Jim then gave orders for the wounded to be made as comfortable as possible under the circumstances, and the two launches continued their journey back to the fleet, which was reached about eight o’clock. The young man immediately made his report to the commodore, and the latter, who seemed to have no mind of his own, then called another council of officers to decide whether they should enter the bay and destroy the Manco Capac and the forts, or whether they should take up the pursuit of the other three Peruvian warships which had eluded them in so mysterious a way.
It was unanimously decided to pursue, so as to prevent them from doing any further damage; and Riveros therefore divided his squadron into two parts, consisting of the Almirante Cochrane and Blanco Encalada in one division; and the O’Higgins, Loa, and Mathias Cousino in the other. One column, consisting of the three latter vessels, was to steam a hundred miles due westward, and then head south, while the admiral would proceed in the same direction, but would keep close in along the coast.
These arrangements having been made, the captains returned to their respective ships, the anchors were raised, and the fleet separated into two divisions—one going south direct, and the other going west in the first instance.
Chapter Nine.
The Battle of Angamos.
Although somewhat disappointed at their failure to find the Peruvian fleet lying in Arica Bay, the men on board the Blanco Encalada looked forward, with all the pleasure of anticipation, to the time when they should overtake the marauding warships, bring them to action, and destroy them. And Commodore Riveros’ offer of a hundred pésos to the man who should first sight the enemy, only increased the anxiety of the flagship’s crew to fever-heat, and men were to be found aloft upon the look-out at all hours of the day and night. It had been made known, too, that Captain Latorre, who had been promoted to the Almirante Cochrane, had also offered a similar reward; and every man aboard the Blanco made up his mind that his ship should have the honour of bringing the Peruvians to action.
Leaving Arica on the 4th of October, the inshore squadron, with the flagship leading the way, steamed slowly down the coast, exploring every nook and cranny where the enemy might by any possibility be lurking—for it was evident that they must have been hiding somewhere when the Chilians had steamed northward a few days before. But no sign of an enemy was seen during that day, nor during the next, in and on the 6th the fleet steamed into the harbour of Mejillones de Bolivia, in order to coal.
Commodore Riveros, bearing in mind his own attempt on the Peruvians at Arica, and feeling convinced that their fleet must be somewhere close at hand, gave the strictest orders that no men should be allowed to go ashore, and that a patrol of steam-launches should ply up and down the harbour the whole night through, in order to prevent the attempt of similar tactics on the part of the enemy. He had also seen fit to express approval of the manner in which Jim Douglas had carried out the task assigned to him in Arica Bay, and he therefore sent for him to his cabin and informed the young man that he was to take command, in the Blanco Encalada’s launch, of the flotilla which was to do patrol-duty during the night—a circumstance which afforded Jim the utmost satisfaction, and emboldened him to ask as a favour that Terry O’Meara should again be allowed to accompany him; to which request Riveros immediately acceded.