92 



RECREATION. 



down by the current toward the wrecked 

 Fredonia, then rapidly setting in toward 

 the Morro, with the apparent intention of 

 towing her out. 



Lieutenant Commander Dyer, command- 

 ing the Fredonia in the absence of the 

 captain, saw the manoeuvre and, knowing 

 no human agency could save them, while 

 a nearer approach would only involve the 

 America in a common ruin, ran on the 

 poop and hailed the approaching ship, 

 then but a few yards distant: "America 

 ahoy! You can do nothing for us. Our 

 bottom is crushed. Save yourselves. God 

 bless you. Good-bye." 



Then down to his station among his si- 

 lent, unshrinking crew. The next moment 

 all the ill fated company were hurled into 

 eternity, not one saved. A counter current 

 catching the America, drove her rapidly in 

 another direction. 



Facing the Morro and a short distance 

 away, a rocky islet rose a few feet above 

 the surface of the sea. In it the Peruvians 

 had hewn a fort from the solid rock, and had 

 mounted thereon 2 15-inch Dahlgren guns, 

 the garrison numbering about 100 souls. 

 When but a short distance from this fort — 

 in fact, we were dreading being cast against 

 its rocky sides — we saw it disappear be- 

 neath the waves. Whether it sank or the 

 waters rose, we could never tell; we only 

 knew it disappeared ; and when it reap- 

 peared after a few moments, like a huge 

 whale, not only were the unfortunate gar- 

 rison gone, but the guns and carriages as 

 well. Imagine, if you can, how the water 

 lifted those immense masses of iron, 

 weighing many tons, and offering no hold-, 

 ing surface, from their resting places and 

 tumbled them out of the 8-foot parapet. 

 No one will ever know how it was done. 



As the last rays of the setting sun gilded 

 the slopes of the Andes, we saw, to our 

 horror, that the graves were yielding up 

 their dead. In concentric rows v like chairs 

 in an amphitheater, the mummies of the 

 long-buried aborigines rose to the surface. 

 They had been buried in a sitting posture, 

 facing the sea. The soil, impregnated 

 with nitre, had thoroughly preserved them, 

 and the violent shocks rending the dry 

 earth above, had uncovered this fright- 

 ful city of the dead. Words can not paint 

 the ghastliness of the scene. In- addi- 

 tion to what we had already eone through, 

 it seemed as if the Day of Judgment had 

 come. The earth was passing away. We 

 were tasting the bitterness of unutterable 

 death. In the midst of these horrors, hu- 

 man bravery and courage rose supreme 

 and we saw how Americans can die. 



During the first of the disturbance we 

 had lowered one of our large cutters and 

 sent it in charge of a midshipman to rescue 

 a number of persons drifting about on some 

 wreckage. There was no sea on, yet to our 



astonishment we saw the fast pulling boat 

 could make no headway, but went tossing 

 about in the most erratic fashion. Finding 

 he could not reach the people he was sent 

 to save, the officer attempted to return to 

 the ship. That, too, was impossible, and 

 presently his struggles were ended by his 

 boat being dashed violently against the side 

 of the America and crushed like an egg 

 shell. Fortunately the crew managed to 

 scramble up to her deck. There they found 

 a scene which beggars description. Order 

 and discipline were lost. Officers and men 

 ran about screaming while others, on their 

 knees, were imploring the saints to help 

 them. Meantime the heavy guns which had 

 been cast adrift in a vain attempt to throw 

 them overboard, and so lighten the ship, 

 when she took the ground, were running 

 riot. With every send of the sea they 

 crashed madly from side to side, crushing 

 everything in their path and strewing the 

 deck with bloody victims. Nothing is more 

 to be dreaded than a loose gun on an old- 

 time mount in a sea way. It seems pos- 

 sessed of a demon, and baffles ordinary 

 means of control. Some of the America's 

 spars, too, had been carried away, and still 

 further lumbered her decks. Worse than 

 all, fire had broken out near the engine 

 room and threatened the after powder 

 magazine. 



Finding the panic stricken Peruvians 

 helpless, this gallant young midshipman, a 

 mere lad of 18 or 20, quietly took command, 

 with his crew of 13 stalwart Yankee tars. 

 Making a line fast around his waist, he 

 was lowered into the burning hold and 

 flooded the magazine. Then, by choking 

 the rampant guns with masses of ham- 

 mocks, he soon had them secured, extin- 

 guished the fire and calmly awaited events. 



No one born under our glorious flag 

 could help feeling proud of the courage, 

 discipline and self-reliance displayed by 

 our officers and men. While the crew of 

 the ship of our sister republic were simply 

 an ungovernable mob, whose cries pierced 

 the air, our men stood in battle array, 

 grouped around their guns, every man at 

 his station, ready to obey any order given 

 by the keen eyed first lieutenant. Not a 

 word spoken nor a movement, except when 

 a command called for instant obedience. 



When men are taught self-reliance and 

 command as were our sailors during the 4 

 years of. battle and storm we had just 

 passed through, not even Nature's greatest 

 convulsion could shake their courage, and 

 we determined, if we could not live, we 

 would emulate the example of the heroes of 

 the Fredonia and show how American 

 sailors can die. 



Soon this heroic resolve was to be put to 

 the supreme test. It had been dark some 

 time, and we knew not where we were, the 

 absence of the usual beacon and shore 



