Description

IIn 1804 when W. B. Stevenson (fl. 1803-1825) arrived on the small island of Mocha, just off the coast of South America, he stepped onto a continent on the brink of mass revolution. Over the next twenty years, he had an extraordinary range of experiences: as a traveller, a Spanish government official, a prisoner, and as secretary to Admiral Lord Cochrane, an ex-Royal Navy officer turned revolutionary. In this three-volume work, published in 1825, Stevenson gives a fascinating account of the society and culture of South America as it began to break free from Spanish colonial rule. The first two volumes are devoted to his first impressions, and his observations on the South American way of life, together with a description of his time as governor of the province of Esmeraldas. Volume 3 focuses on the revolutions and uprisings Stevenson witnessed in Colombia, Peru and Chile.