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Rh survived the journey. Midshipman Byron, Lieutenant Hamilton of the Royal Marines, Lieutenant Alexander Campbell, and Captain Cheap. Although the English were enemies, the corregidor and the Jesuit priests felt pity for these poor victims, and treated them with great kindness. When they had recovered, they were escorted to the larger town of Choca with a guard of thirty Spanish soldiers. At this seaport of the Chilean coast the governor entertained them handsomely and invited them to travel on his annual tour through the districts of his province. Midshipman Byron was so popular with the ladies that he had to steer a very careful course to avoid entanglements. He was the guest of one doting mother who had two very handsome daughters, and she straightway sent a message to the governor asking that the young Englishman be sent back to spend a month with the family.

This was not so serious as the affair with the niece of the rich and venerable priest, a highly educated damsel

whose person was good, though she was not a regular beauty. Casting an amorous eye on Mr. Byron, she first proposed to her uncle to convert him and then begged his consent to marry him. The old man's affection for his niece induced his ready acquiescence to her wishes, and on the next visit Mr. Byron was acquainted with the lady's designs. The uncle unlocked many chests and