; asked them several
questions, as the Naval Director had done; and finally accepted their
services, much to the gratification of the two lads. He gave Douglas a
commission as second lieutenant on board the flagship, and O'Meara a
post as second engineer aboard the same vessel. He then sent them
ashore to have their commissions signed by Captain Morales, and to
procure the necessary uniforms and outfit, and instructed them to report
themselves on board the _Blanco Encalada_ on the 7th of February, since
he, the Admiral, expected orders to sail on or about that date.

The boys left Senor Williams with many expressions of gratitude, and
went ashore to provide themselves with uniform and the necessary kit, an
order for the supply of which had been given them by Williams himself.
The tailor promised to have everything ready by the 6th, and for a
wonder he was as good as his word. On the morning of the 7th,
therefore, the two lads in full uniform, and with their belongings in
the boat with them, were rowed off to the _Blanco Encalada_, and by mid-
day they found themselves duly installed as officers in the Chilian
service.

CHAPTER THREE.

THE OCCUPATION OF ANTOFAGASTA.

The month of February in the latitude of Valparaiso corresponds
approximately to the month of August in the northern hemisphere, and it
was a beautiful, sunny, and very hot morning when, on the 7th of that
month, the Chilian fleet, consisting of the _Blanco Encalada_ flagship,
the _Almirante Cochrane_ battleship, the corvettes _O'Higgins_ and
_Chacabuco_, with the sloop _Esmeralda_, steamed out of harbour, on its
way to Antofagasta, the principal seaport of Bolivia.

It may not be amiss to state here briefly the causes of the war that was
then impending between the allied republics of Bolivia and Peru and the
republic of Chili.

The desert of Atacama, on the borders of Chili and Bolivia, had been for
many years without an acknowledged owner. Chili claimed it, so also did
Bolivia; but it was not considered by either claimant to be of much
importance, and it was certainly not regarded as worth fighting for,
until it was discovered that it was rich in nitrates and other mineral
wealth. In 1866 the two republics, being allied in war against Spain,
fixed by treaty the 24th parallel of south latitude as the future
boundary between them; and Bolivia agreed that Chilian citizens who were
already landowners in the region between 23 deg. and 24 deg. so