I had felt some desire to see one of the native Patagonians, having still my school-boy belief that they were giants, as our geographies generally inform us. During my imprisonment at the barracks, one or two of the men had visited the yard, and I had seen them from my window. They were certainly large in stature, but by no means came up to the measure of my boyish imagination. They had heretofore shown themselves friendly towards the colonists, being probably kept in awe by governor Gamero, and the strict discipline which he enforced; but they were said to be very far from cowardly, and very savage and inhuman when roused by the excitement of fighting. I had often thought that Cambiaso had some dread of them, judging from two or three remarks about them which he had made to me from time to time. For two or three days after this disturbance by the Indians, a sharp lookout was kept by Cambiaso, and every visit to the Florida from the shore gave me accounts of the alarm of the rebels. At last, I heard that we were all to leave the place, and the settlement was to be abandoned. I eagerly asked Tapia, from whom I heard this, if he would tell me where we were going; but I found he knew no more of our destination than I did: indeed, it was only from what he had observed on shore, and from the surmises of the men around him, that he had drawn his conclusion. I felt very anxious to go on shore and try to discover for myself how much truth there was in this report, but the remembrance of my last visit and its risks deterred me. I could only question Tapia, who went to the fort very often, and who seemed as anxious as myself to know what was to be done. It was evident that the men did not trust Cambiaso; that they feared his securing the treasure and one of the vessels, and abandoning them to the mercy of the Indians or to the Chilian government, when the news of the insurrection should reach Valparaiso. This seemed not improbable; but for myself, I judged it more likely that Cambiaso was making some preparation to join the insurgent party under general Cruz, in the province of Conception, for I was convinced that he had in some way held communication with them before he rose against governor Gamero. He had several times in his conversations with me, declared himself a sworn partisan of general Cruz; and once, in answer to my complaint of the outrages committed against my vessel and myself, he had said that if general Cruz succeeded in overthrowing the government at Santiago, everything connected with my case should be satisfactorily adjusted, and that I should have no reason to complain. In speaking thus, he must of course have referred to my pecuniary losses. No reparation could be made to me or to his friends, for the barbarities inflicted upon my friend, Mr. Shaw; but in Cambiaso’s scale of injuries, the loss of property probably stood highest. Somewhere about the 29th or 30th of December,