CHAPTER II.
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.