Quite exhausted with the labor of extricating himself, he sat down under a tree and there gave way to melancholy reflections. Sensible that if he indulged them in inactivity, his companions could not be overtaken, he marked a great tree and, depositing his burden, hastened after them. In some hours he came up, and Captain Cheap began asking for his canvas; and on being told the disaster that had befallen Mr. Byron, nothing was heard but grumbling for the loss. Mr. Byron made no answer but, resting himself a little, rose and returned at least five miles to the burden, with which he returned just as the others were embarking to cross a great lake which seemed to wash the foot of the Cordilleras. He was left behind to wait the arrival of some more Indians, without a morsel of food, or even a part of the seal meat that had cost him so much anxiety.
When they were led at last to a small Spanish garrison called Castro, only four of the party had survived the journey, Midshipman Byron, Lieutenant Hamilton of the Royal Marines, Lieutenant Alexander Campbell, and Captain Cheap. Although the English were enemies, the corregidor and the Jesuit priests felt pity for these poor victims, and treated them with great kindness. When they had recovered, they were escorted to the larger town of Chaco with a guard of thirty Spanish soldiers. At this seaport of the Chilean coast the governor entertained them handsomely and invited them to travel on his annual tour through the districts of his province. Midshipman Byron was so popular with the ladies that he had to steer a very careful course to avoid entanglements. He was the guest of one doting mother who had two very handsome daughters, and she straightway sent a message to the governor asking that the young Englishman be sent back to spend a month with the family.
This was not so serious as the affair with the niece of the rich and venerable priest, a highly educated damsel
whose person was good, though she was not a regular beauty. Casting an amorous eye on Mr. Byron, she first proposed to her uncle to convert him and then begged his consent to marry him. The old man’s affection for his niece induced his ready acquiescence to her wishes, and on the next visit Mr. Byron was acquainted with the lady’s designs. The uncle unlocked many chests and boxes before him, first showing what a number of fine clothes his niece had and then exhibiting his own wardrobe which he said should be Mr. Byron’s at his death. Among other things he produced a piece of linen, engaging that it should immediately be made up into shirts for his use. Mr. Byron felt this last article a great temptation, yet he had the resolution to withstand it, and declined the honor intended him, with the best excuses he was able to frame.
Some time after they had been at Chaco, a ship arrived from Lima which occasioned great joy amongst the inhabitants, as no ship had been there the year before on account of the alarm of Commodore Anson’s squadron. The captain of her was an old man, well known upon the island, who had been trading there for thirty years past. He had a remarkably large head and was commonly known by the nick-name of Cabuco de Toro, or Bull’s-head. Not a week had elapsed after his arrival before he came to the governor with a melancholy countenance, saying that he had not slept a wink since he came into the harbor because the governor was pleased to allow three English prisoners to walk about at liberty, whom he expected every minute would board his vessel and carry her away, although he said he had more than thirty sailors on board. The governor answered that he would be responsible for the behavior of the three Englishmen, but could not help laughing at the old man. Notwithstanding these assurances, Captain Bull’s-head used the utmost despatch in disposing of his cargo and put to sea again, not considering himself safe until he lost sight of Chaco.
The officers of the Wager were compelled to wait for another of the infrequent trading ships from Lima, and it was therefore in January, 1743, before they made the next stage of their interminable pilgrimage. They were sent ashore at Valparaiso, where the Spanish governor promptly threw them into prison; but he later forwarded them to Santiago, the capital of Chile, where they were handsomely released on parole.
In Santiago at that time were Admiral Pizarro and several officers of the squadron which had been sent out from Spain to intercept Commodore Anson and drive him away from the rich trade routes of the Pacific. It was a powerful force of six men-of-war, with a total of three hundred guns and four thousand sailors, marines, and soldiers. The storms of Cape Horn and the ravages of disease crippled the expedition, and shipwreck almost wiped it out. The flagship Asia found refuge in the River Plate with half her crew dead; the Esperanza had only fifty-eight men alive of the four hundred and fifty who had sailed from Spain in her, and of an entire regiment of infantry all but sixty perished. Only two ships survived to return home after four years’ absence, and more than three thousand Spanish sailors had found their graves in the sea.
While his flagship was undergoing repairs at Montevideo, Admiral Pizarro made the journey by land across the Andes to Santiago to confer with the Viceroy of Chile. Introduced to the officers of the Wager, one of the ships of the enemy’s squadron which he had hoped to engage in battle, the Spanish admiral invited them to dine with him and displayed the most perfect courtesy. One of his staff, Don Manuel de Guiros, insisted upon advancing them funds to the amount of two thousand dollars. Midshipman Byron and his companions accepted part of it, giving drafts on Lisbon, and were able to live comfortably and await the next turn of fortune’s wheel.
Two weary years they tarried in Santiago, and were treated not as enemies but as castaways. They found great consolation in the friendship of a Scotch physician who was known as Don Patrico Gedd. Midshipman Byron wrote:
This gentleman had been a long time in the city and was greatly esteemed by the Spaniards, as well for his abilities in his profession as for the humanity of his disposition. He no sooner heard that four English prisoners had arrived in that country than he waited on the president and begged that they might be lodged in his house. This was granted, and had we been his own brothers we could not have met with a more friendly reception; and during two years that we were with him, it was his constant study to make everything as agreeable to us as possible. We were greatly distressed to think of the expense he was at upon our account, but it was vain to argue with him about it.