proposal for a vigorous attack upon Callao and
Lima, and requested to be landed at Ancon, a port as unsuitable for the
purpose as was Pisca. Lord Cochrane, however, determined that the fleet,
furnished at such expense and effort by Chili, should not be wholly
wasted, and when he sent his ships in to anchor off the port, he retained
the _O'Higgins_, the _Independencia_, and the _Lautaro_, with the
professed intention of blockading Callao at a distance. His real intention
was, however, to cut out the _Esmeralda_ from under the guns of the forts,
and also to carry off another ship, on board which, as he had learned, a
million dollars were embarked. The _Esmeralda_ was a forty-four gun
frigate, and was considered the finest Spanish war-ship in the Pacific.
She lay under the protection of three hundred guns on shore, and a strong
boom moored by chains at short intervals; while near her lay twenty-seven
gun-boats and several vessels that had been armed for the defence of the
port. Only two or three of his officers knew of his intentions until a few
hours before his intended attack, when he issued a proclamation to the
seamen and marines, telling them that they had now an opportunity for
dealing the enemy a mortal blow, and repeating the triumph of Valdivia.

Volunteers were asked for, and the whole of the sailors and marines from
the three ships offered to follow Lord Cochrane wherever he might lead
them. This was a much larger force than he required, and one hundred and
eighty sailors and eighty marines were chosen for the work. This force was
gradually transferred to the flag-ship, and the other two vessels sailed
out of the bay just before darkness came on, as if in chase of some ship
they had sighted--a ruse well calculated to lull the Spaniards into
security. The men intended for the service then took their places in
fourteen boats that lay hidden behind the flag-ship. All were dressed in
white, with a blue band on the left arm, in order that they might
distinguish each other in the dark. At ten o'clock the boats pushed off in
two directions, commanded respectively by Captain Crosby and Captain
Guise, while the admiral led the way in his launch. It was just twelve
o'clock when the boats arrived at a small opening in the boom. The oars
had been muffled, and so perfectly had silence been observed, that the
admiral's launch ran against a guard-boat lying at the entrance, without
its approach having been observed by the Spani