458 APPENDIX. 
lowed our division for protection, and merely as an individual without au- 
thority or occupation. 
On our arrival in San Luis he was appointed to act as commissary, in 
which his conduct was not altogether unexceptionable: he was superseded 
by another civilian follower in that office ; and then having the entire dis- 
posal of his own time, he employed it in successfully addressing a young 
lady of the town, whom he induced to ‘elope with him; but as he was mar- 
ried and had a large family, the General took the lady from him, and made 
known to her who and what Arias was. Arias addressed this young woman 
under the character of a single man and an officer of Carrera, without being 
either; but so great an ascendancy had he gained over her affection, that 
though undeceived, she was willing to sacrifice all other feelings to her love 
and follow him. Carrera delivered her to her relations, who kept her as a 
prisoner as long as we remained in the town. Such were the grievances 
which induced Arias to take a part in the mutiny. One of the officers of the 
mutiny (Moya) was to receive the sister of Arias in marriage on their return 
to the sierra; but how they intended to employ the troops we have never 
been able to learn. 
The loyalty of our soldiers disconcerted both the one and the other of these 
revolutions. The plans of the conspirators never came to the knowledge of 
the General till after his imprisonment by them, having been conducted with 
admirable secrecy ; and it is remarkable, that the parties which conspired 
were ignorant of each other’s views and motives for mutinying. i 
The General was not well acquainted with the nature of the country 
through which we had to pass; and all his officers being equally ignorant 
of it, he was obliged to consult with guides who were traitors, and who had 
nothing in view but our destruction: amongst these Aldao was the principal; 
and he was sufficiently skilled in dissimulation to make the General believe 
that he was sincerely attached to his interests. The guides highly recom- 
mended the route to San Juan, which coincided with the ideas of Carrera, 
as his plan was, to remain in San Juan till the passage of the cordillera would 
open, organise an army of two or three thousand men, and pass into Coquimbo, 
where he would have received the capitulation of O’Higgins without any 
hostilities in Chile. 
The General having determined on the route of San Juan, sent out parties 
in the road of Mendoza, which attacked and routed the advanced posts of 
the Mendocinos : by this he expected to impress on the minds of our ene- 
