BENAVIDES CHANGES SIDES AND ENACTS THE PIRATE. 



65 



moral character of the instruments. The bold 

 ruffian himself actually gave information of his 

 being alive, and invited San Martin to hold a 

 secret conference at midnight, in the centre of 

 the great square of Santiago. The appointed 

 signal was to strike fire from their flints three 

 times ; a mark sufficiently conspicuous for the 

 purpose of distinction, yet of a nature calculated 

 to excite no suspicion. San Martin accordingly, 

 alone and provided with a brace of pistols, went 

 to the spot, where he encountered Benavides, 

 similarly armed. After a long conference with 

 the desperado, whom he finally engaged in his 

 service, he settled that Benavides should, for the 

 present, serve in the Chilian army, employed 

 against th© Araucanian Indians in the south ; but 

 should be ready to join the army in Peru when 

 the expedition sailed. This was, perhaps, ill- 

 judged ; for Benavides soon quarrelled with the 

 Chilian -General, and once more changed sides, 

 offering his services to the Indians, who were 

 glad to obtain so brave and unrelenting an asso- 

 ciate. In a short time, his experience and con- 

 genial ferocity gave him so great an ascendency 

 amongst this warlike race, that he was elected 

 Commander-in-Chief. He soon collected a re- 

 spectable force, and laid waste the whole of the 

 Chilian frontier, lying along the right bank of the 

 great river Biobio, to the infinite annoyance of the 

 Chilians, who could ill afford troops, at that 

 moment, to repel these inroads ; nearly the whole 

 resources of the country being required to fit out 

 the expedition against Peru. 



Benavides, taking advantage of this favourable 

 moment, augmented his authority amongst the 

 Araucanians by many successful incursions into 

 Chili ; till, at length, fancying himself a mighty 

 monarch, he thought it becoming his dignity to 

 have a fleet as "well as an army. Accordingly, 

 with the help of his bold associates, he captured 

 several vessels. The first of these was the Ame- 

 rican ship Hero, which he surprised in the night, 

 as she lay at anchor off the coast. His next prize 

 was the Herselia, an American brig, which had 

 sailed on a sealing-voyage to New South Shetland ; 

 and, after touching there, had come on to the 

 Island of St. Mary's, where she anchored in a 

 small bay exactly opposite to the town of Arauco, 

 the well-known scene of many desperate contests 

 between the Old Spaniards and the still uncon- 

 quered Indians of that territory. 



While the unconscious crew were proceeding, 

 as usual, to catch seals on this island, lying about 

 three leagues from the mainland of Arauco, an 

 armed body of men rushed from the woods, and, 

 overpowering them, tied their hands behind their 

 backs, and left them under a guard on the beach. 

 The pirates now took the Herselia's boats, and, 

 going on board, surprised the captain and four of 

 his crew, who had remained in charge of the brig ; 

 and, having brought off the prisoners from the 

 beach, threw them into the hold, and closed the 

 hatches. They next tripped the vessel's anchor, 

 and, sailing over in triumph to Arauco, were re- 

 ceived by Benavides with a salute of musketry, 

 fired under the Spanish flag, which it was their 

 chief's pleasure to hoist on that day. In the course 

 of the night, Benavides ordered the captain and 

 his crew to be removed to a house on shore, at 

 some distance from the town ; then, taking them 



out one by one, he stripped and pillaged them of 

 all they possessed, threatening them the whole 

 time with drawn swords and loaded muskets. In 

 the morning he paid the prisoners a visit ; and, 

 having ordered them to the capital, called together 

 the principal people of the town, and desired each 

 to select one as a servant. The captain and four 

 others not happening to please the fancy of any 

 one, Benavides, after saying he would himself 

 take charge of the captain, gave directions, on 

 pain of instant death, that some persons should 

 hold themselves responsible for the other prisoners. 

 Some days after this they were called together, 

 and required to serve as soldiers in the pirate's 

 army ; an order to which they consented without 

 hesitation, well knowing, by what they had already 

 seen, that the consequences of refusal would be 

 fatal. 



About a month afterwards, Benavides manned 

 the Herselia brig, partly with his own people, 

 and partly with her original crew, and despatched 

 her on a mission to the Island of Chiloe, to solicit 

 assistance from the Spanish authorities there. 

 The brig was placed under the command of the 

 mate, who was given to understand, that, if he 

 betrayed his trust, the captain and his other coun- 

 trymen would be put to death. This warning had 

 its effect : the brig went and returned as desired ; 

 bringing back a twenty-four-pound gun, four 

 six-pounders, and two light field-pieces, with a 

 quantity of ammunition ; besides eleven Spanish 

 officers, and twenty soldiers ; together with the 

 most complimentary and encouraging letters from 

 the Governor of Chiloe, who, as a good and loyal 

 Spaniard, was well pleased to assist any one who 

 would harass the Patriots, without thinking it his 

 business to inquire very strictly into the character 

 or practices of his ally. Shortly afterwards, the 

 English whale-ship Perseverance was captured 

 by Benavides ; and in July, the American brig 

 Ocean, having on board several thousand stand of 

 arms, also fell into his hands. The Ocean was 

 bound, it was said, from Rio de Janeiro to Lima, 

 but, running short of water and fuel, had put into 

 the Island of St. Mary's, where she was surprised 

 and taken during the night. This great accession 

 of ships, arms, and men, fairly turned the pirate's 

 head ; and from that time he seriously contem- 

 plated the idea of organizing a regular army, 

 with which he was to march against Santiago, 

 while his fleet was to take Valparaiso ; and thus 

 Chili was to be reconquered without loss of time, 

 He was thwarted a good deal, however, in the 

 outset, by the difficulty of making the sailors 

 useful ; one of the hardest tasks in the world 

 being that of converting Jack into a soldier. The 

 severity of his discipline, however, struck such 

 terror into the seamen's minds that he not only 

 made them handle a musket, and submit to the 

 drilling and dressing, practices utterly repugnant 

 to their habits, but, for a time, entirely stopped 

 desertion. To encourage the rest, he put the 

 captain of the Perseverance to death for having 

 attempted to escape ; and some time afterwards, 

 having caught one of the seamen who had deserted, 

 he inhumanly ordered the poor fellow to be cut 

 to pieces, and exhibited the mangled body as a 

 warning to the others. 



Benavides, though unquestionably a ferocious 

 savage, and a thorough-bred buccaneer, was never- 



