By the morning of the 2d of September, the passengers from the Atlantic side had arrived, and were aboard the steamer ready to sail. French returned to San Francisco with authority to raise and bring down seventy-five men for the service of the Provisional Government. Anderson, who had been wounded at Rivas, also went up on the steamer, hoping, by change of air, to recover his health and the use of his leg. The Vesta sailed for Punta Arenas the same day the steamer left; and on the afternoon of the 2d, the port had a solitary look. On shore, however, the town wore an aspect of activity. Pack-mules and carts were being collected for a march, and the soldiers in all the quarters were busy preparing for a movement which, it was supposed, might bring them nearer to the enemy. Owing to the delays of some native officers, it was past midnight before the force was ready to march. The column was formed with the Falange in front, and the command of Valle in the rear, the baggage and ammunition of the Americans being in their charge; while the ammunition of the natives, they having no baggage, was under a guard from their own body. The night was fine and pleasant, the road good, and the spirits of the command high. At the Half-way house a halt was ordered, and the owner of the establishment brought water to the door, the soldiers not being allowed to enter as there was liquor within. The keeper of this house was, perforce, a model trimmer. He was an American; but having witnessed various political changes since his residence on the Isthmus, and his place being often visited the same day by scouting parties belonging to adverse parties, he had acquired the habits of a man born in the midst of revolutions. He had in perfection all the little arts by which a man manages to maintain his neutrality though constantly surrounded by circumstances tending to endanger it. About daybreak the report of a gun was heard in the direction of Rivas; but not much attention was given to it at the time. The march was uninterrupted, and the force reached Virgin Bay about nine o’clock in the morning. A few moments after Walker halted and took quarters in the village, a well-authenticated report was brought to him that Guardiola had marched from Rivas with a strong force the previous afternoon; but the same report stated that he had returned to the town. The pickets were posted; quarters were assigned the several companies, and all prepared for a hearty breakfast after their bracing night march.