British exploits in South America; a history of British activities in exploration, military adventure, diplomacy, science, and trade, in Latin American . can station was sufficiently varied. Occasionally a cap-tain was called upon to serve as an ambassador betweenthe contending forces. This occurred in 1814 when Cap-tain Hillyar, of Phcebe, sailed from Callao to Val-paraiso with proposals to the Chileans from the Hillyar^ then shepherded the patriot delegatesto Talca, at which place a meeting with the royalists wasarranged, and a short-lived truce was concluded on the5th
British exploits in South America; a history of British activities in exploration, military adventure, diplomacy, science, and trade, in Latin American . can station was sufficiently varied. Occasionally a cap-tain was called upon to serve as an ambassador betweenthe contending forces. This occurred in 1814 when Cap-tain Hillyar, of Phcebe, sailed from Callao to Val-paraiso with proposals to the Chileans from the Hillyar^ then shepherded the patriot delegatesto Talca, at which place a meeting with the royalists wasarranged, and a short-lived truce was concluded on the5th of May. One of the most sinister figures of the War of Libera-tion on the Pacific coast was that of Benavides. In fact,this creature of incarnate ferocity, bold animal courage,and unmitigated villainy was of a type such as is veryseldom met with outside the pages of those melodramaticnovels which are designed first to thaw the shillings fromthe publics pocket and then to freeze the blood! Benavidess career was remarkably well filled with in-cident. From the word. Go! he plunged headlong intoiniquity. A deserter from the patriot cause, he was cap-. SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 219 tured by the Cliileans at the battle of Maipii. Sentencedto be shot, in company with two or three other renegades,he retained sufficient presence of mind to feign deathwhen severely wounded by the firing squad. Even whena sergeant gashed the supposed corpse across the neckwith his saber, Benavides gave no sign, though the shockwas severe enough to cause him to carry his head to oneside for the rest of his life. Having recovered from his terrible wounds—by aspecies of superfluous miracle—Benavides managed toingratiate himself with San Martin, and to obtain par-don and reinstatement in the Chilean forces. But con-stancy had no place in Benavidess unquiet spirit. Verysoon afterwards he deserted again to the royalist cause,and took up his abode among the terrible AraucanianIndian warriors, who at that
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectsouthamericahistory
