A

HISTORICAL

AND

DESCRIPTIVE NARRATIVE

OF

TWENTY YEARS' RESIDENCE

IN

SOUTH AMERICA,

IN THREE VOLUMES;

CONTAINING TRAVELS IN ARAUCO, CHILE, PERU, AND COLOMBIA;
WITH AN ACCOUNT OF
THE REVOLUTION, ITS RISE, PROGRESS, AND RESULTS.

BY W. B. STEVENSON,

FORMERLY PRIVATE SECRETARY TO THE PRESIDENT AND CAPTAIN GENERAL OF QUITO,
COLONEL, AND GOVERNOR OF ESMERALDAS, CAPTAIN DE FRAGATA, AND LATE
SECRETARY TO THE VICE ADMIRAL OF CHILE,—HIS EXCELLENCY
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD COCHRANE, &c.

VOL. III.

LONDON:
HURST, ROBINSON, AND CO.
CONSTABLE & Co. AND OLIVER & BOYD, EDINBURGH.
MDCCCXXV.

CONTENTS OF VOL. III.

CHAPTER I.

First Revolutionary Symptoms in South America....Morales and Quiroga....Character of Morales....Of Quiroga....Discovery made by Captain Salinas to two Friars....Their Report to the Government....Imprisonment of Morales, Quiroga, Salinas, and Riofrio....Character of Salinas....of Dr. Riofrio....Liberation of the Prisoners....Junta formed at Quito....Advice of to the President, Count Ruis....Manner in which the Revolution was conducted....New Oath....Marquis of Selva Alegre....Character of....Dissensions in the New Government....Count Ruis reinstated....Arrival of Troops from Lima and Santa Fé....Imprisonment of the Insurgents....Trial of....Character of the Count Ruis....Of the Oidor Don Felipe Fuertes Amar....Of the Fiscal Arrechaga....Of Colonel Arredonda....Proceso sent to Santa Fé.

Shortly after the arrival of his Excellency the Count Ruis de Castilla at Quito, the capital of his government, the collegians of San Fernando presented him with four theatrical representations, at which the whole of the nobility attended as spectators. The pieces chosen were Cato, Andromacha, Zoraida, and the Auraucana, the whole of them tending in their design and argument to inculcate a spirit of freedom, a love of liberty, and principles of republicanism. However, as is often the case with people who visit public exhibitions with a predetermination to be pleased, this tendency passed unobserved by the president and the other members of the government. Inattentive to what the state of affairs in the mother country might produce in the colonies, the American rulers judged that they themselves were surrounded by the same obedient vassals whom their predecessors had governed, without ever dreaming that the people were awake to what was actually passing in the parent state; for, although the opportunity of deriving information from the press was prevented by the government, yet the Americans who resided in Spain at this period were very actively employed in communicating to their friends in America the true state of affairs, and the natives were generally better informed of what passed in the mother country, than the Spaniards resident in America or even the government itself; because Spanish correspondents being loath to place their property in America in jeopardy, or judging that the colonists had only to obey whatever orders they might receive, either gave indistinct or favourably exaggerated accounts; or else treated the Americans with that contempt which as their superiors they fancied they had a right to exercise.

After the performance of the pieces, I became gradually acquainted with the individuals who had selected them—Dr. Quiroga and Don Manuel Morales; the former an advocate of some respectability, a native of Arequipa in Peru, married in Quito; the latter, a native of the city of Mariquita in the Viceroyalty of Santa Fé de Bogotá, had been secretary to the government when the Baron de Carondelet was President; but having offended him, Morales was discarded from his situation by the orders of the Baron. He hoped to have been restored on the arrival of the Count Ruis; but this chief having in his suite a young advocate of the name of Don Tomas Arrechaga, whom he had educated, and for whom he wished to provide, the claims of Morales were disregarded, and Arrechaga was nominated secretary to the government.

Morales was possessed of a strong mind, had received a liberal education, and having been employed many years in the secretary's office, had obtained a knowledge of the affairs of the government and an insight into the intrigues of the Spanish court. He considered himself unjustly dealt with by the Baron de Carondelet, and more so by the Count Ruis, who could only know his failings through the too often distorted medium of report: he saw his situation filled by a stranger, himself an exile, and was determined to be revenged on those whom he regarded as the supporters if not the authors of his disgrace. To this end circumstances that could not possibly escape his observation aided him; and had not rashness prompted him to execute his designs prematurely, he might have succeeded, and have lived to receive the thanks of his countrymen; whereas, his ashes can only be revered by them, his name can only dwell in their memories with painful regret, or gratitude drop a tear at the recollection of his untimely death.

Quiroga was of an unquiet aspiring disposition, rash and undaunted in his undertakings, but very self-opinionated: unable to brook controul in any shape, but open to conviction when persuasion was the medium. He was successful as a pleader at the bar, loquacious and eloquent, but even here his hasty temper drove him into difficulties; he was repeatedly reprimanded by the tribunal, and at length was not only mulct, but even suspended from the exercise of his office as an advocate. In one instance, when a fine was imposed upon him, he declared that he could in no manner pay it, because the tribunal was not competent to levy it; that the Regent and Oidores had taken possession of their seats on the bench contrary to law, or held them contrary to justice; and he proved his assertions by stating the cases, quoting the laws, and citing the regulations of the tribunal. This necessarily drew down upon him the hatred of the members, and obliged him to leave the bar. Quiroga was the constant companion of Morales, and, like him, expected that on the arrival of Count Ruis, an appeal to his Excellency, as President of the royal audience, would restore him to the exercise of his profession; but a report from the Regent Bustillas prevented the fulfilment of his expectations, and this circumstance drove him to despair.

These two disappointed individuals chose the dramatic pieces which were performed at the college of San Fernando in October, 1809, selected perhaps in order to probe the government; if so, the result was completely satisfactory to their views, for not the least suspicion was evinced, nor any alarm taken.

In February, 1809, Captain Salinas, who was commander of the infantry at Quito, informed two friars, Father Polo and another, of a plan that was about to be formed to depose the Spanish authorities in Quito, and to elect others from among the most respectable citizens, as substitutes. The information was immediately reported by the friars to the President, and a secret commission was given to the Oidor Fuertes Amar to proceed against all suspected individuals according to law. Don Pedro Muños was appointed to act as privy secretary, but this man had no other qualification than that of being a native of Spain. Quiroga, Morales, and the parish priest of Sangolqui, Dr. Riofrio, and Captain Salinas, were apprehended, and placed under an arrest in the convent of La Merced. Their declarations were taken down in writing by Muños, and every possible means employed to prevent the people from becoming acquainted with the state of the proceso; no person was allowed to see the prisoners, and they were deprived of the means of communicating to their friends any particulars relating to their situation; the secretary was not allowed the assistance of an amanuensis, and every inquisitorial practice was brought into action. In the beginning of April, when Muños was going in the evening to the palace to report on the proceedings to the President, the papers were stolen from him. This accident produced considerable confusion; many who were really concerned in the plot were assured that their names had never been mentioned by the prisoners, who uniformly denied having any knowledge of it; and Salinas protested against having mentioned any thing concerning it to the friars. Thus by a fortunate accident the plans of the government were frustrated, the prosecution ceased, and the prisoners were liberated. This occurrence, however, taught them to be more on the alert, and to be more careful in future; but the torch was lighted, and although the flame had been smothered for a short time, it was not extinguished.

The character of Salinas was well known to Morales and Quiroga. He was a true Quiteño, volatile and variable, embracing every novel object with avidity, without reflection, or discrimination; the pursuit of any new scheme was as ardently begun by Salinas, as it was easily abandoned the moment it ceased to be new, or the moment that another was suggested; but as this officer was at the head of the infantry, which consisted of about four hundred men, with part of which he had been formerly stationed at Panama, and which in their opinion was considered a campaign in a foreign country, he had become the idol of the soldiers; so that it was absolutely necessary that Salinas should be brought over to second the plans of Morales and Quiroga; and this was easily effected—the plan was novel, and promised a succession of what was most congenial to his feelings.

Dr. Riofrio was a secular clergyman, of a sullen morose temper, ready to coincide with any set of men whose plans were calculated to bid defiance to any thing that did not please him; yet, whether from natural imbecility, or natural cowardice, he seemed to be only an instrument, and probably became acquainted with the plans in agitation by being a frequent visitor at a house in Quito where Morales had lived, and on account of his own house being sometimes the residence of Morales, when he was estranged from Quito by the President Carondelet. This man and Salinas were both natives of Quito, but neither of them of families of rank or fortune, although from the situations which both had held they were very respectable.

After the release of the four denounced conspirators, Salinas and Riofrio returned to their former occupations; Quiroga to his home, more injured than ever; and Morales went into the country, without having reaped any advantage except experience. The government now appeared quite satisfied in having declared the acquittal of the prisoners honourable; they were pleased that no act of injustice had been committed, and flattered themselves that the papers lost by Muños had fallen into the hands of some pick-pocket, or that having been dropt in the street, they had ceased to exist in a shape which might betray their intentions. But they were deceived; the papers found their way into the study of Quiroga, who drew such conclusions from them as best suited his own ends, and disseminated their contents among such individuals as he judged most proper to entrust them with. From April to August, 1809, nothing particular occurred, except new advices from Spain; so that the abdication of Carlos, the accession of Fernando, the imprisonment of the King, and the invasion of the country by the French, were the subject matter of every conversation. But still tranquillity reigned in every part of the colonies, and their inhabitants seemed to vie with each other in enthusiastic demonstrations of loyalty and attachment to their amado Fernando. Every new advice from Spain served to increase the apprehension and the dismay of the governments and Spaniards residing in America; and their whole attention was so engrossed with the state of affairs in the country to which they belonged, that they had not time to meditate on the effects which might be produced by it in the country in which they were stationed—satisfied that the colonies must follow the fate of the parent state, just as if it had been annexed to it by the ties of nature, instead of being attached to it by the most unnatural connexions. But the bubble burst when and where it was perhaps least expected to happen, and although the effects of the explosion were soon repressed, yet it rent the veil, and laid the foundation of that emancipation which the whole of the heretofore enslaved nations of the new world now enjoy.

On the morning of the 10th of August, 1809, at an early hour, two natives of Quito, Ante and Aguire, waited on the president with a letter. The orderly who was at the door of the antechamber objected to carry any letter or message to his Excellency at so unusual an hour; but Ante persisted in the necessity of its immediate delivery, saying, that it contained matters of importance from the Junta Soberana, sovereign junta, a name as new in the ears of the orderly as was the body itself new in America. The orderly awoke the president, delivering the letter, and repeated the words which he had heard, as an excuse for his untimely errand. The president having read the superscription—"From the sovereign junta to the Count Ruis, ex-president of Quito," dressed himself, and read the following:

"The present unsettled state of Spain, the total annihilation of the lawfully constituted authorities, and the dangers of the crown of the beloved Ferdinand VII. and his domains falling into the hands of the tyrant of Europe, have impelled our trans-atlantic brothers to form provincial governments for their personal security, as well against the machinations of some of their traitorous countrymen, unworthy of the name of Spaniards, as against the arms of the common enemy: the loyal inhabitants of Quito, resolved to secure to their legitimate King and Master this part of his kingdom, have established a sovereign junta in this city of San Francisco de Quito, of which, and by the command of his Serene Highness the President and the vocal members, I have the honour to inform your lordship, and to announce to you, that the functions of the members of the old government have ceased: God preserve your lordship many years. Hall of the junta in Quito, August 10th, 1809: Manuel Morales secretary of the interior."

After reading this unexpected epistle, his Excellency entered the antechamber, and walked towards the messengers, who inquired whether he had received the note, and on being answered in the affirmative, they bowed, turned round, and retired. The count followed them to the outer door and attempted to pass it, but he was prevented by the sentry. He now sent his orderly to call the officer of the guard, who politely answered, that he could not consistently with the orders he had received, speak with the Count, pronouncing the last word with considerable emphasis. A great number of people began to assemble in the square before the palace, at six o'clock, when a royal salute was fired, and the military music, stationed on the esplanade in front of the palace, continued playing some national airs till nine o'clock. At this time the members of the new executive government met, the Marquis of Selva Alegre, president, the vocal members, the Marquis of Orellana, Marquis of Solanda, Count of Casa Guerrero, Marquis of Miraflores, Don Manuel Zambrano, Don Manuel Mateus, and Don Pedro Montufar, the two ministers. Morales and Quiroga: the declaration of the installation was published, and the form of the oath to be administered to all persons employed under the new government was drawn up. The Bishop of Quito was elected vice-president, but he refused to assist at this or any subsequent meeting.

The whole of the revolutionary change was effected in the night of the ninth. Morales came to Quito, and, with Quiroga, convened a meeting; he informed the members of the risk in which the country at large stood, set forth the intention of the government to acknowledge Napoleon as their sovereign, because the Kings of Spain had ceded their sovereignty to him, and exhorted them at the same time to preserve themselves and this part of the Spanish dominions from the fate that awaited the rest; and this he told them could only be done by establishing a provincial government in the name of Fernando, and of removing all suspicious persons from their offices. This harangue was nothing but a matter of form, because all the preliminaries had been agreed on beforehand. Salinas, being present, was deputed to bring over the soldiers, which he immediately did; he went to the barracks, and having formed the infantry in the square or patio—he informed them that their beloved King was a prisoner in France; expatiated on his sufferings; told them that the existing governments in America were determined to deliver up the country to the common enemy, and concluded by asking them, whether they would defend their beloved Ferdinand, or become the slaves of Bonaparte? The deluded soldiers immediately shouted Viva Fernando Septimo! Viva Quito! The commandant of the cavalry, Don Joaquin Saldumbide, received orders for the same purpose, and executed them in the same manner. On the return of these two individuals to the junta, they were commanded to give the necessary orders to the different guards, and to administer to the troops the following oath:

"I swear by God and on the cross of my sword, to defend my legitimate King, Ferdinand VII.; to maintain and protect his rights; to support the purity of the holy Roman Catholic Church; and to obey the constituted authorities."

After the conclusion of this ceremony, the necessary orders were given to the officer of the guard at the president's palace, barracks, and prisons: a guard was placed at the door of each suspected person, particularly at those of the Regent and Oidores; and the members of the government retired to their houses.

An express was immediately sent to Chillo, an estate belonging to the Marquis of Selva Alegre, with the news of what had taken place, and a request that his lordship would immediately come to Quito, and take possession of the supreme command of the government of the kingdom. Thus, in one night, without bloodshed or even without any popular commotion, a government which had been established for more than three centuries was displaced, and a new one erected on its basis.

The Marquis of Selva Alegre arrived on the morning of the tenth, and was visited by the members of the new government, while the two ministers proceeded on their duty to place new officers and clerks in the secretary's office, and to take charge of the archives belonging to the royal audience.

The character of Selva Alegre is almost indefinable. As a private man he was extremely kind and polite, having more of the polished courtier about him than might be supposed to exist in an individual born in what may be termed a sequestered country. Both in his town and country house a great deal of taste and splendour were exhibited, in a manner somewhat uncommon at Quito; yet neither his income nor his popularity could in any way be compared to those of Miraflores nor Solanda. As a public character Selva Alegre was extremely unfit; wavering and timid, wishing rather to reconcile the two parties than to support either; fond of show and parade, but frightened at his own shadow, as if it mocked him. At the gaze of the people he would, like a peacock, have allowed his gaudy plumage to fall to the ground; he would have endeavoured to hide himself, or, as the most enthusiastic Quiteños expressed themselves, "his shoes did not fit him."

On the thirteenth the new government visited the church of the Carmen Alto, the different members dressed in their robes of ceremony; His Serene Highness in the full costume of the Order of Charles III., of which he was a knight; the members of the junta in scarlet and black; the two ministers were distinguished by large plumes in their hats; the corporation, officers of the treasury, and other tribunals, in their old Spanish uniforms, and the military in blue, faced with white instead of red, as heretofore.

After the thirteenth of August, anarchy began to preside at all the meetings of the junta. Morales insisted on a reform in the regulations of the tribunals; Quiroga, that preparations offensive and defensive against the neighbouring provinces which did not follow the example of Quito should be made; Selva Alegre and the members wished that every thing might remain as it was. However the army was increased, and detachments sent to Guallabamba against the Pastusos, and to Huaranda, to prevent an invasion by the Guayaquileños. The people began to shew marks of discontent, particularly dreading a scarcity of salt, which article was procured from Guayaquil. The governor of Guayaquil first threatened to invade the provinces, next the Viceroy of Santa Fé, and lastly the Viceroy of Peru. Advices arrived that troops from these different quarters were absolutely on their march, and to complete the consternation of the people, the Count Ruis retired from his palace into the country, to a small quinta, or country seat, two leagues from the city, where he remained, till on the night of the eighth of November a deputation from the sovereign junta waited on him with proposals for his reinstatement in the presidency, to which he acceded. On the part of the president the condition was, that the members of the junta should retire to their respective homes, and become quiet citizens, as before the tenth of August; and on the part of the junta, that what had passed should be referred to the central junta in Spain, and that no prosecution should take place against them until the resolution of the representative authority of Spain should be known. These simple preliminaries being agreed to, his excellency the Count Ruis entered Quito on the following morning, and was received with the most enthusiastic demonstrations of joy; the inhabitants and the members of the ex-junta presented themselves, and made a tender of their several titles, which were accepted by the president, and with all the acts and other papers belonging to the intrusive government, as it was stiled, were ordered to be burnt; but Arrechaga, instead of obeying the order given to him, kept them with the most depraved intention for the most execrable purposes.

On the second of December the auxiliary troops arrived from Lima and Guayaquil, composed of five hundred infantry, and fifty artillery men, under the command of Colonel Arredonda. The inhabitants of Quito, relying on the fulfilment of the conditions agreed to by the Count Ruis, erected triumphal arches to receive them, and strewed flowers along the streets as they passed; but scarcely had they taken quiet possession of the city, and disbanded the native troops, than Arrechaga, who had been appointed fiscal on the death of Yriarte, advised Arredonda to solicit of the president an order for the apprehension of all persons who had taken an active part in the late revolt, grounding his solicitude on the law of power, that good faith ought not to be kept with traitors. The count had the weakness to accede to the request of Arredonda, and an order was immediately issued commanding Don Manuel Arredonda, Colonel of Infantry, and Commandant of the Pacifying Troops, tropas pacificadoras, to arrest all the persons who had been concerned in the late rebellion, the names of whom were subministered by Arrechaga, and on the twelfth of December upwards of fifty of the most respectable inhabitants of Quito were dragged from their homes, and immured in cells in the barracks. Judge Fuertes Amar was again appointed to form the proceso criminal. Every succeeding day brought new victims to the prison, for not only those who had taken an active part in the affair were apprehended, but many individuals also to whom letters had been written by the insurgents; and some because they had not declared themselves hostile to the revolutionary government; however the Regent, Oidores, Fiscals, and other persons who had remained neuter, and some Spaniards in office who had kept their places during the administration of the junta, were not included in the number; but the Bishop, who, being an American, was included in the list of insurgents, and accused of having connived at the treason of his flock, because he did not anathematize them, interdict the places of public worship, and sentence to everlasting torments all schismatics to royalty and passive obedience.

Two hundred more soldiers arrived from Santa Fé de Bogotá, and brought with them a greater security to the ministers of despotism, and the whole of the provinces of Quito groaned under their tyranny. Many of the most wealthy inhabitants fled to their estates in the country, and many, although totally unconnected with the affairs of the junta, were afraid of being swept away by the torrent of persecution. Among those who fortunately absconded, and eluded the vigilance of the government, was the Marquis of Selva Alegre: the Marquis of Miraflores died of grief in his own house, and a guard of soldiers was placed over him even till he was interred.

Not content with imprisoning those persons who might be termed the ringleaders, the soldiers were taken into custody, and placed in a separate prison, called the presidio. This alarmed the lower classes, who began to steal into the country, and seek in the mountains and woods an asylum against the systematic persecution that now pervaded the miserable hut of the labourer as well as the residence of his employer—the cabin of the indigent as well as the mansion of the wealthy. Provisions became daily more scarce in the city, the soldiery in the same ratio became more insolent, when, to crown the state of desperation among all classes of the inhabitants, except the natives of Spain who resided here, the examination of the prisoners was concluded, and the vista fiscal was drawn up. This horrible production, worthy of its author, Arrechaga, divided the prisoners into three classes, but sentenced them all to death: their number was eighty-four, including the prisoners and the absent, who were outlawed; even the Bishop was not excluded, although, according to the laws of Spain, he could only be tried by the council of Castile. Distress, affliction, and grief now reigned triumphant: mothers, wives, and daughters filled the air with their cries for mercy on their sons, their husbands, and their brothers, who had been torn from them and immured in dungeons, where they were not allowed to visit them; and who lay under sentence of an ignominious death, no hopes being left, except that the president would not confirm the sentence, and in this hope they were not deceived.

When the proceso was concluded, and required no more than the veto of the president, it was presented to him; but instead of concurring in the opinion of the fiscal, and giving way to the entreaties of Colonel Arredonda, he ordered the papers to remain in his cabinet. The agitation of the old count was now truly distressing, and he frequently said to me, that he would prefer signing his own death-warrant to the sacrificing of so many deluded victims, the greater part of whom had only committed an error of judgment, founded, perhaps, on a mistaken sense of loyalty; at last he determined to refer the case for revision to the Viceroy of Santa Fé, to the inconceivable chagrin of Fuertes, Arrechaga, and Arredonda, who all founded their hopes of preferment in Spain on the execution of the prisoners, who had been denominated traitors.

The Count Ruis was at this time eighty-four years of age; he had resided in America upwards of forty; first in the capacity of Corregidor of Oruro, then of Governor Intendent of Huancavilica, afterwards as President of Cusco, and lastly of Quito. When at Huancavilica he commanded the troops, in 1780, against the unfortunate Tupac Umaru, who was taken prisoner, and quartered alive in the plasa mayor at Cusco, by being tied to four wild colts, which were driven to the four opposite angles of the square.

When President of Cusco, the unhappy victims of Spanish jealousy and cruelty, Ubalde and Ugarte, in 1796, were executed on an ex-parte evidence. This proceso was conducted by the Oidor Berriosabal, afterwards Count of San Juan and Marquis of Casa Palma, and who was afterwards, in 1821, proscribed in Lima by San Martin. The Count Ruis as a private individual was remarkably kind and familiar, and excessively charitable: in his public capacity he was too easily overruled, especially by persons in authority under him, and when he could be induced to believe them to be actuated by motives of justice; but he was obstinate in the greatest degree if he once suspected their integrity. The court of Spain was so well convinced of the virtuous character of this nobleman, that in 1795 a royal order was issued inhibiting him from a residenciary investigation at the expiration of his first government of Cusco: an honour which I believe was never conferred on any other governor in the Spanish colonies.

The Oidor Don Felipe Fuertes Amar was remarkably timid, in fact he was a complete coward, and this weakness brought him to the gallows, during a commotion of the indians in 1810.

The Fiscal Don Tomas Arrechaga was a native of Oruro, said to be the offspring of a friar of San Juan de Dios and a mestisa of Oruro. The Count Ruis took him when a boy under his protection, educated him, and brought him to Quito to establish him in the profession of the law, which he had studied. Arrechaga was brutal in his looks, his manners, and his actions; he was possessed of all the subtle cruelty peculiar to the caste of chinos, which is a mixture of African and indian blood: his mother was of the latter race, and his father was not entirely exempt from the former. Arrechaga would have waded through the blood of his countrymen to secure promotion; and from the first discovery of the country this had been too often the means of obtaining it.

Don Manuel Arredonda was the son of the Viceroy of Buenos Ayres, and nephew to the Regent of the Royal Audience of Lima; he was in search of reputation, fame, and promotion—not in the cannon's mouth—no, for indeed he was the original fop described by Hotspur, he was effeminate, proud and cruel, the general qualifications of a coward soldier; an imperious tyrant when in prosperity, but the most abject of all wretches when in adversity.

The person chosen to convey to Santa Fé the whole of the proceso was Dr. San Miguel, a young advocate who had become the constant companion to Arrechaga. Not less than six reams of written paper formed the important charge, for the safety of which a piquet of horse was ordered to escort San Miguel as far as Pasto, lest some of the outlaws might surprize him on the road. The prisoners expected no favour at the hands of the Viceroy, because he was the uncle of the Oidor Fuertes who had tried them. It was natural to suppose that he would not extend his mercy against what he would consider the justice of the law as expounded by his nephew; for, although it may appear very strange in England, that the inclinations of persons in such elevated situations should be biassed by personal interest, this was too frequently the case in South America.

CHAPTER II.

Second Revolution at Quito....Massacre of the Prisoners....General Meeting held....Spanish Troops leave Quito....Revolution at Santa Fé....Arrival of Don Carlos Montufar at Quito....Arredonda invades Quito....Arrives at Huaranda....Flies from....Montufar marches towards Cuenca....Desists from attacking the City....Returns to Quito....My Appointment to Esmeraldas....Capture and Escape....General Montes enters Quito....Death of Montufar....Quito taken by General Sucre.

After the departure of San Miguel for Santa Fé many of the soldiers who had belonged to the insurgent army returned to the city, supposing that the prosecution had closed; but they were apprehended, and sent to the presidio. Several individuals also who came from different parts of the country were apprehended on suspicion, and, although they were liberated after examination, the alarm flew from one place to another, so that none would bring their produce to market, and a consequent dearth of provisions began to be experienced in the city. This, instead of producing conciliatory measures for procuring them, enraged the Spanish soldiers, who committed several depredations, and the injured individuals through fear abstained from complaining to the officers, or if they ventured to do it, they were insulted with the epithets of rebels, insurgents, and traitors. Thus the evil increased daily till the second of August, 1810, when some of the soldiers confined in the presidio surprized the guard, and depriving them of their arms, and putting on their uniforms, ran to the barracks at one o'clock in the afternoon; the disguise prevented all suspicion on their approach, and they succeeded in driving the sentry from his post at the door, and securing the officer of the guard: at this moment a bell was rung in the steeple of the cathedral, as an alarm: the officers who had just sat down to dinner in the palace rushed into the plasa mayor, and observing a considerable degree of commotion at the door of the barracks not fifty yards from that of the palace, the guard was ordered to fire on those at the barracks, which firing was returned by the opposite party. This lasted about ten minutes, when, all being silent, an officer ran to the barracks to inquire into the cause of the disturbance: on being informed of what had taken place, as well as that all was then safe, he returned with the report to his commandant, Arredonda. Another officer was immediately sent to inquire into the state of the prisoners, and he as briefly returned with the news, that they were all dead. Some had been shot during the uproar by the sentries placed over them, and many had been murdered by a zambo boy, one of the cooks to the soldiers, who had entered their cells, and despatched them with an axe. Terror and consternation for a moment were visible in the countenances of the president and officers, when, on a sudden, the Spanish soldiers rushed from the barracks into the streets, shouting revenge! revenge! our captain is murdered. Scarcely was the alarm given, when the infuriated soldiers abandoned their posts, and running up and down the streets, murdered every individual they met with, without distinction either of age or sex: the drums in different parts of the city beat an advance, and murder and pillage raged in this horrid manner till three o'clock, all the officers standing on the esplanade of the palace, without making any effort to check the massacre: at length, the soldiers having expended their stock of cartridges began to return to the barracks, some of them so laden with plunder, that they had left their arms they knew not where.

The number of prisoners confined in the cells, many of whom were secured with irons, and who fell a sacrifice to the insubordination of the soldiery, and the imbecility of the officers, was seventy-two; a clergyman of the name of Castelo, and an individual of the name of Romero, were the only prisoners that escaped, and they saved their lives by feigning to be dead. Morales, Quiroga, Riofrio, and Salinas perished; but to the memory of these, and their fellow sufferers, the government of Venezuela ordered a day of mourning to be kept annually; thus paying to them the greatest possible respect; they also afterwards determined to call them the martyrs of Quito. In the streets of Quito about three hundred individuals perished, including seven of the Spanish soldiers, who were killed by some indian butchers, whom they had repeatedly insulted. Such was the fury displayed by the pacifying troops, that a party of them having met a captain in his uniform, who belonged to the Guayaquil cavalry, a soldier seized the sword of his captain, and ran him through the body with it, laying him weltering in his gore not fifty yards from the door of the barracks.

No powers of language can describe the anxiety which this dreadful affair excited in the minds of the inhabitants, who, ignorant of the origin, considered it as an unprovoked slaughter of their countrymen, and consequently dreaded that it might be again repeated in the same manner. Only five of the soldiers who left the presidio entered the barracks—had twenty entered, they would doubtlessly have succeeded in liberating the prisoners; but these were murdered while those were engaged with the guard at the door.

The streets of the city were entirely deserted; groups of people were scattered about on the neighbouring hills, looking wistfully at their apparently desolated town; dead bodies were strewed about the streets and squares, and all was horror and dismay. During the night the bodies of the prisoners were conveyed to the church of San Augstin, and those that were murdered in the streets, to the nearest churches. The two succeeding days, the third and the fourth of August, the inhabitants kept within their houses, and, except the soldiers, not an individual ventured into the streets. The government now began to fear that the whole of the provinces would rise en masse; and as the news of the revolution at Caracas, which took place on the nineteenth of April, 1810, had reached their ears, this, with their ignorance of what was passing in the mother country, except that Bonaparte had taken possession of Madrid, suggested to them an effort at reconciliation, but without in the least reflecting on their own baseness and treachery, in having violated the conditions which had replaced the president in his authority, and thus branded themselves with the name which they most justly deserved, that of infames traidores, INFAMOUS TRAITORS.

On the fifth an order was published for the heads of all the corporate bodies, officers, and principal inhabitants to meet at the palace, and resolve on such means as were most likely to restore peace, tranquillity, and confidence to the country. Accordingly the persons who were summoned met; the president took the chair, having the Bishop on his right, and Colonel Arredonda on his left, the Regent, oidores, fiscals, attorney-general, and other officers and persons of distinction took their seats. The president rose, and in very few words expressed his sorrow for what had happened, and his sincere wish to restore peace and unanimity among the people. The Bishop in a short speech answered, that he was afraid such wishes would never be fulfilled, until those persons who had advised his Excellency to forget his promises made to the people were removed from that part of the country. Arrechaga rose and observed, that his lordship recriminated on his conduct; to which the prelate replied, that years and dignity precluded any recrimination on Don Arrechaga from him. This debate induced the president to request, that Arrechaga would leave the hall, which request was reluctantly complied with; although such a rebuff from the Bishop would only four days before that of the meeting have shewn him the way to a dungeon.

Dr. Rodrigues, a secular priest, greatly revered for his wisdom and his virtue by all who knew him, rose from his seat, and, advancing to the centre of the hall, delivered a most eloquent and animated speech, which lasted for more than an hour. He portrayed the character of the Quiteños in general, explained the causes of the late revolution with evangelical charity, and dwelt on the fatal results with the truest symptoms of grief, in such a manner, that, not through sympathy but sensibility, conviction, shame, and remorse, the big tear flowed down the cheeks of his hearers. He concluded by repeating what his prelate had said, and added further, that the people of Quito could no longer consider their lives and property secure, unless those individuals who had so lately forfeited their title of pacificators were removed from the country. "I allude," said he, "to the officers and troops; they have already made upwards of three hundred unoffending fellow-creatures, as faithful Christians and as loyal subjects as themselves, the peaceful tenants of the grave, and, if not stopped in their career of slaughter, they will soon convert one of the most fruitful regions of the Spanish monarchy into a desert; and future travellers, while execrating their memory, will exclaim, 'here once stood Quito!'"

Don Manuel Arredonda, trembling for his personal safety, now rose. He observed, that he was fully convinced the government of Quito ought to rely on the loyalty of the Quiteños, and allow him to retire with the troops under his command. This was immediately agreed to, and the act of the meeting having been drawn up, was signed by the President, the Bishop, the Commander of the troops, and several other members. Preparations for the evacuation of the city immediately commenced, and the troops under the command of Arredonda began their march on the following morning, leaving the two hundred soldiers from Santa Fé and the government to the mercy of a populace driven almost to despair by their cruel and murderous conduct.

A few days after the departure of Arredonda and the soldiers, Dr. San Miguel returned from Santa Fé, bringing tidings of an insurrection having taken place in that city. It commenced on the twenty-third of July, 1810, the day before the arrival of San Miguel with his cargo of papers. When he presented himself before the new authorities at Santa Fé, he was commanded to repair to the plasa mayor with his papers, and here he was ordered to deliver them into the hands of the hangman, who immediately committed them to the flames. Thus a trial was concluded, which, perhaps, in point of infamous intrigue was unparalleled in any age or nation; and had the conductors of it suffered a similar fate at the same time, numbers of Americans would have had just cause to have been satisfied. The return of San Miguel only served to throw the government of Quito into greater consternation, and the citizens who had lost their relatives or their friends on the second of August into deeper sorrow.

The insurrection of Santa Fé was conducted, like that of Quito, without any bloodshed; the news of the commission conferred on Villaviencio by the central junta of Spain, to visit his native place, and to make any such alterations in the form of the government as might appear necessary for the preservation of the country, had arrived at Santa Fé. The friends of this American wished to prepare a house for his reception; one of them begged the loan of a chandelier of a European Spaniard, who, chagrined at the idea of a royal commission having been conferred on a colonist, insulted the borrower; this conduct produced an altercation between the parties, a mob collected at the door, the Spaniard attempted to drive the people away with threats and insults, which at last produced a cry of Cabildo Abierto! an open meeting at the City Hall. Scarcely had the shout been re-echoed by the mob, when it was extended to every part of the city, and Cabildo Abierto became the watchword. Crowds of people flocked to the plasa mayor, the doors of the town hall were thrown open, and several individuals, all natives, ranged themselves round the table. At this juncture some one advanced to the door, and asked the populace why they had collected in that manner, at this particular time? Some one answered, queremos gobierno nuevo, fuera Españoles! We want a new government—out with the Spaniards! Nariño was then sent to request the presence of the Viceroy Amar, as president of the meeting. His excellency refused; a second message was sent, and met with the same refusal: this conduct exasperated the people, and the cry of fuera Españoles! fuera chapetones! again resounded from every quarter. A third messenger was shortly after sent to inform Don Antonio Amar, that his functions, with those of all European Spaniards in the government, had ceased. Amar now volunteered to go and preside at the meeting; but he was told, that only his baston of command was requested; this, after a little altercation, he delivered up. The new government took possession of the barracks, the park of artillery, and the government stores. The ex-viceroy and some of the ex-oidores were sent to Carthagena to be embarked for Spain. In one day the change in the government was completed, and on the following the people retired to their several homes and occupations in the most perfect order, after witnessing the public burning of the papers brought by San Miguel.

In the month of September of the same year, Don Carlos Montufar, son to the outlawed Marquis of Selva Alegre, who with several others had again presented himself publicly in Quito, arrived, bringing with him powers from the central junta of Spain, to establish such a government, or make such changes in the one existing, as might ensure the allegiance of the country to Ferdinand on his restoration. The joy which this arrival would have occasioned a short time before it took place was considerably damped by the recollection of the second of August. However, to support, and as it were to exculpate the conduct of the government with respect to the treatment of the unfortunate victims who had perished on that day, Montufar and his friends determined on re-establishing the junta. A meeting was convened at the hall of the university, at which the Count Ruis presided; the commission conferred on Montufar was read, and the formation of a junta proposed, which was immediately agreed to. The Count Ruis was nominated president, and the Marquis of Selva Alegre vice-president; the members for the city were elected by the five parishes, and those for the country by the parishes of the heads of the provinces.

Don Carlos Montufar, desirous of preserving tranquillity, and maintaining a good understanding with the Viceroy of Peru in particular, immediately forwarded to his Excellency Don Jose de Abascal his original commission; but the innovation was so great, and the decrease of Spanish authority so alarming to the Viceroy, that he returned the papers with an assurance, that he "should exert himself in the support of his own authority, and that of all the faithful subjects of the crown of Spain." This imprudent and ill-timed answer, accompanied by a knowledge of the present state of affairs in Santa Fé and Venezuela; of the revolt of San Miguel and el Valle de los Dolores in Mexico, which took place on the nineteenth of August; of that of Buenos Ayres on the twenty-sixth of May, 1819; together with the condition of the mother country—distracted the attention of the Spaniards, and first disseminated the whisper of Independence: a whisper which was confined to private conversations, and was heard only among the higher classes.

Colonel Arredonda and his troops were at first ordered to remain at Guayaquil; but on the arrival of the news communicated by the newly-established government of Quito, he was commanded to invade the territory belonging to that jurisdiction, and to declare war against the newly-established authorities, as being traitors to the Crown of Spain. At the same time that Arredonda began his march, Montufar collected the armed force of Quito, began to discipline new troops, and proceeded with them to Riobamba. Popayan and Pasto, under the influence of Samano the governor of the former place, declared their adherence to the old government, and avowed their intention of invading Quito to the northward, while Arredonda should attempt the same to the southward. A few troops placed by Montufar at Guaitara precluded all fear with regard to Samano, and Montufar waited at Riobamba the advance of Arredonda.

A sentinel placed at an advanced post at the Ensillada was alarmed early one morning by a sudden report, caused by the ice on Chimboraso, which, when the rising sun first illumes it, sometimes cracks with a tremendous report. Alarmed at what he heard, he abandoned his post, and communicated intelligence of the approach of Montufar with a train of artillery. Arredonda was now filled with the greatest possible consternation, and without waiting to inquire into the cause of the alarm, or to investigate the report, he mounted his horse, and fled: the officers and soldiers followed the example of their chief, and, leaving every thing behind them, placed their safety in their heels. Montufar, being immediately apprised of what had passed at Huaranda, Arredonda's late head quarters, went and took possession of the abandoned stores, consisting of eight hundred muskets, six field-pieces, a quantity of ammunition, the military chest, and all the public as well as private property belonging to the tropas pacificadoras.

The city of Cuenca declared its attachment to the royal cause, as it now began to be called, in opposition to the insurgents, and Montufar, flushed with his good fortune at Huaranda, marched towards that city; the Bishop, Quintian Aponte, who with a crucifix in one hand and a sword in the other had marshalled the natives, and exhorted them with more than pastoral eloquence, fled on receiving advices that the insurgents were within ten leagues of the city, and left his flock at the mercy of the very man whom he had described the day before as a ravenous wolf.

In this state of affairs, when every thing seemed to promise success to the insurgents, a post arrived from Spain, bringing the news of the dissolution of the junta central, and the formation of a Regency and Cortes, and commanding all his Majesty's faithful subjects to abjure the traitorous junta, and to take the oath of allegiance to the newly-constituted authorities. An order of the Regency commanded that every thing in the colonies should remain in the same state in which it might then be, until the Regency and the Cortes should decide. Carlos Montufar, on the receipt of this intelligence, communicated to him by the Viceroy of Peru, answered his excellency, that as a loyal subject, and trusting that the conduct of his excellency would evince equal loyalty and deference to the supreme order received, he should immediately retire to Quito with the troops under his command.

A small detachment of soldiers continued on the heights of Guaitara, and every thing in Quito remained tranquil until the middle of November, when General Molina arrived at Cuenca, and, by the order of the Viceroy Abascal, peremptorily insisted on the dissolution of the junta, which was objected to. Captain Villavicencio arrived from Guayaquil to treat with the government on the proposals made by General Molina, and such was the spirit of party, and the dread of again being oppressed by pacifying troops, that on the arrival of Villavicencio, a woman, named Salinas, a servant to Captain Salinas, who was murdered on the second of August, collected a body of females, who armed themselves with lances, and escorted Villavicencio to the house prepared for him, where they remained on guard till he quitted the city. Nothing could be more ridiculous than the appearance of this naval hero when he had to attend the meeting of the junta, marching along the street with an Amazonian guard, composed of twenty-five females with lances, who conducted him to and from the hall.

During the time that Montufar was absent from the city with the troops, several popular commotions took place, particularly of the indians; these were principally excited by a native of the name of Peña, who had had a son slain in the massacre of the second of August. During this time, the Oidor Fuertes and the postmaster-general attempted to escape, with an intention of proceeding down the Marañon, but they were seized by the indians, brought back to Quito, and before the respectable part of the inhabitants could relieve them from the danger in which they were placed, the indians erected a temporary gibbet in the plasa mayor, and hanged them: being in the street myself, the indians seized me also, and were hurrying me along towards the place of execution, but I was providentially rescued by the interference of an old clergyman, to whom I was known, and to whom I undoubtedly owe the preservation of my existence.

The adherence of Popayan and Pasto to the Spanish governors precluded all communication between Quito and Santa Fé, Venezuela, and other places. The junta determined to open a communication by the coast with Cali and Buga, and also with those parts of the country which had established the same form of government as themselves. Owing to the knowledge which I had acquired of the coast, the title of governor of Esmeraldas, and military commander of the coast, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel of artillery was conferred on me; and on the fifth of December I left Quito with fifty soldiers, took possession of my command, opened the communication, and secured the depôt of arms belonging to the Spaniards at Tumaco.

During my residence on the coast of Esmeraldas, nothing particular occurred in the capital, except preparations for defence: General Molina died at Cuenca, and the Bishop of Cuenca at Guayaquil. Aymerich, the governor of Popayan, solicited a brig of war, which was sent by the governor of Guayaquil; with this assistance Esmeraldas was invaded, and I was taken prisoner in May, 1811; but with the permission of Captain Ramires I made my escape from the brig. Don Toribio Montes was appointed by the Regency president of Quito, and immediately took the command of the troops stationed at Guayaquil and Cuenca, and began his march on Quito. The president, Count Ruis, retired to a small convent in the suburbs of Quito; but a popular commotion of the indians in the city occurred, a party of them went to the convent and dragged the venerable good old man into the street, where they murdered him. Montes had a few skirmishes with the Quiteños; but he entered the city, and caused several of the principal individuals who had been concerned in the late transactions to be put to death. Among these was Don Carlos Montufar, who, being sentenced as a traitor, was shot through the back, his heart taken out and burnt. Some of the indians who had been the ringleaders in the death of the Count Ruis were hanged, and their heads placed in iron cages in different parts of the city, where they remained until taken down by order of General Sucre.

From the year 1811 Quito continued to be governed by the Spanish authorities, till May, 1822, when General Sucre entered by force of arms, and at that time it became a part of the republic of Colombia.