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Updated: May 31, 2025
Although old, she was armed with the newest weapons for the instruction of naval men in gunnery, and though these guns were of small calibre, and therefore of little use against the thick armour of the ironclad, she steamed out from behind the mole and replied heroically to the Huascar's fire, killing twelve men who were working the monitor's machine-guns, jamming one of the turret-tracks, cutting one of the anchor cables, and nearly wrecking the Huascar's new foremast which had been put in at Valparaiso, before one of the ironclad's 10-inch shells burst in her hold and blew the bottom clean out of her.
Indeed it began to look as though the plucky little ship would escape after all, for she was now beyond range of all but the Huascar's heaviest guns, while the Union had been obliged to slacken speed considerably in order to enable her to get her wreckage cleared away.
The combat continued for three hours without result, as the Shah had to keep at long-range; her shot repeatedly struck her opponent, but without result, owing to her armour. One shell however pierced the armour, and bursting inside, killed one man and wounded several more. None of the Huascar's shot struck the Shah although they fell close on every side.
Half an hour after the action had commenced the Huascar's tiller-chains were shot away, and she at once yawed to starboard, almost in the track of the Cochrane. Captain Latorre instantly saw that this was his opportunity to ram, and he accordingly sent his ship straight at the helpless Huascar.
Five seconds more then three then two. Now the spar with its deadly torpedo was almost touching the Huascar's side Crash!
There were but fourteen of them, all told, against quite a hundred of the Huascar's people, but they fought like the heroes they were, and repeatedly charged home with their cutlasses, into the thick of the foe.
The two armies met on the plains of Quipaypan, in the neighborhood of the Indian metropolis. Their numbers are stated with the usual discrepancy; but Atahuallpa's troops had considerably the advantage in discipline and experience, for many of Huascar's levies had been drawn hastily together from the surrounding country.
A second later he saw a brilliant flash of flame leap from the Huascar's turret; there was a huge cataract of spray as the shot struck the water midway between herself and the Cochrane, and then a cloud of greyish-green smoke spouted up on board the Chilian vessel, showing that the shell had exploded on board her, somewhere about her bows.
Taken by surprise, the Peruvians scattered for a moment; and Jim, with the two Chilian seamen, took advantage of the opening and dashed through the crowd, gaining the Huascar's side in safety.
Such is the portrait we have of him from the Indian and Castilian chroniclers, though the former, it should be added, were the kinsmen of Huascar, and the latter certainly bore no good-will to Atahuallpa.46 That prince received the tidings of Huascar's death with every mark of surprise and indignation.
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