In the year 1586, the toqui Cayancura began the siege of Arauco, which he surrounded with strong lines, so as not only to intercept all succours, but to prevent the retreat of the garrison[88]. Perceiving from these preparations, that they must finally be compelled to surrender or perish by famine, the garrison thought it better to die at once with arms in their hands than to be reduced to such extremity. They attacked therefore the works of the enemy with such vigour, that after an obstinate and sanguinary combat of four hours, they succeeded in forcing them, and put the Araucanians to flight. Cayancura was so exceedingly mortified by this defeat, that he retired to his ulmenate, leaving the command of the army to his son, Nangoniel, a young man of great hopes and much beloved by the nation. This young commander immediately collected a new army, in which were an hundred and fifty horse, which from this time forwards became a regular part of the Araucanian military force. With these troops he returned to invest the fortress of Arauco, and guarded all its environs so closely that the garrison were unable to procure a supply of provisions, and were at length compelled to evacuate it, probably on capitulation. Encouraged by this good fortune, Nangoniel proceeded towards the Biobio, intending to attack the fort of Trinidad, which protected the passage of supplies in that direction from Spanish Chili to the forts on the south of that river. But while on his march, he was encountered by a detachment of Spanish troops commanded by Francisco Hernandez, by whom he was defeated. In this action he lost an arm and received several other dangerous wounds. Being obliged by this misfortune to take refuge on a neighbouring mountain, where he was drawn into an ambush by the sergeant-major[89] of the Spanish army, he and fifty of his soldiers were slain, after defending themselves valiantly for a long time. On the same day, an officer named Cadeguala, who had obtained great reputation in the Arancanian army for his courage and military skill, was proclaimed toqui by the officers.

[Footnote 88: Lines, it would appear of circumvallation and contravallation, probably suggested by some of the Spaniards who had joined the Araucanians.—E.]

[Footnote 89: This officer in the Spanish service seems somewhat equivalent to our adjutant; and the sergeant-major of the array in Chili, may be considered as a kind of adjutant-general.—E.]

About this time, while the Araucanians were valiantly endeavouring to oppose the Spanish arms, the English also planned an expedition against them in that remote quarter of the world. Sir Thomas Cavendish sailed with this view from Plymouth on the 21st of July 1586 with three ships, and arrived on the coast of Chili in the following year. He landed at the desert port of Quintero[90], and endeavoured to enter into a negociation with the natives of the country; but he was attacked by Alonzo Molina, the corregidor of St Jago, and compelled to reimbark with the loss of several soldiers and seamen, and quitted the coast after a very short stay.

[Footnote 90: The port of Quintero, in about lat. 32 deg. 45' S. is about 8 or 10 miles to the north of the river Quillota in Spanish Chili. The voyage of Sir Thomas Cavendish will appear in an after division of this work.—E.]

Cadeguala, the new toqui, signalized the commencement of his administration by several successful inroads into the Spanish possessions, the particulars of which are not recorded. Having notice of the alarm in Spanish Chili occasioned by the English squadron, he resolved to avail himself of that diversion of the Spanish forces to make an effort against the city of Angol by surprise. He maintained a secret intelligence with some of the inhabitants of that place, by whose means he prevailed upon a number of native Chilese, who were in the service of the Spanish citizens, to set fire to their masters houses at a certain hour of an appointed night, when he was to be ready with his army at the gates to assault the place. His plan was accordingly executed; and entering the city during the confusion occasioned by the fires, he divided his force, consisting of a thousand foot and an hundred horse, into several detachments, which made a horrible carnage of the citizens, who flying from the flames fell into the hands of the Araucanians. The garrison attempted in vain to dislodge the enemy, and the whole population of the place had been assuredly put to the sword, but for the courage and conduct of the governor, who had fortunately arrived at the city only two hours before the attack. He immediately hastened with his guards to the different quarters which were occupied by the enemy, where with wonderful presence of mind he collected the dispersed inhabitants who had escaped the sword of the enemy, and conducted them to the citadel. Having armed and marshalled all the most resolute of the inhabitants, he sallied out from the citadel at their head against the enemy, whom he compelled to evacuate the city at break of day. It would appear that the Araucanians had now become less scrupulous than formerly in their mode of making war; for Cadeguala was not abandoned by any of his officers on this occasion, as Caupolican had formerly been in his attempt to surprise Canete by similar means.

Although the Arancanian general had not succeeded in this daring enterprise according to his expectations, he was so little discouraged by its failure that he immediately undertook the siege of Puren, which appeared more easy to be taken as it was situated at some distance from the Spanish frontiers. He accordingly invested it regularly with four thousand men in four separate divisions, under the respective commands of Guanoalca, Caniotaru, Relmuantu, and Curilemu, the most valiant officers of his army. On receiving notice of the investiture of Puren, the governor hastened to its relief with a strong reinforcement, but was opposed on his march by Cadeguala at the head of an hundred and fifty Araucanian horse armed with lances, and compelled to retreat after a long and obstinate combat, in which several fell on both sides. Elated by this success, the toqui made proposals to the besieged, either to enter into his service or to allow them to retire unmolested. These terms, which he pretended were very advantageous for men in their situation, were disdainfully rejected; yet one man of the garrison, named Juan Tapia, went over to the Araucanians by whom he was well received, and even got advancement in their army. As these terms were rejected, Cadeguala determined to endeavour to shorten the siege in a different manner. He presented himself one day before the walls mounted on a fine horse which he had taken from the governor, and boldly defied Garcia Ramon the commander of the garrison to single combat at the end of three days. The challenge was accepted, and the intrepid toqui appeared in the field at the time appointed, with a small number of attendants, whom he placed apart. Ramon likewise came out from the fort to meet him, attended by an escort of forty men, whom he ordered to remain at some distance. The two champions, having taken their distance set spurs to their horses and ran their course with such fury that Cadeguala fell at the first rencounter, pierced through the body by the lance of his adversary. He refused however to acknowledge himself vanquished, and even endeavoured to remount his horse to renew the combat, but died in the attempt. His attendants hastened to raise him, and even carried off his body after a sharp contest with the Spaniards.

After the death of their commander, the Araucanians retired from the blockade for a short time; but soon returned to the siege, after having elected Guanoalca to the vacant toquiate, having been informed by the Spanish deserter Tapia, that the garrison was ill supplied with provisions, and divided into parties. Cut off from all hopes of relief, and dissatisfied with the conduct of their officers, the besieged soon determined upon evacuating the place; and the Araucanians allowed them to march off unmolested, according to their usual policy. Guanoalca immediately marched against another fort which the Spaniards had recently erected in the neighbourhood of Mount Mariguenu; but finding that it had been recently and considerably reinforced, he proceeded against the forts of Trinidad and Spiritu Santo on the banks of the Biobio. As the governor of Chili was apprehensive that he might not be able to defend these forts, or perhaps considered them of too little importance to hazard the safety of their garrisons, he evacuated them in 1589, and transferred their garrisons to another fortress which he directed to be constructed on the river Puchanqui as a protection for the city of Angol, so that the operations of the war consisted mostly in the construction and demolition of fortifications.

The toquiate of Guanoalca was more remarkable for the exploits of a heroine named Janequeo than by his own. This famous woman was wife of Guepotan, a valiant officer who had long defended the fortified post of Liben near Villarica. After the loss of that important place he retired to the Andes, where he used every effort to stimulate the Puelches inhabiting that mountainous region to rise in defence of the country against the Spanish invaders. Being desirous of having his wife along with him, he descended into the plains in search of her, but was surprised by a party of Spaniards, and preferring to be cut in pieces rather than yield himself a prisoner, he was slain in the unequal combat. Janequeo, inflamed by an ardent desire to revenge the death of her husband, put herself at the head of an army of Puelches in 1590, assisted by Guechiuntereo her brother, with which she made inroads into the Spanish settlements, killing all of that nation who fell into her hands. Reinforced by a regiment of veteran soldiers which had been sent him from Peru, the governor Don Alonza Sotomayor, marched against the heroine; but, by constantly occupying the high grounds, attacking sometimes the van, sometimes the rear of the Spaniards, and harassing them in every possible way, she at last obliged the governor to retire, after having lost much time and a considerable number of men to no purpose. As the governor was of opinion that rigorous measures were best calculated to quell the pride of the Araucanians, he ordered all the prisoners taken in this incursion to be hung before his retreat. On this occasion, one of these men requested to be hanged on a higher tree than the rest, that the sacrifice he had made of himself for his country might be the more conspicuous, and inspire his surviving countrymen with the more ardent determination to defend their liberties.

Having thus foiled all the endeavours of a general who had gained high reputation in the wars of Italy, Germany, and Flanders, Janequeo proceeded to attack the recently constructed fortress of Puchanqui, not far from which she defeated and slew the commandant, Aranda, who had advanced to meet her with a part of the garrison. Not being able to gain possession of this fort, she retired at the commencement of the rainy season to the mountains near Villarica, where she fortified herself in a place surrounded by precipices, from whence she continually infested the environs of that city in such a manner that no one dared to venture beyond the walls. Moved by the distresses of the citizens, the governor sent his brother Don Luis to their aid, with the greater part of two reinforcements which he had recently received from Peru, under the command of Castillejo and Penalosa. The intrepid Janequeo awaited him in her fortified post, which she deemed secure, and repelled for a long time the various assaults of the Spaniards with great presence of mind. At length, her soldiers being dispersed by the fire of the artillery, she had to seek for safety in flight. Her brother was made prisoner, and obtained his life on condition of promising to keep his sister quiet, and to secure the friendship of his vassals and adherents to the Spaniards. But, while proposing this measure in a national council, he was killed by the ulmen Catipiuque, who abhorred every species of reconciliation with the enemy.

The old toqui, Guanoalca, died about the close of 1590, and a young and enterprising warrior, named Quintuguenu, was elected in his stead in the year following. Being ambitious of acquiring military glory, the new toqui assaulted and took the fort of Mariguenu by assault, and established himself on the top of that famous mountain with two thousand men, hoping to render himself as celebrated there as Lautaro had been formerly, by gaining an important victory over the Spaniards. Not dismayed by the misfortunes which had befallen his countrymen in that ill-omened place, the governor put himself at the head of a thousand Spaniards and a large auxiliary force of Indians, and marched without delay for Mariguenu, determined upon dislodging the Araucanians or of besieging them in their post. Having disposed his troops in order, and given the necessary directions, he began at daybreak to ascend the difficult and steep defile, leading the advanced guard in person, directly before which was a forlorn hope of twenty half-pay officers much experienced in similar warfare. He had scarcely got half way up the mountain when he was attacked with the utmost fury by Quintuguenu; but animating his troops by his voice and example, he sustained for more than an hour the utmost efforts of the enemy, and gained the top of the defile by persevering bravery. On reaching the level summit of the mountain, the Araucanians were forced to take refuge within their entrenchments, which they did however in excellent order. The Araucanians, exhorting each other to conquer or die for their country, defended their camp with incredible valour against the utmost efforts of the Spaniards till mid-day; when, after a most obstinate resistance, Don Carlos Irrazabel forced the lines on the left with his company, while at the same time the quarter-master and Rodolphus Lisperger, a valiant German officer, penetrated with their companies on the front and the right of the encampment. Though surrounded on every side, Quintuguenu maintained his troops in good order, earnestly exhorting them not to dishonour themselves by suffering an ignominious defeat in a place which had so often been the theatre of victory to their nation, and by his efforts and bravery long kept the fate of the battle in suspense. While he flew from rank to rank, animating his men and constantly making head against the enemy, he fell pierced with three mortal wounds given by the governor, who had taken aim at him. His last words were an enthusiastic exclamation in favour of liberty. On the death of the toqui, part of the Araucanian troops allowed themselves to be cut in pieces, and the rest sought their safety in flight. Almost all the auxiliaries on the side of the Spaniards fell in this successful battle, but only twenty of the Spaniards were slain, among whom was a Portuguese knight of the order of Christ, who was killed at the commencement of the action.

Highly gratified with being the first who had defeated the Araucanians on the formidable heights of Mariguenu, the governor conducted his victorious army to the sea-shore, where he was saluted by repeated discharges of cannon from the fleet of Peru, then scouring the coast in search of the English squadron, and which had witnessed the victory. These were answered by the army with repeated vollies of musquetry, and the customary demonstrations of joy on so glorious an occasion. Availing himself of the opportunity afforded by the presence of the fleet, the governor sent the quarter-master-general into Peru to solicit the greatest possible reinforcement of troops without delay, to enable him to prosecute the war to advantage in the ensuing campaign. In the mean time, he abandoned the ancient scite of the fort of Arauco, and rebuilt it in a more convenient situation on the sea-shore. Colocolo, son of the celebrated ulmen of that name, but of a very different disposition from that of his father, was lord of that district, and being indignant at seeing his country occupied by the Spaniards endeavoured to drive them off; but being defeated and made prisoner, he solicited for his life, which he obtained on condition of persuading his subjects to return from the mountains and to submit to the authority of the Spaniards. On being urged by his wife Millayene, to fulfil the promise made by their chief, they replied that he ought to endure his misfortunes with the firmness that became his rank and lineage; that they were willing to encounter every danger under his command, and according to his example, or to revenge the outrages he might be subjected to, but could never consent to betray their country by submitting to obey its bitterest enemies. Irritated by this patriotic resolution of his subjects, Colocolo devoted himself in future to the service of the Spaniards, and even served them as a guide in the pursuit of his own people among the fastnesses in which they had taken refuge.

In the year 1592 there happened to be a Spanish prisoner among the Araucanians, who by his ingratiating manners had acquired the confidence and esteem of the principal people of that high-spirited nation. Either by secret instructions from the governor, or from gratitude for the kind treatment he had received while prisoner, this man exerted himself to effectuate a treaty of peace between the nations, and had at one time a fair prospect of bringing it about. But the preliminaries which he proposed as the ground work of a reconciliation did not prove satisfactory to either party, and all his endeavours were abortive. The governor, being irritated at the rejection of his proposals, marched into the province of Tucapel which he laid waste on every side with fire and sword. As Paillaeco, who had been elected toqui in place of Quintuguenu, did not think his force sufficient to oppose the enemy in the open field, he endeavoured to draw them into an ambush. With this view, he placed an hundred horsemen at the entrance of a wood, within which he had concealed the remainder of his troops, giving orders to the horse to counterfeit flight on the coming up of the enemy to draw them within reach of the ambushment. This scheme seemed at first to promise success, but in the end turned against its contriver. The Araucanians took to flight and were pursued by the Spaniards, who soon discovered that it was only a stratagem, and turned back accordingly as if struck with a panic, in hopes of decoying the enemy to quit the wood and attack them in the open field. Not aware of this repetition of their own trick, the Araucanians fell into the snare they had laid for their enemies; and being surrounded on every side, were mostly cut in pieces together with their commander, after selling their lives at a dear rate, a small remnant taking refuge in the marshes from the pursuit of the victors.

These repeated victories certainly cost much blood to the Spaniards, as the governor after this last action withdrew to St Jago to await the reinforcements he expected from Peru, and to raise as many recruits as possible in the northern provinces of Chili. As the reinforcements did not appear to him sufficient for continuing the war with a reasonable prospect of ultimate success, he even went into Peru in person to solicit more effectual succours, leaving the charge of the civil government daring his absence to the licentiate Pedro Viscarra, and the command of the army to the quarter-master. On his arrival at Lima, Sotomayor met with a successor who had been appointed to the government of Chili, by the court of Spain. This was Don Martin Loyola, nephew of St Ignatius, the celebrated founder of the order of the Jesuits, who had acquired the favour of the viceroy of Peru by taking prisoner Tupac Amuru the last Inca of Peru. In requital for this service, he was not only gratified by being appointed to the government of Chili, but was rewarded by obtaining in marriage the princess or coya Donna Clara Beatrix, the only daughter and sole heiress of the former Inca Sayri Tupac. Loyola arrived at Valparaiso, in 1593, with a respectable body of troops, and immediately proceeded to St Jago, where he was received with every demonstration of joy by the citizens; but during his administration the Spaniards experienced the severest disaster that had ever happened to them in Chili.

After the defeat and death of Paillaeco, the Araucanians elected Paillamachu to the supreme command, who was hereditary toqui or prince of the second Uthulmapu. This military dictator was already much advanced in years, yet a man of wonderful activity and resources, and was so fortunate in his enterprises that he far surpassed all his predecessors in military glory, and had the singular felicity of restoring his country to its ancient independence by the entire expulsion of the Spaniards from its territories. Immediately on his elevation to the supreme dignity of toqui, he appointed two officers of great valour and merit, Pelantaru and Millacalquin to the important employments of vice-toqui, deviating from the usual custom of the nation, which allowed only of one lieutenant-general. And, as the military force of the confederacy had been greatly diminished by the late unfortunate incidents in the war, he followed the example of Antiguenu, a former toqui, by withdrawing into the almost inaccessible marshes of Lumaco, where he used his utmost efforts to collect and discipline an army for the execution of the extensive plans he had formed for the entire liberation of his country.

After having regulated the police of the capital and the civil government of the kingdom of Chili, Loyola proceeded to the city of Conception, where he established his headquarters in order to be at hand for conducting the operations of the war. The toqui of the Araucanians, on hearing of his arrival, sent an intelligent and sagacious officer named Antipillan to compliment him, but charged at the same time to obtain information of his character and designs. In frequent conferences with this person, the new governor endeavoured to impress him with an idea of the vast power and immense resources of the Spanish monarchy, against which it was impossible as he said for the Araucanians to contend successfully, and insinuated therefore the necessity of their submitting to an accommodation. Pretending to be convinced by the reasoning of Loyola, the ambassador acknowledged the prodigious power of the Spanish monarchy in comparison with the Araucanian state; which, notwithstanding the vast disproportion, had hitherto been able to resist every effort of the Spaniards. He acknowledged even the propriety of his nation entering into negotiations for peace, but alleged that the Spaniards affixed wrong ideas to that word; as, under the semblance of peace, they sought to subject the Araucanians to their authority, which they would never agree to while one of them remained alive. And finally, that the only peace to which they would consent, must consist of an entire cessation of hostilities, a complete restoration of all the lands which were occupied by the Spaniards within the Araucanian territory, and an explicit renunciation of every pretence to controul or interfere with their independent rights.

As Loyola was of a generous disposition, he could not avoid admiring the noble and enlightened sentiments of the barbarian ambassador, and dismissed him with the strongest demonstrations of esteem. Yet so far was he from any idea of abandoning the posts already established in the Araucanian territory, that he crossed the Biobio in 1594, and founded a new city at a short distance from that river, giving it the name of Coya in honour of his wife a Peruvian princess. This place was intended to protect the rich gold mines of Kilacoyan, and to serve as a place of retreat for the inhabitants of Angol in case of need; and in order to render it more secure, he constructed two castles in its immediate neighbourhood, named Jesus and Chivecura, on either shore of the Biobio. Solicitous to destroy this new settlement, which he considered as a disgrace to his administration, Paillamachu sent in 1595, one of his officers named Loncothequa, with orders to destroy the fort of Jesus. After twice penetrating within the works, and even burning a part of the interior buildings of this place, Loncothequa lost his life without being able to accomplish the enterprise.

In 1596, the toqui made frequent incursions into all the Spanish districts, both within and adjoining the Araucanian territory, on purpose to subsist his troops and to inure them to a military life. The Spanish army attempted in vain to prevent or pursue these predatory detachments, as the wary Paillamachu took the utmost care to avoid any encounter, determined to reserve his force for some favourable occasion. On purpose to restrain these incursions Loyola erected two additional forts in the neighbourhood of the encampment or head-quarters of the toqui, one on the scite of the old fort of Puren, and the other on the borders of the marshes of Lumaco, which he garrisoned with the greater part of a reinforcement of troops which he had just received from Peru. He sent the remainder of these in 1597 to the province of Cujo, where they founded a new city, called San Luis de Loyola, which still subsists in a miserable condition, though placed in a very advantageous situation.

The fort of Lumaco was soon afterwards taken by storm, by the toqui in person, who gave orders to two of his officers to reduce that of Puren. In ten days they reduced the garrison to the last extremity, but had to desist from the enterprise by the approach of a reinforcement under the command of Pedro Cortes, a Spanish officer who acquired great reputation in the Araucanian war. The governor Loyola arrived there soon afterwards with his army, and gave orders to demolish the fortifications and to remove the garrison to Angol, lest it might experience a similar fate with what had so recently happened to the fort of Lumaco. He then proceeded to Imperial, Villarica and Valdivia, the fortifications of which places he carefully repaired, to secure them against the increasing strength of the enemy, and then returned towards the Biobio under the security of an escort of three hundred men. As soon as he thought himself in a place of security, he ordered back the escort, retaining only along with himself and family sixty-two half-pay officers and three Franciscan friars. Paillamachu had secretly followed and watched all the motions of the governor, and concluded that he had now found a favourable opportunity to attack him. Finding him accordingly encamped in the pleasant valley of Caralava, he attacked him with a select band of two hundred Araucanians, on the night of the 22d November 1598, and slew Loyola and all his retinue.

It would appear that Paillamachu had formed confident hopes in the successful issue of this bold enterprise, and that it had been long concerted: as, in consequence of his instructions, the whole provinces of the Araucanian confederacy, and their allies the Cunches and Huilliches, were in arms in less than forty-eight hours after the slaughter of Loyola. In the whole of that country, from the Biobio to the archipelago of Chiloe, every Spaniard who had the misfortune to be found without the garrisons was put to death; and the cities and fortresses of Osorno, Valdivia, Villarica, Imperial, Canete, Angol, and Arauco, were all invested at the same time by close blockades. Paillamachu had even the boldness to cross the Biobio, burned the cities of Conception and Chillan, laid waste the provinces under their dependence, and returned into Araucania loaded with spoil.

On the first intelligence of these melancholy events, the inhabitants of St Jago were filled with consternation and despair, and were almost unanimously of opinion to abandon Chili and take refuge in Peru. Yet, having some confidence in Pedro de Viscara, an officer of reputation then beyond seventy years of age, they assembled in council and prevailed on him to assume the government of the kingdom till the court might appoint a successor to Loyola. Viscara, having collected all the troops that could be procured, began his march for the frontiers in 1599, and had even the courage to cross the Biobio in the face of the enemy, and withdrew the inhabitants from Angol and Coya, with whom he repeopled the cities of Conception and Chilian. The government of Viscara only continued for six months; as on learning the perilous situation of Chili, the viceroy of Peru sent Don Francisco Quinones thither as governor, with a numerous reinforcement of soldiers and a large supply of military stores. The new governor had several indecisive actions with the toqui to the north of the river Biobio, to which the Araucanians had gone on purpose to ravage the southern provinces of Spanish Chili. The most important of these was in the plain of Yumbal. The toqui was on his return into the south from a successful inroad at the head of two thousand men, and with a great number of cattle of all kinds which he had taken in the province of Chillan, and Quinones attempted to intercept his retreat with an equal force, the greater part of which consisted of Spanish troops. The two armies advanced with equal resolution, and the Spaniards attempted in vain to keep the Araucanians at a distance by a constant fire from eight field pieces and all their musquetry. They soon came to close quarters, and the battle continued with incredible fury for more than two hours, till night parted them; when Paillamachu took advantage of the darkness and repassed the Biobio. On this occasion, the governor made an improper display of severity, by ordering all his prisoners to be quartered and hung upon trees, which was much disapproved of by his officers, who, either from humanity or a motive of self-interest, urged him not to give the enemy a pretence for retaliating by similar cruelties. But Quinones obstinately adhered to an old maxim of endeavouring to conquer by means of terror, and was deaf to all their remonstrances. We are ignorant of the loss sustained by the Spaniards in this battle, but it must have been considerable, as Arauco and Canete were both immediately abandoned, and their inhabitants withdrawn to the city of Conception.

Paillmachu does not seem to have been at all disconcerted by the issue of the late battle, as he continued the sieges of the Spanish cities, and was himself in constant motion; sometimes encouraging by his presence the forces that were employed in blockading the cities, and at other times ravaging the Spanish provinces to the north of the Biobio, where he did infinite mischief. Having learnt that the siege of Valdivia had been raised by the officer whom he had entrusted with that enterprise, he hastened to that place with four thousand men, part cavalry, seventy of his infantry being armed with musquets which he had taken from the Spaniards in the late engagements. On the night of the 14th of November[91] he crossed the broad river of Calacala by swimming, unsuspected by the garrison, stormed the city at day-break, killed a great number of the inhabitants, and burnt the houses. He even attempted to gain possession of some vessels in the harbour, on board of which many of the inhabitants had taken refuge, but these escaped his fury by immediately setting sail. After this notable exploit, he returned in triumph into the north of Araucania with a booty of two millions of dollars, upwards of four hundred prisoners, and a considerable number of cannon; and rejoined Millacalquin, an officer to whom he had entrusted the defence of the Biobio during his absence.

[Footnote 91: According to Garcilasso, Valdivia was taken on the 24th of November 1599. In a letter from St Jago in Chili, dated in March 1600, and inserted in the Royal Commentaries of Peru, P.I.B. vii. Ch. xxv. the Araucanian army on this occasion is said to have amounted to 5000 men, 3000 of whom were horse. Of the foot, 200 were armed with coats of mail, and 70 with fire-arms, as was said. They surprised the city at daybreak without the smallest alarm, there being only four men on guard, two of whom went the rounds, the Spaniards being lulled into security by some recent successes in two different incursions they had lately made into the country, which they had laid waste for eight leagues all around during twenty days.—E.]

Ten days after the destruction of Valdivia, Francisco del Campo arrived there by sea from Peru with a reinforcement of three hundred men; and finding it in ashes, he ineffectually endeavoured to introduce these succours into Osorno, Villarica, and Imperial[92]. Amid so many misfortunes, an expedition of five ships from Holland arrived on the coast of Chili in 1660, which plundered the island of Chiloe and put the Spanish garrison to the sword. But on a part of their people landing in the island of Talca or Santa Maria[93], inhabited by the Araucanians, they were repulsed with the loss of twenty-three men, being probably mistaken for Spaniards.

[Footnote 92: In the letter quoted from Garcilasso in the preceding note, Del Campo is said to have raised the siege of Osorno and to have performed other actions of happy consequence.—E.]

[Footnote 93: St Mary's island is on the coast of Araucania, in lat. 37 deg. S.—E.]

Disgusted with a war which threatened such unfortunate consequences, Quinones solicited and obtained leave to resign the government of Chili, and was succeeded by Garcia Ramon who had long been quarter-master of the army in that kingdom. Great expectations were formed of success in the war against the Araucanians under his direction, from his long experience and thorough acquaintance with the manner in which the enemy carried on their warlike operations. But that experience induced him to conduct the war on prudent principles of defence, rather than to hazard the loss of that part of Chili which was subject to Spain. Although he received a reinforcement consisting of an entire regiment of veterans, under the command of Don Francisco de Ovalle, father to the historian of that name, he confined himself almost entirely to the defence of the frontier line upon the Biobio. Garcia Ramon was however soon superseded in the government by the appointment of Alonzo Rivera, an officer who had acquired considerable reputation in the wars in the low countries, and who now brought out a farther reinforcement of a regiment of veteran troops. On assuming the government, he established a number of additional forts on the river Biobio, to defend the frontiers, by which he greatly encouraged the Spanish colonists, who still entertained an idea of abandoning Chili to the enemy.

The populous and opulent city of Villarica, fell into the hands of the Araucanians in 1692, after a siege or blockade of two years and eleven months; and soon afterwards Imperial, the capital of the Spanish settlements beyond the Biobio, experienced a similar fate. The defence of this city was protracted for some months by the courage of a Spanish lady, named Donna Innes de Aguilera. Seeing the garrison quite dispirited by the long continuance of the siege, and ready to capitulate, she encouraged them to persist in its defence, and even directed all the operations in person; until at last, on a favourable opportunity offering, she escaped by sea with the bishop and most of the inhabitants. During this siege, she lost her husband and brothers, and her heroism was rewarded by the king with a pension of two thousand dollars.

Osorno, likewise a rich and populous city, soon followed; as the enemy, now freed from the attention they had hitherto given to Valdivia, Villarica and Imperial, were able to bring their whole force against that last possession of the Spaniards within the territories of the Araucanian confederacy. The sufferings endured by the garrison and inhabitants of Osorno are scarcely to be exceeded by those endured in the most celebrated sieges recorded in history. They were long obliged to subsist on the most loathsome food, having no other sustenance than the carcasses of dead horses; and when these failed on cats and dogs and the skins of beasts. Thus in little more than three years, all the settlements which had been established by Valdivia and his successors, between the river Biobio and the archipelago of Chiloe, and preserved at the expence of so much blood, were destroyed, and so effectually that hardly any vestiges of them now remain. None of them have been since rebuilt, as what is at present called Valdivia is nothing more than a garrison or fortified post. Though great numbers of the inhabitants of these cities perished in the defence of their walls, by famine or by the sword of the enemy, yet Spanish prisoners of all ranks were so numerous among the Araucanians, that almost every family had at least one to its share. The married Spaniards were mostly allowed to retain their wives, and the unmarried men were supplied with wives from among the women of the country; but the unmarried Spanish women were distributed among the chiefs of the Araucanians, who by their customs were permitted a plurality of wives. It is not a little remarkable that the mestees, or offspring of these marriages, became in the subsequent wars the most inveterate enemies of the Spaniards.

On this occasion likewise, the ransom and exchange of prisoners were permitted, by which means many of the Spaniards escaped from captivity. Yet some were induced, by love for the children they had by the native women, to remain captives during their lives. Some even of the Spaniards acquired the confidence and affection of the natives, by their pleasing manners, or by their skill in useful arts, and acquired advantageous establishments in the country. Among these, Don Basilio Roxas and Don Antonio Bascugnano, both of noble birth, acquired high reputation with the Araucanians, and both of them left interesting memoirs of the transactions of their times. Such of the Spaniards as happened to fall to the share of brutal masters, had much to suffer.

Paillamachu did not long continue to enjoy the applause of his countrymen, for having so successfully expelled the Spaniards from Araucania: He died about the end of the year 1603, and was succeeded by Huenecura, who had been bred to arms under his direction and example in the celebrated military school of Lumaco.

* * * * *

"Modern as is the History of America, it has had its full share of fable, and the city of Osorno has furnished the subject of one not less extraordinary than any of the rest, which is thus related in the twentieth volume of the Seminario Erudito[94]."

[Footnote 94: This fabulous story of the new Osorno is contained in a note to Molina by the English Editor.—E.]

"During the great effort of the Araucanians to recover their country from the Spaniards, Osorno resisted their arms with extraordinary vigour for six months. At the end of this period, the Spaniards repelled a general assault of the besiegers, and compelled them to abandon the blockade. Being afraid of another attack, the Spaniards retired about three or four leagues, to a peninsula at the foot of the Andes, formed by the lake from which the river Bueno issues. They there built a new city on the isthmus, which they secured with walls, bulwarks, moats and draw-bridges; and multiplied in process of time so as to be obliged to build another city on the opposite side of the lake, and their descendents still continue to occupy the same place. This people, called Alcahuncas by the Indians, are armed with lances, swords and daggers, but whether these are of iron or not, the person who discovered the existence of these cities had not been able to learn. They also use the laque or thong and ball with great dexterity, on which account they are much dreaded by their neighbours. They have also cannon, but no musquets. They retain the dress, complexion and beard of their Spanish ancestors. They used formerly to purchase salt from the Pehuenches, and even from the Indians who live under the Spanish government, which they paid for in silver, which occasioned so great a demand for that article in the Spanish settlements, that a loaf of salt used to sell at the price of an ox. Of late this demand has ceased, as they have found salt in abundance in their own country."

"A year only before this account was written, or in 1773, a man from Chiloe got to the city gates one morning before the drawbridge was lifted, and knocked for admittance. The soldier who was on guard told him to hasten back as fast as possible, as their king was a cruel tyrant, and would certainly put him to death if taken; and even seemed astonished that the Indians had permitted him to arrive at the gate. This man was killed on his way back; but the news of his adventure reached Valdivia, where it was fully believed. It is said that the people of these two cities live under a grievous tyranny, and are therefore desirous of making their situation known to the Spaniards; but that their chiefs use every possible precaution to prevent this, and the Indians of the intervening country are equally solicitous to prevent any intelligence respecting this state being conveyed to the Spaniards, lest it might induce them to make new attempts to penetrate into the interior."

"This account is said to have been written in 1774, by Don Ignacio Pinuer, captain of infantry and interpreter general at Valdivia, in a letter addressed to the president of Chili. The writer states that his thorough knowledge of the language of the natives, and his great intimacy with them, had enabled him to collect this information, by means of the artful and persevering inquiries of twenty-eight years[95]."

[Footnote 95: This absurd story evidently belongs to the same class with the Seven cities formerly mentioned, and the El Dorado and Welsh colony, which will both occur in the sequel of this work. Though not exactly connected in point of time with this fabled city of Osorno, a similar fable respecting a supposed white nation in the interior of Chili, may be noticed in this place, the reflections on which, in the paragraphs subjoined, give a clear explanation of the origin of several of these tales.—E.]

"In the reign of the Emperor Charles V. the bishop of Placentia is said to have sent four ships to the Moluccas. When they had advanced about twenty leagues within the Straits of Magellan, three of them were wrecked, and the fourth was driven back into the southern Atlantic. When the storm abated, this fourth ship again attempted the passage, and reached the place where the others were lost where they found the men still on shore, who entreated to be taken on board; but as there was neither room nor provision for so great a number, they were necessarily left. An opinion long prevailed that they had penetrated into the interior of Chili, where they settled and became a nation called the Cesares, whose very ploughshares were said to be of gold. Adventurers reported that they had been near enough to hear the sound of their bells; and it was even said that men of a fair complexion had been made prisoners, who were supposed to belong to this nation. The existence of this city of the Cesares was long believed, and even about the year 1620, Don Geronimo Luis de Cabrera, then governor of Peru, made an expedition in search of this El Dorado of Chili. Even after Feyjo had attempted to disprove its existence, the jesuit Mascardi went in search of it with a large party of Puelches, but was killed by the Poy-yas on his return from the fruitless quest[96]."

[Footnote 96: Dobrizhoffer, III. 407.]

"The groundwork of this and other similar fables is thus satisfactorily explained by Falkner[97].—'I am satisfied that the reports concerning a nation in the interior of South America descended from Europeans, or the remains of shipwrecks, are entirely false and groundless, and occasioned by misunderstanding the accounts given by the Indians. When asked in Chili respecting any settlement of the Spaniards in the inland country, they certainly give accounts of towns and white people, meaning Buenos Ayres, and other places to the eastwards of the Andes. And vice versa, on being asked in the east the same question, their answers refer to Chili or Peru; not having the least idea that the inhabitants of these distant countries are known to each other. Upon questioning some Indians on this subject, I found my conjecture perfectly right; and they acknowledged, when I named Chiloe, Valdivia, and other places in Chili, that these were the places they alluded to under the description of European settlements, and seemed amazed that I should know that such places existed.'"

[Footnote 97: Falkner, Ch. iv. p. 112.]

SECTION X.

Farther Narrative of the War, to the Conclusion of Peace with the Araucanians.

While Alonzo Rivera applied himself with every possible energy to check the progress of the Araucanians and to guard the frontier of the Biobio, he was removed, from the government of Chili to that of Tucuman, as a punishment for having presumed to marry the daughter of the celebrated heroine Innes Aguilera, without having obtained the royal permission. On this occasion Garcia Ramon was reinstated in the government, and received at the same time with his commission a reinforcement of a thousand men from Europe and two hundred and fifty from Mexico. Being now at the head of three thousand regular troops, besides a considerable auxiliary force, he invaded Araucania and penetrated without opposition into the province of Boroa[98] where he erected a fort, which he furnished with a considerable number of cannon, and in which he left a garrison of three hundred men under the command of Lisperger, a German officer formerly mentioned.

[Footnote 98: The province of Boroa, formerly mentioned as the residence of a tribe much whiter in their colour than the other natives of South America, lies at the foot of the Andes between the heads of the rivers Hueco and Tolten, to the eastward of the ruins of Villarica.—E.]

Immediately after the return of the invading army into Spanish Chili, the new toqui Huenecura proceeded to attack this new establishment. While on his march he fell in with Lisperger, who had gone out from the fort at the head of an hundred and sixty of his men to protect a convoy; and immediately attacked the Spaniards with such fury that he cut the whole detachment in pieces, and the commander among the rest. After this first successful essay of his arms, he proceeded without delay against the fort, which he made three several attempts to take by storm; but was repelled with so much skill and valour by Gil Negrete who had succeeded Lisperger in the command, that after an obstinate combat of two hours he was obliged to desist from the attempt to storm, and established a close blockade. This was continued till the governor Ramon sent orders for the garrison to evacuate the place. The Spanish army was now divided into two separate bodies, one under the command of Alvaro Pineda the quarter-master of Chili, and the other under the orders of Don Diego Saravia, who proceeded to lay waste the Araucanian territory without mercy. Watching his opportunity however, Huenecura attacked and defeated them in succession, and with such complete success that not even a single person of either detachment escaped death or captivity. By these unexpected misfortunes, that fine army on which such flattering hopes of security at least, if not conquest, had been founded, was entirely annihilated. In consequence of these repeated and heavy disasters, orders were given by the court of Spain, that a body of two thousand regular troops should be continually maintained on the Araucanian frontier; for the support of which force, an annual appropriation of 292,279 dollars was made from the royal treasury of Peru. At the same time the court of royal audience was re-established in the city of St Jago on the 8th of September 1609, after having been thirty-four years suppressed. This measure gave universal satisfaction to the inhabitants, and the court has continued there ever since with high reputation for justice and integrity.

By this new regulation, Ramon added the title of president to those of governor and captain-general of Chili. Having received considerable reinforcements, to replace the army so lately destroyed, Ramon ventured to recross the Biobio at the head of about two thousand men. Huenecura advanced to meet him, and a sanguinary and obstinate battle took place in the defiles of the marshes of Lumaco. The Spaniards were for some time in imminent danger of being completely defeated; but the valiant governor, taking his station in the front line, so animated his soldiers by his presence and example that they at length succeeded in breaking and defeating the enemy. Shortly after this victory, Ramon died in the city of Conception, on the 10th of August 1610, universally regretted by the Spanish inhabitants of Chili, to whom he was much endeared by his excellent qualities and his long residence among them. He was even highly esteemed by the Araucanians, whom he had always treated, when prisoners, with a humane attention which did him much honour. According to the royal decree for establishing the court of audience, the government of Chili now devolved upon Don Luis Merlo de la Fuente, the eldest oydor or judge.

Much about the same time with Ramon, the toqui Huenecura likewise died, either from disease or in consequence of wounds received in the late battle. He was succeeded in the toquiate by Aillavilu the second, who is represented by Don Basilio Rosas, a contemporary writer, as one of the greatest of the Araucanian generals, and as having fought many battles against Merlo and his successor Don Juan Xaraquemada; but he does not particularize either their dates, the places where they were fought, or any circumstances concerning them.

Among the missionaries who were at that time employed for the conversion of the natives in Chili, was a Jesuit named Luis Valdivia, who, finding it impossible to preach to the Araucanians during the continuance of war, went to Spain and represented in strong terms to Philip III. the great injury suffered by the cause of religion in consequence of this long and cruel war. That weak prince was more devoted to the advancement of religion than to the augmentation of his territories, and sent immediate orders to the government of Chili to discontinue the war, and to settle a permanent peace with the Araucanians, by establishing the river Biobio as the frontier between the two nations. On purpose to secure the punctual execution of these orders, the king offered to exalt Valdivia to the episcopal dignity, and to appoint him governor of Chili. He refused both of these high offers, and only stipulated for the restoration of Alonzo Rivera to the government, whose views were conformable with his own, and who had been exiled to Tucuman as formerly mentioned.

Much gratified with the prosperous issue of his voyage, the zealous missionary returned to Chili in 1612, carrying a letter written by the king of Spain to the national assembly of the Araucanian chiefs, recommending the establishment of peace between the nations, and that they should promote the propagation of Christianity among their dependents. Immediately on his arrival in Chili, Valdivia hastened to the frontiers, and communicated the nature of the commission with which he was entrusted to the Araucanians, by means of some prisoners of that nation whom he had purposely brought with him from Peru. Aillavilu the toqui gave little attention to the proposed negociation, which he deemed a feint for deceiving and surprising him. But, as he died or resigned the command soon after, his successor Ancanamon thought proper to inquire into the reality of the pacific proposals, and directed the ulmen Carampangui to converse with Valdivia, that his offers might be laid before a general assembly of the ulmens. Accordingly, on the invitation of Carampangui, Valdivia repaired to Nancu in the province of Catiray, where, in an assembly of fifty Araucanian chiefs, he made known the substance of the proposed pacific negociations, read and expounded the royal letter to the Araucanian confederacy, and made a long oration on the motives of his interference and on the important concerns of their immortal souls. The assembly thanked him for his exertions, and promised to make a favourable report to the toqui. On his return to Conception, Valdivia was accompanied by Carampangui, where he was honourably received by the governor; who dispatched Pedro Melendez one of his ensigns, under the safeguard of the ulmen, on a message to the toqui, carrying with him the letter of the king of Spain, and a request that Ancanamon would meet him at Paicavi, a place near the frontiers, that they might confer together upon the preliminaries of peace.

The toqui soon afterwards came to the place appointed, with a small guard of forty soldiers, and accompanied by several ulmens, bringing likewise along with him a number of Spanish prisoners of the first families, whom he set at liberty. The governor, with Valdivia and the principal officers of the government, received Ancanamon with every demonstration of respect, and conducted him to the lodgings appointed for his reception amid the repeated discharges of artillery. The governor then proposed, as preliminary articles of peace, that the river Biobio should serve hereafter as the common boundary between the Spanish and Araucanian nations, beyond which neither should be permitted to pass with an army: That all deserters should in future be mutually returned: And that missionaries should be allowed to preach the doctrines of Christianity in the Araucanian territories. Ancanamon required as a preliminary, that the forts of Paicavi and Arauco, which had been lately erected upon the sea coast to the south of the Biobio, should be evacuated. The governor immediately abandoned Paicavi, and agreed to give up the other immediately after the conclusion of peace. Being so far agreed, and as the consent of the four toquis of the uthalmapus was requisite to ratify the treaty, Ancanamon proposed to seek for them in person, and to bring them to the Spanish camp.

While the negociation was in this state of forwardness, an unlooked for event rendered all these pacific measures abortive. Ancanamon had a Spanish lady among his wives, who, taking advantage of his absence, fled for refuge to the governor, accompanied by four other women who were wives to the toqui, and two young girls his daughters. The toqui was extremely indignant on this occasion, though less exasperated by the flight of his wives, than by the kind reception they had experienced among the Spaniards. Relinquishing every thought of peace, he immediately returned to the governor, from whom he demanded the restitution of the fugitives. His demand was taken into consideration by a council of the officers; but the majority of these, many of whom were averse to peace, refused to surrender the women to the toqui, alleging that they were unwilling to expose them to the danger of relapsing from the Christian faith which they had embraced. After many ineffectual propositions, Ancanamon consented to limit his demands to the restitution of his daughters, whom he tenderly loved. To this it was answered, that as the eldest had not yet embraced the Christian faith, his request respecting her would be complied with, but as the younger had been already baptised, they could not think of delivering her into his hands.

At this time the almost extinguished hopes of peace were revived for a time by an unexpected incident. Utiflame, the apo-ulmen of Ilicura near Imperial, had always been among the most inveterate enemies of the Spaniards, and to avoid all intercourse with them, had constantly refused to ransom his sons or relations who happened to be made prisoners. He prided himself on having so successfully opposed all the Spanish governors of Chili, from the elder Villagran to Rivera, that the enemy had never been able to acquire a footing in his province, though near the city of Imperial. One of his sons who had been taken in the late war, was about this time sent back to him by Valdivia, in consequence of which he was so highly gratified, that he went immediately to visit the missionary at the fort of Arauco, where in return for the civilities he experienced from the governor and Valdivia, he engaged to receive the missionaries into his province, and to use his influence with Ancanamon to conclude a peace with the Spaniards. He observed, however, that it was necessary in the first place to restore his women, which could be done with safety by obtaining in the first place a safe conduct from the toqui, and undertook to manage the business. He accordingly departed from Arauco for Ilicura, accompanied by three missionaries, one of whom was Horatio Vecchio, the cousin of Pope Alexander VII. The exasperated toqui no sooner learnt the arrival of the missionaries at Ilicura, than he hastened to that place with two hundred horse, and slew them all with their defender Utiflame. Thus were all the plans of pacification rendered abortive, though Valdivia used repeated attempts to revive the negociation. All his schemes were disconcerted by the contrivances of the officers and soldiers, who were interested in the continuance of the war, and loudly demanded that vengeance should be taken for the blood of the slaughtered priests. Notwithstanding his anxious desire for peace and the pious intentions of the king, the governor found himself compelled to prosecute the war, which was renewed with more fury than ever. Ancanamon the toqui, being eager to revenge the affront he had received in regard to his women, incessantly harassed the southern provinces of Spanish Chili, and his successor Loncothegua continued hostilities with equal obstinacy; but only very imperfect accounts of this period of the war have been given by the contemporary historians. The governor Rivera died at Conception in 1617, having appointed as his successor Fernando Talaverano the senior oydor of the royal court; who was succeeded ten months afterwards by Lope de Ulloa.

The toqui Loncothegua resigned in 1618, and was succeeded in the supreme command of the Araucanian armies by an officer named Lientur, whose military expeditions were always so rapid and unexpected, that the Spaniards used to call him the wizard. All his designs were perfectly seconded by Levipillan, his vice toqui. Though the line of the Biobio was amply secured by fortresses and centinels, these indefatigable enemies always contrived to pass and repass without experiencing any material loss. The first enterprise of Lientur was the capture of a convoy of four hundred horses, which were intended to remount the Spanish cavalry. He next ravaged the province of Chilian, and slew the corregidor with two of his sons and several of the magistrates, who had attempted to resist him in the field. Five days afterwards, he proceeded towards St. Philip of Austria, otherwise called Yumbel, a place about sixty miles to the east of Conception, with six hundred infantry and four hundred horse, all of whom he sent out in various detachments to ravage the surrounding country, leaving only two hundred men to guard the narrow defile of Congrejeras. Provoked at this daring enterprise, Robolledo, the commandant of Yumbel, sent seventy horse to take possession of the pass and cut off the retreat of the toqui; but they were received with such bravery by the Araucanian detachment, that they were compelled to retire for security to a neighbouring hill, after losing their captain and eighteen of their number. Robolledo sent three companies of infantry and all the rest of his cavalry to their aid; but Lientur who had by this time collected all his troops together, fell upon the Spaniards, notwithstanding the continual fire of their musquetry, and put their cavalry to flight at the first charge. The infantry, thus left exposed, were almost all cut to pieces, thirty-six of them only being made prisoners, who were distributed among the several provinces of the Arancanian confederacy. If Lientur had then invested Yumbel it must have fallen into his hands; but he deferred the siege till the following year, when his attempt was rendered unsuccessful by the valiant defence of Ximenes who then had the command. On his repulse however, he assaulted and took a fort named Neculgueno, the garrison of which was put to the sword, and all the auxiliaries who dwelt in that neighbourhood were made prisoners. Lientur followed up these successful exploits with others equally fortunate, which are not particularized by contemporary writers, who have given him the title of the darling of fortune.

Ulloa the-governor, more a prey to anxiety and mortification than disease, died on the 20th of November 1620, and was succeeded in the government of Chili by Christoval de la Cerda, a native of Mexico, the eldest oydor, according to the established rule on such occasions. For the more effectual defence of the frontiers on the Biobio, he caused an additional fortress to be constructed, named San Christoval, which still remains. This oydor continued only a year in the government, during which he was continually occupied in defending the Spanish settlements against the enterprises of Lientur, with whom he had many encounters. His successor, Pedro Suarez de Ulloa, continued the war in a similar manner, contenting himself with acting principally on the defensive, till his death on the 11th of December 1624; when he was succeeded by Francisco Alava, his brother-in-law, who retained the office only for six months, being succeeded by Don Luis de Cordova, in March 1625.

Lientar being advanced in years and worn out by continual exertions, resigned his office in 1625, and was succeeded as toqui by Putapichion, a young man whose courage and conduct much resembled his predecessor in office. The new governor of Chili was a commander of extraordinary skill and courage, and being nephew to the viceroy of Peru, was abundantly supplied with troops and warlike stores, being likewise directed by his instructions not to confine himself to defensive operations, but to carry the war into the Araucanian territory. His first care on his arrival at Conception, was to restore the military discipline, and to discharge all arrears that were due to the troops. He at the same time preferred a number of Creoles to the vacant offices, by which he acquired the esteem of all the inhabitants, and gratified many of the descendants of the original conquerors who had been hitherto much neglected. Having established good order in the government, he directed Alonzo de Cordova, whom he had appointed quarter-master, to make an incursion with six hundred men into the provinces of Arauco and Tucapel. In this expedition only an hundred and fifteen prisoners were taken and a small number of cattle, as most of the inhabitants took refuge in the mountains with their families and effects.

In the mean time the new toqui, Putapichion, endeavoured to signalize the commencement of his administration by the capture of the fort of Nativity, one of the strongest places on the Biobio, which was constructed on the top of a high and steep mountain, well furnished with troops and artillery, and both from its natural and artificial strength was deemed impregnable. Putapichion came unexpectedly against this place, and soon scaling the difficult ascent, got possession of the ditch, set fire to the palisades and houses of the place with fire arrows, and very nearly succeeded in its capture. But the garrison collected in the only bastion which had escaped the flames, whence they kept up so severe a fire against the assailants, that Putapichion was constrained to abandon the enterprise, carrying away with him twelve prisoners and several horses. The toqui then crossed the Biobio and made an attempt upon the fort of Quinel, which was occupied by six hundred men; but failing also in this enterprise, he made an inroad into the province of Chillan, whence he brought off a great number of peasants and cattle, in spite of the exertions of the serjeant-major to stop his rapid march. Eager for retaliation, the governor resolved in 1628, to invade. Araucania in three directions, assigning the maritime country to the quarter-master, the Andes to the serjeant-major, and reserving the intermediate country to himself. Accordingly, at the head of twelve hundred regulars and a strong body of auxiliaries, he traversed the provinces of Encol and Puren, where he captured a great number of men and cattle; and, having crossed the river Cauten, he ravaged in a similar manner to the rich province of Maguegua. On his return from this successful expedition, Putapichion opposed him at the head of three thousand men in order of battle. In the first encounter, the Spanish army was thrown into confusion and suffered a severe loss; but, being rallied by the exertions of their officers, they renewed the battle, which was severely contested for some time, with considerable loss on both sides. As the Araucanians had recovered most of the spoil, and taken some prisoners while the Spanish army was in disorder, the toqui did not think proper to risk too much on the event of battle, and sounded a retreat. On his return to Conception, the governor was rejoined by the serjeant-major and quarter-master. The former had not been able to effect any thing of importance, as the enemy had taken refuge in the mountains. The latter reported that he had made two hundred prisoners, and had acquired a booty of seven thousand horses and a thousand head of cattle, but had the misfortune to lose most of them during, a violent tempest while on his return.

Don Francisco Lasso, an officer who had gained high reputation in the wars of the low countries, arrived soon afterwards with a commission to supersede Cordova in the government of Chili. At the commencement of his administration, he endeavoured to come to an accommodation with the Araucanians, with which view he set at liberty all the prisoners of that nation who were confined in the different garrisons. But the minds of that high-spirited people were not yet disposed towards peace, and the glory of bringing about that desirable event was reserved for his successor; yet Lasso certainly contributed to prepare the way for peace, by the ten years of uninterrupted war which he waged against the Araucanians, in consequence of their rejecting his pacific overtures, during which he gained many victories over that valiant people. At the commencement however of his military operations, Lasso was by no means fortunate. The quarter-master, Cordova, while advancing by his orders to invade the maritime provinces of Araucania, was completely routed by Putapichion in the small district of Piculgue near Arauco. The toqui placed a part of his army in ambush, and contrived with much skill to induce Cordova to give battle in an unfavourable situation. In this action, the Spanish horse, forming the van of the army, was unable to withstand the charge of the Araucanian cavalry, now become exceedingly expert, and was put to flight; and the infantry being thus left exposed and surrounded on all sides, was entirely destroyed after a combat of five hours, during which they performed prodigies of valour, and gallantly resisted many furious assaults of the enemy. In this action Cordova was slain, with five captains, and several other officers of merit.

On receiving intelligence of this disastrous action, the governor marched in person against Putapichion with a considerable body of troops, leaving Robolledo the serjeant-major to defend the passage of the Biobio against the enterprises of the toqui; who yet eluded the vigilance of the serjeant-major, passed the Biobio with a detachment of two hundred men, and laid waste the neighbouring provinces of Chili in the absence of the Spanish army. Lasso immediately returned with all his troops to the Biobio, occupied all the known fords of that river, in hope of cutting off the retreat of the invaders, and then went in search of Putapichion with a select detachment equal in number to the enemy. In this expedition, he was attacked at a place called Robleria on the banks of the Itata by the toqui with such determined resolution, that the Spaniards gave way at the first encounter, forty of them with several officers being slain. The remainder owed their safety to the skill and valour of the governor, who restored their order with wonderful coolness and intrepidity, and even repulsed the enemy with considerable loss. Satisfied with the success he had already obtained, and proud of having taken the scarlet cloak of the governor, Putapichion now conducted his retreat to the Biobio with great skill, and got over that river unopposed.

On his return from this expedition, the toqui was received by his army with lively demonstrations of joy, and resolved to gratify his troops by reviving the almost forgotten festival called pruloncon, or the dance of death. A Spanish soldier, who had been made prisoner in one of the preceding battles, was selected for the victim of this barbarous spectacle [99]. "The officers surrounded by the soldiers form a circle, in the centre of which is placed the official axe of the toqui, with four poniards representing the four Uthalmapus of the confederacy. The unfortunate prisoner is then led in on a sorry horse deprived of his ears and tail, and is placed near the axe, having his face turned towards his own country. He is then ordered to dig a hole in the ground with a sharp stake, and is given a handful of small sticks, which he is ordered to throw one by one into the hole, naming one of the principal warriors of his nation at each stick, while the surrounding soldiers load these detested names with bitter execrations. He is then, ordered to cover up the hole, as if to bury the valour and reputation of the persons whom he has named. After this, the toqui, or one of his bravest companions to whom he relinquishes the honour of being executioner, dashes out the brains of the prisoner with a war-club. The heart is immediately taken out by two attendants and presented still palpitating to the toqui, who sucks a little of the blood and passes it to his officers, who successively repeat the same ceremony. The toqui then fumigates the four cardinal points of the circle with tobacco smoke from his pipe. The soldiers strip the flesh from the bones of the victim, and convert the bones into flutes. The head is cut off and carried round on the point of a pike, amid the acclamations of the multitude, while stamping in measured pace, they thunder out their dreadful war-song accompanied by the mournful sound of their horrible instruments of music. The mangled body is fitted with the head of a sheep, and the barbarous festival is terminated by riot and intoxication. If the skull of the victim has not been broken by the stroke of death, it is made into a drinking cup, called ralilonco, which is used in their banquets in the manner of the ancient Scythians and Goths."

[Footnote 99: The particulars of this ceremony are here inserted from a different part of the work of Molina, B.I. Ch. iv. containing an account of the manners and customs of the Araucanians.—E.]

On the present occasion, the honour of dispatching the victim was conferred upon the ulmen Maulican. This cruel spectacle, which some have attempted to excuse on the principle of retaliation, has dishonoured the fame of Putapichion, and was not even pleasing to all the Araucanians[100]. According to Don Francisco Bascagnan, who was an eye witness, many of the spectators compassionated the fate of the unfortunate soldier; and Maulican, to whom the office of dispatching him was assigned as a mark of honour, is said to have declared that he accepted of it with extreme reluctance, and merely to avoid offending his commander the toqui. The torture of an innocent prisoner, upon whatever motive or pretence, is certainly a crime against humanity of the deepest dye, and can never be justified on any principle whatever.

[Footnote 100: It certainly was not more cruel or more dishonourable than the empalements and mutilations ordered by the Christian enemies of the Araucanians: But the latter were unbelievers, and were rebels against the authority of the Catholic king and the grant of the holy father of the Christian world.—E.]

Having received a reinforcement of five hundred veteran soldiers from Peru, and raised two companies of infantry and a troop of cavalry at St Jago, the governor with these new troops, added to thirteen hundred Spaniards and six hundred auxiliaries composing the army on the frontiers, marched to relieve the fort of Arauco which was menaced by the toqui. Putapichion had in reality commenced his march for that place at the head of seven thousand chosen men, whose valour he thought nothing was able to resist. But in consequence of some superstitious auguries of the ex-toqui Lientur, who had resolved to share the glory of this enterprise, the greater part of the Araucanian troops were intimidated, and deserted to their homes during the march. Putapichion was not discouraged by this defection, and observing that there could be no better omen in war than an eager desire to conquer, he continued his march with three thousand two hundred of his most determined followers, and encamped at a short distance from the fort of Arauco. Some of his officers advised him to assault the fort that same night; but he declined this to give his troops time for rest and refreshment, and that the Spaniards might not reproach him with always taking advantage of the darkness, like a robber, to favour his enterprises.

The governor, who was close at hand with his army, having resolved to offer battle to the enemy next day, ordered his men to prepare themselves for battle, and had a skirmish that night with an advanced party of the Araucanians, who had advanced so near the fort of Arauco as to burn the huts of the auxiliaries on the outside of the fortifications. At daybreak, Lasso took possession with his army of a strong position called Alvarrada, which was defended on either flank by a deep torrent, so that it could not be turned. He placed all his cavalry on the right, under the command of the quartermaster Sea, while the infantry on the left were under the orders of Rebolledo the serjeant-major. Putapichion advanced with his army in such excellent order, that the governor who had been all his life inured to arms, could not avoid openly expressing his admiration of the excellent disposition of the enemy. The Araucanian soldiers, whose heads were adorned with beautiful plumes of feathers, seemed as if going to a banquet, instead of the doubtful chance of battle. For some time the two armies remained motionless, as if observing each other; when at length the signal of attack was sounded by Quepuantu, the vice-toqui, by order of Putapichion. The governor then gave orders to the Spanish horse to charge that belonging to the enemy; but it met with so warm a reception, that it was broken and put to flight, and obliged to take shelter in the rear of the infantry. Upon this event, the Araucanian infantry made so violent a charge upon the Spanish foot as to throw them into confusion, insomuch that the governor gave up all for lost. At this critical moment Putapichion was slain; and the governor availed himself so effectually of the confusion which this circumstance produced among the Araucanians, that he was able to rally his troops, and led them up anew to the charge, while the Araucanians were solely intent upon carrying off the dead body of their toqui. They even effected this, but were completely defeated and driven in disorder from the field. Quepuantu, the vice-toqui, exerted himself in vain to restore order and to bring back his troops to the charge, even killing several of the fugitives with his own hand; but all his efforts were fruitless, and the Araucanians suffered prodigiously in their flight, being pursued for more than six miles in all directions. Many of the Spaniards fell in this battle, the most decisive that had been fought for a long time against the Araucanians.

From the death of Putapichion to the termination of the government of Lasso, the successive toquis of the Araucanians continued the war with more rashness than skill; none of them, like Antiguenu and Paillamachu, having sufficient judgment to repair the losses sustained by the nation, and to counterbalance the power and arms of the Spaniards by skill and conduct. Quepuantu, who was advanced to the rank of toqui after the defeat at Alvarrada, retired to a sequestered vale under the covert of thick woods, where he built a house with four opposite doors, to facilitate his escape in case of being attacked. The place of his retirement having been discovered to the governor, he sent the quarter-master to surprise him with four hundred light armed troops. As these came upon him by surprise, Quepuantu took refuge in the wood; but soon returned at the head of fifty men who had come to his assistance, and attacked the Spaniards with great courage. After a desperate engagement of half an hour, in which the toqui lost almost all his men, he accepted a challenge from Loncomallu, chief of the auxiliaries attached to the Spaniards, and was slain after a long combat. In 1634, a similar fate befel his successor Loncamilla, in an engagement with a small number of Araucanian troops against a strong detachment of Spaniards. Guenucalquin, his successor, after making some successful inroads into the Spanish provinces, lost his life in an engagement with six hundred Spaniards in the province of Ilicura. Curanteo, who was created toqui in the heat of this action, had the glory of terminating it by the rout of the enemy; but was killed soon afterwards in another conflict. Curimilla, the next toqui, more daring than several of his predecessors, repeatedly ravaged the provinces to the north of the Biobio, and undertook the siege of Arauco and the other forts on the frontiers; but was slain at length by Sea in Calcoimo.

During the government of this toqui, the Dutch made another attempt to form an alliance with the Araucanians, in order to obtain possession of Chili, but with no better fortune than on the former occasion. Their squadron, consisting of four ships, was dispersed in a storm on its arrival on the coast in 1638. A boat well manned and armed, being afterwards dispatched to the island of Mocha, to enter into a parley with the Araucanians, was attacked by the inhabitants, who put all the crew to death and took possession of the boat. Another boat experienced a similar misfortune in the small island of Talca or Santa Maria, and the Dutch were obliged to retire without being able to establish any intercourse with the Araucanians, who were equally jealous of all the European nations, and not without reason. Some years afterwards, notwithstanding the ill success of the Dutch, a similar enterprise was undertaken by Sir John Narborough, an English naval commander, by order of Charles II. In passing through the Straits of Magellan, this whole fleet was lost.

In the mean time, taking advantage of the imprudence and unskilfulness of the Araucanian commanders, the governor continued constantly to lay waste their territories. He had at first given orders that every prisoner capable of bearing arms should be put to death; but afterwards, recurring to more humane measures, he ordered them to be transported to Peru, a sentence to them more intolerable even than death. Whenever these unhappy exiles came in sight of land, which often happened in that navigation, they used to throw themselves overboard in hopes to escape by swimming, that they might return to their country. Many had the good fortune to save themselves in that manner; but such as were unable to elude the vigilance of the sailors, as soon as they were landed on the island or at the port of Callao, exposed themselves to every toil and danger to regain their beloved country, travelling with incredible perseverance and fatigue the immense extent of coast between that port and the Biobio. When the relations of the prisoners, more anxious to deliver them from the miseries of exile than even from death, frequently sent messages to the governor to negociate the ransom of such as were condemned to be sent to Peru, he always refused his consent, unless the nation would lay down their arms and submit to his authority. Laso was exceedingly anxious to perform a promise which he had made like several of his predecessors, of putting an end to the war, and used every possible effort for that purpose, for which no one was better fitted to succeed; but he had to contend against an invincible people, enthusiastically bent upon the preservation of their liberties. He employed every means that could be suggested by wise policy and profound military skill to effect their subjugation; now endeavouring to humble their, pride by his victories, at other times ravaging their country with fire and sword, and endeavouring to restrain them by the establishment of fortresses in different parts of their territory. Among these, he founded a city not far from the ruins of Angol, to which he gave the name of San Francisco de la Vega, and left in it a garrison of four troops of horse and two companies of foot. But it was taken and destroyed in the same year in which it was built by the toqui Curimilla. A great number of men were necessarily expended in the prosecution of this obstinate war, so that the Spanish army, though annually reinforced with numerous recruits from Peru, was diminished to less than a half of its force at the commencement of the government of Laso. On this account he sent over Don Francisco Ayendano to Spain to solicit new reinforcements, and with a promise of bringing the war to a conclusion in the course of two years. But, judging from the past that so successful an issue was little to be expected, the court sent out Don Francisco de Zuniga, Marquis of Baydes, as his successor, who had given unquestionable proofs of his political and military talents, both in Italy and Flanders, where he had executed the charge of quarter-master-general. On his arrival in Chili in 1640, either in consequence of private instructions from the prime minister, or of his own accord, Zuniga procured a personal conference with Lincopichion, who had been elected toqui on the death of Curimilla. Fortunately for the interests of humanity, both commanders were of the same disposition in wishing for peace, and equally averse from the continuance of the destructive war which had so long raged between their hostile nations. They readily agreed upon the most difficult articles in settling the preliminaries, and a day was appointed at the commencement of the following year for ratifying the conditions of a definitive peace between the nations.

Accordingly, on the 6th of January 1641, the marquis came to Quillin, the place of meeting, a village in the province of Puren, attended by a retinue of about ten thousand persons collected from all parts of Chili, who insisted to accompany him on this joyful occasion. Lincopichion came there likewise at the time appointed, accompanied by the four hereditary toquis of the Araucanians, and a great number of ulmens and other natives. Lincopichion opened the conference with an eloquent speech; and then, according to the customs of his nation, he killed a chilihueque or Araucanian camel, and sprinkling a branch of the boighe or Chilese cinnamon tree with its blood, he presented it to the governor in token of peace. The articles of the treaty of peace were next proposed, agreed to, and ratified, being similar to those formerly mentioned which had been accepted by Ancanamon, with the addition of one insisted upon by the marquis, that the Araucanians should not permit the landing of any strangers on their coast, nor furnish supplies to any foreign nation whatever. As this was entirely conformable to the political maxims of the Araucanian nation, it was readily agreed to, and the peace finally ratified and confirmed. Thus was an end put to a destructive and sanguinary war, which had desolated the possessions of the two nations for ninety years. This, important negociation was closed by the sacrifice of twenty-eight chilihueques, and by an eloquent harangue from Antiguenu, the ulmen of the district where it was concluded, in which he enlarged on the advantages which both nations would reap from the establishment of peace. After this, the two chiefs cordially embraced, and congratulated each other on the happy termination of their joint endeavours. They then dined together, and made mutual presents to each other, and the three succeeding days were spent by both nations in festivities and rejoicing.

In consequence of this pacification, all prisoners were released on both sides, and the Spaniards had the satisfaction of receiving, among many others, forty-two of their countrymen who had been in captivity ever since the time of the toqui Paillamachu. Commerce, the inseparable concomitant of a good understanding among neighbouring nations, was established between the Spaniards and Araucanians. The lands near the frontiers on both sides, which had been deserted and laid waste by the mutual hostile incursions, were repeopled, and a new activity was excerted in their cultivation by the proprietors, who could now enjoy the produce in tranquillity and safety. The hopes of disseminating the truths of Christianity among the infidels were again revived, and the missionaries began freely to exercise their beneficent functions among the inhabitants of Araucania. Notwithstanding the manifold advantages of peace to both nations, there were some unquiet spirits, both among the Araucanians and Spaniards who used their endeavours on specious pretences to prevent its ratification. The Araucanian malecontents alleged that it was merely a trick to deceive their nation, in order to conquer them at a future opportunity with the more facility, when they had become unaccustomed to the use of arms. Those of the Spaniards, on the contrary, who were adverse to peace, pretended that by the establishment of peace, the population of the Araucanians would increase so fast that they would soon be able to destroy all the Spanish establishments in Chili. Some of these had even the audacity to cry to arms, and endeavoured to instigate the auxiliaries to commence hostilities, while the conferences were going on. But the marquis had the wisdom and good fortune to prevent the renewal of the war, by justifying the purity and good faith of his intentions to the evil disposed among the Araucanians, and by reprimanding and keeping in awe the malecontent Spaniards, and finally accomplished this glorious measure, which was approved and ratified by the court of Spain.

Two years after the peace, in 1643, the importance of the article which the marquis procured to be inserted into this treaty was rendered very apparent to the Spaniards, by its contributing materially to the failure of a third and last attempt by the Dutch to acquire possession of Chili. On this occasion their measures were so well taken, that if they had been seconded by the Araucanians they must have infallibly succeeded. They fitted out a numerous fleet, well provided with men, artillery, and military stores from Brasil, and took possession of Valdivia which had been deserted by the Spaniards for more than forty years, and at which place they intended to form an establishment from whence to conquer the rest of the kingdom. With this view, they immediately began to build strong forts at the entrance of the river, in order to secure possession of that important port, and invited the Araucanians to join them by the most flattering promises. But that gallant nation steadily refused to listen to the proposals, and adhering honourably to the stipulations in the treaty of Quillin, absolutely refused to supply them with provisions, of which they were much in want. The Cunchese, in whose territories Valdivia was situated, in consequence of the counsels of their Araucanian allies, likewise refused to enter into any connection or correspondence with the Dutch, or to supply them with provisions. In consequence of this refusal, being pressed by famine, and hearing that a combined army of Spaniards and Araucanians was in full march against them, the Dutch were compelled to abandon Valdivia in three months after taking possession. Soon after their retreat, the Marquis de Mancura, son to the viceroy of Peru, arrived at Valdivia in search of the Dutch with ten ships of war. To prevent the recurrence of a similar attempt, he fortified the harbour, and particularly the island at its entrance, which has ever since borne the name of his family title.

On the termination of the sixth year of his pacific government, the Marquis de Baydes was recalled from Chili, and Don Martin Muxica appointed governor in his place. He likewise succeeded in preserving the kingdom in a state of tranquillity; and the only unfortunate circumstance that occurred during his government was a violent earthquake, by which part of the city of St Jago was destroyed on the 8th of May 1647. His successor, Don Antonio de Acugna, had a very different fortune, as during his government the war was excited anew between the Spaniards and Araucanians; as will fall to be mentioned in the following section.

SECTION XI.

Renewal of the War with the Araucanians, and succinct Narrative of the History of Chili, from 1655 to 1787.

I regret much the want of materials for this part of my work, as all the memoirs of which I have hitherto availed myself terminate at this period. In the year 1655, the war recommenced after a peace of between fourteen and fifteen years endurance, but contemporary writers have left us no account of the causes which interrupted the good understanding which had been so happily established by the Marquis de Baydes. All we know is that Clentaru, the hereditary toqui of the Lauquenmapu, was unanimously elevated to the supreme command in 1655, and signalized the commencement of his administration by totally defeating the Spanish army commanded by the serjeant-major of the kingdom, who fell in the action. This victory was followed by the capture of the fortresses of Arauco, Colcura, San Pedro, Talcamavida, and San Rosendo. In 1656, the toqui crossed the Biobio, completely defeated the governor Acugna in the plains of Yumbel, destroyed the forts of San Christoval and Estancia del Rey, and burned the city of Chillan. We can only add, that this war continued with great violence for ten years, during the governments of Don Pedro Portel de Cassanate, and Don Francisco de Meneses, as the successes of Clentaru are only incidentally mentioned in any of the writers belonging to this period.