IN FAR PERU.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1051, 14 February 1911, Page 9

IN FAR PERU.

CHILE'S DOMINANCE; ON THF, COAST.--------A "BHEEZE" OVER EUBDEn. . , Captain J. If. Highmin, R.N.R., who 'was feeretary: of -the ;Mnstcr- Jlariuers' and Officers' Assiciatlbn cf Ncw .Zoalniui at tho time of tho big maritime strike in 1690, is at present visiting : Wellington, after an absonco of about twenty years, the.greater,part of which htis spjut in England.- -Quito Ilighman took charge of the PorilviHh cruiser Hnftllaga (pronounced Whaloya), built by Cammel, Laird, and Co., of. Birkenhead, and delivered her safely' to her owners oi-_ tho west coast of South America.. There, is ' always- : r troublo. Iff. oouth -America, and there happened to a bit of a. "breezo" duriug his visit-to I'cru. "Somewhere near the border," says the captain, "a stretch of country well ijrown w 'ith wild .rubber .trees was discovered, and as tho border between I'eru ' and Ecuador is. badly defined, the ownership was a moot point.' Peru claimed it, and' issued a Note to Ecuador to that 1 effect.' Ecuador, being a poor country with little armament, could do nothins,-but Chile was her ally, and Chile* is a powei that' counts in South_ America, and she sent along a polite Koto stating that if any violence wero done Ecuador she would burst Peru un. That was enough for Peru —she closed right down. Chile has been thero thre« times, and ehe is not wanted, again. Wo went up tho Guayaquil Kiver on a perfectly fair mission, but the pie. wero lirotty hostile to anything Peruvian at this time. They would: havo blown us out of the water if they-could,-but they had nothing., to hit. with ".savo a few .popguns, .which could; do no harm. Wf had to" dear, ont though, "or they might havo bombed us. . "They're alwaj*s after a fight, and any little excuso is good enough for . a'display cf arms. The Peruvians'-'are not much good, but the Chilians arte .great fighters. Thero'6 just enough bad Spanish blood in -their veins mixed with . tho Indian to make them _ devils." They make ■fine seamen, are good gunners, and they're wonderful with tho knife at close Suarters. I was a sub-lieutenant in-a ritish warship under Charlie Beresford in 1882, when wo visited the place during tho bigN Peru-Chile , war. "You - Caniiot imagine tho carnage wrought by the Chilians on that occasion.' it became to. terrible on that occasion that Beresford forwarded a protocol to the . parties, stating that the war would have'to bo conducted on humanitarian lines, and. Miit a squad-of British seamen ashore to back up his protest, which had a very, whole-, 6omo effect. These don't-lil:o reu, but' they've got plenty of : rcsptct for the fellow " who is likely to hit back hard. 1 The. Peruvians havo got a navy. iVt present it consists of two cruisers and tiro scouts for.a lmvy, bnt to.them. they, are toys. They aro not even kept clean, jeave e.lono in fighting-trim—thiy play, with the game. .Ono of these'times thero -will be trouble, and Chile will collar the lot. Chile, has a. good, well-found navy, which takes its work seriously-and does. It; well." ■ .