ssuing this proclamation, it was stated that I should lead the
attack in person, volunteers being requested to come forward, on which
the whole of the marines and seamen on board the three ships offered to
accompany me. As this could not be permitted, a hundred and sixty seamen
and eighty marines were selected, and after dark were placed in fourteen
boats alongside the flag-ship, each man armed with cutlass and pistol,
being, for distinction's sake, dressed in white, with a blue band on
the left arm. The Spaniards I expected would be off their guard, as, by
way of _ruse_, the other ships had been sent out of the bay under the
charge of Captain Foster, as though in pursuit of some vessels in the
offing--so that the Spaniards would consider themselves safe from attack
for that night.

At ten o'clock all was in readiness, the boats being formed in two
divisions, the first commanded by my flag-captain Crosbie, and the
second by Captain Guise,--my boat leading. The strictest silence, and
the exclusive use of cutlasses were enjoined; so that, as the oars were
muffled, and the night dark, the enemy had not the least suspicion of
the impending attack.

It was just upon midnight when we neared the small opening left in the
boom, our plan being well-nigh frustrated by the vigilance of a
guard-boat, upon which my launch had luckily stumbled. The challenge was
given, upon which, in an under-tone, I threatened the occupants of the
boat with instant death if they made the least alarm. No reply was made
to the threat, and in a few minutes our gallant fellows were alongside
the frigate in line, boarding at several points simultaneously.

The Spaniards were completely taken by surprise--the whole, with the
exception of the sentries, being asleep at their quarters--and great was
the havoc made amongst them by the Chileno cutlasses whilst they were
recovering themselves. Retreating to the forecastle, they there made a
gallant stand, and it was not until the third charge that the position
was carried. The fight was for a short time renewed on the
quarter-deck, where the Spanish marines fell to a man, the rest of the
enemy leaping overboard and into the hold to escape slaughter.

On boarding the ship by the main chains, I was knocked back by the butt
end of the sentry's musket, and falling on a thole pin of the boat, it
entered my back near the spine, inflicting a severe injury, which caused
me many years of subsequent suffering. Immedia