Paul Boyton Prepares for a Torpedo Attack

On November 9, 1880 the Chileans left two vessels to blockade the harbor in Callao, while their other ships headed south to pick up new troops for the final launch against Lima.

At the hacienda in Chorrillos, Paul Boyton received a half ton of dynamite, sent by wagon from Lima. He instructed his crew on how to put the dynamite in rubber cases. He also drilled the officers on the uses of the rubber dress and the torpedoes. The lack of enthusiasm of his students disappointed him.

They spend most of their time among the islands, great rocks broken off from the mainland. Boyton watched the movements of the Chileans during daylight, but at night the ships steamed further out to sea. In their trials of the suit by night, as they paddled silently through the water, the ocean sparkled with phosphorescence. Boyton realized that the Chileans on watch might see this if he attempted to approach a ship by night.

Night after night no new opportunities arose. Boyton believed the Chileans knew that he was in Peru, so were taking special precautions. George Kiefer believed that Chilean spies had brought the news of their arrival in Peru on the same ship that they took from New York.