1"60 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



rica, and established the independence of Peru. The 

 Spaniards, however, still held the fortress of Callao, 

 which, after having been taken by Martin and Coch- 

 rane four years previously, had again been treacher- 

 ously delivered up, and was now blockaded by sea 

 and land by the patriots, under the command of Gen- 

 eral Hualero, who had marched an army from Colum- 

 bia to assist the cause of liberty in Peru. 



Of all these circumstances we were ignorant, until 

 we arrived within a few leagues of the port of Callao. 

 Then we learned them from a vessel that spoke us, 

 but we still advanced, hoping to find an opportunity 

 to slip in. In attempting to do so, we were seized 

 by one of the blockading vessels, and the captain and 

 myself taken out and sent to Lima. We were allowed 

 to take our personal property with us, but of brig or 

 cargo we heard nothing for some time. I was not a 

 little uneasy ; for the whole of my savings during ten 

 years' clerkship in the house of a Baltimore merchant 

 were embarked in the form of a venture on board the 

 Perseverance. 



The captain, who had a fifth of the cargo, and was 

 half owner of the brig, took things very philosophi- 

 cally, and passed his days with a penknife and stick 

 in bis hand, whittling away, Yankee fashion ; and 

 when he had chopped up his stick, he would set to 

 work notching and hacking the first chair, bench, or 

 table that came under his hand. If any one spoke to 

 him of the brig, he would grind his teeth a little, but 



