Preparations were soon made for sending Mr. Shaw and myself on shore, and a sufficient guard was detached to accompany us in the boat. While rowing to the shore, our captors were continually firing off their muskets, with shouts of “Viva la Cruz!” These cries gave happened in the colony, for they were the same which had met my ear during the insurrection, (previous to my leaving Valparaiso,) of which struggle I had been a witness. On leaving, we were met by several soldiers on foot and horseback, one of whom seemed to be of some authority. This was Garcia, one of the officers in the service of the governor, Gamero, who had joined Cambiaso in his revolt, being compelled to do so, as he afterwards pleaded, by fear of his life. However that may be, I certainly found him much more gentle and humane in his actions and expressions than Cambiaso, and was indebted to him for several kindnesses. From him I gained the first idea of what had occurred in the colony. As we left the boat, I noticed Mr. Shaw’s extreme weakness, and feared that if we were to be taken far from the shore, he would not be able to stand the fatigue. I therefore appealed to general Garcia, as I afterwards learned to call him, and, calling his attention to Mr. Shaw’s state of health, asked him if some arrangement could not be made by which he could ride. Garcia ordered one of his soldiers to dismount, and Mr. Shaw took his place. We were taken up the slope from the water, towards the barracks, and passing by the platform, under the mouths of the cannon which were mounted upon it, entered the great gate of the fortification. As I looked around, military preparations met my eye on every side, but there was none of the order of a regular garrison; on the contrary, the shouts of drunken rioters, the quarrelling and swearing of the soldiers, the shrill screams of the women which struck my ear, gave me a tolerably correct idea of the sort of people into whose hands we had fallen. Conspicuous among them all, was their leader, Cambiaso, who cast contemptuous glances upon us as we passed, and who might be heard giving his orders, mixed with oaths and threats of punishment and death to those who did not obey him implicitly. He let us pass on, however, without addressing us, and it was only from his officer’s dress and authoritative manner that we were able to guess at his rank.