on hearing that tidings had come from Valparaiso; and though many were disappointed, many also were made happy by hearing of their friends, from whom they had received no other direct communication for a long time. I had fortunately taken the precaution to write down the very words of the different, messages from the people at Valparaiso in my pocket-book; so that when these little memorandums were torn out and given to the parties, they became a sort of letter, and were prized as such by the receivers. For my own part, I was well satisfied with seeing people so easily made happy, and thought no more of the matter. Just now, however, when I had become an object of suspicion, and when the lives of two of my officers were at stake, it was of some consequence to maintain any good will that accident might have gained for me amongst the mob – a mob, it may be added, of a notoriously sanguinary character, since, on a recent occasion, they had actually put a whole boat’s crew to death, during a popular tumult. This occurred a few days after the capture of the Esmeralda, in consequence of an idea, equally preposterous with that which possessed them now, that the American frigate Macedonian had co-operated with Lord Cochrane upon that occasion.
“As I was mounting to return to Lima, on coming out of the Castle after seeing the officers, a crowd rapidly collected around me, seemingly in no cordial mood. I walked my horse deliberately to the nearest of the houses to which any letter or message from Valparaiso had been delivered, and under pretence of asking for a glass of water, stopped at the door. The people of the house came running out to receive me, and one of them said, in a tone partaking both of kindness and reproach, ‘Oh, Senor, I did not think you would have allowed spies to land in your boat.’ ‘And I, my good lady,’ said I, ‘never could have supposed you would allow such an absurd suspicion to enter your head.’ The crowd had, by this time, collected in great numbers round us, listening to all that passed, and many of my old acquaintances came forward to renew the subject of their Valparaiso friends. In this way the conversation went on for about ten minutes, after which I turned my horse towards Lima. The crowd opened a passage for me: and I was never afterwards molested or threatened in the slightest degree, though I passed through Callao several times every day during the next week, at a time when the hatred and suspicion of the English were at their greatest height.
“The delay of a Spanish pleyto, or cause, if, above all others, proverbial; and, therefore, it was not matter of surprise, however it might be of vexation, that the release of my officers was not obtained at once. An official letter was written to Government to require their restitution, as they had been identified by me, and I pledged myself, of course, to the truth of this statement. The difficulty was to determine the value of my word, as opposed to the oath of no less than five men at Callao, who had sworn, it seems, most positively, that they had recently seen these very officers doing duty on board Lord Cochrane’s ships; whereas, in point of fact, neither of