day, when one of her boats was sent ashore as usual for provisions, the crew was barbarously massacred by the infuriated populace.
Cochrane sent a flag of truce on shore proposing an exchange of prisoners, to which the Viceroy acceded. About 200 Chilians and Argentines, who had languished for years in the casemates of Callao, thus recovered their liberty.
The Esmeralda was renamed the Valdivia, in honour of Cochrane's victory of the year before.
The moral effects of the capture of the Esmeralda were very great, but from a political point of view the revolution in Guayaquil was of yet more importance. Still San Martin turned a deaf ear to the counsels of Cochrane, who advised an immediate advance upon Lima, and on the 9th the convoy weighed anchor at Ancon, and sailed to the port of Huacho, which lies ninety miles to the north of Callao. On the 10th the disembarkation commenced, and D'Albe, the French engineer, threw up three redoubts to secure the place. He also improvised a mole to facilitate communication with the squadron.
The army marched inland, and on the 17th encamped in the beautiful valley of Huara, which is well watered, and abounds in trees, and was reputed healthy; but fevers are endemical along the coast in the summer, and dysentery in the autumn.
This valley is seven miles broad by fifty-two miles in length, and is intersected by a river of the same name which flows from the Cordillera to the sea. This river is fordable at several points, but offers many strong positions for defence against superior forces, of which San Martin took advantage, and established himself solidly on its bank, ready to act either on the defensive or on the offensive, as occasion might require. In his front stretched a sandy desert, while one of his flanks rested on Huacho, and the other on the Sierra. In this position he held Lima in check, cut off all communication between the
