land attack; its garrison made a vigorous defence, and only yielded to superior numbers and weight of metal. Meantime Callao was blockaded, and there was great alarm in Lima. General Pierola was named dictator of Peru, and a levy en masse of all able to bear arms was ordered. It was impossible for the Peruvians, without a navy, to raise the blockade of Callao, but they showed considerable ingenuity in destroying one of the blockaders.
One afternoon a small vessel laden with fruit was captured while trying to steal her way along the coast, about 16 miles from Callao. Her crew dropped the anchor and fled to the shore in a row-boat as they saw their captors approaching. The Chilians took her alongside the armed transport Loa, and began removing her cargo,—a welcome prize to men who had been living for weeks on salt provisions. As the last package was removed there was a terrific explosion, which blew a large hole in the side of the Loa, and sent her to the bottom of the ocean in 5 minutes, with her captain, 3 officers, and 50 men; 38 of the crew were saved by boats from neutral men-of-war, lying about 4 miles away. It is supposed that there was a case of 250 pounds of dynamite, fired by mechanism so arranged that the removal of the weight above it would set it off.
A few weeks later the Chilian armed steamer Covadonga was destroyed by another ingenious trick of the Peruvians. She had been sent to blockade the port of Chancay, and her captain, seeing a smart-looking gig anchored in the harbor, about 300 yards from the mole, sent a midshipman with a boat to bring it away. It was freshly painted and fully equipped, and was a life-boat, with air-boxes at both ends. The boat pleased the captain so much that he determined to use her for a gig, and accordingly gave orders that she should be hoisted at the davits of the Covadonga.
Hardly were the tackles hauled taut when she exploded,
