officer stepped up to the young Englishman, and putting a pistol in his face, accused him of belonging to the Government party, for they had been firing from the roofs of the houses in the same block as the hotel. Fortunately the Englishman was a good Spanish linguist, and, having explained the state of the case to the officer's satisfaction, they were conducted within the building to a room on the first floor, overlooking the harbour, where all the wounded were lying. After being here some little time they saw the 'Warspite's' gig approaching, and, thinking that if the Government troops took possession of the Custom House their presence in it would require further explanation, they obtained leave to go down on the mole and meet the boat, with the view of getting a passage off to the ship. When the gig reached the end of the mole the Government troops again opened fire on it, but Captain Lambton, for he was in charge of it, took no notice, although one bullet went through the awning and another through the bottom of the boat, and proceeded to explain that he could not take them at once, as he had come ashore to try and arrange an armistice, but on his return he would be glad to do so. Meanwhile the party of Englishmen took shelter from the fire down the steps of the mole, and when the Government troops at length grasped the motive for which the English boat had come ashore, and waved a white flag in response, they followed Captain Lambton and his companion up to the Custom House, and stayed there while he went out into the town to confer with Coronel Soto. The proposal of an armistice having been accepted, the English captain returned to the Custom House to inform the Commandante of the success of his mission, and shortly afterwards the gallant Coronel himself rode up, his clothes torn by bullets, and black in the face with powderfor he had been wherever the fighting was thickest and had two horses shot under him—and was received with the wildest enthusiasm by the navy troops, the officers running out and kissing, embracing, and even crying over him as he dismounted. Four of them carried him on their shoulders like a conquering hero into the Custom House, and half an hour later the Government and Opposition troops were drinking and making merry together, as if they had always been the best of friends, and had not been trying for the last ten hours to blow each other's brains out.

The young Englishman at last got off to the man-of-war, and thence to the 'Silvertown,' where many of us were acquainted with him and gave him a warm welcome.

The progress of the fire was checked after five blocks, including the principal business quarter of the town, were burnt to the ground. A large stack of coal on the site of one of the blocks it was found impossible to extinguish, and during the night it threw a lurid light over the whole bay. The following morning a troopship arrived with 600 Opposition troops on board. At noon, the specified time for the

armistice to end, these men were put into half-a-dozen huge lighters preparatory to being sent ashore, and there seemed every prospect of a fight even more disastrous than the previous day, when a boat came off from the shore to the 'Blanco,' and cheering broke out on board and was taken up by the men in the lighters. It soon transpired that the two parties had come to terms, Coronel Soto surrendering with full honours of war in face of the superior forces against him.

But although the fleet would now have some six or seven hundred troops ashore, Iquique was not yet secure from trouble, for Coronel Robles, of the Government forces, was still on the Pampa with six hundred men, and, with the reinforcements he expected from Tacna, might make another effort to retake the town. The 'Warspite' was taking two hundred refugees to Callao, and Mr. Gray offered a passage to Valparaiso to those already on board, extending the invitation to any who might still be ashore. Among those who accepted was Señor Salinas, the late Intendente of Iquique, with his wife and family-the man who made so plucky though unsuccessful a stand against the fleet. He is about thirty-eight years of age, short in stature, of pale complexion, with intelligent eyes and a pleasant expression. Before we left Admiral Montt, Commander of the Fleet, and one of the prime movers of the Revolution, paid us a visit. He is a man of about fortyfive years of age, with a neat figure, regular features, and trim black beard, just grizzling, one who looked a good sailor and a brave leader, though of hardly sufficient power to conduct, single-handed, a revolution against a man of Balmaceda's capacity and resource.

At half-past nine in the evening of the 25th we weighed anchor and steamed quietly out of the harbour of Iquique. Although it was now six days since the bombardment, the stack of coals then set on fire was still burning, throwing a dull red glow on the charred remnants around it. In a few weeks of revolution the harbour, which had contained at times as many as a hundred vessels, now held barely ten, and the port, which brought in a revenue of 2,000,000l. sterling, had within the last month not shipped a single ton of nitrate. How was it to end? As the 'Silvertown' glided out into the gently heaving waters of the Pacific, and the yellow light from the lighthouse and the dull glow from the fire grew fainter in the distance, while the full moon rose over the dark range of hills behind, the thought came, whether this town, which now lay paralysed by the effects of civil war, had really seen its best days and would henceforth steadily decline, or whether she would rise Phoenixlike from her ashes, and, under the administration of a popular and well-organised government, regain her former activity and surpass her well-earned reputation as the successful port of the richest province in the world.

The capture of Iquique was the turning-point in the fortunes of the Congressionalists. From that day they have been slowly but surely winning territory from the President. On the 7th of March their troops met those of the Government under Coronel Robles at Pozo Almonte, about thirty miles inland from Iquique, and inflicted a total defeat, all who were not killed being taken prisoners. This victory placed the whole of the rich nitrate province of Tarapacá in their undisputed possession. Early in the morning of the 8th Mayor Valdiviesos, in command of one of the Government forts at Valparaiso, having spiked the guns, deserted with the whole garrison, and seizing the Government transport 'Maipo,' lying off the town, steamed past the 'Silvertown,' then in the bay, and struck up a lively air on his band as he passed beneath the hostile forts. This was felt to be such a blow by the President that he made his first overtures for peace a few days afterwards. By the end of the month Antofagasta was taken by the Congress, and at the beginning of April the capture of Arica and Tacna gave them a fruitful province from which to supply the barren towns in Tarapacá and Atacama. The nitrate dues for March brought them 40,000l., and it is probable that Balmaceda would shortly have capitulated had not the sinking of the 'Blanco Encalada ' inspired him with fresh hopes. The 'Blanco' was lying moored in the harbour at Caldera, undergoing some repairs to her boilers, when the Government torpedo-gunboats Lynch and Condell,' under the command of Moraga, an officer who had been expelled from the navy before the war, entered the bay and attacked her as she lay, unable to respond with any but her small machine-guns. After discharging six torpedoes, the seventh took effect and the Blanco' sank with several members of the Congress on board. As the 'Lynch' and the 'Condell' were leaving the port they met the transport Aconcagua,' an unarmoured passenger steamer belonging to the Congress. She engaged them both and beat them off, the 'Lynch' having to return to Valparaiso for repairs.

The sinking of the 'Blanco,' although of course a great loss, very little altered the position of the Congress. They still possess the warships Cochrane,' 'Esmeralda,' 'Huascar,' 'O'Higgins,' 'Magellanes,' and 'Abtao,' and half a dozen transports. Directly after the event the important town of Copiapo was taken by them. The affair of the 'Itata' shows that they have commanders with plenty of resource and determination on their side. The writer of this paper had an interview with the captain of the Itata' on his own ship a few days after the capture of Pisagua, and from what he heard on that occasion of the conduct of the war, it seemed that the Congress are not likely to fail through any want of pluck and self-reliance in their captains. The task of arbitrating between the two parties has been entrusted to representatives of France, Brazil, and the United States,

and the terms put forward by the Congress, which include the resignation and impeachment of Balmaceda, show how strong they feel their position to be. It is always difficult to forecast the result of a contest, but at the time of writing there is little doubt that the Congress have the upper hand.

ARCHER P. CROUCH.

MOROCCO-THE WORLD'S LAST MARKET.

6

'MOROCCO,' said Lord Salisbury, at Glasgow, on the 20th of May of this year, some day or other will be as great a trouble to Europe, and will carry with it as great a menace to the peace of Europe, as the other Mohammedan communities further to the east used to twenty or thirty years ago.'

To one who has studied the growing problem of Morocco in the country itself, and with complete access to the lively and interesting circle of diplomatists who are silently but steadily striving to solve it, the words I have quoted seem to contain the most important political pronouncement yet made by Lord Salisbury upon African affairs.

The general scuffle of the nations for spherical influence in Africa has brought the geographical limitations of the globe under public notice somewhat realistically. Africa, we have come to think, contains all the remaining markets which can ever be opened up for the benefit of civilised and commercial Europe. Hitherto, however, a studious silence has been maintained as to the future of Morocco, and almost for the first time is its existence brought authoritatively forward by the reference to it in the speech of the Prime Minister.

I want to state three plain reasons for looking on this mysterious land as being par excellence the last market of the world-for England also the greatest. It has so far received only the slightest and most inadequate treatment compared with the growing care bestowed upon other Mohammedan countries where the maintenance of British influence for the purposes of British trade is systematically fostered. All the same, the work effected in Persia cannot compare for a moment with the work which might under equally favourable circumstances be effected in Morocco. Every argument and there are many--which tells in favour of British influence at Teheran, may be urged in a similar way as regards Marakesh, the capital alternately with Fez of Muley Hassan; while the three causes on which I desire to write turn the scale completely in favour of Morocco as a land by whose destiny the fortunes of the British Empire must be modified for good or evil. They spring mainly from the geographical position of the country and its economical requirements.