was their
leader, Cambiaso, who cast contemptuous glances upon us as we passed,
and who might be heard giving his orders, mixed with oaths and threats
of punishment and death to those who did not obey him implicitly. He
let us pass on, however, without addressing us, and it was only from
his officer’s dress and authoritative manner that we were able to guess
at his rank.
Very little time, however, was given us for observation; for we were
hurried across the open space, and thrust into one of the largest
buildings used as barracks. My crew, the remainder of whom were brought
away from the vessel at the same time with Mr. Shaw and myself, were
put into one of the smallest of the barracks, where they, with Mr.
Buela, were confined in a room about six feet square, which was so
crowded that they were obliged to take turns in lying down to rest. Mr.
Shaw and myself were at first put into the same apartment, but we were
not allowed to speak to each other; several soldiers standing guard
over us the whole time. In about two hours, however, I was taken from
this room, and put into a smaller one adjoining it. The apartment into
which both Mr. Shaw’s room and mine opened, was occupied by our guard,
who ate and slept there, and who forbade all intercourse between us.
I looked around the room, which I felt would be my prison until I was
led out to death, for I knew now into what hands we had fallen; and,
on my way up from the shore to the barracks, had been threatened with
death if I did not at once inform them what treasure I had on board the
Florida; and on my saying there was none, one of the officers said “he
would soon find a way to make me find some.”
The room was without a floor, with a board nailed to the wall, looking
like a shelf, but serving for a seat; the table was a board, supported
by sticks driven into the ground; and these, with my mattrass, formed
the furniture. I had with me a small pocket looking glass about the
size of my hand, and the miniatures of my wife and children, which I
managed to hide within my shirt bosom. I had also in my pocket a pencil
and a small piece of paper, which I used for the purpose of keeping my
dates. My guards, however, always came and watched me when they saw me
writing, and at last told me I must desist, as some harm might come of
it. After this, I put down my dates when I was unobserved. This was not
often. For the next two days I was near starving, nothing being given
me to eat, except two ship biscuit, or “hard bread,” as we sailors call
them; and my only drink was the water which I helped myself to from the
guard room.
On the morning of the 29th, two days after our capture, I was taken out
by my guard, for a walk around the yard and on the platform which ran
along the west side of the fort, and on which the cannon were mounted.
I made the best use of my eyes and ears during my walk, and managed to
speak to one or two of the prisoners who had been on the Florida with
me, and whom I had made some acquaintance with during the voyage. It
was by these prisoners that I was afterwards kept informed of what
occurred outside of my prison. They would talk to me during my walks,
and sometimes would come to my window and tell me what had occurred;
sometimes in bravado, and with great exultation, and sometimes with
expressions of sympathy.
On returning from my walk, I met Mr. Shaw, leaving his room with his
guard by his side; taken out, I supposed, for a similar purpose. I saw
he was not looking well, and spoke to him, saying, “how do you feel
this morning?” His answer was, “pretty miserable;” and he seemed about
to say something more, but my guard pushed between us, saying, with
an oath, “We can’t have any talking, captain; we have the general’s
orders against it.” I was hurried into my room, and Mr. Shaw led away.
This was the last time I ever saw him; for, for some reason which
I never could learn, he was not brought back to the barracks, but
confined in a building outside the fortification. It seemed to me, that
with the sense of his nearness to me, I had lost my last friend; so
lonely and miserable did I feel when he had left.