164 



COLOMBIA. 



inhabitants of this island, by the conduct of a ruf- 

 fian, said to be an Englishman, commanding a 

 Chilian privateer ; who, some time previously, 

 had attacked the village, robbed it of all it pos- 

 sessed, wantonly destroyed the church, and ill- 

 treated the inhabitants. He pretended to act un- 

 der the authority of the Chilian government, but 

 it is now well known that he had no right to hoist 

 the flag of that country, by which he had been 

 disowned : in short, he was a pirate. 



I was desirous to do everything in my power 

 to regain the good opinion of the islanders ; and 

 was much pleased to find that no offence had been 

 given to the villagers by our people during the 

 night ; but, on the contrary, that the inhabitants 

 were delighted with the prices they had got for 

 their fruit and vegetables, and with the treatment 

 they had received on board. 



I went, with several of the officers, in the course 

 of the morning, to call upon the Alcalde and his 

 family. He had expected our visit, and had in- 

 vited a party of his friends to meet us. I took 

 the liberty to offer each of the women some Eu- 

 ropean trinket, from a collection made at Lima, 



