midnight
`` Your line of life wo n't stand justification according to the rule of God 's book . '' `` I know it , Adams ; I am merely telling you a few of the facts of my life , which you have a right to know from one who seeks an asylum among your people . Well , returning to the coast , I went on board an English whaler , by the captain of which I was kindly treated and landed at Talcahuans . I had not been long there , when , at midnight , on the 7th May , in the year 1819 , the Chilian garrison , fifteen in number , was attacked by Benevades and his Indian troops . A number of the inhabitants were killed , the town was sacked , and a large number of prisoners , myself included , carried off . Next morning troops from Concepcion came in pursuit , and rescued us as we were crossing a river . `` Soon after this affair I returned to Valparaiso , and engaged as first officer of a ship named the _ Minerva _ , which had been hired by the Chilian Government as a transport to carry out troops to Peru .