366 CHILI. 



the wife of Benavides, then a prisoner in the city 

 of Conception ; and for this purpose. Lieutenant 

 Don Eugenio Torres was sent with a flag of truce. 

 Benavides agreed to the proposition ; but his de- 

 praved disposition inspiring him with distrust, 

 he detained the flag of truce and the soldiers, and 

 sent back the ofiicer Riveros alone. The officer 

 of the advanced-guard applied for Torres, who 

 had borne the flag of truce, stating, that Benavi- 

 des'' wife had already been sent from the fort of 

 San Pedro ; nevertheless, with an excess of fero- 

 city, unheard of in this enlightened age, that very 

 night he ordered the officer's throat to be cut 

 who had brought the flag of truce, although he 

 had actually supped in his company. The four- 

 teen soldiers, who had been made prisoners, were 

 also put to death on that night. 



" His subsequent proceedings were marked by 

 a similar spirit ; even the instructions which he 

 gave to the commanders of his guerrillas seemed 

 to be written with blood, for, in them, he consigns 

 to death ' every insurgent, whatever might be 

 his offfence — orders which were executed with 

 an exactness that characterizes these vile instru- 



