CHAPTER VII.
Passage from Guayaquil River to Valdivia....Lord Cochrane reconnoitres the Harbour....Capture of the Spanish Brig Potrillo....Arrival at Talcahuano....Preparations for an Expedition to Valdivia....Troops furnished by General Freire....O'Higgins runs aground....Arrival off Valdivia....Capture of Valdivia....Attempt on Chiloe fails....Return of Lord Cochrane....Leaves Valdivia for Valparaiso....Victory by Beauchef....Arrival of the Independencia and Araucano....O'Higgins repaired....Return to Valparaiso....Conduct of Chilean Government....Lord Cochrane resigns the Command of the Squadron.
One peculiarity which accompanied our voyage was, that having the larboard tacks on board at our departure from the mouth of the Guayaquil river, they were never started until our arrival off Valdivia, the difference of latitude being 36° 27´. The currents which run from the southward seem to decrease in about 92° west longitude, and at 98° in 33° of south latitude they are scarcely perceptible. Here also the wind gradually draws round to the eastward, and in twenty-seven Spanish journals which I have examined of voyages made at all seasons of the year, this has been universally observed.
On the seventeenth of January, 1820, we made Punta Galera, the south headland of the bay of Valdivia, having the Spanish flag hoisted. Early on the morning of the eighteenth the admiral entered the port in his gig, and returned on board at day-break, having examined the anchorage, and convinced himself that the Spanish ship of war was not there, the only vessel in the harbour being a merchantman.
For an excursion of this nature the spirit of enterprize of a Cochrane was necessary. When the strength of this Gibraltar of South America is considered, the number of batteries, forming an almost uninterrupted chain of defence, crowned with cannon, the shot of which cross the passage in various directions; under such circumstances, the resolution to brave all danger for the advancement of the Chilean service reflects the highest possible honour on the admiral; besides, to this brief and perilous survey South America owes the expulsion of her enemies from this strong hold.
At half-past six o'clock a boat with an officer, three soldiers, and a pilot, came alongside, having been deceived by the Spanish flag which we hoisted; they were detained, and proved an acquisition of considerable importance. Immediately afterwards a brig hove in sight, which we chased and captured; she proved to be the Spanish brig of war the Potrillo; she had been sent from Callao with money for the governments of Chiloe and Valdivia, and was at this time on her passage from the former to the latter place. After the capture I was most agreeably surprised to find, that two of the daughters of my kind friend Don Nicolas del Rio, of Arauco, were on board; and that, at the expiration of seventeen years, it was in my power to return part of the kindnesses which I had received from their family, when a forlorn and destitute captive in Araucania.
On the 20th we anchored in the bay of Talcahuano, and in the course of two hours General Freire, the governor of the province and suite came on board to welcome the arrival of Lord Cochrane. I availed myself of this opportunity and solicited permission for the two Miss Rios to return to their home, to which the general immediately acceded; although, said he, with the exception of their brother Luis, all the family have been determined enemies to the cause of their country. Late at night an officer came on board and informed me, that two soldiers were under sentence of death at Conception, that they were to be executed on the following morning for the crime of desertion, and that he had been deputed by some of his brother officers to solicit the intervention of the admiral in their behalf. I reported this to his lordship, and a letter was sent in the morning, to which the following answer was received: