86 INTRODUCTION. 



were scanty, and consisted solely of old charqui * ; the men had no 

 spirits, and their clothes now were in the most wretched condition. 

 The admiral more than once represented that they were on the point 

 of mutiny : he himself remained on board to tranquillise them ; for 

 they now began to suspect that there had never been an intention 

 of paying them, and they threatened to seize the ships, and pay 

 themselves, by taking whatever vessels they found on the coasts. 

 On the fifteenth of August, however, alarmed by the representations 

 of Lord Cochrane, the protector renewed his promises of paying 

 the squadron as soon as he should raise money sufficient, having 

 allotted a fifth of the customs for that purpose. That fifth, however, 

 was to be divided with the army ; and the sailors were too well 

 accustomed to the nature of divisions with the army, not to be still 

 further irritated by a promise that seemed but a mockery of their 

 sufferings. 



But before I proceed with the affairs of the squadron, it will be 

 necessary to return to those of the army for the last time, because as 

 San Martin had now declared himself independent, and the liberating 

 army of Chile had become the protecting army of Peru, my design 

 is not to follow their history farther than as it is connected with the 

 concerns of Chile and its squadron. 



On Lacerna's quitting Lima he retreated to Jauja, where he 

 formed a junction with the Spanish General Canterac ; and they 

 resolved, if possible, either to succour Callao, or at least to save 

 the treasure which had been deposited there to a vast amount. 

 Had San Martin continued the blockade of the fort by land, as he 

 certainly might have done, especially as the squadron continued ac- 

 tive in the bay, having, on the 15th of August, cut out two other 

 ships and a brig from within the booms, such a scheme would 

 have been hopeless ; but he had fallen back with his army under 

 the walls of Lima, and Canterac, profiting by the circumstance, 

 made a forced march, and on the 10th of September, reached the 

 neighbourhood of Callao. San Martin's army was drawn up in order 



* Dried beef. 



