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Updated: May 15, 2025
The month of February in the latitude of Valparaiso corresponds approximately to the month of August in the northern hemisphere, and it was a beautiful, sunny, and very hot morning when, on the 7th of that month, the Chilian fleet, consisting of the Blanco Encalada flagship, the Almirante Cochrane battleship, the corvettes O'Higgins and Chacabuco, with the sloop Esmeralda, steamed out of harbour, on its way to Antofagasta, the principal seaport of Bolivia.
On the morning of the 7th, therefore, the two lads in full uniform, and with their belongings in the boat with them, were rowed off to the Blanco Encalada, and by mid- day they found themselves duly installed as officers in the Chilian service.
Jim found, upon rejoining the Blanco Encalada, that there was great excitement prevailing aboard that ship; for the fleet had received orders to sail, that very day, for the port of Arica, and the squadron was only waiting for Commodore Riveros, who had superseded Rebolledo Williams, to come aboard to start.
In a little less than half an hour after leaving the Blanco Encalada the Janequeo sneaked round the south-east corner of San Lorenzo Island, being very careful not to collide with the big buoys which marked each Chilian vessel's moorings.
And after a stay of three days with this hospitable and kindly man they took their departure, arriving at Arica two days later; and there, before their eyes as they came in sight of the harbour, lay the Blanco Encalada, the Chilian flagship, a sight which Jim thought the finest that he had ever seen.
Then the scene vanished from before Jim's eyes, and he knew that his own future was about to be presented to him. He saw himself once more back on board the Blanco Encalada, and knew that that ship, together with another Chilian vessel, was engaged in a fierce fight with a Peruvian ironclad, the name of which was hidden from him.
So much damage, indeed, had been wrought by them that the Chilian Government had decided to hunt down the obnoxious craft; and for this purpose there were now assembled in Valparaiso harbour the Almirante Cochrane and Blanco Encalada, both battleships, the corvette O'Higgins, and the armed merchant-steamers Loa and Mathias Cousino.
But alarm at his own narrow escape was swamped in the feeling of relief for the safety of the Blanco Encalada; for the torpedo-boat would be obliged to manoeuvre a little to get her torpedo into place, and thus there was just a chance that he might yet be able to intercept her.
An iron bucket was partly filled with paraffin and this was lighted as a flare, throwing a lurid glare over the sea and disclosing plainly to view a couple of rapidly approaching launches, each of which carried a spar over her bows, from which a torpedo was suspended, the launches heading directly for the Blanco Encalada. But upon the nearest launch the effect of the flagship's fire was terrible.
Although somewhat disappointed at their failure to find the Peruvian fleet lying in Arica Bay, the men on board the Blanco Encalada looked forward, with all the pleasure of anticipation, to the time when they should overtake the marauding warships, bring them to action, and destroy them.
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