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164 not live much longer; those about him thought the same and sent notice of their fears to Buenos Ayres, in consequence of which General Antonio Gonzalez Balcarce, the hero of Suipacha, was sent to join him as his second in command.

In spite of his forebodings San Martin did not falter in the prosecution of his great enterprise, and taking advantage of his friendship with Captain Bowles, Commodore of the British Pacific squadron, he sent, under his care, a trusty agent to Lima with letters to the Viceroy proposing an exchange of prisoners. This he was anxious to effect, not only for the sake of the prisoners and their friends in both countries, but also for the purpose of procuring an official recognition of Chile as a belligerent power. But under these was a third purpose, to him of more importance than either of the others. His messenger was a confidential agent, who might thus have a pretext for meeting the leaders of society in Lima, and opportunity for sounding them, and for spreading among them the Argentine ideas of which he was the champion.