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Les diagrammas suivants illustrent la mAthode. rata alure, A 3 !2X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 i ;j.i i . iii , i >iu i gjijin i ii i 1 ) .. i., i «jyi), i n j| ^/^'ft-ft^/r^. Bei; itt^m^.t'Sfi^' ■"■»"' PAGES FROM A SEAMAN'S LOG: Being the First Eighteen Months of the Obuisb OF H, M. S. WARSPITE, LN TPIE PACIFIC. BY WM. H PALMER. VICTORIA, B. 0. : MUNROB MILLER, PRINTER, JOHNSON STREET. 1891. \$r n n-» BpeerriwssasspsSSS^^ -■■:■■■ ...::-;V:;-i';v.;.;J-:,;:i». A iTTT mmmsmmmMimimi •I, .w imnmiiij Iiiiiii m^ d ■■:;*\*.*-iV^,'^jr<'^*.\'^-:-J*ri'--'--:.. .-^'.^fOiii.***-. Ew>iMivrti)(iilMn(A^ 4r l«UIQUC TaltenChiuan Breakers over Rgef HUAMR On outer Bay) The cc account I descripti< I eighteen The blu€ I that his [tures ; th (the "Wf lomitted igrammatj seaman, ! [they may Ifirst attei [if not wit H. IM IValparaj -ii^ PREFACE. The contents of this little book are simply a short account of the travels of H. M. S. Wabspite, and a description of the places she visited during the first eighteen months of her commission in Pacific waters. The bluejacket has such little time for letter- writing, that his friende get a very confused idea of his adven- itures ; therefore, the perusal of this book by friends of jthe "Warspite's" men may supply any information [omitted in their letters. I will not answer for its [grammatical correctness ; and being only an uneducated 1 seaman, I hope my readers will excuse any mistakes they may find during their perusal; and this being my [first attempt at anything of the kind, I trust it will meet [if not with ungrudging approval, at least with toleration. WM. HARRY PALMER. Signalman. H. M. S. Warspite, [Valpabaiso, Jan. 31st, 1891. ^k' ■'■■^u■■ We < Februa After cleared Here w Point, ( to iix^rl 1882. It mt our shi She\ horse p one on ports t quick £ ; firing 1 ^top, at crested Besic She wa and coi Her chain i Our the Ad the firi saw s€ under ment c a tall also oi ship a£ iOsbon [to the Chapp service mande ezperii CHAPTER I. We commissioDed at Ohatham on the 14th d.y of February, 1890. After taking? in stores, on Saturday, the 24th, we cleared the basin and brought up in the :Outh look. Here we t r\ in a buoy which we were to drop at Sandv Point, (a Chilian settlement in tho Straits of Mr.geilan,) to uiu,r\i the spot where H. M. S. "Doterel" blew up, in 1882. It may be as well here to give a short description of our ship and the people that manned her. She was a first-class cruiser of 8,650 tons, and 10,000 horse power. She was armed with four 9.2 22-ton guns, one on each beam, one forward and one aft, and had ports for ten six-inch five-ton Armstrong guns, four quick firing Nordenfeldt, two on each beam ; four (^[ui'ck firing Hotohkiss, two on the poop, one in the military top, and one right forward under the forecastle, the ' crested figure head opening in two fiaps being its port. Besides these, we carried about twelve machine guns. She was rigged with one military mast ; had two funnels and could steam about 18 knots under forced draught. Her decks were flush, being protected all around by chain rails. So much for the ship. Our admiral was Charles P. Hotham, a Junior Lord of the Admiralty. He was of very recent make, this being the first ship on which he had hoisted his flag. He first saw service in 1856, and was captain of the flag ship under Sir Beauchamp Seymour during the bombard- ment of AlexandriR in the Egyptian war. Our captain, a tall dark man, with sharp aristocratic features, was also of recent make. Bsfore his appointmv^it to this ship as captain, he was oommnnder of the Royal Yacht Osborne. He was the Hon. Hedwoi th LambtoA, brother to the Earl of Durham. The secretary was Mr. J. H. Q. Chappie, paymaster, who was specially promoted for his services in the Zulu .and Egyptian war. Our com- mander, Edward Pitcairn Jon*»s, was an old. and experienced sailor. The first lieutenant, the Hon. H. Stanhope, was a fair man, of medium height. The torpedo lieutenant was Sir Robert Arbuthnot, a young man of about 23, he was a great advo- cate for the Naval Gymnastic Drills and superin- tended all gymnastic instructions. Our gunnery lieu- tenant was Mr. Ethelston, and the lieutenant of the flrst and second divisions was Mr. Hewett and Mr. C!ouper. We also had on board Mr. John Barber, boatswain, who distinguished himself in connection with the grounding of H. M. S. "Lily," in 1889, by swimming Bfihore, through the surf, at the risk of his life, with a line by which the whole ship's company were saved. The remainder of our ojficers mcluded the Rev. J. E. S. Mason, Chaplain; Fleet Surgeon Hay; Staff Pay- master Lawless, and their respective assistants; Staff Engineer Spalding, a boatswain, two gunners, torpedo gunner, a carpenter, and about fourteen midshipmen. Our crew was from the Royal Naval Barracks at Sheerness, (from which place the writer came,) the "Excellent" at Portsmouth, and a few from the Royal Naval Barracks at Plymouth. To resume : We left the south lock on Monday, amid the hearty good wishes of the people assembled on the pier and quay, to witness our departure, and steaming down the Medway, moored to the buoy off Sheerness the same evening. The following Thursday we coaled ship, a job we were glad to have finished, it being bitterly cold, with falls of snow at intervals. The next day we cleaned the vessel and got in readiness to receive the Prince of Wales and Prince George, who were to honor us with u visit on Saturday. The day turned out very un- favorable to a royal visit; it seemed to be doing its level best to keep the royal visitors within doors, for it snowed and blew and snowed again— it was snowing when he came aboard, and it was snowing when he left. Mr. Barber was presented to H. R. H. after he had in spected the ship and the men at divis ons. Ue and Prince George, together with the ofl&cers, were photo- graphed in a group on the qaarterdeck. The royal party left at about five o'clock, amid three hearty cheerH from our whole ship's company ; the Prince, with his well-known graceful politeness, standing bare- '43 height, rbuthnot, at advo- superin- ery lieu- C the first . Couper. oatswain, i^ith the vdmming e, with a ived. a Rev. J. Staff Pay- Its; Staff J torpedo ipmen. 'racks at me,) the }he Royal le hearty pier and down the the same hip, a job >rly cold, e cleaned Prince of us with H very un- doing its Joors, for 3 snowing in he left. 3 hnd 11 be and re photo- jyal party y cheers ice, witli jjf bare- headed through the snow, until the cheer^ and one salute was finished. The same evening I got leave, toijether with about 50 more, to pay a flying visit home. As soon as I • ot ashore I proceeded to the railway station and took ticket for Victoria, where T arrived at about one p. m. I spent the few hours left me in taking leave of my friends. My mother, with a friend, accompanied me the next evening to see me off. I caught the 7:15 train, and arrived at Sheerness at ten o'clock. It WHS hard parting, but J consoled myself with the thought thnt three years would soon pass. We found it snowing hard on gettinis^ out of the train. We had bfien waiting on the pier head for nearly an hour, and its no boat came for us, left the pier and went our several ways into the town to find a shelter for the night. I turned out at six the next morning and went aboard ; it had knocked off snowing, but I was-bitterly cold, so hnd a hharp run from the inn to the old " Cornwallis " jetty in the dock yard. CHAPTER II. We left Sheerness for Plymouth on the following Tuesday, where we arrived two days later, and moored to a buoy just inside the breakwater. Moored to the buoy next us was the " Undaunted ; " she had just com- missioned under Lord Charles Beresford, for the Medi- terranean, and they had every prospect under such a skipper of spending a happy commission. We went up harbour a f«^w days after our arrival, to have something done to our engines. I went ashore two or three times, as I had some friends residing at Stoke. Next week we went outside the breakwater for an hour's steam trial, and this proving satisfactory, we returned and moored to our buoy. We took aboard some parcels and boxes during the next few days, for ships on the Pacific Station ; and on a clear, cold Wednesday morn- ing the 20th of March, 1890, at six o'clock, we slipped our moorings and steamed out of Plymouth Sound, for Las Palmas, our first port of call on the voyage to the Pacific. We encountered some rather heavy weather in the Bay of Biscay, which sent me meandering about the 8 the ship, a victim to that enemy to human happiness at sea, mal de mer. It jfreatly moderated, however, after we had passed Cape Finisterre, and we arrived at Las Palmas on the 26th, and coaled ship. This island is one of the Canaries, lying to the east of Teneriffe. The Peak of Teneriffe is rarely seen dnrint? the day. but at sunset you can see it standing out. in bold relief against the western sky. Las Palmas is a mountainous island, and from a distance looks almost barren, but on a closer inspection you will find that the hills are well clothed with vegetation for half the distance up. It is a Spanish possession, and every day we were surrounded wi.;h boats, whose swarthy Spanish owners exposed bananas, oranf^es, cigars, tobacco and canaries for sale ; the latter, (as everyone knows), being natives of these islands. Leaving here on the 31st of March, we arrived at St Vincent, nn islai. J in the Cape De Verde'3, on the 4th of April. There is not much to be said about this place, except that it is very rocky and dreary looking, and is a Portuguese possession. There is one very noticeable feature, however ; looking at an island on ypur right, as you go into St. Vincent, an exact likeness of Nnpoleon is plainly discernible on the face of a rock. It is m »t rhe work of man, but simply a natural accident. The people bei' g for the most part Roman Catholics, had the Portuguese tiag half-ma«5t all Good Friday, as a sign c»f mourning for the death of Christ. We left St. Vincent on the 7th of April, and on the 11th sighted St. Paul's Rock, a small rock many hun- dreds of miles from land. On the highest point there is, or was, a mail box ; and any outward-bound ship passifig that way could drop a few letters there, which any homeward-bound ship would take off, and post on hop arrival home. It is hard to imagine a pl»ce m re lonely — ^thc'i this little rock, it is a mere speck in the world of waters, and looks as if a good-sized wave wonl I swallow it up. After steaming round it, we left it to its loneliness, and that same night, on crossing the line, old King Nep- tune took it into his royal head to hail us, which, consid- ering his tardiness of late years was greatly to be Won- dered at. The voice, deep and mysterious, made some who heard it quake, (myself with them,) while others are your boatg i whic] ^ the 1 9 )ine8s at Br, after at Las d is one he Peak t sunset inst the ind, and a closer clothed Spanish ed wi^h bananas, le latter, islands, d at St le 4th of is place, and is a atioeable right, as poleon is iii»t the nt. The , had the a sign of 5. on the iny hun- there is, ) piissifig doh any }t ot) hor re lonely world of swallow meliness, ing Nep- 1, consid- be Won- ide some e others t hailed it with joy, as that of a beloved though briny pa- ternal relative. Our captain of the forecastle, a stout old salt, made a capital Neptune, while a remarkably plain looking able seaman took the part of Amphitrite, Nep- tune's spouse. Well, as I before observed, he hailed us that night, " Ship a'hoy, ship a'hoy!" answer (from Oapt. Lambton on the fore bridge,) " Aye, aye" Quen. What ship is that ? Ans. Her Britannic Majesty's ship " Warspite." Ques. Where are you from and whithar bound? Ann. We are from England, and are bound for the Pacific. Nep. — You are in my do- minions, and have on board some of my children who have not yet been baptized. I will be on board to- morrow at nine a. m., to perform the ceremony. Ans. Your Majesty's commands shall be obeyed. Nep. — Good night, c*»ptain, good night. Ans. Good night, your majesty. As soon as Neptune said g >od night, the boatswain dropped a barrel of lighted tar from the bows which wns seen until it had gone miles astern. Just then the band struck up " Rule Britannia," and the hoses were turned on. Soon the forecastle was cleared, an! only a few, who had got right forward, remained. I made one of these unfort'inates There was no escape for us, as thftre was nothing behind which we could hide, HO we had the fuU.plav of the hoses upon us. [ harl got behind ano^^her fellow and felt toleraV)ly com- fortable, b'lt presently getting a stream down my back, I thought I might as well get wet altogether, so jumping up, I danced across the forecastle to the tune of " Rule Britannia," the men holding them keeping both hoses fall upon me, thereby affording keen amuse nent to the officers as'»embled on the fore bridge. It is needless to say that I had to put on a complete change of clothing. But the best of the fun came oT the next dav at 9 a. m. sharp. Old Neptune, in all his regal state, and with a numerous retinue, came on board. Firsts, there came twenty guardsmen with broom handles, shouldered f<>r rifles ; then cime four boars, followed by four b'lrbers, with the head barber who was dressed in a frock coat and trousers, and high box hat, and carrying in his hand a bottle of lotion, (warranted to grow bristles on a plate;) after the barber came his clerk, who was followed again 10 by the Musicians, while Neptune and his wife, seated in chairs, and drawn on two machine gun trollies, brought up the rear. The procession, marched round the upper deck, after which the band, which consisted of two con- certinas, two melodeons, and three old tin dishes, played a selection under the poop. Presently Neptnne took bis seat by the side of a bath which had been rigged up in the port gangway, amid a flourish of his trumpet— I mean his Tindishtters, and the ceremony commenced. It was H repetition of the old custom. A victim whs hnuled up before old Neptune, latbered, (a whitewash brush being used for this purpose,) Hsked a question, receiving the brush in his mouth on opening it to answer ; tha lather, whii'h in this case, consisted of soap suds and oatmeal, bfing scraped off with a serrated wooden razor, the victim wjis cjipsized backward into the bath, man-bandied by the bears, presently emer- ging from the other end, breathless, and like a half drowned rat, T, tosrether with ail the ship's company, who had not crossed th« line, were baptized ; and tliose who had been throu -h, went away to liiid any who might bo in hiding. The hoses were on all the time, the men finding keen amusement in playing them over each other. It was rare fun. and lasted all the forenoon. CHAPTER III. x\fter an exceptionally fine passage, we arrived at Montevideo on the 25th of April. The water here is very shallow, and we anchored in seven fathoms at nine miles from shore. This town is the capital of Uruguay, a Spanish republic on the south-enst coast of America, and is situated at the mouth of the Rio de la Plata. The following Monday we coaled, taking in six hundred tons. After coaling, seventy-two hours leave was granted to the ship's company ; one watch going at a time. I had a little money that wanted spending, so determined to avail myself of the opportunity and take a run P3hore ; so on May the 1st, when the provision boat came off, I, together with about sixty or seventy more, went ashore in her. On first landing, I was rather doubtfnl w> at course to steer, but our party breaking up into batches 5JU. jated in brouprht le upper wo con- , played ae took erged up nipet —I menced. im WHS litewash uestion, g it to of soap serrated ird into j^ emer- I a half :)mpany, id tliose ny who ime, the i^er each on. 'ived at here is at nine ruguay, .merica, a. The ed tone, nted to I had ined to ^3hore ; e off, I, ; ashore il wl at batches ■m -;« -'•n of two or three, I joined another fellow, who, like myself, seemed to bo out of his reckoning, and we sot^Bilfor a cruise round the town. Passing through the market •place, we took a road on the right, chancing where it might lead us, but arriving at no place more interesting than a piece of waste ground, we altered course and struck up the Calle de Mayo. Passing some remarkably fine buildings, we came upon a large square called the Plaza Constitu- tionale. It was bounded on one side by the House of Representatives, and on the other by a beautiful cathe- dral called the Maestron, of which more anon. On the two remaining sides were some si lendid hotels. Leaving this place, we proceeded along the Calle de Mayo until we emer^red into an immense square called the Plaza Indepeudencia. On three sides of this square stood large business houses and banks, while on the other stood the President's bouse ; passing through the square we came to the Botanical Gardens. By this time we began to feel hungry; accordingly we found an eating house, after a long search, and called for something substantial, which they did not forget to charge for. Money in these South American Republics is not of the same \alue as it is in England ; and pro- visions you could buy in England for half-a-crown, they , would charge you a dollar, (4s. 2d.) for hare, and although our silver coinage is far superior to theirs, they will only git"=» twenty cents, (IGd.) in change for a shilling, and ten cenlH for sixpence. We were pasning up the "Oalle Cerrito " some little time later, when we heard the tootle tootle of a tram driver's horn, followed presently by the tram itself round a corner ; it was filled inside and out with bluejackets from our ship, and from ships in harbor belonging to this station. It had nearly got up to us, when jumping a stone, which had by some means lodged be' ween the rails, it ran off the said rails, ncfirly capsizing in doing so ; then didn't that driver rave, heaping (in {Spanish) maledictions on stones in ^ieneral, and on that stone in particular. But a little ac- cident like tbe present one, was a mere nothing to a British tar on the contrary it was a diversion, so tolling the driver to " shove a stopper on his jawing tackle," i. e. 12 cease swearinfir, they jumped off the oar and mustering around her, lifted her bodily on to the rails atrain, to the infinite satisfaction of the driver, who no doubt enter- tained a higher opinion of the British bluejacket than he had hitherto done. My chum, at the earnest request of a couple of his cronies, here left me, so I bad perforce to continue my explorations alone. Left to myself I shaped a course to the Cathedral, arriving at which, I went in at the grand entrance, and being unprepared for ihe sight within, was struck almost speechless with amazement at the extravagance displayeo i" the decora- tion of the place. With feelings of something between awe and admiration, 1 proceeded to examine the altars, of which there were twelve. The decorations of the main altar were of the most beautiful description. All the candlesticks were of gold, the carvings and gildings indescribable ; it stood over 50 feet high, and was surmounted by figures of Christ, Elisha and Moses ; representing the transfiguration scene. On the right of the main altar, at the head of the right wing, stood one that was gorgeous in the ex- treme. It stood about 30 feet high, on the communion table stood two pillars of tube gold, which supported h marble slab, on which stood a figure of the Virgin Mary, havinsr the child Christ in her arms, each wearing a beautiful crown. The table itself was of gold, and was box-shaped, one side of which was glass. Inside, lying on its side, was the wax figure of the martyred St. Pirmanus. It was clothed in a dress of blue silk, in the breast of which was set two diamonds, two rubies, two emeralds and two sapphires ; its feet were enoaspd iu sandal^" of cloth of gold, and round its slionlders was thrown a crimson velvet robe trimmed with ermine ; in her rigid hand was a branch of palms, and on her head a wreath of laurels ; there was an ugly gash in her throat from which blood was running, and which looked as though it were done wi:h a spe^^r. The body was lymg on a couch of cloth of gold. Oti the left of the main altar was another which was one large carvincr in itself repr sent- ing the crucifixion on Calvary. The next one on the right was dedicated to Our Lord, a life-size figure of 5 I a 13 sterinis^ to the enter- ban he est of a orce to yselt I hich, I red for with iecora- etween altars, of the •iption. arvinjfs er 50 Christ, u ration lead of the ex- tnunion »orted »i Virtfin 3, eaoli »lf was ich was ynre of a dress et; two phires ; •f gold, srimson • ris?id eath of t from though g on a til r was r sent- on the jun; of ■■':» whom Btoo4 in a glass-oade in the centre of the table. All behind it for thirty feet up the wall was covered with designs in white and red roses, of carved wax. Just inside the main entrance on the right was a large recess, in which stood another beautiful altar; it was about twenty feet in height and was literally covered with silver, in carvings, candlesticks and plates ; on the top stood a figure of the Virgin Mary ; she was clothed in black velvet ; the body of her dress was open, disclosing a silver heart pierced by six silver daggers. The heart was supposed to be burning with fire, the flames of which were of gold. It would take too long to describe all the altars in detail, so I will content myself with the foregoing five. The cathedral is about half the size of St. Paul's in London, and is built almost entirely of marble. The middle aisle was covered by an unmense, but costly carpet, there must have been some hundreds of feet in it. I contemplated the cost of all this mag- nificence, and the probable amount must have reached some millions of dollars. In all directions you would see people kneeling in prayer before the images of their favorite saints, while here and there were others kneeling before confessional boxes, confessing to the priests within. I attended two of the services, but understood nothing that was said. Looking at the building from a re- ligious point of view, it is a specimen of the pomp and vanity of the Roman Church. It was now time to secure a lodging for the night. Knowing a smattering of French, I went to the " Hotel Cafe de Bordeaux." I could not make them understand, so I asked for ** une plume," it was given me, and I wrote " Je desirer un liU a bon mvrchej si vous plait." Anglice : I want a bed cheap, if you please sir. They gave me a room for the night, for which they charged me a dollar ; asking for ** un lumiere," (a light,) I got the porter to show me to the room, which I found was tolerably well furnished, I had a wash, aad afterwards some dinner. During my ramblings in the afternoon, I came across a regiment of mfantry. At their head was a bugle band, about 80 strong, who were followed by a brass band. They were a very mixed body of men, some being negroes, some lame, and not a few minus the left eye. 14 It was very amusing; to see the lame hoppinf? along to the music. In the evening I went to the Theatre of the Sun, rreatro Soils). The play was " King Luigi XII," though who he was I don't know ; at all events, it was a good piece, for, although I did not know a word of Spanish, I understood a go^d deal from their actions. The "Teatro Solis " is a well-built edifice, very like our " Haymarket " in exterior appearance ; the interior is upholstered throughout, in red plush, and there are a great many artistic carvings. But what prin- cipally drew my attention was the beauty of the majority of the women of fashion in the dress circle. After the play, I returned to the hotel and turned in. The next morning I turned out and ^ went down to the pier ; what was my dismay on arriving there to find a furious gale blowing, the sea lashed into fury, and no chance of getting off to the ship that day. I had no money left, so I went to the British Consul and laid my case before him. I made inquiries at a French shop for the Consulate, and found that it was Calle Cerrito 52. The conaul was away, so I saw the vice-consul. I told him how I was situated, and he gave me a letter addressed to a Madame Vila in the Calle Washyngton. On arriving at the door I was surprised at being addressed in a rich brogue. (I found , that Senor Vila had made his wife's acquaintance while on a visit to England.) I gave her the letter and she made me very welcome. After a hearty breakfast I went out into the courtyard for a gmoke ; I found an Englishman who had been over all the South American B^publics, and he span me a long yarn on the customs of the various countries. 1 1 mentioned the word courtyard just now. In these modern times the word may seem out of place ; not at all. Each private house is built in a square, with a courtyard between the fonr sides. The honses are rarely more than two stories high, which are connected by a flight of stone steps, from which a bal- cony runs right along each side of the square ; the flags of the courtyard are generally of marble, and a fountain, or a large marble basin of flowers, invariably stands in the middle. I spent the day in walking round the town and returned at night, quite ready for bed. I should^ IP ong to of the XII." it was rord of lotions, ke our have spent a most comfortable night but for the fact that the wind blew a chimney pot down tbrough the sky-light during the night and came with a smash on the floor, frigtitening me not a little. / The next morning the gale was still blowing in all its fury. I went down to the pier and found that it was playing sad havoc among the shipping, and the huge waves dashing with great force against the pier shook it perceptibly. These gales are frequent along the south-eastern coaHt of America, and are called the " Pamperos," from the fact that they bhiw at certain seasons of the year directly from the Prairies or Pampas. The "Cleopatra," one of our own corvettes, had weighed anchor and steamed out to sea, as had also a Brazilian man o'-war. A barque had driven ashore, broadside, on to the jetty, her yard-arms on a level with and almost Eassing through the windows of a large Hotel, which had een lately built alongside the jetty. Another barque had gone down with half her crew, while a poor little schooner, battling bravely with the elements, was riding at two anchors and with both masts gone by the board. There is no life boat here, and the rocket and line is an institution unknown on this const, so you were obliged to watch a vessel going to destruction, from the inability to aid her. Seeing that I could do no good by staying here, I took a stroll into the town. During my rambles I came across another regiment of UruKayan infantry, which I followed to their barracks, in the hope of gaining admittance, but the sentry brought his fixed bayonet invitingly down to the charge, but not feeling inclined to test its sharpness, I de- clined with thanks and sauntered back to the town and entered the Maestron, which I was never tired of adniiring. The music, too, was very good, and I stayed until late in the evening listening to it. I returned to Madame Vila's in time for supper, after which I had a smoke and turned in. I was getting rather cold and I should have been glad of a fire, but such a commodity is, except in English homes, almost unknown out here. In its place is used a spirit stove. I turned out at six in the morning and went for a long walk, enjoying the bracing air. Even at this early time the streets are 16 quite bnsy, and the main etreeta are crowded with market gardeners' carts. How and again you will come across a " gay cavalero " out for his momiuK's ride ; or a drove of cattle driven by tall cowboys on smaU horses. Many of these cowboys are tine well built fellows ; they were mostly dressed in that well known costume, (which so "fetched" the ladies at home, during the visit of " Buffalo Bill " to London, two years ago,) the only dif- ference being, that besides the side split trowsers, and broad brimmed sombreros of Col. Cody's men, these men wore the gaudy colored "serape" or shawl. Pres- ently the brewer or his equivalent would pass with a large wine vat on wheels, drawn by eight yoked oxen ; and once I was quite startled by the sight of a milk woman with slung pails, just as you would see them in the London suburban streets. I repeated this walk the next few mornings I was ashore. On Monday morning the gale had greatly moderated, and I got aboard in the beef boat. It was a rough passage, and being broadside on to the seas, we were in momentary danger of cap- sizing. I was glad to get aboard, to send off to the British Consul the money charged by Madame Vila for my four days keep, which charge was very moderate. I was ashore altogether five days and a night, and the only drawback to my thorough enjoyment was the great ex- pensiveness of everything. We left Montevideo on the 12th May. As we got south it began to get cold, and as we neared the neighborhood of Cape Horn it began to get rough. On the 17th it blew half a gale, and the sea rose very rapidly. The look-outs on a man of war are divided into two classes, viz : the mast-head by day, which requires only one man at the topmast cross-trees ; and the look-outs by night, when two men are required, one each side of the forecastle. This snip having no cross-trees the mastheads were kept on top of the chart- house, and having a Hush forecastle the look-outs were kept each side of the forebridge. During the day, any sail boat, floating spars or mass of sea weed that is sighted, or, during the night, any light th t is seen has to be at once reported to the officer of the watch. The duration of a lookout is one hour, the men being re- lieved on the strike of a bell. That night I had a look- 17 milk out, nnd it was one I shall remember. It was bitterly cold and the ship wan roUiujf heavily to the great Atlantic swells ; ev< rv now and then she would dip her nose into a sea, and sliip tons of it over the fore barbette, (vhen it would dash against the superstructure, and Iwasli clffin ovor the fore bridge, drenching we unfortu- luile lookout men through and through. Down below, it was very uncomfortable, the lower deck was wet and slippery. "I'he mess utensils kept up a continual fclatter in the shelves ; and once, one of the mess's salt- I)ots, with a view of ascertaining its jumping powers, ■ took a clean leap out of the shelf and ran or rather [slipped hiilf across the deck ; the pepper and mustard [tins, 1 ot to be outdone, followed the example of the salt- Ipot, and presently there was enough ready-mixed mustard [on the deck to last all the messes a week, and enough [pepper tiying about to blind all the rats in creation. [About tJirpe minuies ftfttr I came off watch, the ship rave such an awful lurch that someone waking out of a sleep shouted ** there she goes! " whereupon all the men sleeping on the tables and stools started up in all posi- lions; some were standing upright, their "caulki _" )lankets clinging round them ; others leaning on their Elbows ; while others, who had slipped off their sleeping )erths, were kneeling all fours on the wet deck, all with soared expression on their countenances ; they were raiting for the sequel to the lurch, which when it came )roved to be an almost imperceptible roll, showing that that terrific lurch was merely the result of the passage )f an unusually large wave ; so they all laid down again lard thought no more about it, and I turned in and was soon snoring, or I presume I was, for suddenly a suffocating sensation awoke me, when I found that someone's hand was covered over my mouth and nostrils, which hand, as soon as I made a movement, was re- inioved^ and the owner thereof disappeared. f CHAPTER IV. The I On the 2()th \re entered the Straits of Magellan. It was about seven o'clock in the morning, and the [sea, at the entrance to the straits, was very calm, so 18 olam, that had the ship been still, you could have seen every outline faithfully mirrored in the water below. At twelve o'clock we anchored in Possession Bay. In the afternoon the middies and some of the officers went ashore ou a shooting expediticm, thouffh what there was to shoot I could not see, the place being bitterly cold a- d desolate in the extreme. In addition to this there was not a living thing visible, animal or vegetable' neverthe- less, one of them shot a large vulture, which they brought off to the ship. The next morning we weighed, and proceeded to 8andy Point. Our way lay between bleak, low lying desolate shores, which, however, got higher as we neared the above place. It was blowing hard, and the spray from the short, choppy waves continually wetted the decks. In our passage we passed several islands, but they were very uninteresting, We dropped anchor at Sandy Point, at about half past two. The scenery here is a little better; the hills being clothed to near the top in immense pine forests, and the tops themselves in snow. Sandy Point is a Chilian settlement, of about 600 inhabi- tants. It is situated in the middle of the Straits, on the sonthermost point of Patagonia, a country extending from the Rio de la Plata in the north, to the St aits of Magellan in the south. The country is iuhabited by the tallest race of people on earth, who are also one of the most fierce and warlike. I noticed that from every house the Chilian flag was Hying, and I afterwards heard it had something to do with the treaty between Chili and Peru, signed ten years before, and which ex- pired on that day. That night, at about twelve o'clock, we were turned out to send our cutters ashore to a fire, which upon the boats' arrival with the fire party, proved to be a large bonfire, around which a number of people were having a jollification. The next few days we spent in creeping for the remains of H. M. S. "Doterel," (the fate of which ship I have recorded in the first page of this book,) without success, however ; so we dropped the buoy we took in at Chatham and sent it ashore, and left it in charge of the British Consul. On the next Saturday we dressed ship for the Queen's Birthday. I believe it is customary throughout 19 lave Been Blow. Bay. In jers went here was cold a- d ihere was oeverthe- ich they weighed, te shores, he above from the ecks. In hey were it Sandy here is a the top in J in snow. DO inhabi- ts, on the jxtending St aits of ibited by [so one of •om every Iterwards between which ex- 7e o'clock, a to a lire, ire party. number Che next emains of p I have it success, : Chatham le British ip for the hiroughout the service to give the men a half day to themselves. }n that day, however, we did not get that indulgence, 3o thn usntil toast was given only amongst the officers ift that night. On Sunday morning, at seven o'clock, ,re weighed and procjeeded. At one o'clock we passed a litearaer which had run hiijh and dry on to a rocky >int. Her history, as far as I know, was unknown to my of our ship's company ; her name could not be dls- finguished, owing to the distance we were from her. We mchorcd ngain that night in a small indentation cnLed San Nicholas Buy. The scenery here is a great improve- leut on Sandy Point. On either side of the ay there \s a group of hills covered in some cases to the summit n green forost, and in others the hills were snow-capped ; between t e two groups lay a beautiful valley, where indoubtedly, had there iieen time, some good shooting bould have been had. The next morning at seven ^'clock we weighed anchor again and steamed out ^f the bay. A little later we passed a German 3amer. The straits just here are very wide, but as )u leave San Nicholas Bay astern, they begin to arrow. By dinner time we were in the "narrows" )roperly so called.) The scenery now began to get Magnificent ; the hills rising one above the other, ^ )vered with fine green forest. Every now and then, |hrough an opening between the hills, you would catch ight of a glacier ; and the great light blue ice blocks, j^listening and sparkling in the burst of sunlight, which, ^nce during our passage broKe over one of these rlaciers, made an indescribably pretty picture. Pres- intly we passed a boat load of natives, they were Pata- ^onians, and of a light copper color. CHAPTER V. We were filled with astoL ihment to see that in spite ^f the icy cold, they were fo> the most part quite nude, ine or two liad a skin thrown loosely over their loulders ; their hair .which was quite black, was langing in thick matted pads, half down their backs, md over each side of their bead, forming a suitable frame for their repulsive faces. They were standing up 20 in the boat, (which was a very rude, crazy aflFair,) hold- ing up bear and seal skins, and making signs for us to barter with them. We took no no notice of them, how- ever, and k«pt on our course. An hour later we passed another boat load, who seemed to make their boat their home, for in it, on a square stone slab, they had a fire, at which they were cooking various articles of food ; we passed several fires on the northern shore, but could distinguish no natives. At three o'clock the way seemed to be blocked by a high bluflf which extended right across the passage, and we began to think our navigator was going to take us over- land ; soon, however, we began to alter course, and on rounding a point on the southern shore, a perfectly straight passage was revealed, whose shores ran parallel for a distance of about fifteen miles. At the end of this passage the sea could plainly be seen. AloDg the whole length of the passage seals were very numerous, and we passed numbers of them begporting themselves in the water. That night we again anchored in a very narrow, but of necessity deep inlet, called Glacier Bay. I think the word "bay" is very inappropriate, for it would be better described by the word " creek ;" it was so narrow that you could almost jump ashore, running as it did a good distance up between high hills, whose sides were, as the name implies, veritable glaciers from their sammits to half the distance down. On our star- board hand was an islet, from the trees on which were suspended numerous boards, on them was painted the names of ships and the dates on which they had visited the place. Among the names were "Amphion," "Icarus," and "Kingfisher;" and our painter was sent to the Island in the evening, when he added our ship's name to their number. We were getting sick of salt provisions, so "Gunnery Jack," i. e., the gunnery lieutenant, determined to give us a change. He sank a charge of gun-cotton, by the shock of the explosion of which all the fish in its vicinity would be stunned, when they would float on the surface of the water. Half the ship's company assembled on the upper deck, along the rails, and were on the tiptoe of expectancy, for the success of the venture meant Jin agreeable change of diet for a couple of days. The char^n ms dr( |was cot 3opper rent tl jyes M jpsh, b lisappc feeing )f th( )Ut tl their m lext w Jtraits. ioutb 8 *land ( )f abou biderab [ere a j[limpse Icott's Byfo Pacific. be cc e S'^tr ►y floe fetrels, «f the c Ibler 1 JOUt of 1 ^Valparf |the ahi md it V ilose w ^ent in ley n larbor. %s at jaorth. giving a 1 21 ir,) hold- for us lo lem, how- )ur later emed to a square 3 cooking 38 on the bives. At by a high 3, and we e us over- e, and on perfectly ores rail U the end AloDgthe lumeious, hemselves . in a very acier Bay. ate, for it c ;" it was B, running ills, whose ,ciers from a our star- ^hich were ainted the lad visited ' "Icarus," the Island ne to their visions, so letermined ■cotton, by ) fish in its loat on the assembled I the tiptoe > meant an rhe charge ms dropped at about a hundred yards from the ship ; it |was connected with olie battery on board by an insulated 3opper wire ; the officer pressed the button, and bung rent the charge ; the shock fairly shook the ship. All jyes were strained lo catch the first glimpse of a psh, but not one was forthcoming. Everyone was lisappointed, but some fe v, clinging to the hope of might h'lve escaped the scrutiny remained watching for a time, went unrewarded, and they went weighed anchor the on our passage of the seeing any that f the others, ut their vigil heir ways with sad hearts. We ext morning, and proceeded jtraits. I forgot to mention that Glacier Bay is on the joutb shore, and consequently in that aimost unknown *land of Terra del Puego, (land r ;' fire). At a distance l)f about eight miles from shore, the pasc'age widens con- siderably, and the scenery becomes rocky and barren. fpere a river opens up the northern shore, and we got a rlimpse of a country, so wild, that it put me in mind of Icott's lines : " Crags, knolls and mounds, Confusedly !.urled ; The fragments of a« earlier world." By four o'clock in the afternoon we were in the broad ^1cific. That night we had it rather rough, but nothing be compared with the time we had before entering le Ptraits. For hundreds of miles we were followed ly flocks of Mother Carey's chickens, sea swallows, jietrels, Cape pigeons and albatrosses. To say anything If thf; characteristics of these birds, would be useless ; ibler pens than mine have described them times out of number. On the third of June, we arrived at Valparaiso, where we expected to find the " Swiftsure," |the ship we were to relieve.) Wo were in a thick fog, f nd it was not until the fog lifted, that we knew kow "llose we were to the land. At about two o'clock, we rent in and saluted the Chilian flag with 21 guns, which ley returned from the battery at the mouth of the karbor. We found that the "Swiftsure" was waiting for IS at Ooquimbo, a town about a day's run further lorth. Accordingly, we left Valparaiso that night, ar- rtviog at Coqnimbo the next day, at two o'clock. The 22 "Swiftsure" was lying at anchor off the town, we Raluted her, and she returned it. There wax great excitement aboard the "Swiftsure" upon our arrival, for all hands had been betting upon the time we should round the point, and men had stationed themselves aloft, as one ol' the officers had offered a substantial money prize to the man who first reported the ship in sight. CHAPTER VI. The next day we were employed aboard H. M. 8. J," Liffey," drawing stores. Th«^ " Liffev" is an old wooden frigate, which was sent out here to act as store-ship to the station. The same nigbt, at supper-time, the boatswain's mote piped the following : " The ' SwiftsureV ship's company invite the ' Warspite's ' ship's company to a BUT>per to-morrow night ; en accepting the invitation to give their UHmes to the master-at-wrms." Yours truly accepted, as did nearly all our ship's company. The next evening, after the work for the day was finished, we cleaned, after which we were fallen in and taken over to the "Swiftsure" in our ship's boats. Nothintr could be warmer than the welcome we received, for there were mutual recognitions between many of the men. and you would see one man clap another on the shoulder. with the exclamation, "what, ho! Bill, Tom, or Harry, when did yer leave the old ," and the like. Down below there was more substantial evidence of goodwill, in the form of well-loaded tables ; the mess- deck was nicely decorated with bunting, and the tables covered with snow-white dnck canvas, and tastefully laid with a fair variety of edibles. I was hauled into a mess by an old training-ship chum. Supper was piped and all hands fell to, doing ample justice to their hosts' hospitality. There is no ceremony about these nautical feasts, no conventional after-dinner speeches. Jokes were cracked, witticisms passed, and the supper went off as well as many of the mock turtle aflfaira do at the Mansion-house. After supper, a sing-song, i. e., a vocal and instrumental entertainment, was provided for our amusement. We "clewed up"--i. e., finished— at mitSnight, aft( having spent a very pleasant evening. were « He's lows 1 ship, I The i bands [round The of son Behrii Afte bailed [ports ' We Thif I brave Iteenth lation the ru the sk On J ire se pand, 3 bhe po ^our )08sib •uns i formii ^protec lieouth i The ^idoned I shores inight, Far & P*'I'U, Spanij 23 ve saluted xcitement all hands round the , fls ()n« of rize to the H. M. 8. (Id wooden ship to the ►oatswain's re's' ship's ipanv to a invitation 'ours truly )any. The s finished, and taken . Nothiny 1, for there e men. and 3 shoulder. or Harry, je. >videnee of the mesH the tables I tastefully lied into a WHS piped their hosts' Nearly ell our men were jolly, and some few shipped a "tin hat "—i. e., were " half -seas over "- 1 feasts, no re cracketl, as well as sion-houne. strumental mt. light, after had e., were "nair-seas over — and were smsring m full chorus "Auld Lang Syne" and " He's a jolly good fellow," which the " Swif tsure's" fel- lows returned with gusto ; but, as we neared our own ship, silence had to be kept. The next day the "Swiftsure" sailed for England, the bands of each shio playing appropriate tunes, until she rounded the point and disappeared from view. The remainder of the fl*»et hmi gone north on account of some trouble connected with the seal fisheries in the Behring Sea. After a fort.night's stay here, we weighed anchor, and sailed for the north. Our programme included two Iports of call : Callao, in Peru, and Acapulco, in Mexico. We arrived at the former place on the 18th of June. This country was taken from its original owners, (the brave and warlike Incas,) by the Spaniardt*, in the six- teenth- century. These people were a great and warlike nation, and had arrived at a high state of civilization, as he ruins of many grand palaces and fine buildings on he slopes of the Andes will show. On approaching from the south, no signs of a harbor re seen, but on rounding what seems to be a point of land, you have the town of Callao on your port bow, and the point just rounded resolves itself into an island on yyour starboard hand. The island runs as nearly as ^X>oasible north and south, facing the town, from which «runs a narrow neck of land nearly over to the island, jforming a natural breakwater ; together they form a l)rotection from the heavy seas which roll in from the ^Bouth and west. The island is quite barren and SEindy, so it is aban- doned to the pelicans, which live in thousands upon its shores ; it is said to have risen out of the sea in a single night, and "thereby hangs a tale." CHAPTER VII. Far back, when the Spaniards first began to colonize Peru, there lived in the primitive town of Callao a certain i Spanish grandee, Don Lorenzo by name, who with his 21 Hi servnnt Carlos was accustomed to put out to sea in Ji small boat, for the purpose of lishinsr, for he was a devo- ted follower of old Izaak. One day, while engaged in his favorite pastime, an unusual tit of drowsine-s came over him, to which it seems he yielded unconditionally. This drowsiness soon extended to the servant Carlos, who, following his master's example, was soon in the armH of Morpheus. They did not awake until next morning, when, to their very great surprise and consternation, they found that instead of floating quietly on the calm sea, they were on dry land, and high land at that. Tliey rubbed their eyes and pinched themselves, but every- thing was the same ; then they exar^ined the boat and found everything as they had left before they fell into that long pleep ; they were dazed and sorely perplexed. To what magic did they owe their strange position? they repeatedly asked of each other. Perlinps they had been conveyed to this uninhabited and unknown land by one of the gigantic Roc's of Hinbad fame ; or somo of those mysterious semi-human inhabitants of the sea. Mermaids might, in a playful mood, have hauled them to this place and banded them over to their fairy friends on the land, the mischievous sprites. They gave up both ideas, not as impossible but hs improbable. They ran here and there, shouting, and getting no answer but the echo of their own voices. Presently, the Don, calling to his servant, ascended to the highest point for the purpose of scanning the horizon. Arrived at tiie top, imagine their delight at seeing over a couple of mile;* of water their own town. A couple of boats were c< raing off from the mainland, and they ran down to meet them ; they proved to be the Don's friends, who had given them up for lost. It appeared the island had been thrown up during the night by volcanic action ; the boat happened to be just over the spot, and of course got carried up with it. ' Such is the tale ; I cannot vouch for its truth, and have only written as much as I can remember. « Its onty wh'^t I've heard say; I cannot SHy if it is true ; Bu> nearly as it was told to mo, Why, so 1 tell it to you. :^ 'M 25 sea in a IB a devo- igaged in le-s came litionally. it Carlos, I the arms mornini;, .tion, they calm sea, at. They )ut every- boat and fell into perpk'xed. position? 8 they had nown land > ; or somfi of the sea. tuled them liry friends y gave up )le. getting no isently, tbe jfhest jjoint. •ived at the pie of miles ere c< minj.' neet them ; had givfu during the 1 to be jus' ith it. truth, and tr. • % There were two warships in the harbour ; one, the " Blanco Encnlada," was a Chilian man-o'-war, and the other an Italian, whose name I could not see. After a stay of four days, during which we took in two hundred tons of coal, we left for Acapulco, where we arrived on the Ist July. Thi;* place is almost land-locked ; indeed, when you get well into the harbour you cannot see the outlet. It is protected on all sides but one by high hiUs ; it is a pretty port, and the town, with the old fort on the right and the signal station on the left, with the green hills for a background, would make a fetching picture. Here and there along the shore are groups of graceful cocoa- nut palms, and in some places are orange groves and lime trees, thf* scent from which is refreshing. The only thing which detracts from the beauty of the place is the color of the water, which, instead of being of the beauti- ful deep blue, which is always associated with tropical waters, it is of a muddy green. ^Ve saluted the Mexican flag with twenty-one guns, to which they responded with the same number of " pop- guns," for although we were within three or four hundred yards we could hardly hear them, and they v ere about three minutes getting otf every round. We dropped anchor at about a hundred and fifty yards from the shore, and moored our stern to a small rock, fitted with a ringbolt for that purpose by the " Swift- sure ; " but after coaling we had to weigh anchor and drop it in mid-stream, en accotmt of having grazed the ship's keel on the bottom. I did not land at this place, but some of my messmates did, and they came off full of a visit to the prison, in which they had seen an English seaman who had been confined there for two years under (according to his version,) a false charge of manslaughter. It appeared that the mate of his ship was a hard, slave-driving man, who one day attacked this seaman in a most savage manner, whereupon the man struck him (the mate) a heavy blow, killing him. on the spot. The man denied having killed the mate ; be has, I |pelieve, sent a petition to the admiral to send him home. We left this phice on the 4th for Esquimalt. 26 I f CHAPTER VIII. Nothing particular occurred during this trip, except the death and burial of a supernumerary steward we were carrying for the " Daphne." He had V>een suffering since we first left England from consumption, and the general opinion on board was that he would never live to pay off. He died on the 10th, and we buied him the same evening. There is nothing so sad and depressing as a burial at sea. All hands were assembled on the quarter-deck at 5 p. m. Presently we heard the "Dead March in Saul" being played by the band, which was coming from for- ward, followed by the corpse, winch was Iwrne on tlie shoulders of a party of blue-jnckets ; when it arrived on the quarter-dpck all heads were bared, the burial service was rend by the chaplain, and his body was committed to the deep ; to the vast, mvstei ious deep. The depth at this particular spot is 2.000 fathoms (sf>mething over two miles). Imagine his poor bodv lying at that awful depth, on the vast unknow^n bed of the Pacific, the shot at his feet keeping him at anchor in an upright position, alone and conspicuous, an object of curiosity to some strange, unknown fish, and of fear to others. Some few days after, bis effects were sold (according to the custom of the service) to the highest bi»lders, proceeds being sent home to his widow. There is keen competition among the men at a sale of dead men's effects, as •' soft-hearted " »Iack knows that bv bidding hiirh he is benefitting the widow or mother of the deceased ; an old cloth suit fetched as much as two pounds. We arrived at Enquimalt on the 17th, and found there all the fleet except the " Acorn." wl»o la ad gone to Hono- lulu, the capital of Hawaii. Including our own and the above ship, there were sevon in the tleet ; their names were the "Amphion," a fast cruiser; "Champion," a corvette; "Espiegle," a sloop; "D phnp," sloop; and "Nymphe," sloop. Tie first namf^d ship was «.)rdercd home before our arrival. This plr.ce is a smajl village on Vancouver Island. "Vancouver Inland is purt ' f British CohimVno, «'nd is oval in form, and runs north and soulli, pa>allel with 27 >, except ward we mfferin^ and the ever live him the jnrial at -deck at in Saul" !rom for- e on the •rived on il service mmitted le depth ling over int awful the shot position, to some ccordinsf bidders, B is keen 's effects, hisrh he ised ; an tid there o Hono- nnd thfi ir nnmes pioD," »i 3p ; and i»rdercd and. H, »ind i'^ llel witli that colony ; the chief town is Victoria, the "Queen City of the West." Victoria and Esquimalt are about four miles apart, and during our stay they were put into connection by the opening of an Electric Tramway. These tram cars develop quite a high rate of speed ; they would be use- less in large English towns, as they would interfere with the traffic, and would doubtless be the cause '^f many accidents. The island is quite large, being about three hundred miles long and seventy broad. It is in a very wild state, and except where the railway cuts its path, and a rising town is causing a clearing, it is one vast forest, and the predominating representative of vegetable life being the fir-tree. The fauna of the country is represented by the brown, black, and cinnamon bear, the cougar and Ameri- can lion, the wolf, deer, elk, reindeer and cariboo, the mountain sheep, and manv others. Of the feathered tribe, there is the pheasant, grouse, prairie fowl, lark and robin, eagle, fish-hawk and night-hawk. It was quite a treat to be among an English-speaking people again. The feminine portion of the community are very like their English sisters in form and fashion, the only dissimilarity in the latter is the flatness of that part of their dress known as the "bustle," or "birdcage," thereby indicating an entire absence of the same. As soon as we dropped anchor the mail was sent aboard, together with some fresh bread from the Daphne. A couple of weeks after this they paid money and gave leave ; forty-eight hours to each watch. My watch went on the second leave, and I with it. I took myself off to Victoria on landing; it is a nice walk, just enough- to take the stiflfness out of your legs after a long spell aboard ship. On arrival at the town I took a room at the Grand Pacific Hotel, and had a good feed, after which I sallied forth to see what was to be seen. Victoria is a city of about 20,000 inhabitants ; it is built for the most part of wood, and the whole of the Chinese quarter is of that material ; there are, however, a great many brick and stone buildings, especially in the main streets. tr,< ^'28 This town, in common with nearly all others on the Pacific Coast, is infest d with these soft Celestials, (who cut out British working men, by laboriofir for half the wages), and I have heard that nearly every steamer that comes in brings a number of Chinese immigrants who (now that the Canadian Government find they are be- coming a nuisance) are invariably refused a landing. Some of them assume a semi-European costume, and nearly all wear theix* pigtails coiled up on the top of their heads, and under their caps. They have some large shops in their own quarter ; some are grocers, others are tailors, and you cannot walk half a dozen steps without passing a shop in which Chinamen are busy starching and ironing. What pretty names you see over their shop, too ! Here are a few specimens : " Sam Kee," laundryman ; "Lin Sam," grocer; "Li Chung," mer- chant tailor. I went for a run in the Park, where I saw the Canadian Militia on parade, and where some bears, wolves, and deer are kept^^ in captivity ; the bears in a a deep pit, with holes at intervals aiound the bottom, and other animals in cages. Next, I went to the Museum, where is kept stuffed specimens of every species of animal to be foand on the island. In the restaurants you can get a good meal for 25c. or 50c.. with everything provided, and no waiter to tip, as in most cheap houses the daughter sets as waitress, so there is no need ; unless indeed, you tipped her with a ki'«s. But what am I thinking about ? The maidens in thi<» part of the world are far too modest to allow of such wickedness : and you would most probably be rewarded with a pill from her big brother's " barking irons." for your audacity. I went to the theatre (of which there are only two in the tov^n) in the evening, afier which t turned in. CH\PTER IX. The next evening, leave being up, I went down to t)ie boat, where 1 found the remainder of the watc , most of whom were embarked A little licence must be allowed tl 29 the sailor, who, after having been kept aboard for a lonpf spell, naturally runs a little wild upon hmdiiig on leave; most of the men on this occasion were • halt-seas over ; ' the tar is then, what at home in "masherdom" is termed 'beastly jolly ; ' some were declaring in the extreme ful- ness of their vocal powers, that tbey " wouldn't go home till morning ; " oihers that "they were all right, (which I very much doubted) they'd got the L. S. J). ; " and others that " he was a jolly good fellow ; " and in almost tbe same breath would declare that they would try pugi- listic conclusious with any man in the boat. Just as we shoved off, one man was seized with a sudden desire for one more glass, so he took a clean dive overboard, with tlje intention, I presume of gettiuif it. His chum, who was almost as drunk as he vvas. jumped over after him. At this all the men in the boat started up, and if the two men had not, at that moment, been haul^-d upon the landing stage, pntiing and blowing like grampuses, we should have had half of them tloundering in the water. When we got alongside the ship, the men were as quiet [as mice, for they knew that any noise there would be [severely punished. The next month passed very quietly, nothing happen- [ing to disturb the ordinary routine of the ship, except an I entertainment given by our minstrel troupe, which I proved a great success. Having our quarterly firing to do, we left Esquimalt for Plumper Sound, in the Straits of Juan de Fuoa, for that purpose. We weighed anchor on the 1st October, and arrived in Plumper Hound ve colors with twenty guns, hich compliment they returned with the s^me number %f guns from the forts. We anchored off Washington ^treet wharf and get out boats. ; The following is an extract from the next morning's I" San Francisco Examiner," (whose steam cutter had 32 ^ i! \M i It been steaming round and round us all the way in, and which by Ihe way was a very smart, swift, and well- ajjpointed boat) : — " England's Big Cruiser Hkke. Arrival of H. B. M. Flagship the ' Warspitf,' Bristling with Weapons of Battle. • Adm'ral Hotham, K. C. B., visits the Port in the Panoply of War.— Description of the largest cruiser ever seen in this Port.— Pictures of life between decks. — Some of the Heaviest Guns. " At 10:40 yesterday morning Her Britannic Majesty's cruiser, " Warspiie," steamed into this harbor with the tide. She was a splendid sight in the clear blue light of the forenocin, ihe eU'ect at some distance being that of a huge yellow pyramid gliding over the waves. "She drppped anchor m the stream a considerable dis- tance off the seawall. At once she was surrounded by Bmall boats of every description, the occupants of which, except where it w;ts un officinl business, were kept rigidly off. The ExaminevV; launch came alongside presently, and its reporter jukJ artists were received very civilly by the officer of tie:; ^ieck, trom whom a short description of the huge vessel was obtained. One of the officers showed the reporter over the huge vessel, starting from the bridge and going to the very depths. "On the upper deck all was hurry and bustle ; a huge crane was swinging the stewm launch (picquet boat) from its davits (crutches) ; elegantly dressed officers in fold lace and cocked hats, carrying the traditional glass in the crook of the elbow, paraded the deck giving orders ; a bugler was summoning the men to clean the vast guns, and ropy-cheeked little middies strutted by in all the health and manlincf^s of the celebrated Mr. Easy. " The vessel is the flagship of the Pacific squadron, and carries a complement of 600 men a" d officers, and four 2'2-gims, and ten G-ton breech-loading guns, and twenty- three quick firing and machine guns. (then followed a list of our officers.) :)3 in, and nd well- itp,' ) Panoply er seen 18. — Majesty's : with the le light of that of a arable dis- unded by of which, )pt rigidly presently, civilly by iescription be officers rting from ie ; n huge boat) from rs in fold f»l glass in ng orders ; vast guns, in all tbe fisy. adron, and 3, and four nd twenty- "In the course of the tour about the vessel, the reporter balled upon Admiral Ilotham, whose cabin in a large and foomy apartment, with diniog room attached, occupying 18 poop of the vessel, '^'here is an excellent library ; id what with velvet rugs and delicate hangings, rare |tchings and water colors, the place might bo taken for )me London drawing-room. Above the mantel-piece langs a Hne phot /raph, presented to Admiral Hotliam vy the Prince of Wales. Opposite to it is a costly line Ingraving of Admiral Lord Nelson. Some of the water- bolor marines are from the hands of great English artists, pd a nobje etching of the famous " Victory " hangs in le dining room. '* Admiral Hotham is (here follows what is told on the 3t page of this book). His family have all been in the pray or navy, and several portraits of illustrious ancestry lorn the walls. He explained to the reporter that the [Warspite " left England on the 2(>th March, passing irough the Straits of Magellan, arrived at Esquimalt on le 8th inst. She left Victoria for this port, and will iave on Sunday for Magdalena Bay, Central America, ranama, and Coquimbo. "The vessel will remain on the Pacific Stati'^n until !l93, and will undoubtedly revisit this port a number of les before that date "Durinyr the afternoon the commanders of U. S. S's. lush" and "Patterson," visited the Admiral, and their iills were returned shortly afterwards. H. B. M. msul, Donohue, called later on, and Harbour Commia- mers Alexander, English, and Paulsall called at four Iclock. "Admiral Hotham will pay his respects to Mayor Pond lis morning, and later on to General Gibbon and Gov- rnor Waterman. To-morrow he will steam up to Mare slana in a launch, for a chat v.ith Commodore Benham, Ihom he knew in China several years ago. The Admiral |so desires to visit the Union Iron Works during his fief stay. " There are a number of aristocrats among the officers, fhe Hon. Hedworth Lambton, the captain, is a brother days' release from work. It was a measure the comic auder was forced to take, for the ship was so crowded that there was hardly room to move jjanywhere. Nearly all the men employed themselves showing visi- ftors around the ship, and many were the invitations received by them to visit admiring "yanks" at their ..homes. Yes. we certainly m de an impression. ) " And at what distance may that pea-shooter be calker- ^lated to kick up a dust?" This to me from a rough looking character at my elbow, in reference to a 22-ton gun. • '■ Well, roughly speaking, a matter of about seven *' miles." '• Jce-osophat ! You don't SHy so ! " ''Say, how much curry powder does she take for a charge ? " " Oh, about 160 pounds." < " Hell afid scissors ! I guess it would raise a dust in our hen roost." " Undoubtedly." " Give me a six-shooter of the sfune i)ovverc and I kinder think I'd be a match for all the bully cowboys in Texas." He continued in the sume strain for some time. At a little after five the last steamer, laden to its a utmost capacity, left the ship, the p^iople cheering ' vociferously. 4 On the morning of the 16th (Sunday) weighed anchor 'and dro])ped down the river with the tide. The weather had l)een rather hazy, and the fog-boms at the mouth of the river were blowing at intervals ; when we got outside, however, a nice breeze was blovvinT' fnmi tlie N. W., and Si)on we were gliding along at some seven or eight knots. 36 under all plain sail I was going to say, but having to depend upon steam alone as a means of propulsion, it would only be correct to say " all plain funnels." On the 20th (Thursday) we arrived in Magdalen a Bay. The first glimpse we had of this place said nothing in its favor. It was a large piece of water, bounde.' on two sides by high, and on the third by very lov ^u the whole being desolate and barren in the extre\ . As soon as we got in, before anchoring', we exc rcised torpedoes while under weigh ; the cutter and whaler was lowered to pick them up when they became stationary. We finished by two o'clock and proceeded to an anchorage. There are only about eighteen houses here, in which dwell about 150 people. It would puzzle one greatly t » know how they lived, until he saw every morning certain little sailing boats creeping along the shore, and which he would find were laden with cattle and provisions. The following week was devoted to an inspection by the AJjJiIral, of the ship and the shii>'8 company, which passed off very satisfactorily. On the following Saturday the " Espietrle," (whom we had left in Esquimalt) arrived, bringing us a mail. Some little time before we left the above place, t!^ ■! " Amphion " had been ordered to change from our sic - tion to that of the Mediterranean, accordingly she left on the for that place. The "Melpomene," the ship told off to relieve her, arrived here on the day following that on which the "Espiegle" came in. The former is a second-class cruiser, of about 2,400 tons ; she is armed with six six-inch and a number of quick-firing guns, and will steam about twenty-one knots, under forced draught. On the-^^ — we weighed anchor and steamed round thb bny for target practice. The cutter was again lowc ' \i , and our duty was to mark the target after every runnihi fire. The sun was rather hot, so we spread the awning , it was tiring work pulling to and fro, and the wind was beginning to blow fresh, when v-'o ehcrjed the welcome recall to dinner. We were at i-. again i?^ the afternoon, only this time we were under sp^.1 ; and >m it was rough, two or three of us felt rather blue ; it could not Inst long, however, and soon up it came ; no sooner had we m" - -A ■HHH 37 having to ipulsion, it 3." alena Bay. aothing in \e\l on two U. ' the 3 exercised A^haler was stationary, anchorage. !, in which greatly t > Ing certain and which isions. pection by my, which (whom we nail. place, tj -1 m our Bl. - y she left elieve her, which the 188 cruiser, x-inch and am about round l^w n lowG.' a, y runni'.,, e awning , ) wind WH8 welcome afternoon, |VU8 rough. Id not Inst pr hud we finished vomiting than two immense sharks came up astern, and continued following us for the remainder of the day. CHAPTER XII. That night we dropped the stream-anchor and rigged the derrick for stowing it again ; the next day we weighed the stream anchor and steamed out into the bay, for the same practice as on the previous day. We were unrigging the derrick when an exclamation from a man ut its head caused us to look in the direction he was pointing, where we saw a large tiger-shark ; we watched him for some time, when he dipped, and we saw him no more until after dinner ; he came alongside again, but not alone, for three others were with him. We threw pieces of biscuit to them, and nr ticed that instead of turning on their backs to seize food, they raised their heads above water and brought their mouths down on top of it. Presently, some of the officers came up on the fore- ibridge Vv^ith j)i>tols and rifles, and soon they were in full wing poppng ;iway at them, without hitting one •owever. N^'e anchored again that night, . and the icxt Ttiorning w ighed ; and the same evening, after we i id finished rnaniug torpedoes, we put to sea again for !\ii zatlan, whe^-e we arrived three days later. *'his phivo, is in Mexico ; it has no hprbour to speak of, ilor it will only allow vessels drawing eight or nine feet o anchor anywhere near the town ; sj we had to bring up fit the entrance, right in the swell, ^vhich rolls in here ^very heavily. Two gigantic rocks "tand like sentinels t the mouth of the harbour ; on the left hand one, erched at a great height, is a small white lighthouse. Fr m hero, far away over the town, you have a fine lew of the Cordilleras, looking blue and hazy in the ^distance. " ^ As soon as we were anchored my boat w is lowered, nd we cook the officer of the gunrd ashore, wlien we ad an opportunity of viewing the town. It is situated t cosily at the foot of a hill; here and there clumi/s of •|palra trees, standing between pretty white cottages with "1 tiled roofs, add to the beaut} 'of the phice ; ri:,dit out A' J I 111 38 of the centre of the town*riaes the dome of a Cathotlral, which was gaily decorated with flags. We stayed liere four days during which time we (the cutter's crew) were -jT-^rcised in laying mines and blowing them up. left on the r2th December and airived at Acapulco l^ox. ') 15th. Inere was only one ship in the harbour, a Mexican man-o'-war, the " Oemocrata ;*' she was h small barque- rigged packet, and would have been a pretty boat if she hadn't been so dirty. We got six hundred tons oc coal in here in considerably less than Tune hours, making tiie rate of passage inboard about 70 tons an hour. On Friday leave was given, and men went ashore to purchase gear for Christmas f and it was a sight to see them coming aboard, every man with live turkeys, geese or fowls over his shoulders ; altogether we had over a hundred turkeys cooped up under the fore-bridge. As usual there was a suijerabundance of fruit, for ships calling Mere are always overrun with vendors of the above. Among these people there is one character well known to every one who has visited thi-» port, one Mrs. or "Mammy Johns m," as she is generally called. She is an enormously stout uegress, slightly pockmarked, and is more largely patronized by officets and men than any of the others. . ,- . We left on the 19th. When it became known that we were to spend our Christmas at sea,- a great many men were disappointed, for they had made pretty sure of spending it in harbour, where there would be more life. However, we made the best of it when the ^n the back was over an inch thick. j When the man was ripping him open alongside, and ,|bis inside was thrown overboard, several other sharks ypame up and devoured it ; the captain shot one of these pn the belly, whereupon his comrades set upon him and ^l^evoured him. It was fine sport, and we baited the hook 0gain, but caught no more. i It was here I first tasted parrot pie, and I must con- ifess they are beautiful eating. if On New Year's Day our minstrel party gave an enter- 42 tainment. I stayed np aod saw the old year out and the new one in, when sixteen bells were struck, eight for the old year and eiyht for the new. \y'' We left for Costa Quinta, an uninhabited island, on ^ Saturday, the oth, where we arrived three hours later. Leave was given in the afternoon, so I took advantage of it and went ashore for a run. We landed on a rocky shore, on crossing which we found ourselves on a broad stretch of chocolate colored sand. We lauded with the intention of gathering some fruit, but though we walked some miles along the shore there was no sign of a fruit tree. This island is covered with thick forest. We had to content ourselves with viewing the forest from the beach, and it was worth viewing too, for the tree;-), rising in some cases to a great height, wer(^ covered in a few cases with large blossoms. I cannot place them, not being a botanist. The forest was impenetrable except in one place ; it was after we had gone some distance along the beach, and had crossed several fresh -water rivers, that we came to one of larger dimensions than the preceding ones : turning to the left we proceeded some distance along its banks, when we came to some thick twisted undergrowth ; we managed to force our way through this, and found ourselves in an arm of the forest ; perfect silence reigned here, a peaceful silence, which was suddenly and rudely broken into by a tond ha ! ha ! ha ! We turned to seo^ the cause when we heard it again in an entirely different quarter. Looking in that direction we saw, at the toj) of a tall tree, a curious bird, which from its enoimouH bill (out of all ijroportioi^ to its body) I took to be a laughing jackass. Bluejackets on shore are much the same as boys, fnll of mischief, and our party was not exempt from this trait. We aimed ourselves with stones and clods of earth, and were soon pelting at it right and left. As every well aimed missile neared him the bird would rise, anil waiting until it passed under it, would settle agtiin ; but the fire getting too hot he flew away, laughing as he went. Our cv.riosity being aroused by some large lumps on the trunks of some of the trees, one of our number stiuek ■il 43 it an^ the ht for the island, on rs later. advantag:e m a rocky m a broad ome fruit, lore there ered with fch viewing ewing too, )ight, wer(^ I cannot place ; it the beach, it we came ling ones : e along its iergrowth : and found ice reigned and rudely tied to see ly different at the top I enormous )k to be a much the •ty was not 3 of earth. As every d rise, and Rgkin ; bu<^ hing as he i lumps on iber stiuck jine with a ptick, knocking away some of what appeared be a skin ; in a moment bis stick was covered with irge brown ants ; a few got on his hand biting him |adiy ; the inside bad the appearance and colof of a jonge. Pushing on, we came to an open space, crossing which ^e entered a jungle, which was an exact counterpart of ictures I have seen of the Indian jungle. Here we began to get cautious, and our thoughts were instantly on snakes ; it was laughable to see the gin- ferly steps we took, raising our feet like well trained jorses, presently we came to a bend in the river; on first jeing it, we observed a disturbance on the surface of le water. Pausing, we watched anxiously, and presently le head and fore part of the body of a small alligator lised itself out of the water; we had all heard of the )racity of this reiitile, ard were hesitating whether to in or stay, when he settled the question, by disappear- ig. I thought we had gone far enough, and said as Uicli to my chums, whereupon we decided to return be- )re it got dark, for we all agreed to spend a night in that iace, would be the reverse of pleasant. We returned a different way to that which we came, id found it more difficult, for the under wood was more lick and twisted. Sometimes one of us would stumble Ifver the roots of a tree, and as he was falling, would be lught and held up by the bight of some creeping plant lat was hanging in a festoon from one tree to another. ?he8e vines are a very noticeable feature in the forest, )r the trees are matted together by the interlacing of lem. f When we got out of the forest, we went down to the ifeiouth of a stream, and enjoyed a good swim; a curioua '^fact about these streams is, that the water in some places very hot, and in others is icy cold, and in some purts fon will get a boiling hot upper current and a very cold mder one. We returned to the ship's boats, and were soon aboard. One middy had shot a monkey, and the skipper shot a flarge guano lizard, which tliey brought aboard. ■^ We left on the 3rd for Panama, where we arrived oi %he 6th. 44 CHAPTER XIV. Our anchor wns dropped in seven fathoms of water, and we were lying about ten miles from Panama, and five from We had a large mail which brought me the news of my father's death. He was in a precarious state of heallh when we left England, so that I was not surprised, although, naturally I was very grieved, whicli grief was greatly augmented by ttie thoughts of the thousands of miles which lay between myself and his deathbed. We were to receive supernumeraries here, who were to come over the Isthmus from Colon, and we expected them the following Monday. On the Sundhy afternoon I was sitting on a harness cask, talking to a private in the Royal Marine Artillery. he was speaking of the times he used to have at home; poor fellow I he little knew that before another day had passed, he would be in the spirit only. The next day, ir, the afternoon, he laid down, remarking, " I will have forty winks before supper." At eight bells a clium gave him a shake telling bim the time ; " come, Sam, its eight bells," but there was no answer, again he shook him, still no answer, the man began to feel alarmed, and felt his pulse, there was no beat, not the slightest fluttering, the poor fellow \v;is dead. There was something awfully sad in this death, men were working all round him, yet not one suspecied, o*" noticed anything wrong about him. It was a veriHca tion of thnt scriptural passage " In the midst of Liife wo are in Death." They carried him forward to the sick bay ; the doctor was aent for, who after examination pronounced life ex tinct. A post-mortem examination was held on bim, but what conclusion the doctors arrived at I cannot tell. The carpenter received orders to make a coffin with all dispatch, for he was to be buried next day. This ma> be put down as unseemly haste by those unacquainted with the Tropics, but it is simply a sanitary precauticii, for if a corpse was kept forty-eight hours, decomposition sets in; the next morning before sunrise the gun carrifiyc and limber was sent ashore so as to be ready for the funeral. 45 18 of water, EiDnma, and ich brou^'ht 1 precarious it I was not eved, wbicli ?hts of the ielf and his who were to ve expected Q a harness le Artillery, ve at honie; ler day had lext day, in [ will have telling liini t there was er, the man lere was nd fellow w;i,- this deal]), 3 suspecled. IS a veriticH ) of liife W( the doctor ced life ex Dn him, but lot tell. !fin with all This ma> [acquainted pr*?cautif>ii, ompositioii an carriauo idy for tht' Len, both bluejackets and marines, were asked to tend the funeral, I made one of those who volunteered pay him this last mark of respect. The coffin was ide before dinner, it was a substantially built one, and IS cover(3d with No. 1 cloth, and lined with flannel, the !t named items are allowed by the service to officerH men alike. After dinner the funeral party was piped clean in white trousers, white frocks, and straw hats, had also to tie a black silk handkerchief round our ft arms, which is a sign of mourning throughout the •vice. The marines were dressed in a white uniform, \d white helmets, they also carried their arms. At Ifalf it one we were fallen in in the gangway and we blue- Skets told off in two crews for the field gun. It was •y rough and the boats were tossing furiously on the tves, so that we had great difficulty m embarking. The leers went down into the steam pinnace, the marines, id, and one gun's crew went into the launch, which le fast astern of the pinnace. The remaining crew, of iich I was one, went into the first cutter and we made it astern of the launch. Then the second cutter went mg side, all hands aboard were piped to fal^ in in the ^rboard gangway, the admiral, and captain, coming up the bell was tolled and presently came the coffin flifvered with the Union Jack, and borne on the shoulders cii deceased messmates. All heads were bared as it was liiiisted carefully out into the cutter, which after the rdmainiDg men had ena barked made fast astern of ue, in t|iis order, with the white ensign half masted on 'ica li^BfRt, the steam pinnace towed us ashore. "We shipped a loft of water during the passage, people in boats, or on board trading vessels, uncovered th^ir heads as we passed, a^d as we neared the railway jetty the flags on the fort mid other stations were half masted. We all landed on 1^0 jetty, where the gun carriage and limber was in ■fiadinesf?. The coffin was hoisted out of the cutter and Maceu on the. gun carriage, it was still covered with the 1u|iion Jack, and deceased's helmet and sword was placed c^ top and his belt put round them, the procession was termed in the following order ; first was the band, men llfitli arms reversed, two lines of Marine Artillery, and light infantrymen, these were followed by the first crew ..^' • »m f * i mn p iw 46 of blnojackets drawing the prun carriage and coffin, and at'tei- these came the relief crew marching in the order we would be on the drag-roi)e8. and the aforementioned mesHmntea marching in file astern of us. When wo were ready, the order slow march was givon, and the band plnyod " The Dead March." The roads were very badly kept, and frightfully rough, the hoat was intense, and before we had covered half the distamt we were blinded with dust, and half suffocated witli tht effluvia which rose from decaying matter in the streets, The people crowded and hemmed us in on eveiy " le. Tliere was of West Indian negroes a large ma jo a great many Creoles and natives, and of Chinamen . .ur sprinkling. It looked as though all Panama had turned out, for without any exaggeration, the people mustered in thousands. Passing slowly up the main street, past the hotel De Panama, we arrived at tlie grand square; from here we broke into the quick march, whi(!h wiis kept up until we arrived at the approach to the cemetery; here we slowed again to that old, old tune '* The Dead March in Saul." As we neared the gates the marines broke off and formed into two lines, one on each side ol the road, standing at ease, with arms reversed. '1 he guu carriage with its sad burden passed between the two lines, and halted just outside the gates, the coffin was lifted off and carried to the grave. Our own chaplain read the burial service, and the dead was lowered into its last resting place. The chaplain had got to that part oi the service which commences, " ashes to ashes, dust t« dust," and as the men threw in the handful of mould, the grave digger thinking, I suppose, that he was signallei to complete his work, started to till the grave, and it \va^ only after a lot of signing that he would desist. Thuo volleys were fired over his grave and we left liim alom among strangers to rest. He was buried next a Freni;h- man's grave, over which stood a nuirble pillar, with an inscription commencing " ici repose." The scene at the grave was an interesting one, immedi ately around it stood the bluejackets and marine^, tlieir fair skins and white uniforms forming a great contract with the swarthy skins aud black woolly head-i of tlu negroes, and the bright colored garments they wore coffin, and n tlio order enieutioiied wjis given. The roiuh h, the hoa! he tiistaiif! ed with tile the Htroels eveiy " Ic, ma jo a tiiueii . ..,, had turned e musterei; street, i)iis; and squaie: whieii was le cenietejv: ■' Tlie Dt.Ki the niHriiie;' Mich side e! i. 'i'iie ^m ten the two 3 coffin Mi\> vii chaplaii: ired into lU that part o; les, dust h ' mould, tilt IS si/^'unlJei , aud it was iist. Thiee t him ah)ni t a French- ir, with an ae, imracdi rino.i, tlie-r at contrast 3ad"» of tin they wore. 47 Outside the rails half Dude children were crowding and [ushing to get a sight of the proceedings. In different parts of the cemetery nourished cocoanut id banana palms, and sometimes a slight catspaw would |ear with it a delicious perfume, telling of its passage irough flower gardens and orange groves. I was sur- prised to hear the Lord's Prayer and responses repeated good English by a great many of the negroes. 1 con- jluded that they had immigrated from the British West Indies. As the marines came to the "present," pre]) (latory to Iring the three volleys, the peof le pressed agaiust a knot |f men who in their turn pressed back, knocking down a jautiful marble cross ; but what astonished me was, le men, after seeing the damage they had done, with the greatest "sang froid" imaginable, climbed up on the »lock that remained, the better to see what w^s going CHAPTER XV. We left Panama on the 15th for Callao, where we rived on the 20th. On our trip down it was rumored at the admiral had received orders to proceed to Val- ^ araiso with all possible dispatch (iu consequence of a fevolt in Chili) where our presence was required to pro- tect British mterests. It appeared that there was a row over the result of ibe election for a new president, the main body of the lirmy taking the President's side, and the navy and the temainder of the army, taking the congressional or people's side. We dropped anchor, and exchanged salutes with the Peruvian forts. In the evening, after quarters, the commander had us aft and told us we should coal next day, that we had ino hundred tons to get in, and that we should have to ut our best foot forward, as we had to get to Valparaiso L^w^here there was a " row in the house." This contirmed jthe rumors we had heard, and the prospect, distant though it was, of us having a finger in the pie, incited the wild spirits among us to work like niggers, and the nine-hun- dred tons were got in by twelve o'clock the next night. ^^ 4S On Friday the 23rd, at noon, we left for Valparaiso, calling at Iquiqui on the way. Arriving at the la ter place on the 26th, we found one of our own gunboats, *' Pheasant," which had been sent from the West Coast of Africa to this station, to finish her commission. There was also one of the Chilian men-of-war tb^t had taken the congressional or rebel side; she was cleared for action, and lying moored bow and stern, broadside to the town. vShe whs named the "Almirante Cochrane,"' and was a battle ship of some 4000 tons, and heavily armed; she carries three masts, square rigged forward, and one funnel. Her oflBcer of the guard came aboard, upon who,-e return she hoisted the white ensign and saluted it, whicli salute we returned. Iquiqui is situated on the coast of the Tarnpaca Pio vince, ope of the moat desert and arid countries in tli(^ world. It is said that rain hat. never been known to fall at Iquiqui. ail food and other nupphes have to be impor- ted from the southern provinces, or Peru; not a sign of vegetation, all one monotonous, yellow coloured sand. which wearies the eye and causes a depression of spirits in the beholder. It is the seat of the nitrate and silver mining distri(j;s, and the inhabitants are chietiy miners. There had, I believe, been some disturbance before our arrival, and our advent was hailed by tbe English residents as a guarantee of safety; our departure, therefore, the same evening for Taltal, caused keen dieopointment. We arrived off the above place the next afternoon at soven bells, but did not anchor. Here we found the "Huascar" a rebel cruiser of the old pattern. It will be remembered t at about fourteen years hi^o she committed an act of piracy on the high seas, by tak ing coal out of an English vessel. The "Shah" aiui " Amethyst " were sent in chase of her ; they met and engaged shortly after dinner on tlie 17th day of May. 1877. After a long fight she managed to evade them by getting into shallow water where the English shi|)s could not go. Daring the Peruvo-Chilian war, hovirevi'r, she was captured by the Chilians. Before this, whilo still the property of the Peruvi-iu^, sh^ lu'idd herncli lOUS jr tb( i^Iqui< i;(After ttttos ^e "1 !>nolu iich lere ^ ^lock. all 1 licers; rs, o )piE a bs I E tuse mil shi aiAkore eter, si setiii off This AXllmeii flM«t, wl ^SOhani foifts hf iK^fts, h hut jue hm it blistr [an] he oi «<1if>chr wWie c w^, b lid me ai Valparaiso, the later 1 gunboats, West Coast don. ir tb^t had /as cleared , broadside Cochrane,"' ,nd heavily 3d forward, pon who,-e 3id it, which •npaca P'o tries in tbe lown to fall ) be impor- it a sign of 3ured sand. in of spirits ag districis, lere had, 1 irrival, arxi idents as a ?i, the sami' bment. V/c m at soven )"Huascar" ti years a^^o Ba% by tak Shah" ana By met ami lay of May, ide them l>y g^ish ships ir, hovfevor. this, while L-idd hers(>ll pe 49 lous by her great fight with and subsequent victorv )r tbe Chilian warship " Esmeralda," whom she sank |Iquiqui Bay. Lfter her officer of the guard had boarded us, we again to sea, and arrived in Coquimbo Friday morning 30th. ^e " Aoom " was lying here, having oome down from »nolulu. After getting aboard some engine oil, of iich we had inin short, we proceeded to Valparaiso, iere we arrived the next forenoon at six bells (eleven flock.) The " Champion " was lying here and she gave all the latest particulars concerning the revolution. ie day, one of her cutters went ashore as usual for |cers; all boats were required to fly their national coi- fs, or a flag of truce, there being no wind hers was )ping down the staff, which was in consequence taken i bare one. Some soldiers on the esplanade, thirst- I suppose for blood, seized upon this as a good tise to quench it slightly, for half a dozen revolvers fired by them at the boat, one shot wounding the rain breaking his ankle. When the boat returned ship cleared for action, and Captain St. Clair sent abay. A great deal of trade is done here, and the harbo' lis always crowd^Ml with shipping, a railway skirts tb bay, ai»d ships can discharge their cargoes on the jettie sad send them by rail to any part of Chili. On; unded on the ground, the other shots did no more image than throw up the rarth. Meanwhile the lilors were plundering the houses of all who were cainst them, and shooting down all who resisted, the main ntreet stands a large draper's shop, owned an old Italian gentleman, who stood at nis door itching the progress of the fire. A. marauding party Etching sight of him * went ' for him, kuocking iiim >wn, kicking and rising him brutally. After lootmg Is shop the^ bound him, and taking him down to the Ur threw bim into a boat to await the *' Blanco's" steam- it ; presently it came, and the crew, upon being told >nt the old man went alongside the boat, and five men iped into her, picked the poor old fellow up and flung with great violence into their own boat. All this le our cutter was laying off the i>ier watching this lir, and O' e of the crew, his British heart welling \,h indignation, jumped up, and shaking his fist at the ^lians, shouted, " you would'nt serve one of us like It, you lubbers, you wouldn't 1 " Whereupon, one of people standing upon the pier cried, in broken £ng. *' Would'nt we ? If we had you here we'd serve you same I " At this. Jack, waxing more wroth, yelled, LOU , if I could reach you with this oar I would it down your cowardly throat I " The old man was |en aboard the " Blanco" as prisoner, but in the even- p, I believe, our officer of the guard went aboard with smaud that he should be turned over to us. The de- id was complied with, and the unfortunate man was ^ught aboard. At half-past three a body of govem- it troops were observed marching down the high which ran round the hills just below and parMllel the railroad, and opened fire upon them ; the dis- ice, however, was too great for accurate firing, so only shot went near them, and that struck tne bank leir feet, throwing the dust over them. Again, at ^ut half past four, thre^ companies of government were advanciniar from behind some reservoirs, over open plain at the back of the town, when the ships imenced firing upon them. They opened into files J0' 'I 6^ of two, and advancing in this way at the douMe, got into the town without harm. The only shell that went near them, was the second one fired, and that burst a lii^tlo way in their rear. V' At six o'clock, the •* Hnascar " came in, and tihcfhoreri near the "Blanco." That evening, two companies of our men were told ojGT, to guard the British Consulate, in caise of a night attack; ammunition was got up, and everything was got ready for landing, if required. At midnighb, another small lire broke out, and a few rifle shotd were heard. In the morning, a congressional transport came in with the rebel survivors of the battle of Sunday night, and later on the '* Esmeralda " came iu and anchored. CHAPTER XVII. On Wednesday, thinking the fighting was over, a great many of the people re-entered the town, but their move- ment proved premature, for the next morning, at day- light, the "Huascar " and " Abtao " again went around the point, iiO the other side of the town, and the "Blanco " fired a gun which the " Hnascar " answered At about 6:30 a. m., a great battle commenced; there tj'as very heavy volley firing on the south side of the town, but owin^ to a thick haze, (that indispensable ac- companiment of eurl^ morning in these parts,) which lay upon the town, nothmg could be seen. At seven o'clock the ships opened fire. At nine o'clock the haze lifted. Some men, (whether troops or civilians, I could not make out,) Were retreating along the shore, in the north of the town; the "Tolton," a gunboat, and an armed tug, catching sight of them, commenced firing on them fol lowing th9m up as near the shore as they could get, and now and again we would see a man throw up his arms and fall to the ground. Meanwhile, the "Huasoar" and "Abtao" were firing upon the south aide. At ten o'clock the "Esmeralda," who had gone out the night before, wafl sighted, and the "Tolton" shifted to a berth ahead of the " Blanco." The firing in the town had grown fast and furious, and the din was awful ; rattle, rattle, rattle, w'entthe machine guns, and 65 le, got into went near rat a liotlo d anchored inies of our nsulate, m 3t up, and uired. At a few rifle ngtessionnl f th« battle »» came iu )Ver, a great their moTe- ng, at day- ent around n, and the ' answered need; there side of the ;)enBable ac- ,) which lay even o'clock haze lifted. [ could not in the north I armed tug, m them f ol T could get> man throw mwhile, the 1 the south 10 had gone ,e "Tolton" rhe firing in the din was ae guns, and their reports of riiies could be distinguished by ater solidity of sound. Men, both civilians and sol- rs, were crowding the tops of houses and firing down n the enemy in the streets. A body of men had ool- ed bear the Hospital, and formed Into a company ; oon as opportunity offered, they dashed from there he back of a red brick house near th9 railway station, ir object bemg to get into the towi? without being m by the ships ; bat, alas t for their hopes ; the lanoo " saw them, and directed the fire of her six nine-pounders upon them. Two or three shots- ck the house and one passed through the roof of the* way station, but though I watched some time I did see a sign of the refugees, so I concluded they had ged around an iron shed in their- rear. 1 10:15 the **■ Blanco'* sent some men ashore in boats, einforce her military allies ; numbers of government iers were waiting for them on the pier and wharves, the boats had to fight their way in. Mbohine guns shipped in the bows of the boats, so the landing y were able to give as much as they took; Many of poor fellows were wounded before they oould land. U:30 the firing was getting desulto)/, and at 11 had gather ceased. A few more volleys were fired at>ll:30, the reports from these came more from the baok of town. At 11:55 the " Blanco " again opened fire, and' after the "Esmeralda" came in and took station 1 of her. The "Abtao" now left tiie sout^ side of >wn and dropped au'jhor at' the mouth of 'the bar- At twelve o'clock a shell from the ** Blanco " burst^^ house in the market plaee, setting fire to it; by past the fire whs burning fiercely, and two or three osions occurred in its midst ; by a little after one it' got under and soon was only smouldering, and the again oeased fibre. At t w^o o'clock the fighting in' the seemed to gather mostly round the custom-'bouse) h watt situated at the head of the pier. Presenily, rty of sailors took it and held it from the enemy- |l the end of the fight. It is a large building, all the s and window shutters were of iton ; a balcony rnni d the upper story, and from this and *from the' rocf bell'tower the sailors ket^t' up a continual fire upon ::'is. 1 M 'S the enemy below. The ships again opened fire with tbeir heavy guns, and one shot from the "Esmeralda" tore its way through some iron sheds near the beach ; another from her deprived a house of its chimneys ; another from the "Blanco" struck the front of a house which stood a little distance back from the scene of the fire. All this time the " Huascar " kept up a continual fire on the south side of the town. From where she lay she could see through a pass in the hills, which was invisible to us ^ all her fire was directed there, her shot striking the hillside, and sometimes the s*'mmit, tearing up the earth and creating a terrible, thundering noise. I believe, from what I have heard, that a body of government troops were trying to advance from there, and that she was keeping them back. A shot from the "Esmeralda" struck one of the four small guns they had ashore, cut ting it clean in two. At a little after three, a couple o! shells barst in a bouse a little to the right of the custom house. In about fifteen minutes after the bursting o! the shells the house was on fira At 8:45 the fire bad increased, and the flames reached a large hotel on th( left, licking its sides lovingly with all the deceit ol "little Bed Bidinghood's" wolfish bugbear, until pres^ ently they seized upon it and enveloped it in a t^ery em brace ; from here it spread to behind the custom-house Signalmen were directing the fire of the ship's guns, b} means of semaphore signals from the roof of the custom house, and with black smoke and leaping flames for i background, the}^ resembled so many demons (swingins their arms about in making the signal), who appeared tc gloat on the scene around them. At four o'clock ih whole of the right of the town seemed to be in a blaze, the sight was appalling ; the flames leaped to a height ol 150 feet, and the wind having dropped, the smoke weoi straight up, and must have b^n seen miles at sea. Just about this time there was a terrific explosion in the fire and for hours afterwards pieces of scorched paper floated gently down aboard of us. At a quarter past four tbt waUs of the hotel and the house next to it fell in with t dull thud ; but the view was still obstructed, for the firt was eating its way into the town, but the ships, undei the direction of the signalmen on the custom-house, fired er e lar >oi id ly mm rewithtbeir 3ralda" tore ich ; another mother from hich stood a B. ontinual fire B she lay she was invisible shot striking aring up the ». I believe, iment troops hat she was Esmeralda" ashore, cui a couple o! f the custom I bursting o! the fire bad hotel on the he deceit ol r, until prefr n a tlery em ostom-house ip's guns, b; ! the custom ' flames for a tns (swingiDS > appeared tc r o'clock thf >e in a blaze, io a height ol i smoke went at sea. Just m in the fire paper floated >a8t four tb( fell in with i a, for the fi« I ships, undet a-house» fired 57 trough the fire into the grand square, where a lot of jhting was going on. At six o'clock the sbips had ^ased filing and our captain went ashore, with a large ig of truce flying in the bows of his boat, and arranged leetlng between the general of the government forces id the commodore of the rebel forces, who agreed upon armistice until twelve o'clock the next day. Oaptain imbton stood on the pier talking to Colonel Sotto, his l^xswain standing behind him holding the flag of truce rer his head. When the boat neared the shore, says ie boat's crew, the heat from the fire was almost un- »arable, and, ignoring the flag of truce, the soldiers fired . )n us, some of the bullets passiog through our awning, id one through the boat, but fortunately without doing ly further harm than making us feel uncomfortable. CHAPTER XVIII. ISitting on the pier, with his back to the rails, was an iglish lad of eii^teen, who was dressed in the Chilian |val uniform ; he was shot through both legs and the )d was pouring from the wounds ; on either side of L lay dead men. Captain Lambton tore up his flag of ^ce and bound up the poor fellow's legs. In answer to ^estions, he said he was an Englishman who had, some ree weeks before, been pressed into the Chilian navy ; hnd tried several times to send aboard an English i-o'-war, and had demanded to see the British Admi- but they would not allow him. He had been sent loro in one of the reinforcing boats, and was wounded |!oro the men had fought their wa^ off the pier. Oar ipper put him in his boat, and gettmg in himself, went }ard the " Blaoco," and sent the wounded lad aboard , When the gig neared the ship, the men seeing a ranger sitting between the thwarts, at once began to mlate as to who and what he was. As the gig came )rg8ide, an eager crowd pressed forward to get a sight shim ; but when they saw him carried up the side, on back of one of the crew, the blood dripping from his 3, they at once opened out and made a clear gangway him. One cf our newly-joined boys recognized in an old chum, and came forward, calling him by ime; that boy had a warm five minutes answering 58 queetioiiB put by an inquiriDg orowd, as to where he had iiDOwn the wouoded lad, and who and what he was. The gig's crew had a lot to tell when they oame inboard. How, when they found the soldiers were badly disposed toward them, they, the crew, tried to propitiate them by making all the most friendly signs they could think of. "/At five the next morning a Congressional transport oame in with about tifteen hundred troops aboard, who were not to disembark until the armistice was up. At eleven o'clock Col. Sotto, the Government commander, and Commodore , the Congressional leader, came aboard us to make their arrangements over dinner with the Admiral. Punctually at noon the troops began to disembark into seven lighters, which, when full, were towed out clear of the ships, where they remained await- ing further orders. '1 he troops were repeatedly cheering, their loud "vivas" being lizard all over the harbour. Once, as they passed us, they gave three English cheers for the "Warspite." At three o'clock the two leaders left our ship, and it soon became known that they had decided to suspend hostilities ; Colonel Hotto surrender- ing to the Congressionalists. Upon this, part of the troops re-embarked, and the remainder landing and taking formal possession of t^e town and the arms of the Gk>vernment troops^ The fires burned fiercely for two days, and for another fortnight it was smouldering. Some people say that this fire was due to incendiarism; bat I myself, as I before stated, saw two shells, one from the "Esmeralda," and one from the " Blanco," strike the white house brfore- mentioned and explode, causing the fire. On the 24th we sent ashore for English and Germans desirous of taking passage in us to (>aIlao ; about ninefty responded to the invitation; they were mostly of the working class, imd screens were rigged up on the fore- castle for their accommodation. Among them was an old man named BroMm, who was wounded in his right arm ; during the bombardment, his house bad* been wrecked; in fact, he had lost everything he possessed. His wounds were caused by the bureting of a shell in his vicinity ; the bone of his fore arm was shattered^ and he suffered greatly while he was aboard. He was treated by our doctors until his arrival in Oallao, when' he went Hamm 59 ere he had it he was. e inboard. y disposed tiate them d think of. trnnaport )oard, who as up. At >mmander, ader, came inner with I began to full, were ned await- Y cheering, B harbour, lish cheers wo leaders tt they had surrender- art of the nding and irmsof the !or another ty that this as I before ■alda/' and IS© before- i Germans lOUt ninefty 3tly of the n the fore- . to the hospital at Lima. I am happy to say that be-' re we leftOallao we made a isubscriptiou for his beuelit, proceeds of which amounted to about thirty-seven Ulars. It was not much, in so dear a country it is »e, but it was snffieient fbr his immediate wants. pEarly on the mommg of the 26th the "Huascar" ^ghed anchor and steamed north, we following a few •urs later. At eleven o'clock we arrived at Oaleta-* lena, where we found the warships " Mageliana " and luasoar." Finding no refugees here, we left, and* .rived at Pisagua late in the afternoon. The "Almirante. Ichrane" was lying here ; there had been aJbattle here lew da>s previous, resulting in a viotory for the Con- jsionalistSi CHAPTER XIX. lis place, like all others on the Chilian coast, from luimbo north to the Peruvian frontier, is perfectly rren. * ?he town is built on the sides of the hills, the only> binguishing feature being a white clock tower which ids in its Midst. As in Iquiqui, numerous railwayi Dks run f rom th« town over the hills to the nitratet^ les. About the same number of refugees came aboard' re as in Iququi,'and they seemed to be of about the le social status.-. '«*!■! -••"' ^^li^i :";><, <" ?he "Cootirane's" ofitcer of the guard boarded us, as also some* of the captains of the merchant ships in rbuur. We left at five o'clock and proceeded, arriving Callao on Sunday at. noon. In the afternoon the igees went ashore. General leave was giyen on Mon- f^ and nearly all the watch went ashore for a couple day's spree. A circus .was being held at Callao, one of our men took an unrehearsed part in the ^gramme. It appears that, being unable to get a good ^t, he being slightly 'elevated,' thought he would ele- himself still further, so he climbed on to the roof. le t«nt, so as to get a good view of tho proceedingSi >ugh a slit in the canvas. Not being very careful in movements, he brought a great strain upon that part the canvas immediately round the slit, so that it very m became a rent, through which he fell headlong into midst of the audience, without however sustaining i ;|i . more damage than a ftood Bhakint;. The other watohl went ashore when the first watoh came off. Nothing worthy of special note occurred between thii and the iSrd of April. During the interral we went south to Valparaiso, back to Iquiqui, and down to Valpriraiso again, calling it the VLBuai ports on the way. Our dhtes were : 14th March, Iquiqui ; 18th, Galdera ; 19th, Ooquimbo ; 28rd, Valpa- raiso. Arriving at Valparaiso, we found the two new cruisers ordered from England had arrived, and on 29th the U. S. S. ^ Pensaoola " came in : and on 7th April the U. S. H. "Baltimore ;" 10th April left Valparaiso ; 13tb arrived in Ooquimbo ; 16th, Galdera ; 17th Taltal ; 18th, Autof agasta ; 21st« left Iququi ; 23rd, arrived in Galdera ; 23rd Huascat ; 24th, Goquimbo ; 25th, Valparaiso. I forgot to mention that on the 2l8t of Febru '^y. at Iququi, while the ** Esmeralda" was coaling, the ' Im- pterial " (a very smart armed government transport) was sighted. The ** Esmeralda ** at once suspended coaling operations and gave chase ; she chased her for about four hours, when just as she was gaining on the " Imperial " her engines broke down and she had perforce to stop to make good repairs, afterwards returning to harbour and completing her coaling. Leaving Valparaiso on the 12th April, the "Acorn" leaving with us. and parting company just outside the harbour, for England, we arrived in Autof agasta on Saturday, 18th, where we found the "Blanco, we left the same night, she playing us out. Poor "Blanco I" we never saw her agam above water. Arriving at Iquiqui on Sunday afternoon, we found the " Daphne," who had a mail for us, and the congrAs sional warship, "Almirante Gochrane." GHAPTER XX We left again on Tuesday, and on Thursday morning arrived off Galdera. Long before we could distinguish the port our attention was attracted by columns of smoke which rose up under the land. On approaching nearer we found that the smoke emanated from gun- powder, and presently saw the large congressional trans- port " Aconcagua " being hotly chased by the two new government cruisers " Almirante Lynch " and "Almirante >ther watoh >etween this araiso, back Ulinff t,t the 4th March, I8rd. Valpa- le two new and on 29th th April the uraiso : 13th ^altal ; iHth, inCaldera; iraiso. 'ebru ^'•7', at g, the ' Im- disport) was idea coaling r about four " Imperial " oe to stop to harbour and tie "Aoorn" outside the tofagasta on X), we left " Blanco 1" t 1, we found the congTAfl- lay momini; distinguish columns of approaching I from gun- Bional trans- he two new 1 "Almirante -t t\ re lile 61 del" The cruisers were keeping up a furiotis fir© n her, but she returned it bravely with what guns had. Nearly all our ship's company had assembled the forecastle, nearly bursting with excitement ; they e watching with intense interest every movement of ships. resently a shot from the ^'Lynoh" cut the transports' derrick in two, one half hanging from her foremast and the other crashing through the roofs of the ik cabins ; another tore through her after awning, another from the ''Oondel" made a hole in her ., just abaft the mainmast. But the ''Lynch" did not off scot free, for her thin hull was riddled with shot, one passed completely through her bows. e were now close to the scene of action ; the "Lynch'* slewed bow on to the^^Aconongua," as though about ram, or discharge a torpedo ; all hands were watching L bated breath, not a movement escaping them. Just n they expected to see the transport olown out of water, both cruisers slewed round and made off at speed, firing as they went, the shots both from the iport and her enemies falling fast and thick all round other, throwing the water up in clouds every time struck it. The "Aconcagua" now got into port in ok time, where we arrived about forty minutoi later. ^he excuse commander Moraga, the man in command the cruisers gave on his arrival in Valparaiso, was it he mistook us for the "Esmeralda," but it is the eral opinion on board that the transport made it too m for him. officer from the transport came aboard, and told us it was the opinion of all o i board that if we had not e in sight as we did, they v!rould all have been at the torn of the sea ; that would have been a great loss for Cougressionalists, for she had a thousand rebel troops ard. n arriving in Caldera, we had a very great surprise; on south side of the harbour, the ynrd-arms of a large p rose above the surface of the water, and great cnri- y was evinced, as to what ship it could t^, for, the .^ hour being so secluded, it could not have been tl^llieoked in the ordinary way. <(XiIt appeared that the "Blanco" was lying in the har- r* m bour that night, and feeling q'uiu<^ aetCMre in snoh a mm retreat, thejr had relaxed th^r cMrdintiry TigUance, anl had no guard boat out ; the oaptain dso, and a few (f| hie rfficeEB and crew were ju^hore. At about four4birt; in the moBDing the two ernisera oame seeping into 1;hi| bay, not a light showing; nor were they aware df thj presence of another Bhip,nntilthe]riiad got well intotbl bay, aaad they oertainly were not seen by the " Blanoo'8| lookouts, until they were dose upon her ; directly theti were seen, the cry " Los Torpedoes, Los Torpedoes " raised, and (acoording tosome yersions^ she opened H^ upon them with her small ^ipunB, at this the cruiRer opened fire upon her ; after Hxanceuvariag a little, th "Condel " approached to; within a eabie^s length, and dis ohairged, as she steamed up and downnpast' the** Blanco,' i tbrae torpedoes at her, foll6wied olosely by one from tM, ^"liiynoh;" one of those fired by the " Gondel "struck he ^malfl inaimediately exploded, tearing a large rent just 1> ,1 k»w the water line. Seeing that they had "done" fo her, they mad© off, meeting the " Aooncf^a " a few mile down the coast ; and it was only a few minutes after tl: meeting, that the " Warspite " ho^re in aigh'^i. The unfortunate " Blanloo " sank a few minutes aftt she was struck. Out of a crew of 285^ only '2orty wer« saved ; the kille included nearly ail the engineers' department. We at < ohored just three hours after she went down. Leavic nhere, we arrived at Port Huasoar the same eveninc where we found the "Husscar" and "Magftllatia After calling at Ooquimbo, we arrivad in Valparait on the 2bth. This harbour was liow well fort iled, and the i.ovemmertt troops were coDtinuall at target praotiee. ana there wa the hills, upon the sides of xthirh the upper town is buil and you will pas=i dozens of houses bniit on wliat V(i m such a snnj^ igilance, aii( md a few o »t four-tbirt nlig into th aware of th;,^ w«M iaato thi e ** Blanoo'e^ directly thei ''Pedoes" vr^ 3 opened li^^ the cruiser a little, tb igth, and di^ ihe**BlRiico,;= one from thfs L " struck hf rent just 1> i «done"fo . " a few milf LteB after th; minutes afU id ; the kille ent. We at fni. Leavin ime evenins " MagftHana n Vttlparaif ' well fort: ' eoDtinuall Hie slights Uf^gle to tak re and had or side of th '■uy. Soklior » pressed wr> took mc^t ' i upper Um. at the foot' town IB bni! on wliat y, ^onld'thittfcwerei naocefiisible rocks, and some of which ou would Udink the rumbling of pasaiog trams wnuld CO down. The conductors of ii* trams are women, they are quite an ornament toTJie streets, as tbey along in their white bib aprons, and (in a good few s) pretty faces. Bed^ and black bone cent pieces were use, to augment the circulation o* the currency, which that time "as vevy low. In the course of oonversation ^ith an E'glish gentleman, he told me that three pris- oners wer3 to be shot the next day, traitorfl, so-called, to phe President ; aikd he t<>ld me further, that the most atrocious cruelties were being praoti*»ed by the Presi- dent's orders in Santiago, where Ooogresaional prisoners >ere being daily floggedt flayed, and otherwise tortured. CHAPTER XXI. It wa^ found that the "Waifspite" had developed jrioue structural defects, and we were ordered up to squimalt, t*"* be dockc^l ; accordingly. We left Valparaiso the 7th May, for Coquimbo, where we stayed until of June. We coaled ship and hadiseteral different drills during lat period, and one day the ''EftiHegle" came bringing Llama as a present from the oa|)tmn of the '' Blanco" our ship's company ; it had sviram ashore when the lip went down. We very often witnessed a review of the Government iv&lTy on the meadow Inml near tho beacb. On the ist June the "Melpomene" came in, and after iming over ^jhe command t^ i'er, we left for tbe north Wednesday, 3rd June. We touched at Iquiqui on le 6th, where we found the U. S. SS. " Pensfwjola," Baltimore," "San Francisco," and "Charleston," com- osing the American Pacific fleet Of the rebel fleet there was the "Huascar," "O'Higgios," "Abtao," and Tolton." We left the same evening, the ^'Baltimore " and "San rancisco " playmg us out. After a day's stay at Callao, ^e arrived off tho Qalapagos Inlands on the 11th. At |pine o'clock we anchored in Tagbs Cove, Albemarle llsland, the largest island in the group. The officers wenf- ashore shooting, and caught two hair seals, three 64 -penframn, a pelican, and a oonple of jOfuano lizards. One of our men caught a young shark on a small fishing line, and managed to g^s hitch around its tail with a piece of spun yarn ; after it had been cut open, it slipped over- board, and then -there was a struggle between it and the angler ; the shark was very strong in spite of being dis- emboweled, but eventually the man got him inboard with a little help. We left the same night, and after a some- what rough passage, arrived at Acapuloo on the 22nd. Here we completed with coal, and left for Esquimalt. The passage was rough until we arrived off the mouth of the Columbia river, when the son made his appear- ance, and it became quite warm. We saw a great num- ber of whales on our way up, and at one time the sea was covered with Portuguese men-o'-war, (paper nauti- lus.) Arrived in Esquimalt on Sunday, the 5th July,' and went out a^in on Monday, for Plumper Sound, to do our prize firmg. There was a great deal of croaking and many doubts were expressed, as to whether the Dry Dock would hold ns, but we settled them all, by making a triumphal entry on Saturday, 18th July, seventeen shipwrights were sent out from England, under a chief constructor, to make good our defects. After the ship's company had had general leave, four midshipmen, to wit : Messrs. De Montoiorency, Caldwell, Johnstone and Brown, got a few days leave to go salmon fishing. They got two Indian canoes, light, crazy aflfnirs, the property of De Montmorency, and, against the advice of an old waterman, went out past the Race Rocks, in the Straits of Juan de Fuca. On the day they ought to have returned, they did not appear, so on the day follow- ing, and in fact the month following, search parties, and torpedo boats were sent out in all directions; the broken blade of an oar, and the coat belonging to Mr. De Mont- morenov, the onlv things that were found, told the melancholy tale. Nothing has been heard of them since, so everyone arrived at the conclusion that they had been camocdd and drowned. While in the dock, we were connected by telephone io the Central office at Victoria, the transmitter and listener being in the signal house on the poop. On the 14th August, 1891, we completed the first eighteen months of our cruise. sards. One j fishing line, dth a piece :| iijpped over- I it and the I being dis- aboardwith ter a some- 1 the 22nd. quimalt. [ the mouth his appear- great num- ime the sea laper nanti- e 5th July, r Sound, to of croaking ler the Dry by making Seventeen der a chief leave, four sy, Caldwell, D go salmon srazy aflfairs, it the advice » Rocks, in ey ought to ) day foUow- parties, and the broken r. De Mont- d, told the them since, ey had been telephone t^) and listener ed the first