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.

My orders were not to cut the cables of the, _Esmeralda_; but after
taking her to capture the _Maypu_, a brig of war previously taken from
Chili--and then to attack and cut adrift every ship near, there being
plenty of time before us; no doubt existing but that when the
_Esmeralda_ was taken, the Spaniards would desert the other ships as
fast as their boats would permit them, so that the whole might either
have been captured or burned. To this end all my previous plans had been
arranged; but on being placed _hors de combat_ by my wounds, Captain
Guise, on whom the command of the prize devolved, chose to interpose his
own judgment, and content himself with the _Esmeralda_ alone, cutting
her cables without my orders; the reason assigned being, that the
English had broken into her spirit-room and were getting drunk, whilst
the Chilenos were disorganized by plundering. It was a great mistake,
for if we could capture the _Esmeralda_, with her picked and
well-appointed crew, there would have been little or no difficulty in
cutting the other ships adrift in succession. It would only have been
the rout of Valdivia over again, chasing the enemy, without loss, from
ship after ship, instead of from fort to fort.

The following extract, from the order issued preparatory to the attack,
will clearly shew the plan frustrated by cutting the _Esmeralda_
adrift:--

"On securing the frigate, the Chilian seamen and marines are
not to give the Chilian cheer, but to deceive the enemy, and give
time for completing the work: they are to cheer '_Viva el Rey_.'"