Historical and descriptive narrative of twenty years' residence in South America (Vol 3 of 3) / Containing travels in Arauco, Chile, Peru, and Colombia; with an account of the revolution, its rise, progress, and results

by active 1803-1825 William Bennet Stevenson

Bernardo O'Higgins.

On the twenty-sixth a Spanish merchant ship, called la Victoria, laden with cedar planks and horses, from Chiloe, was taken by the San Martin, and on the twenty-eighth the attack was made on Callao, and two of the gun-boats were taken, after which his lordship dropped down to Huacho, and ordered rear admiral Blanco to continue in the blockade of Callao with the San Martin and Lantaro, and any other vessels that might arrive from Chile; but Blanco, after remaining a few days, raised the blockade, and sailed to Valparaiso, where he was immediately placed under an arrest by the government until the arrival of the admiral, when he was tried by a court martial for a dereliction of duty, but acquitted. Lord Cochrane proceeded from Huacho to Barranca, and thence to Huarmey and Huambacho, where he found a French brig that had received on board part of the money belonging to the Phillipine company, and which the captain immediately delivered up.

The bay of Huambacho, about fifteen miles to the southward of Santa, is one of the most convenient on the western shores of America: it is completely land-locked: the anchorage is capital, and the landing is very good: a small river of excellent water enters the bay, and in the valley abundance of fire-wood may be procured. This valley formerly belonged to the ex-Jesuits; but on account of the decrease of water in the river at certain periods of the year, there not being sufficient for the ordinary purposes of irrigation, the government has never yet found a purchaser for it.

The soil is sandy, with a mixture of vegetable mould; but like the generality of the lands cultivated in Peru it is extremely productive when irrigated. This is evinced at the small indian hamlet of Huambacho, about two leagues from the sea, and it would doubtlessly be a very fit situation for a cotton plantation, which does not require so much water as the sugar-cane or lucern. The hills that surround the valley are covered with the remains of houses belonging to the indians before the conquest; great numbers of huacas are found here, and probably much treasure is buried in them.

Lord Cochrane, after the O'Higgins and Galvarino had wooded and watered, proceeded down the coast to Paita, where having anchored, he sent a flag of truce on shore, by Don Andres de los Reyes, a Peruvian, who embarked at la Barranca, stating that the town and inhabitants should receive no injury, and that nothing but the treasures belonging to the government should be taken, as had already happened at Huaura. He requested that no resistance should be made, as it would be unavailing, and only subject the town to the destructive effects of war. The answer was, that the town and the lives and property of the inhabitants belonged to the king, and that all should be sacrificed in defence of the Spanish flag. The same individual was sent a second time, to request that the military force would not expose the town and its inhabitants; but instead of receiving the message they fired on the flag, and opened their battery on the Galvarino. This insult was immediately resented; the marines were landed, and soon drove the Spaniards from the battery and the town, which was then pillaged; the artillery was embarked, and the fort blown up. The O'Higgins and Galvarino went to the port of Barranca, and took some cattle, sugar, and rum from the farm of San Nicholas, belonging to Don Manuel Garcia, a Spaniard. It was the constant practice of Lord Cochrane to quarter on the common enemy, and nothing was ever taken from a native by force, or without paying for it. Hence we proceeded to Callao, and thence to Valparaiso, where we arrived on the fifteenth of June.

Valparaiso, situate in latitude 33° 1´ 45´´ S., and longitude 71° 30´ 56´´ west of Greenwich, is the principal port in Chile. The natives flatter themselves, that this name was given to the port by the first Spaniards who visited it, and that it is a syncope of Valle del Paraiso, valley of Paradise; but it is equally possible, that the Spaniards, who had received exaggerated accounts of the country, comparing it to Paradise, on their first approaching this part of the coast, might have exclaimed, valde Paraiso! vain Paradise! which designation its appearance at present would better justify. The bay is of a semicircular form, surrounded by very steep hills, which rise abruptly almost from the edge of the water, particularly to the southward and about half of the range to the eastward; the other half forms a kind of recess, and the hills are not so perpendicular. During the winter season they are covered with grass, with some stunted trees and bushes, such as molles, myrtles, espino, and maytenes; but the soil being a red clay, the verdure soon disappears when the summer sun begins to shine on them and the rain ceases to fall.

The principal part of the town is built between the cliffs and the sea, forming a row of houses, or rather shops; a few good houses stand also in a narrow street, but they cannot be seen from the bay, because a row of low houses with their backs to the sea prevent the prospect. The greater number of the inhabitants of this part of the town, called the port, to distinguish it from the suburbs, called the Almendral, reside in the ravines of San Francisco, San Augustin and San Antonio, where the houses rise one above another, forming a species of amphitheatre; in many of them a person may sit in his parlour, and look over the roof of his neighbour's house; at night the appearance of this part of the town is pleasing, the lights being scattered about the hills in every direction. The Almendral, or suburbs, stands in a kind of recess in the hills, on a sandy plain, and most probably was in times past a part of the bay of Valparaiso; indeed it is now often inundated by the spring tides. Some regularity begins to be adopted here in the formation of streets, and some of the houses are neat. At the bottom of the Almendral there is a small rivulet.

Valparaiso is defended by a fort on the south side of the harbour, one at the residence of the governor, and one on the north side of the bay: a citadel on the hill behind the governor's palace on an extensive scale is and will perhaps remain unfinished. The places of worship are the parish church, the conventuals of San Francisco, San Augstin, La Merced (in the Almendral) Santo Domingo, and the hospital chapel of San Juan de Dios. Some of the principal houses are built of stone, but the greater part are of adoves; all of them are covered with tiles, and those that have an upper story have a balcony in front.

Since the revolution many English conveniences and luxuries in dress and furniture, as well as improvements in the manners and customs of the inhabitants, have been adopted, and almost any thing a la Inglesa meets with approbation.