ABSTRACT
The first visits on board of old friends and acquaintances enhanced a good deal our natural pleasure at having finally reached the port that we considered as our last stop in the Pacific Ocean. The Gobernador Intendende 1 was absent, having had to visit the frontier to hold back the neighbouring indians, 2 while the new acting governor, Coronel Don Pedro Quijada, 3 was on his way to Valdivia. There were no letters for us at all, and the news, more recent than the reports we had received in Lima, announced nothing but a succession of turmoils, destruction and calamities burdening our Spain, as they did the rest of Europe. 4 It was, however, reassuring, and even a source of considerable satisfaction that our nation stood out from the others for the love of its religion and its government, that every level of society was vying with the others to give generously of its property and even lives, to preserve public order and calm, and, lastly, that virtually all means were used to manifest incorruptible courage and loyalty.
