786 CIVIL WARS IN SOUTH AMERICA.

Almiranlc Condell, reached Valparaiso. They* had been built by Laird, of Birkenhead, and handed over to the Chilian agents in England before the outbreak of the war. Their water tube boilers and their machinery- generally were in a badstate,throughhaving been neglected by the Chilian engineers on the way out. They were not ready for service till April 16th, when they left Valparaiso in company with the armed liner Imperial, "On board this ship," says Mr.

The torpedo vessels were close in before they were discovered and the alarm was given. Even then the crew were slow in getting to their stations. According to one account of the affair, they thought it was a mere false alarm given for drill purposes, for they knew that the old torpedo boats at Valparaiso could not get as far as Caldera, and, notwithstanding the news from Europe, they had not realised that the torpedo gunboats might swoop down upon H. W. Wilson, " was Mr. Hervey, the Times correspondent. JustbeforeheleftValparaiso, Mr. Hervey had somew*hat indiscreetlytelegraphed to the Times that he was leaving with a torpedo expedition, andthenews hadbeen cabled back from Europe to Chili, and on April 21st it was published in the Congressionalist journal Patria (at Iquique). Hence the insurgents receivedsomewarning of what was to be attempted."

Captain Moraga, who commanded the little squadron, was onboard the Condell. He had information that the Balmacedist fleet was anchoredin Caldera Bay*, about half way between them. Even when the Condcll was sighted running rapidly across the bay, the Lynch closely following was not noticed, and the ironclad opened with rifles, machine-guns, andquick-firersonthe leading vessel only.

The Condell discharged three Whitehead torpedoes, and answered the fire of the ironclad withher guns. All the torpedoes missed. But meanwhile,theLynch had slippedround her consort and got within fifty yards of the ironclad before she was seen and fired on from thebigship. She let go two torpedoes in rapid succession. The first,badly adjusted, missed; the second blew* a huge SKETCH MAP OF THE BATTLES OF CONCON AND LA PLACILLA.

Valparaiso and Iquique, and they had no torpedo nettings to protect them, as these articles were all on shore in the Valparaiso arsenal when therevolt of the fleet took place. The two gunboats ran into Caldera Bay at 3.30 a.m. on the 23rd. The dawn was just beginning. Moraga led the way in the Condell, followed at a distance of two hundred yards by the Lynch, commanded by Captain Fuciies. There was just light enough to see that a large ironclad was anchored in the bay*, witha smaller ship nearher. The rest of the fleet had gone. The ironclad was the Chilian ship Blanco Encalada,the other vessel was a small transport.

There was a bad look-out on the Encalada.

hole in the starboard side of the Encalada below her armour belt. According to the narrative of the Encalada's officers, as given by Mr. H. W. Wilson, "The shock was tremendous. Every light in the ship was extinguished,one of the 8-inch guns was thrown off its trunnions, and a large number of men were killed. Portions of iron and machinery flew about in the engine-room, and killed or wounded six engineers. The only one who escaped wascarried by the violentrush of water up a ventilator. Though orders hadbeen given to close all water-tight doors,it is almost certain that this had not been done. The ship began to heel heavily to starboard, exposingher decks