THE SEA-FIGHT AT IQUIQUE. 127 



making light of it These waters, which, during the 

 late war, witnessed the fight between the Esmeralda 

 and the Huascar* would, in another age of the 

 world, have become as famous as those of Salamis. 



On the morning of May 4 we called at Huanillos, 

 a small place of recent growth, not marked on any 

 map that I have seen. It lies within a few miles of 

 the mouth of the Loa, which, as laid down on maps, 

 appears to be a considerable stream, rising in the 

 Cordillera and traversing in a circuitous course the 

 Bolivian part of the Atacama desert. I naturally 

 inquired why the mouth of such a river had not been 

 selected as the site of a port. I was informed that, in 

 spite of the maps, no water flows through the channel 

 of the river, and that what can be obtained by digging 

 is brackish and unfit for drinking. Whether this 



* Two small Chilian wooden ships, the Esmeralda, of 850 tons, 

 mounting eight guns, commanded by Arturo Prat, and the Covadonga, 

 of 412 tons, with two guns, commanded by Condell, were engaged in 

 the blockade of Iquique, when, on the 21st of May, 1879, they were 

 attacked by the Peruvian ironclad Independcncia, of 2004 tons, mount- 

 ing 18 (chiefly heavy Armstrong) guns, commanded by J. G. Moore, 

 and the monitor Htiascar, of 11 30 tons, mounting two 300- pounder 

 Armstrong turret guns, besides two deck guns, under Miguel Grau, 

 the most skilful and enterprising of the Peruvian commanders. The 

 Chilian captains resolved on a desperate defence. After maintaining 

 for two hours the fight against the Hiiascar, Arturo Prat resolved on the 

 attempt to board his adversary. Bringing his ship alongside, he sprang 

 on the deck of the Hiiascar ; but the ships were separated at once, and 

 two men only fell along with him, while the Esmeralda went to the 

 bottom with her crew of 180 men, of whom several were picked up by 

 the boats of the Huascar. The Indepeiidencia, following the little 

 Covadonga, ran on the rocks in the shallows south of Iquique, and 

 became a total wreck ; while the Covadonga, though shattered by her 

 enemy's guns, was able to reach Autofogasta. The heroism of the 

 Chilian commanders saved their country, and at the critical moment 

 changed the fortune of the war. 



