ten minutes
after twelve o'clock
Jim was soon upon his feet again , and almost before he had fully recovered his breath an officer came up to him to tell him that Commander Condell wished to see him , in order to receive a report from him as to what had , up to now , occurred aboard the _ Esmeralda _ . Jim therefore made his way to the little conning-tower where Carlos Condell was directing the fighting of his ship ; but before he had time to enter he saw the final act in the fight between the _ Huascar _ and the _ Esmeralda _ . The Peruvian had dashed straight at the sloop and , stopping his engines when only eighty feet away from her , had struck her fairly on the starboard broadside , piercing a huge hole in her side , through which the water poured in cataracts . That finished the fight ; and at ten minutes after twelve o'clock mid-day the gallant little _ Esmeralda _ , with her colours still flying , and guns still firing , plunged downward out of sight into the deep blue waters of Iquique bay , having fought a most heroic battle against overwhelming odds . Jim was not long in making his report to Captain Condell , and with a glance at the _ Independencia _ , which was hard upon the _ Covadonga 's _ heels , firing as she came , he now ran down below to change into dry clothes and equip himself with another sword and revolver ; having , of course , lost his own when he jumped into the sea . The _ Independencia _ was a slightly faster craft than the _ Covadonga _ , but she drew a good deal more water ; and Captain Condell , with masterly skill , availed himself of this circumstance to the full , by running across shoals over which the Peruvian ship dared not follow him , and by keeping quite close in to the shore where she could not approach . Luckily , too , the _ Independencia 's _ gunners were raw , and found great difficulty in hitting the little gunboat ; but whenever they did the execution on board the small craft was tremendous , by reason of the huge size of the projectiles .