698 



PERU. 



Spanish crews landed at Callao, with the ob- 

 ject of refreshing themselves, and some straggle 

 ensued between them and the people. An exag- 

 gerated account of these events produced some 

 excitement in Lima, which soon abated, how- 

 ever, and tranquillity was restored. Never- 

 theless, some rumors of a conspiracy were afloat, 

 and even some imprisonments took place, the 

 most important of which was that of the ex- 

 President Don Ramon Castilla. The members 

 of the South American Congress, which had 

 been assembled in Lima after the middle of 

 November, 1864, declared that the restoration 

 of the Chincha Islands to Peru, satisfied the 

 chief interest which their Governments had in 

 the conflict. 



It was soon found that there was a great 

 deal of dissatisfaction with the conduct of the 

 Government in all parts of the republic. On 

 February 28th, a revolution broke out in the 

 Southern portion of Peru. The Governor of 

 Arequipa, Colonel J. M. Prado, made a pronun- 

 ciamento, declaring that the President, by con- 

 cluding peace with Spain, had made himself 

 unworthy of being any longer the chief of the 

 republic. All the cities and towns of the four 

 departments of Arequipa, Moquegua, Puno, and 

 Cuzco declared for a change of Government. 

 General Bustainente was appointed commander 

 of the forces. New prefects of the provinces 

 and cities were nominated. Perfect order was 

 maintained, and there was no interference with 

 trade. In Lima Vice-President Canseco was 

 suspected of favoring the movement, and sought 

 refuge at the Legation of the United States. 

 This circumstance led to some difficulty between 

 the United States minister and the Peruvian 

 Governor, but the matter was compromised by 

 Gen. Canseco being requested to leave, and in 

 consideration of his going out of the country 

 the Government was reported to have given 

 him fifteen thousand dollars. Soon the revo- 

 lutionary movement spread in the northern 

 provinces also. Mass meetings were held which 

 declared President Pezet a traitor, and called 

 on Vice-President Canseco to assume the reins 

 of the Government. Col. A. Noya was elected 

 commander of the revolutionary forces of the 

 North. 



On May 8th, the Government forces expelled 

 the revolutionists from the town of Arica. In 

 consequence of this loss, the revolutionists re- 

 tired from the coast, but only in order to re- 

 enforce the strong body of troops with which 

 Gen. Prado was marching upon Lima. To pre- 

 vent communications coastwise, as also to pro- 

 hibit supplies from Bolivia or Chili to Col. Pra- 

 do, the Government declared the ports of Islay 

 and Quilca blockaded, and official intimation 

 of this was made to the representatives of the 

 different Governments in Lima. Subsequently, 

 the port of Pisco was included in the blockade. 



On the night of June 24th a mutiny broke 

 out on board the Amazonas, the flag-ship, whilst 

 blockading the port of Arica, resulting in the 

 death of Admiral Panizo and other officers, and 



the capture of the ship ^ the mutineers. The 

 Amazonas afterwards proceeded to Pisco, where 

 the sloop-of-war America, lately brought from 

 Europe, was at anchor, and signalized to the 

 captain to come on board, which he did, and was 

 immediately made prisoner. The America was 

 then ordered to surrender, which was done, 

 the crew yielding without the least resistance. 

 A small steamer, the Tumbes, which was cruis- 

 ing off Islay, was also captured by the rebels. 



On July 5th a fight took place about six 

 miles from Lima, between 12,000 revolutionists 

 and 6,000 Government troops. The former 

 suffered a severe loss, but on the next day, July 

 6th, they appeared before the gates of Lima, 

 and met with little resistance till they reached 

 the principal Plaza, where the palace was held 

 by the troop of Celadores, who fought till all 

 were shot. The palace was fired, and narrowly 

 escaped destruction. The Minister of "War, 

 Col. Cuba, who was in charge of Fort Santa 

 Catalina, surrendered on the 7th. Gen. Pezet 

 fled on board the British war-steamer Shear- 

 water in Callao Bay, and Gen. Canseco assumed 

 the Presidency. The whole country, without 

 delay, adhered to the new Government. At 

 Callao, the second town of the republic, Gen. 

 Rivas abandoned his post during the night, 

 leaving the town without protection. This led 

 to grave disorders. An excited mob divided 

 itself into bands and robbed and plundered 

 during the night. Every principal store or 

 shop stood open and empty, having been com- 

 pletely gutted. All property not removable 

 was smashed to pieces. The new Government 

 being known to be entirely anti-Spanish, a 

 large number of Spanish residents at Lima 

 deemed it safest to take refuge on board the 

 Spanish iron-clad Numancia. 



Gen. Canseco removed the friends of the 

 fallen President from all public offices, sup- 

 planting them by leading members of the rev- 

 olutionary party. The ex-President was brand- 

 ed as a "traitor and assassin," and a note was 

 passed to the British Charge d'Affaires in Lima, 

 to request his being given up from under the 

 British flag, that he might be brought to con- 

 dign punishment. The British vessel, how- 

 ever, which had the ex-President on ttoard, 

 had sailed the evening before the note was 

 despatched. 



Peace seemed to be fully restored, but the 

 rule of Canseco, nevertheless, lasted only until 

 November 26th. On that day a public meeting 

 was held at Lima, for the consideration of 

 the state of the country and the state of the 

 Spanish question. The result of this meeting 

 was that Gen. Prado, the revolutionary gen- 

 eral, was declared "Dictator," for the sal- 

 vation of the national honor. The leading 

 men of the revolution pledged themselves 

 to him, as also a largo number of citizens, 

 placing the country under his entire charge, 

 with the sole condition that, as soon as possi- 

 ble, he would call together a Congress. The 

 new change in the Government was adopted 



