With Cochrane the Dauntless

ere were no signs of movement on board the Chacabuco

e gigs, row on board, and rep

, and the companion-ladder was not lowered. He therefore ordered t

, and why you do not obey his signals," Stephe

iny," the officer said, "and th

the crew were mustered at quarters. When she came within a cable's length of the Chacabuco the frigate was thrown up i

ang at once to the capstan bars, and the anchor was soon out of the water.

on entered the port of Coquimbo. As soon as the anchors were let go

out?" he asked the captain, w

y; that they are kept hard at it all day making and t

w silently assembled. The port-holes of the O'Higgins were

by turning into a pack of mutineers, merely because they are required to do extra work to fit them for fighting the enemies of their country? I am willing to believe that you have suffered yourselves to be misled, and that you did not understand the magnitude of the crime that you were committing. There, six bells are striking. You have five minutes to put your ringleaders into a boat. See that yo

rd them ironed, and were then rowed to the flag-ship. A signal was made for the first lieutenant of each of the other ships of the squadron to come on board, and a court-martial was at once held upon the mutineers. The man who was shown to have been at the bottom of the whole affair, was sentenced to be hung, and the rest to terms of impris

make an attempt to do them at least some damage. He knew that two American men-of-war were expected to arrive in Callao, and he made some slight changes in his flag-ship and the Lautaro, hoisted the American flag, and sailed toward the harbour. The Carnival was at the time being carried on, and there was the less chance that a vigilant watch would be kept up by the forts and ships. Unfortunately a dense fog

ane determined to risk a partial engagement rather than withdraw without firing a shot, as a retreat now would raise the spirits of the Spaniards and depress those of the Chilians. Accordingly the O'Higgins and the Lautaro stood on, each having a boat ahead sounding. The wind fell very light, and instead of going in and enga

up, anchors were weighed, and the two ships sailed to and fro in front of the batteries returning their fire, until Captain Guise, who commanded the Lautaro, was severely wounded, and his ship at once retired from action. Neither of the other Chilian vessels ventured

by men who are afraid to bring their ships within range of the enemy's guns, and all badly manned, badly provisioned, and by no means in fighting trim. If the Spaniards would but sail out to engage us, we might do something, but they have dismantled their frigates, and nothing will temp

e order was given for boats to be lowered, and Lord Cochrane himself landed to see that there was no scramble for the property of the government. Of this a large quantity was found in the stores, together with a considerable amount of money, which was of even more imp

their oppressors. Several ships laden with stores for the Spanish troops also fell into their hands. Towards the end of the cruise a sail was observed at some distance in the offing. As,

a couple of hours. The boat's crew are already on board and armed, but I don't suppose you will meet with any resistance. When you have

being transferred to another boat. The crew consisted of twelve men. As the breeze was off shore Stephen ordered the masts to be stepped at once, and the two lug-sails hoisted. The crew were glad to escape the labour of carrying down stores from the fort and transporting them to the ship, and sat down contentedly in the bottom of the boat, while Stephen himself took the tiller. The

the tops of the hills were [pg 182]enveloped in clouds, a sign, as experience had already taught him, of the approach of a gale. The brig, which h

return?" one of t

so that we should be much better off in that brig than we should be in this open boat. Get out oars, men,

ing made to hoist some of the upper sails that had been lowered; but the boat was now flying through the water, and in a quarter of an hour ran up on the leeward side of

that the captain cried out, as they leaped on board, that they surrendered. Stephen's first order was to get the cutter up, and tackles were soon hooke

on as the boat was safely on board, and in a very short time the sail was reduced to double-reefed top-sails. [pg 183]Under these and a s

gale, do you think?" Stephe

reak, but I hoped to get to Callao before it burst. We ar

ve you o

tores and a

mon

ere are twenty boxes sea

had not captured you? You know your ship bett

se?or, and at once; it will be dang

t ought to be done, but I do not know enough of your language to make sure that I shall not make a m

ught before the wind. She felt the relief at once,

is gale extend b

hundred or a hundred and fifty miles; but a big one, as this will I think

ny dangers t

islands; but on the course that we are steering we s

ot a chart,

, se?or, but nothing beyond.

wind holds like this," Stephen said.

uvians. Stephen felt grateful when the last of them stepped on to the deck again. Small as was the amount of sail that was now spread, the brig flew before the wind with alarming rapidity, the sea seeming to stand up on each side of her. The foremast bent

par," he shouted to the captain; "its

r alongside, and the wreckage at once floated away. The jib-boom was then got in, and the vessel felt the relief and lifted her head more buoyantly over the seas. For four days the gale continued, her bulwarks were [pg 185]carried away, and the waves swept her decks continually. One tremendous roller carried away the boats, the caboose, and all the deck fittings, together with four

e, even had there been spars at hand; but a raft, could one have been manufactured, would have prolonged life but for a few hours. They were now, he calculated, fully a thousand miles from the land, and there was no chance whatever of any vessel coming across them in these unfrequented seas. From the time the gale burst upon them he had but

ile the crew were all in the forecastle. None expected to see the m

her make a [pg 186]struggle for my life befor

uch cool courage during the s

at we could. As for me, I would as lief be drowned here as outside. But I don't think that there

ell; he was awakened suddenly by a tremendous crash that threw him on to the floor. He struggled to his feet and rushed out almost instinctively, in obedience to his train of thought before sleeping. As he issued out of the poop a wave poured down from above, and for a moment he shrun

e has ende

ut if she holds together until morning t

n it, moved a few yards further forward, and then fell

SH THAT THREW STEVE AND T

n, taking up the conversation at the point at which [pg 187]it had be

I don't think that the wind is blowing as hard as it was when we lay down. There are some stars shining. At

nearly carried off his feet by a torren

r stern in," he said to the Pe

e poop. The cataract of water which from time to time swep

an remarked. "I begin to think she may hold to

waves still struck her with tremendous force, and they could hear an occasional rending and splintering of the timbers astern, she

went over her bows when she struck. I am afraid none of the men

oned them," the captain said; "and as the stern is raised a good many feet, they must

f this; and indeed there was but small room for them in your little cabin. It seemed that death would come

philosophically; "and it is probable their

nly going down, and I can make out the outlines of the land. I think day wi

case and felt the position of the hands: "It is half-past three," he sai

and the sun was up. Long before this Stephen had explored the wreck astern. Several feet had been torn off, and the water flowed freely in and out of the cabin. It was evident that the ship had been carried on the crest of the great wave beyond the highest point of the reef across the mouth of the bay, and to this fact she in some degree owed her prese

get ashore," Stephen said. "We have bee

ore, for us. These islands are, for the most part, inhabited by savage

haul the foremast alongside, cut away the ropes, and drift ashore on it. It would be no great distance to swim now, but there is no hurry, and we had best find out whether we canno

" the captain said, "and a large quantity of ammuniti

the natives do not interfere with us. However, the first

y it is the first inside the door, and has not shared the fate of the stern cabin. If Jacopo ha

ed an exclama[pg 190]tion of surprise as the

"I have just been mourning for you, and here you ar

as happened, captain?" he asked. "The sun is shining, an

in the bunk, "you thought that it was all over, and so you emptied o

"everyone said that the ship could not live until morning, so I

el even the crash w

the door; "are we wrecked after all?" He u

you are far from deserving it. Now, look about and do your duty. We want breakfast; see you get it, and

s of onions, and half a barrel of flour,

l, make a fire and do us some slices

, there is ha

am; but [pg 191]see that you are quick about it,

a fire, captain? t

t in the other cabins and break up anything that will supply you with wood. Now, se?or, we will get off

nd most of the cargo cle

rgo. We got at the lazarette from a hatch under the table of the cabin. It was not convenient, but it was an advantage having a separate place when we were loaded up with hides, and there was no fear of the sailors gett

least a dozen casks of one kind or another on the beach. Now, really the principal things are the arms. If we g

for us to lift out. They were heavy enough when they were dry, and the

d ropes on that foremast. The difficulty will be about light spars. We shall h

attacked by natives, and we could do nothing in the way of searching for game until we get something to shoot it with. We must make

the end of one of the coils, while Jacopo remained on board to pay out the other, so that until the main raft was made the mast could be towed backwards and forwards. As soon as they were on shore they hauled at their rope and brought the mast to the beach. Then they set to work examining the casks. As the captain had predicted, most of the contents of the lazarette had been cast up, and they found that they h

of some fourteen feet in length, and with these they returned to the ship, taking with them a bag of coffee-berries and a supply of sugar. They had found on breaking open the cask that the sugar was somewhat damaged by the sea-water, but this had not penetrated far, and by drying and repounding that touched by the water, no great harm would have been done. The next morning the shears were erected, and they set to work. It took them two days' labour before they

skins were getting very low, and it had become absolutely necessary that they should without delay search for water. As there were hills of some size in the interior, they felt confident that there must be plenty to be found. The great point was whether it would be in the neighbourhood, or at a distance from the ship. [pg 194]This was a vital que

d some biscuits, together with a bottle containing the last of their stock of wine. When they rounded the point of the little ba

themselves down each scooped a hole in the sand, and took a long drink of

means they would leave no trace of footmarks, and migh