STORY OF THE MUTINY. 251 



addition, the record of ten years' meteorological 

 observations. By a fortunate accident, a Chilian war- 

 vessel reached Sandy Point just when disorder was at 

 its height ; the insurgents were speedily overpowered, 

 and several of the ringleaders executed. The weather 

 was unusually mild, and the refugees, amongst whom 

 were many ladies and young children, suffered less 

 than might have been expected in such a climate. 

 Nearly all the houses seen by me had been hastily 

 erected since the outbreak, and, as was natural, were 

 on a scale barely sufficing for the wants of the 

 inmates. 



I fully understood that no amount of hospitable 

 intentions could enable Dr. Fenton to give me quarters 

 in his house, and he assured me that the governor, 

 Don Francisco Samipayo, was no less restricted as to 

 accommodation. One resource, however, seemed 

 available : the German consul, Herr Meidell, had 

 returned for a visit to Europe, and it was thought 

 that, on application to his partner, a room might 

 certainly be obtained in his house. My dark-haired 

 friend, who had reappeared on the scene, and who 

 turned out to be a native of Gibraltar, kindly under- 

 took to arrange the matter, and, after an early dinner 

 at Dr. Fenton's hospitable table, I proceeded with 

 him to present my letter to the governor. The great 

 man had not yet returned to shore, but I made the 

 acquaintance of his wife, a delicate Peruvian lady, 

 who sat, wrapped in a woollen shawl, in a room 

 without a fire, of which the temperature must have 

 been about 45° Fahr. On leaving the governor's 

 house, we again encountered my envoy, whose 



