RECENT OUTBREAK AMONGST CONVICTS AT PATAGONIA.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1286, 3 May 1878, Page 3

RECENT OUTBREAK AMONGST CONVICTS AT PATAGONIA.

A narrative of an outbreak amongst the convicts of the Chilian penal settlement at Sandy Point, Patagonia, and the murders and outrages then committed, was recently published by the Melbourne "Argus." Mr R. F. Eeynard, writing to the " Times " of February the 7th, on the same subject, supplies the following additional particulars from a resident at .Sandy Point: —" Had the outbreak been executed as cleverly as it was planned, there is no doubt that the Chilian Government would have experienced great difficulty in recapturing the settlement. At first both prisoners and guards acted in complete agreement. Forming themselves into organised bodies they poured into the town, murdering all who resisted, and happily their newly-gained freedom turned the heads of the convicts. The desire of conquest yielded to lust and avarice. Throwing themselves into the richest houses, they plundered, burnt, outraged, and drank till all organisation was lost. The town next morning looked as if it had been taken by storm, so great was the devastation. The following scene occurred in the house of a gentleman, one of the principal residents : —About the middle of the night he and his two daughters were aroused by several deafening reports. They got up and dressed. In a short time a young English lady came to the house in the hope of finding security. For about half an hour they waited in terrible anxiety listening to the shrieks and shots which were audible on all sides. At length the door was burst open, and a party of ten men, accompanied by some of the lowest women of the place, and all half mad with drink, rushed into the house. In the drawing-room stood a piano, which proved tho safety of the party, The idea; occurred to one ot the convicts to make

the girls play while they danced. This idea was adopted, and the poor girls, half dead with fear, were forced with oaths and curses to take their place at the piano while the ruffians danced round the room. Suddenly one of the meu called to a companion, ' You can't dance; I'll teach you.' There was a coarse answer, and drawing a pistol, the second man shot the first through the heart. A general conflict ensued, in which several men lost their lives, and the remainder, becoming reconciled, continued their dance over the dead bodies. At length a messenger arrived, saying that the treasure-chest waß being rifled. This news produced a general stampede, and the ladies and their father were in a minute left alone with the dead. Five corpses were found in the drawing-room when the Chilian troops landed. This is but an example of the many scenes that occurred during that awful night. The highest praise is due to the Governor, who though wounded by the wheel of a cannon passing over his leg, still had the courage to ride across the isthmus to summon the Chilian man-of-war. The damage is estimated at 500,000 dollars."