t Riveros was able to pick up tended to
confirm the telegram which he had received at Valparaiso, to the effect
that the Peruvians would certainly be found at Arica. Having,
therefore, made certain that they had left no enemy in their rear, the
Chilians steamed away from Iquique on the 3rd of October, and arrived at
a point ten miles to the south of Arica at three o'clock the next
morning, where the fleet hove to, in order to allow of a council of war
being held by the commodore and captains in the cabin of the _Blanco
Encalada_.

The captains of the _Cochrane_ and the _O'Higgins_ were in favour of an
attack by the whole squadron upon the Peruvian fleet supposed to be
lying in the harbour, but the commodore, with the captains of the _Loa_
and _Mathias Cousino_, opposed that plan, on the grounds that the
harbour was very strongly defended by forts; consequently, if such an
attack were carried out the Chilians would be obliged to silence the
batteries before they could turn their attention to the Peruvian
ironclads. The scheme favoured by Riveros, and which was ultimately
carried out, was to send in a number of steam-launches from the ships,
each armed with a couple of spar-torpedoes, and try to blow up the
Peruvian ships. The commodore's argument was that they would almost
certainly be successful, if the attack were properly made; while, if it
were to fail, the Peruvians would be certain to come out of port in
pursuit of the torpedo-boats, and find themselves face to face with the
Chilian fleet, and beyond the protection of the shore batteries.

This having been decided upon, the captains returned to their ships, and
the squadron once more headed northward, at a speed of about five knots,
finally coming to an anchor some four miles away from Arica, but
completely hidden from it by the headland of Santa Catharina, which
forms the southern extremity of the bay. The steam-launches of the
_Almirante Cochrane_ and the _Blanco Encalada_ were then lowered into
the water, together with a small Hereschoff torpedo-boat which the
_O'Higgins_ had brought up on her deck. These little craft all
rendezvoused at the flagship, and spar-torpedoes were hastily fitted to
all three, one projecting from the bow of each boat. As the expedition
was likely to be an extremely hazardous one, Commodore Riveros decided
to call for volunteers to man the torpedo-boats; and Jim Douglas and
Jorge Montt were the first two officers who presented th