On boarding the ship by the main chains, I was knocked back by the butt end of the sentry’s musket, and falling on a thole pin of the boat, it entered my back near the spine, inflicting a severe injury, which caused me many years of subsequent suffering.  Immediately regaining my footing, I reascended the side, and when on deck, was shot through the thigh, but binding a handkerchief tightly round the wound, managed, though with great difficulty, to direct the contest to its close.

The whole affair, from beginning to end, occupied only a quarter of an hour, our loss being eleven killed and thirty wounded, whilst that of the Spaniards was a hundred and sixty, many of whom fell under the cutlasses of the Chilenos before they could stand to their arms.  Greater bravery I never saw displayed than that of our gallant fellows.  Before boarding, the duties of all had been appointed, and a party was told off to take possession of the tops.  We had not been on deck a minute, when I hailed the foretop, and was instantly answered by our own men, an equally prompt answer being returned from the frigate’s maintop.  No British man-of-war’s crew could have excelled this minute attention to orders.

The uproar speedily alarmed the garrison, who, hastening to their guns, opened fire on their own frigate, thus paying us the compliment of having taken it; though, even in this case, their own men must still have been on board, so that firing on them was a wanton proceeding, as several Spaniards were killed or wounded by the shot of the fortress, and amongst the wounded was Captain Coig, the commander of the Esmeralda—­who, after he was made prisoner, received a severe contusion by a shot from his own party.

The fire from the fortress was, however, neutralised by a successful expedient.  There were two foreign ships of war present during the contest—­the United States frigate Macedonian, and the British frigate Hyperion; and these, as previously agreed on with the Spanish authorities in case of a night attack—­hoisted peculiar lights as signals, to prevent being fired upon.  This contingency being provided for by us—­as soon as the fortress commenced its fire on the Esmeralda, we also ran up similar lights, so that the garrison became puzzled which vessel to fire at; the intended mischief thus involving the Hyperion and Macedonian, which were several times struck, the Esmeralda being comparatively untouched.  Upon this the neutral frigates cut their cables and moved away; whilst Captain Guise, contrary to my orders, cut the Esmeralda cables also, so that there was nothing to be done but to loose her top-sails and follow; the fortress then ceasing its fire.