RECENT OUTBREAK AMONGST CONVICTS AT PATAGONIA.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5330, 27 April 1878, Page 3

RECENT OUTBREAK AMONGST CONVICTS AT PATAGONIA.

A narrative of an outbreak amongst the convicts at 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. Reynard, writing to The Times of February the 7tb. 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 iu 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. Iu the drawing-room stood a piano, which proved the safety of the party. The idea occurred to one' of the convicts to make the girls play while they danced. This idea was 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 men 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 was being rifled. This news produced a geherai stampede, and the ladies and their father were in a minute loft alone with the dead. Five corpses were found in the drawing-room when the Chilian troops landed. This is biit an example of the many scenes that occurred during that awful night. The highest praise is duo to the Governor, who, though wounded by the wheel of a cannon passing over his leg, still had'ithe courage to ride across the isthmus, to summon the Chilian man-of-war.; The damage ; is estimated at 500,000 dollars.”