INTRODUCTION. ae 
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 was 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 watéring and procuring provisions for the 
ships, as well as cutting timber to load the prizes. 
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. 
+ 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. 
