ts. That finished the fight; and at ten minutes
after twelve o'clock mid-day the gallant little _Esmeralda_, with her
colours still flying, and guns still firing, plunged downward out of
sight into the deep blue waters of Iquique bay, having fought a most
heroic battle against overwhelming odds.

Jim was not long in making his report to Captain Condell, and with a
glance at the _Independencia_, which was hard upon the _Covadonga's_
heels, firing as she came, he now ran down below to change into dry
clothes and equip himself with another sword and revolver; having, of
course, lost his own when he jumped into the sea.

The _Independencia_ was a slightly faster craft than the _Covadonga_,
but she drew a good deal more water; and Captain Condell, with masterly
skill, availed himself of this circumstance to the full, by running
across shoals over which the Peruvian ship dared not follow him, and by
keeping quite close in to the shore where she could not approach.
Luckily, too, the _Independencia's_ gunners were raw, and found great
difficulty in hitting the little gunboat; but whenever they did the
execution on board the small craft was tremendous, by reason of the huge
size of the projectiles.

At last, finding that he could not hit the _Covadonga_ in a vital spot,
or bring her to a standstill, Captain Moore, the Peruvian captain,
determined to risk his own ship in an endeavour to bring the running
fight to a close. The combatants were now off Punto Gruesos, where the
shore was steeper, and the water consequently of greater depth, and
Moore decided to ram his opponent. He gradually edged closer and closer
to the _Covadonga_--continually firing his heavy guns, to which the
Chilian replied with a withering small-arm fire--until he was separated
by only about a cable's-length from the gunboat.

He now suddenly changed his course from south to south-south-east and
steered straight for the _Covadonga_, which was within a hundred yards
of the beach, and had herself just touched a rock in her passage over
it. But alas for the Peruvian, she missed her blow, and struck
immediately upon the rock over which the gunboat had a moment before
passed, becoming immovably fixed there.

"Now," roared Condell to the helmsman, "up with the helm, and we will go
about and destroy that fellow completely. Senor Douglas," he continued,
to Jim, "kindly go down and superintend the working of that forward 70-
pounder gun; I am told that the l