The Sufferings and Escape of Capt. Chas. H. Brown From an Awful Imprisonment by Chilian ConvictsBrown, Charles H., captain of the bark Florida
History
The Sufferings and Escape of Capt. Chas. H. Brown From an Awful Imprisonment by Chilian Convicts
Brown, Charles H., captain of the bark Florida
Brown, Charles H., captain of the bark Florida; Florida (Ship); Punta Arenas (Chile) -- History
In about an hour I was called out of my room, and told that I was
wanted in the yard. I went out doggedly, for this day of excitement
had worn me down into a sort of indifference as to my fate; but the
scene that lay before me when I reached the platform, which, raised
above the rest of the yard, commanded a view of the land beyond the
fortification, roused me at once from my indifference. In the field
north of the barracks, was dug a deep hole, in which a large fire was
kindled, which threw its red light on all around. On the trees, to the
right, hung the dead bodies of Mr. Shaw, captain Talbot, and the boy,
and beneath them were dimly seen the bleeding corpses of the governor
and priest. The rebels were busied around the fire and the bodies,
and Cambiaso, with some mounted officers, were to be seen giving
directions. Soon I saw a cart driven up to the fire, and a dead body
thrown from it into the flames, with as little ceremony as one would
treat a dog. One of my guard standing by me, said, “There goes the
governor.” The bodies of Mr. Shaw, captain Talbot, and the poor English
boy were one by one cut down, and thrust into the fire. The women of
the camp had pleaded with Cambiaso to allow the body of the priest to
be buried, and he, having perhaps some feelings of reverence for his
sacred office, had allowed it to be given into their hands. More fuel
was now heaped on the flames, and their lurid light showed me a scene
which makes me shudder as I recall it.
The soldiers danced round the fire, singing the national hymn of Chili,
and mingling with it shouts and curses, imprecations on the governor,
and threats of vengeance against the remaining prisoners; especially
against captain Salas, the commander of the troops under Gamero, and
against captain Avalos, whose rank as an officer under the government
of Chili seemed to be his only crime. The darkness of the night, the
lurid glare of the flames, the fantastic dancing of the soldiers, the
mingled shouts and curses that met my ear, made every thing appear to
me like some revelry in hell, where the souls of the damned make merry
over their fellow sufferers. On this evening the barque’s papers, also
my private papers, were burnt, with shouts of joy.
I was kept on the platform until the flames had died down, when three
cheers were given by the soldiers around the fire, and answered by
those within the yard; and soon after, I was ordered back to my prison,
to endure another night of anxiety.
The mate eagerly asked me what I thought was going to happen next, but
I answered him shortly, and turned from him, for I felt the necessity
of calming my mind, after such excitement.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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