The short war which occurred between Spain and the allied forces of Peru and Chile has already been referred to. Officially, the four Republics of Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and Bolivia were leagued together into an alliance to resist this aggression on the part of Spain. Owing to their lack of warships, however, the two latter States were unable to take any active share in the operations. On the whole the part played by the Chilian navy was entirely satisfactory; nevertheless, the naval force of the young Republic was not sufficient to drive the aggressor's vessels from the coast, and Valparaiso was bombarded on March 31, 1866. This misfortune, like so many others, eventually proved itself something of a blessing in disguise, for from that time may be said to date the modern Chilian navy. Determined to allow no foreign nation the opportunity of bombarding any of its ports with impunity again, the Chilians energetically betook themselves to the forming of efficient national squadrons--a feat which was simple enough in the case of a nation of born sailors as are the Chilians. [Illustration: BERNARDO O'HIGGINS. The first President of the Republic of Chile. _A. Rischgitz._] From that day onwards the Chilian navy maintained its status, and continues to rank as one of the most efficient in the world. This was proved shortly after its reorganization in the war which broke out in 1879 between the Chilians and the allied Peruvians and Bolivians. Hostilities were brought about by the vexed question of the ownership of the valuable nitrate provinces. These, Chile claimed, constituted the northernmost of her territory, to which Peru retorted that they formed the southernmost portion of her land. The naval engagements which ensued demonstrated to the utmost the high spirit of the Chilian sailor and the efficiency of the school in which he had been trained. The action in which the two small Chilian vessels, the _Esmeralda_ and the _Covadonga_, fought so heroically against the Peruvian ironclads, _Huascar_ and _Independencia_, was, of course, the most famous of the war, and the memory of this is jealously guarded by the Chilian navy of to-day. No question of victory on the part of Chile was ever involved in this particular action, since the miniature guns of the small Chilian vessels could, under no circumstances, take effect on the Peruvians, giants by comparison. It was merely a sublime demonstration of the extent to which Chilian resistance could be carried. Thus the _Esmeralda_, refusing to surrender to the very last, went down after a prolonged and desperate engagement with her colours flying; while the tiny _Covadonga_, having lured one of her opponents into shallow water, and thus caused the _Independencia_ to run aground, blazed away her final volleys of small shot, and retired with all the honours of war.