All this I gathered from my guards and visitors, after I returned to my room from my walk, in company with the mate, although we had never expected to see it again.
CHAPTER IV.
Capture of the Governor—His execution—I am led out of my prison—The burning of the bodies—Governor Gamero’s character—His intercourse with the native tribes—The Priest Acuna—Arrival of H. B. M. war steamer Virago—Mr. Dunn, the Secretary—Cambiaso plans the capture of the steamer—He fears her force and discipline—The officers invited on shore—No suspicions aroused—The Virago sets sail.
On the afternoon of the day of these executions, Cambiaso sent out two or three parties of soldiers, well armed, under one of the chief officers, and all on horseback, with directions to take the governor and his party, and bring them in, dead or alive. They had accurate information of their hiding place from the traitor, and by surrounding the bushes, and gradually beating in, they succeeded in capturing them, and about sunset brought them in, and they were soon heavily ironed.
I heard that they were terribly emaciated, and scarcely able to stand, from weakness, having lived for nearly a week on nothing but roots and berries. Cambiaso ordered them to be served with a good dinner, saying that they should go with a belly-full, and then thrust them into the calaboose, where captain Avalos and the other prisoners were confined. Captain Avalos told me afterwards that neither the governor or the priest showed any signs of fear, but when he asked them if they knew their fate, they answered coolly, “Oh, yes!” Cambiaso seemed to intend to surround this execution with all the pomp and solemnity that he could command. About nine, in the evening, there was a general rush through the camp. The bugles sounded the death march, the drums beat, the soldiers were all ordered under arms, and governor Gamero and the priest Acuna were led out of the barracks. All was still in the yard after they left, and in a short time I heard the report of their death shots. They were shot under the same trees to which Mr. Shaw and captain Talbot had been tied.
In about an hour I was called out of my room, and told that I was wanted in the yard. I went out doggedly, for this day of excitement had worn me down into a sort of indifference as to my fate; but the scene that lay before me when I reached the platform, which, raised above the rest of the yard, commanded a view of the land beyond the fortification, roused me at once from my indifference. In the field north of the barracks, was dug a deep hole, in which a large fire was kindled, which threw its red light on all around. On the trees, to the right, hung the dead bodies of Mr. Shaw, captain Talbot, and the boy, and beneath them were dimly seen the bleeding corpses of the governor and priest. The rebels were busied around the fire and the bodies, and Cambiaso, with some mounted officers, were to be seen giving directions. Soon I saw a cart driven up to the fire, and a dead body thrown from it into the flames, with as little ceremony as one would treat a dog. One of my guard standing by me, said, “There goes the governor.” The bodies of Mr. Shaw, captain Talbot, and the poor English boy were one by one cut down, and thrust into the fire. The women of the camp had pleaded with Cambiaso to allow the body of the priest to be buried, and he, having perhaps some feelings of reverence for his sacred office, had allowed it to be given into their hands. More fuel was now heaped on the flames, and their lurid light showed me a scene which makes me shudder as I recall it.
The soldiers danced round the fire, singing the national hymn of Chili, and mingling with it shouts and curses, imprecations on the governor, and threats of vengeance against the remaining prisoners; especially against captain Salas, the commander of the troops under Gamero, and against captain Avalos, whose rank as an officer under the government of Chili seemed to be his only crime. The darkness of the night, the lurid glare of the flames, the fantastic dancing of the soldiers, the mingled shouts and curses that met my ear, made every thing appear to me like some revelry in hell, where the souls of the damned make merry over their fellow sufferers. On this evening the barque’s papers, also my private papers, were burnt, with shouts of joy.
I was kept on the platform until the flames had died down, when three cheers were given by the soldiers around the fire, and answered by those within the yard; and soon after, I was ordered back to my prison, to endure another night of anxiety.