INTRODUCTION. 55 



time for this bold undertaking ; accordingly on that of the 26th he 

 entered the river, but want of wind obliged him to stand out again, 

 and it was not till the evening of the 27th that he was able to pro- 

 ceed. Meantime he had learned that the Prueba had run up, even 

 without discharging her guns, at Puna, a usual precaution on account 

 of the shallows in the river, and was now under the batteries, which 

 he vvas induced to believe very strong ; but that the Aquila, of 

 ■'30, and Vigona, of 20 guns, the best of the hired armed ships, were 

 lying where he had expected to have found the Prueba. He imme- 

 diately made sail for them, and at daybreak they saw with dismay 

 the O'Higgins at their very anchoring ground, 40 miles up the river. 

 The ships had each about 100 men on board, and they kept up a 

 brisk fire for 20 minutes, but the broadsides of the O'Higgins were 

 too much for them, and the crews took to the boats leaving the 

 ships to the admiral. During this action the Lautaro and brigs 

 which had remained outside of the Puna, were alarmed at the firing, 

 concluding it was from the Prueba, and had prepared to sail in case the 

 action had been unfavourable to the admiral ; but they were relieved 

 by the appearance of the prizes.* Lord Cochrane remained three 

 weeks off the island of Puna, having occupied the village of that 

 name, for the purpose of watering and procuring provisions for the 

 ships, as well as cutting timber to load the prizes, f 



Having received intelligence, that one of the Spanish frigates 

 had taken refuge in Valdivia, the admiral resolved to proceed thi- 

 ther immediately on leaving Guayaquil, and accordingly sailed for 

 that port on the 17th of December. On his way he fell in with and 



* The beautiful brass guns of the Vigonia (15 pounders) were given to the Lautaro 

 to complete her armament. 



f There are upwards of twenty different kinds of timber to be procured at Guayaquil : 

 that most esteemed for ship-building is called oak, though it has no resemblance to that 

 tree ; the wood is yellowish and brittle, therefore not fit for planking : but it is very dura- 

 ble, and bears being under water. The cedar and balsam timber is good ; the ebony 

 coarse. The ship-building at Guayaquil was one great source of the prosperity of that 

 province, which has few or no mines. It produces cacao, rice, salt, cotton, tobacco, 

 cattle, and wax. 



