w who
they were--not even the natives. The country is under strict military
government, the army having control of everything. My friend and I
finally came to the conclusion that we were in a bad fix, being in a
foreign country, not able to speak the language, and having no money.
There was no work to be obtained. After a while we made up our minds to
work our passage to Valparaiso on some merchant vessel. We remained
around the landing-dock for several days. Every captain we spoke to
replied to us kindly, but they had no places for us. In the meantime we
had taken trips to the beach, digging clams to eat. The people in the
town were not so liberal to us as were the natives who lived at a
distance.

While loafing around the dock one day we got into conversation with an
American, a runaway whaler. He told us that he was a carpenter, had been
living several years in the country, and was married to a young Chilean
woman. He wanted Amos to go to another of the islands and work with him.
My friend would not go without me, so Tom, the carpenter, proposed that
I should also go, as there was a blacksmith by the name of Bill who
would be glad to have me as a helper. Now was the formation of a fine
quartette of Yankees begun! Amos was a graduate of a Down East reform
school, very handy with tools, a fine-looking young fellow, but he could
not read nor write, and he never could learn the Spanish language;
reference to a terribly ugly temper and vicious disposition completes
his description. Our new friend took us to his house, gave us an
introduction to his wife, a very pretty young woman about sixteen years
old. (They marry as young as eleven and twelve years of age.)

Manuela was not educated and was exceedingly lazy, with lax ideas as to
morality and virtue. Tom informed us that the next morning we would
start for the Island of Calabucco, as he had house rent free there and a
contract to lengthen a boat for a priest. During the night Amos got out
of bed, went to another house, and stole the only double-barrelled
shotgun in that town. Tom hid it in a mattress. After breakfast, we
carried what household goods there were down to the dock. A tool-chest,
a couple of pots, some dishes, a few clothes, and the bedding completed
the outfit.

Everything was put on board a sloop, and then we started for our new
home. During the trip Senora Manuela was watching my friend Amos; the
result was that Tom told me that I should live with him,