which they stood with the general. He also dispatched, Alderete, with sixty men, to form a settlement on the shore of the great lake Lauquen, to which he gave the name of Villarica, from the great quantity of gold that he found in its environs.

In the mean time, having received fresh reinforcements, he commenced his march towards the south, still kept in view by Lincoyan, who sought a favourable opportunity of attacking him, which his timid caution constantly prevented him from finding. In this manner the Spanish commander traversed with little loss the whole of Araucania from north to south, but on his arrival at the river Caliacalla, which separates the Araucanians from the Cunches, he found the latter in arms, determined to oppose his passage. While he was deliberating what measures to pursue, a woman of the conntry, called Recloma, either from interested motives or a real desire to prevent the effusion of blood, came to him and promised to persuade her countrymen to withdraw. In consequence, having passed the river, she addressed the Cunchese general with such eloquence in favour of the strangers, that, without foreseeing the consequences, he permitted them to pass unmolested. The Cunches form one of the most valiant nations of Chili. They inhabit that tract of country which lies upon the sea, between the river Calacalla, at present called Valdivia, and the Archipelago of Chiloé. They are the allies of the Araucanians, and mortal enemies to the Spaniards, and are divided into several tribes, which, like those in the other parts of Chili, are governed by their respective Ulmenes.

The Spanish commander, having passed the river with his troops, founded upon the southern shore the sixth city, which he called Valdivia, being the first of the American conquerors who sought in this manner to perpetuate his family name. This settlement, of which at present only the fortress remains, in a few years attained a considerable degree of prosperity, not only from the superior fineness of the gold dug in its mines, which has obtained it the privilege of a mint, but from the excellence of its harbour, one of the most secure and pleasant in the -South Sea. The river is very broad, and so deep that ships of the line may anchor within a few feet of the shore; it also forms several other harbours in the vicinity.

Valdivia, satisfied with the conquests or rather incursions that he had made, turned back, and in repassing the provinces of Puren, Tucapel and Arauco, built in each of them, in 1553, a fortress, to secure the possession of the others, as he well knew that from these provinces alone he had to apprehend any attempt that might prove fatal to his settlements. Ercilla says that, in this expedition, the Spaniards had to sustain many battles with the natives, which is highly probable, as the continuance of Lincoyan in the command can upon no other principle be accounted for. But these actions, ill conducted through the cowardly caution of the general, were very far from checking the torrent that inundated the provinces.

Without reflecting upon the imprudence of occupying so large an extent of country with so

small a force, Valdivia had the farther rashness on his return to Santiago to dispatch Francis de Aguirre, with two hundred men, to conquer the provinces of Cujo and Tucuman, situated to the east of the Andes, It is true that about this time he received by sea from Peru a considerable body of recruits, and 350 unmounted horses, but this reinforcement was little, compared to the vast number of people necessary to retain in subjection.

Nevertheless, indefatigable in the execution of his extensive plans, which bore a flattering appearance of success, the Spanish general returned to Araucania, and in the province of Encol founded the seventh and last city, in a country fertile in vines, and gave it the name of the City of the Frontiers. This name, from events which could not possibly have been in the calculation of Valdivia, has become strictly applicable to its present state, as its ruins are in reality situated upon the confines of the Spanish settlement in that part of Chili. It was a rich and commercial city, and its wines were transported to Buenos Ayres by a road over the Cordilleras. The Encyclopedia contains a description of this place under the name of Angol, which it was afterwards called by the Spaniards, and speaks of it as at present existing.

After having made suitable provisions for this colony, Valdivia returned to his favourite city of Conception, where he instituted the three principal military offices, that of quarter-master-general, of serjeant-major, and of commissary, a regulation that

1

has ever since prevailed in the royal army of Chili.* He then sent Alderete to Spain with a particular account of his conquests, and a large sum of money, and commissioned him to use his utmost exertions to obtain for him the perpetual government of the conquered country, with the title of Marquis of Arauco. At the same time he dispatched Francis 'Ulloa with a ship to examine the Straits of Magellan, by which he hoped to open a direct communication with Europe, without depending upon Peru.

CHAPTER II.

Caupolican appointed Toqui; He attacks the Forts of Arauco and of Tucapel; The Spanish Army entirely defeated, and Valdivia slain.

WHILST Valdivia was engrossed in the contemplation of his extensive plans, without suspecting the cruel reverse that fortune was preparing for him, an old Ulmen of the province of Arauco, called Colocolo, animated with the love of his country, quitted the retirement to which he had long before betaken

* But two of these offices at present exist; that of the quartermaster-general, who is also called the Intendant, and resides in the city of Conception; and that of the serjeant-major-the latter has been since divided into two, one for the cavalry, the other for the infantry. That of commissary is only known in the city militia.

himself, and with indefatigable zeal traversed the Araucanian provinces, exciting anew the courage of his countrymen, rendered torpid by their disasters, and soliciting them to make choice of a general capable of dislodging the Spaniards from the posts they had occupied in consequence of the improper conduct of Lincoyan. This chief had acquired throughout the country the reputation of wisdom, and was well versed in the knowledge of government; his great age and experience had procured him the esteem of the whole nation, and they had always recourse to him on occasions of the greatest import

ance.

The Ulmenes, who were already of the same opinion, immediately assembled, according to their custom, in a meadow, and, after the usual feast, began to consult upon the election. Many aspired to the glory of being the avengers of their oppressed country, among whom Andalican, Elicura, Ongolmo, Renco and Tucapel were particularly distinguished. The latter, who by his martial prowess had given his name to the province of which he was Apo-Ulmen, possessed a powerful party, but the more prudent electors were opposed to his appointment, as he was of an impetuous character, and they dreaded his hastening the ruin of the state. Dissentions ran so high, that the opposite parties were on the point of having recourse to arms, when the venerable Colocolo arose, and, by a well-timed and energetic address, so far pacified their irritated minds, that all, with one common accord, submitted to his choice the appointment of a commander. The wise old man, on whom