irst to land, and I mean to be the last to go on
board." He kept his word; for on his Commander being placed in safety,
he hastened back to the little band, now nearly cut up, and took his
share in the retreat, being the last to get into the boats. Such were
the Chilenos, of whom the mean jealousy of the Minister of Marine,
Zenteno, refused to allow me a thousand for operations at Callao--which
could have been conducted with ease, as Valdivia had been captured with
less than a third of that number.

Our force being now seriously diminished, and feeling convinced that
the fanatics of Chiloe were devoted to the cause of Spain, there was
nothing left but to return to Valdivia, where, finding that the
Spaniards who had been dispersed in the neighbourhood were committing
excesses, I despatched Major Beauchef with 100 men to Osorio to secure
that town, the relief being accepted with great joy even by the Indians,
of whom, wrote Major Beauchef to me, "I have embraced more than a
thousand Caciques and their followers. They have all offered their
services to fight in the patriotic cause; but as circumstances do not
require this, I have invited them to return to their own lands, and have
received their promises to be ready if the country should call for their
services." The Spaniards being driven from Osorio, the flag of Chili
was, on the 26th of February, hoisted on the castle by Major Beauchef,
who returned to Valdivia.

There being nothing further to require my presence, I placed the
_O'Higgins_ under the orders of my secretary, Mr. Bennet, to superintend
her repairs, and embarked in the _Montezuma_, for Valparaiso, taking
with me five Spanish officers who had been made prisoners, amongst whom
was Colonel Fausto De Hoyos, the Commandant of the Cantabria regiment.

On my departure, the Spaniards, elated by their success at Chiloe,
combined with those who had been driven from Valdivia, in an attempt to
recover their lost possessions, but Major Beauchef, having timely
intelligence of their intention, set out to meet them. A number of
volunteers having joined the patriot force, Major Beauchef on the 6th of
March encountered the enemy on the river Toro, and instantly attacked
them, when, in about an hour, the Spanish officers mounted their horses
and fled in a body, leaving the men to their fate. Nearly three hundred
of these immediately surrendered, and Major Beauchef--having captured
the whole of the arms and baggage--returned