that by judicious management, they might be induced to join the patriot
cause.

Unluckily, our design had got wind, and the Spanish Governor,
Quintanilla, a judicious officer, had managed to conciliate them. On
coming to an anchor on the 17th, at Huechucucay, we found a body of
infantry and cavalry, with a field-piece, ready to dispute our landing;
but drawing off their attention by a feigned attack upon a distant spot,
and thus dividing them into two parties, Major Miller got on shore, and
soon routed them, capturing their field-piece.

A night attack being decided upon, the troops, a hundred and seventy in
number, moved on under the direction of a guide, who, wilfully or
treacherously, misled them, the men thus wandering about in the dark
throughout the whole night. At dawn, they found their way to Fort
Corona, which, with a detached battery, was taken without loss. Halting
for a short time to refresh the men, Major Miller bravely, but too
precipitately, moved on Fort Aguy, in broad daylight; this fort being
the stronghold of the enemy, mounting twelve guns, with others flanking
the only accessible path by which entrance could be gained, and being
garrisoned by three companies of regulars, two companies of militia, and
a full proportion of artillerymen. The fort stood on a hill, washed on
one side by the sea, and having on the other an impenetrable forest, the
only access being by a narrow path, whilst the means of retreat for the
garrison was by the same path, so that the attack became for the latter
a matter of life and death, since, in case of defeat, there was no mode
of escape, as at Valdivia.

In spite of these odds, and the spectacle of two fanatical friars on the
ramparts, with lance in one hand, and crucifix in the other, urging on