ort Niebla, on the eastern shore. On their coming to an anchor at the
Corral, two hundred men were again embarked to attack Forts Niebla,
Carbonero, and Piojo. The _O'Higgins_ also appeared in sight off the
mouth of the harbour. The Spaniards thereupon summarily abandoned the
forts on the eastern side; no doubt judging that, as the western forts
had been captured without the aid of the frigate, they had, now that
she had arrived, no chance of successfully defending them.

"On the 6th, the troops were again embarked to pursue the flying
garrison up the river, when we received a flag of truce, informing us
that the enemy had abandoned the town, after plundering the private
houses and magazines, and with the governor, Colonel Montoya, had
fled in the direction of Chiloe. The booty which fell into our
hands, exclusive of the value of the forts and public buildings, was
considerable, Valdivia being the chief military depot in the southern
side of the continent. Amongst the military stores were upwards of 50
tons of gunpowder, 10,000 cannon-shot, 170,000 musket-cartridges, a
large quantity of small arms, 128 guns, of which 53 were brass and the
remainder iron, the ship _Dolores_--afterwards sold at Valparaiso for
twenty thousand dollars--with public stores sold for the like value,
and plate, of which General Sanchez had previously stripped the
churches of Concepcion, valued at sixteen thousand dollars."
Those prizes compensated over and over again for the loss of the
_Intrepido_, which grounded in the channel, and the injuries done to
the _O'Higgins_ on her way to Valdivia.

But the value of Lord Cochrane's capture of this stronghold was not to
be counted in money. By its daring conception and easy completion
the Spaniards, besides losing their great southern starting-point for
attacks on Chili and the other states that were fighting for their
freedom, lost heart, to a great extent, in their whole South American
warfare. They saw that their insurgent colonists had now found a
champion too bold, too cautious, too honest, and too prosperous for
them any longer to hope that they could succeed in their efforts to
win back the dependencies which were shaking off the thraldom of three
centuries.

CHAPTER VIII.

LORD COCHRANE'S RETURN TO VALPARAISO.--HIS ILL-TREATMENT BY
THE CHILIAN SENATE.--THE THIRD EXPEDITION TO PERU.--GENERAL SAN
MARTIN.--THE CAPTURE OF THE "ESMERALDA," AND ITS ISSUE.--LORD
COCHRANE'S SUBSEQUENT WORK.