bled. The port-holes of the _O'Higgins_ were all opened, and the men
could be seen standing at the guns.

"Now, men," Lord Cochrane said, "I give you five minutes to pick out the
twelve men who have been the ringleaders in this mutiny. You will iron
them and bring them on board the flag-ship, where they will be tried and
punished for their offence. What! is there a ship's crew of Chilians so
regardless of their duty, so careless of the honour of their country, that
they are ready to disgrace themselves by turning into a pack of mutineers,
merely because they are required to do extra work to fit them for fighting
the enemies of their country? I am willing to believe that you have
suffered yourselves to be misled, and that you did not understand the
magnitude of the crime that you were committing. There, six bells are
striking. You have five minutes to put your ringleaders into a boat. See
that you do not exceed that time, for as soon as my watch tells me that
five minutes have gone, I give the order to fire. One broadside will be
sufficient to send the _Chacabuco_ to the bottom. Gentlemen," he said,
turning to the officers, "at the end of the five minutes, if my orders
have not been carried out, you will take to the boats and leave the ship,
and as soon as you have done so we shall open fire."

He then turned on his heel, went down the ladder, and rowed back to his
ship. As he left he saw there was a great uproar on board the _Chacabuco_
as the sailors disputed among themselves who had been their leaders in the
matter. Two boats were lowered at once, and just before the expiration of
the given time twelve men were put on board them ironed, and were then
rowed to the flag-ship. A signal was made for the first lieutenant of each
of the other ships of the squadron to come on board, and a court-martial
was at once held upon the mutineers. The man who was shown to have been at
the bottom of the whole affair, was sentenced to be hung, and the rest to
terms of imprisonment. The admiral remitted the death sentence and changed
it to ten years in jail, and the culprit and the other prisoners were
taken on shore and handed over to the civil authorities. Having thus given
a wholesome lesson, Lord Cochrane proceeded northward to Callao Bay, where
he intended to attack a considerable naval force gathered there.

They were protected by the batteries of Callao and of San Lorenzo, a
little island in the bay, mounting in all one hundred a