_Continuation of the Araucanian war to the Destruction of all the
Spanish settlements in the territories of that Nation_.
The long continuance of the Araucanian war, and the great importance of
the kingdom of Chili, at length determined Philip II. to erect a court
of Royal Audience in Chili, independent upon that which had long
subsisted in Peru. To this court, which was composed of four oydors or
judges and a fiscal, the civil and military administration of the
kingdom was confided; and its members made a solemn entry into the city
of Conception, where they fixed their residence, on the 13th of August
1567. Immediately on assuming their functions, the judges removed
Quiroga from the government, and appointed Ruiz Gamboa to the command of
the army with the title of general. Learning that Paillataru, the toqui
of the Araucanians, was preparing to besiege the city of Canete, Gamboa
hastened to that place with a respectable force, and finding the toqui
encamped not far from the threatened city, he attacked his fortified
post, and defeated him after a long and obstinate contest. After this
victory, Gamboa overran and laid waste the Araucanian territories for a
whole year without opposition, and carried off great numbers of women
and children into slavery. He employed every effort however, repeatedly
to induce the Araucanians to enter into negotiations for peace, but to
no purpose, as they preferred the endurance of every possible evil
before the loss of their national liberty, and continually refused to
listen to his proposals.
As peace, so necessary to the well being of the Spanish settlements in
Chili, seemed every day more remote, in spite of every effort for its
attainment, it at length, appeared to the court of Spain that the
government of a country in a continual state of war was improperly
placed in the hands of a court of justice: Accordingly it was again
confided to the management of a single chief, under the new titles of
President, Governor, and Captain-general. Don Melchior Bravo de Saravia
was invested with this triple character in 1568; a man well qualified to
act as president of the court of audience and civil governor of the
kingdom, but utterly incompetent to sustain the charge of
captain-general; yet he was anxious to signalize the commencement of his
government by the attainment of a splendid victory over the redoubtable
Araucanians, for which an opportunity soon offered, but which redounded
to his own disgrace.
Paillataru had collected a new army, with which he occupied the strong
position of Mariguenu, so fatal to the Spaniards, and which for some
unaccountable reason they had neglected to fortify. Immediately on
learning this circumstance, the governor marched against the toqui at
the head of three hundred Spanish soldiers and a large auxiliary force.
Like several of his predecessors, Paillataru had the glory of rendering
this mountain famous by the total defeat of the Spanish army. The
governor had the good fortune to make his escape from this battle, and
precipitately withdrew with a small remnant of his troops to Angol,
where he resigned the command of the army, appointing Gamboa
major-general and Velasco[80] quarter-master. He was at this time so
intimidated by his defeat, that he ordered these officers to evacuate
the fortress of Arauco, so often already destroyed and rebuilt. While
escorting the inhabitants of that place to Canete, these officers fell
in with a division of the Araucanians, which they attacked and defeated.
Yet Paillataru, who had removed from Mariguenu to the post of Quipeo,
marched two days afterwards against Canete, which he proposed to
besiege; but Gamboa advanced to meet him with all the troops he could
collect, and gave him battle. The engagement continued more than two
hours, and was one of the bloodiest and hardest contested ever fought in
Chili. Though severely handled, the Spaniards remained masters of the
field, and the Araucanians were compelled to retreat. Gamboa now invaded
the Araucanian territory, intending to ravage it as formerly; but
Paillataru, having repaired his losses in a short time by fresh levies,
returning to defend his country, and compelled Gamboa to retreat with
loss.
[Footnote 80: In a subsequent passage Molina names this officer Benal.
--E.]
From this time, till the death of Paillataru, about four years
afterwards, a suspension of arms or tacit truce was observed between the
Spaniards and Araucanians. This was probably owing in a great measure to
the general consternation occasioned by a dreadful earthquake which was
felt throughout the whole country, and did great injury to the Spanish
settlements, particularly to the city of Conception, which was entirely
destroyed. Ever anxious to consolidate and give importance to their
conquests, the court of Spain erected in 1570, a new bishopric in the
city of Imperial, to which the vast extent of country between the river
Maulé and the southern confines of Chili was assigned as a diocese[81].
[Footnote 81: Since the loss of Imperial, Conception has been the
residence of this bishop--E.]
About this time the _Mestees_, or descendents of Spaniards by Indian
women had multiplied greatly in Chili, and perceiving the great
advantage that might be derived from their assistance against the
Spaniards, and to attach them to their cause by a strong acknowledgement
that they were their countrymen, the Araucanians conferred the office of
toqui upon one of these men named Alonzo Diaz, who had assumed the
Chilese name of Paynenancu, and had distinguished himself for ten years
by his valour and abilities, continually fighting in their armies. If
his predecessor Paillataru had the fault of being too cautious in
conducting the operations of the war, the new toqui was on the contrary
so rash and daring, to avoid that imputation, that he constantly
attacked the Spaniards with far inferior numbers, whence all his
enterprises were unfortunate as might naturally have been expected.
Immediately on receiving the investiture of the toquiate, he crossed
the river Biobio, probably intending to have attacked Conception; but,
before reaching that place, he was attacked and defeated by the
quarter-master, notwithstanding the great valour with which he defended
himself for a long time. Among the prisoners taken by the Spaniards on
this occasion were several Araucanian women, all of whom killed
themselves the same night. Paynenancu, having escaped from the carnage,
raised a new army and marched against Villarica, but was again defeated
by Rodrigo Bastidas, the military commandant of that city.
While the war continued to rage in 1575, the licentiate Calderon arrived
in Chili from Spain, with a commission to examine and regulate the
government of that kingdom. His first step was to suppress the court of
audience, on the sole principle of economy, and instead of the president
Melchior Bravo, Rodrigo Quiroga, who had been formerly appointed
governor by the audience of Lima, was reinstated in that office. Having
assembled all the troops he could raise, the new governor proceeded in
1576 to the frontiers, to oppose the ravages of Paynenancu, who, though
twice defeated, continued to harass the Spanish settlements by frequent
inroads. But, as the toqui carefully avoided any rencounter, the
governor contented himself with ravaging the Araucanian territories in
revenge. Having afterwards received a reinforcement of two thousand men
from Spain, he gave directions to his father-in-law[82] Gamboa to found
a new city at the foot of the Cordellieras[83], between the cities of St
Jago and Conception, which has since received the appellation of Chillan
from the river on which it stands, and has become the capital of the
fertile province of the same name. Shortly after the foundation of this
new city, the governor died in 1580 at a very advanced age, having
previously nominated Gamboa to succeed him in the government of the
kingdom. Gamboa continued three years in the command, continually
occupied in opposing the Araucanians in the south under their toqui
Paynenancu, and in defending the kingdom on the east against the
Pehuenches and Chiquillanians, who now began to molest the Spaniards at
the instigation of the Araucanians.
[Footnote 82: Thus in the original, though probably his son-in-law, as
Quiroga died soon after at an advanced age.--E.]
[Footnote 83: The city of Chillan, instead of being at the foot of the
Andes, is in the plain country more than half way between that great
chain and the sea.--E.]
The Pehuenches are a numerous tribe who inhabit that portion of the
Andes of Chili which lies between the latitudes of 34° and 37° S. to the
eastwards of the Spanish provinces of Calchagua, Maule, Chillan, and
Huilquilemu. Their dress resembles that of the Araucanians, except that
they wear a piece of cloth like the Japenese round the waist which hangs
down to the knees[84], instead of drawers or breeches. Their boots or
shoes are all of one piece of skin, being that of the hind leg of an ox
taken off at the knee, which is fitted to the foot of the wearer while
green, turning the hair side inmost, and sewing up one of the ends, the
skin of the knee serving for the heel. By being constantly worn and
frequently rubbed with tallow, these shoes become as soft and pliant as
the best dressed leather[85]. Though these mountaineers are valiant and
hardy soldiers, yet are they fond of adorning themselves like women,
decorating themselves with ear-rings and bracelets of glass-beads, with
which also they ornament their hair, and hang small bells around their
heads. Although possessed of numerous herds of cattle and sheep, their
usual food is horse flesh, which like the Tartars they prefer to all
other kinds, and always eat cooked, either by boiling or roasting. Like
the Bedowin Arabs, the Pehuenches dwell in tents made of skins, disposed
in a circular form around a spacious area, in which their cattle feed
while the herbage lasts; and when that begins to fail they remove their
camp to a fresh pasture, continually traversing in this manner the
valleys among the Andes. Each village or encampment is governed by a
hereditary ulmen. Their language and religion resemble those of the
Araucanians. They are extremely fond of hunting, and often traverse the
immense plains which stretch from the great Rio Plata to the Straits of
Magellan in pursuit of game, sometimes extending their excursions as far
as Buenos Ayres, and even occasionally indulge in plundering the
vicinity of that city. They frequently attack the caravans which pass
between Buenos Ayres and Chili, and have been so successful in these
predatory enterprises as almost to have stopped that commerce entirely.
[Footnote 84: A comparison more familiar to the British reader might be
made to the _philabeg_ or short petticoat worn by the Scots
Highlanders--E.]
[Footnote 85: In this part of dress they likewise resemble the Scots
Highlanders of old, who wore a kind of shoes made of raw hides with the
hair on, called _rough rullions_. In both of course using the most
obvious and easiest means of decency and protection. Before the
introduction of European cattle into Chili, the natives must have
employed the skins of the original animals of the country, probably of
the _guemul_ or _huemul_, the equus bisulcus of Molina and other
naturalists, an animal having some resemblance to a horse but with
cloven hoofs--E.]
It may be proper to relate what I noticed on a journey in that country,
having set out from Mendoza in the province of Cujo, on the 27th of
April 1783, with post horses for Buenos Ayres. We soon learnt, from some
people whom we met, that the Pehuenches were out upon predatory
excursions, and soon afterwards received the melancholy intelligence
that they had committed horrible massacres in the _Portion of
Magdalena_. In consequence of this, all the post-houses where we stopped
were in a state of alarm, and some of them were entirely deserted.
During the year before, three hundred of these Indians appeared suddenly
before the post of Gutierrez, all lying back upon their horses and
trailing their lances, in order to make it appear that it was only a
drove of mares which is a very common sight in those _Pampas_ or almost
unlimited plains. Although they saw but one man who patroled the wall
with his musquet, and was indeed the only person in the post, they were
deterred from making any attack, supposing it to be strongly guarded.
This man knew well that the horses were guided, by the exact order they
pursued, though he could see nothing of the riders till they were very
near. He had the prudence likewise to refrain from firing his musquet,
which probably led them to believe there was a greater force within the
place, and induced them to abandon the enterprise, venting their rage on
the other unprotected inhabitants of the plains. The commander of the
post of Amatrain was not so fortunate, as he was killed that same year
along with a negro who accompanied him. These posts are fortified with
palisades, or with a mud wall, and have a ditch and draw-bridge.
Although the Pehuenches frequently commit depredations in these eastern
plains, they have many years refrained from any hostilities within the
boundaries of Chili, unless in times of actual war between the nations;
induced to this either from fear of the military population of Chili, or
by the advantages which they derive from trading with the inhabitants of
that kingdom. Their favourite weapon is the _laque_ or leathern thong
with a stone at each end, which they always carry fastened to their
girdles. It is highly probable that the ten Americans in the ship
commanded by Orellana, of whose amazing and desperate courage, mention
is made in Ansons voyage, were of this tribe. Notwithstanding their
wandering and restless mode of life, they are more addicted to
industrious and even commercial habits than any of the savage natives of
South America. When in their tents, they are never idle. The women weave
cloths of various colours, and the men occupy themselves in making
baskets, and a variety of beautiful articles of wood, leather, skins, or
feathers, which are much prized by the Spaniards. Every year they
assemble in large numbers on the Spanish frontiers, where they hold a
kind of fair which generally lasts fifteen or twenty days. On these
occasions they bring for sale, besides horses and cattle, fossil salt,
gypsum, pitch, bed-coverings, ponchos, skins, wool, bridle-reins
beautifully wrought of plaited leather, baskets, wooden vessels,
feathers, ostrich-eggs, and a variety of other articles; and receive in
return wheat, wine, and European manufactures. In the conduct of this
barter they are very skilful, and can with difficulty be overreached.
Lest they should be cheated or plundered by the Christian merchants, who
think every thing lawful against unbelievers, they never drink all at
one time; but separate themselves into several companies, some of whom
keep guard while the rest indulge in wine. They are generally humane,
courteous, just in their dealings, and possessed of many estimable
qualities.
The Chiquillanians, whom some persons have supposed a tribe of the
Pehueaches, live to the north-east of that nation, on the eastern
borders, of the Andes[86]. These are the most savage, and consequently
the least numerous of any of the tribes of the Chilese; for it is an
established fact, that the ruder the state of savage life the less
favourable it is to population. They go almost naked, merely wrapping
the skins of the _Guanaco_ round their bodies, and they speak a
corrupted and guttural dialect of the Chili-dugu or Chilese language. It
is observable that all the Chilese tribes which inhabit the elevated
valleys of the Andes, both Pehuenches, Puelches, Huilliches, and
Chiquillanians, are much redder than those of their countrymen who dwell
in the lower country to the west of these mountains. All these
mountaineers dress themselves in skins, paint their laces, subsist in a
great measure by hunting, and lead a wandering and unsettled life. They
are in fact the so much celebrated Patagonians, who have been
occasionally seen near the Straits of Magellan, and who have sometimes
been described as giants, and at other times as not much beyond the
ordinary stature of mankind. Generally speaking however, they are of
lofty stature and have great muscular strength.
[Footnote 86: In the map accompanying the English translation of Molina,
the Penuenches and Chiquillanians are placed under the same parallel
between lat. 33° SO' and 36° S. The former on the western and the latter
on the eastern side of the Andes.--E.]
On information being sent to Spain of the death of Quiroga, as formerly
mentioned, Don Alonzo Sotomayor Marquis of Villa-hermoso was sent out
as governor with six hundred regular troops. He landed at Buenos Ayres
in 1583, from whence he proceeded to St Jago. On taking possession of
his government, he appointed his brother Don Luis to the new office of
Colonel of the Kingdom, and sent him with a military force to relieve
the cities of Villarica and Valdivia, which were both besieged by the
Araucanians. After twice defeating the toqui, Paynenancu, who opposed
his march, he raised the sieges and supplied both places with
reinforcements. The indefatigable but unfortunate toqui, after two
defeats from Don Luis, turned his arms against Tiburcio Heredia and
Antonio Galleguilios, who were ravaging the country with separate strong
detachments of cavalry, and was successively defeated by both of these
officers, yet the victors paid dear for their successes.
While these events were going on in the south, the governor had to
oppose the Pehuenches who had invaded the new settlement of Chilian, and
whom he defeated and constrained to retire into their mountains. He then
marched into Araucania at the head of seven hundred Spaniards and a
great number of auxiliaries, resolved to pursue the cruel and rigorous
system of warfare which had formerly been adopted by Don Garcia, in
preference to the humane procedure of his immediate predecessors. The
province of Encol was the first to experience the effects of this
severity, as he laid it entirely waste with fire and sword, and either
hanged his prisoners, or sent them away with their hands cut off to
intimidate their countrymen. The adjoining provinces of Puren, Ilicura,
and Tucapel would have experienced a similar fate, if the inhabitants
had not ensured their personal safety by flight, after setting their
houses and crops on fire, and destroying every thing they could not
carry off. Only three prisoners were taken in these provinces, who were
impaled. Notwithstanding these severities, many mestees and mulatoes
joined the Araucanians, and even some Spaniards, among who was Juan
Sanchez, who acquired great reputation among them.
Impelled either by his natural rash valour, or by despair on finding
that he had fallen in the estimation of the Araucanians by his want of
success, Paynenancu gave battle to the whole Spanish army on the
confines of the province of Arauco with only eight hundred men; yet such
was the resolute valour with which they fought that the Spaniards were
unable to break their firm array, till after a hard contested battle of
several hours, in which they lost a considerable number of men. Almost
the whole of the Araucanian troops engaged in this unequal contest were
slain; but Paynenancu was made prisoner and immediately executed. The
victorious governor encamped with his army on the banks of the
Carampangui river, and caused the fortress of Arauco to be rebuilt, of
which he gave the command to Garcia Ramon the quarter-master.
The Araucanian valour, which had been repressed by the imprudent conduct
of Paynenancu, was revived in 1585, by the elevation of Cayancura to the
dignity of toqui, an ulmen of the province or district of Mariguenu.
Immediately on his election, he dispatched an hundred and fifty
messengers to every corner of the country, with the symbolical arrows to
summon the martial youth of Araucania to the national army. Having by
these means assembled a respectable force, the new toqui determined upon
making an attack at midnight on the Spanish camp, which was still on the
banks of the Carampangui, and of the exact situation of which he had
procured information by means of a spy. For this purpose, he formed his
army in three divisions, of which he gave the command to three valiant
officers, Lonconobal, Antulevu, and Tarochina. The divisions proceeded
by three several roads which led to the camp, and coming upon it by
surprise, cut the auxiliaries to pieces who were the first to oppose
their progress. Fortunately for the Spaniards, the moon rose about the
middle of the assualt, and enabled them, after a short period of
confusion, and the loss of several men, to form themselves in good
order, and to make head against the assailants, who at length began to
give way after suffering severely from the fire of the Spanish
musquetry. Just at this critical time, the governor charged the
Araucanians and forced them to give way, after both sides had suffered
considerable loss. Cayancura, who had halted with a body of reserve at
the entrance of the Spanish camp for the purpose of supporting the
attack, on finding his troops retiring exhausted and dispirited, drew
off the whole to some distance where he permitted them to take rest and
refreshment during the remainder of the night, and returned at day-break
next morning to the attack. The Spanish army marched out to meet them in
the open field, and a most obstinate and bloody battle ensued. After a
brave contest, the Araucanians were overpowered by the artillery and
cavalry of the Spaniards, and constrained to quit the field with great
loss, though the Spaniards paid dear for their victory; insomuch that,
immediately after the action, the governor raised his camp and retired
to the frontiers, where he built two forts named Trinidad and Spiritu
Santo on the northern shore of the Biobio. He also sent orders to the
major-general to raise as many recruits as possible throughout the
kingdom of Chili, which officer brought him accordingly a reinforcement
of two thousand[87] horse and a considerable number of infantry.
[Footnote 87: From the original army of the governor having only seven
hundred men, I am apt to believe the number of horse in the text ought
only to have been two _hundred_.--E.]
Undismayed by his recent losses, the Araucanian general determined to
take advantage of the governors retreat to lay siege to the fort of
Arauco; and in order to secure the success of this enterprise, he
endeavoured to occupy the Spanish arms in other quarters. For this
purpose, he ordered one of his officers named Guepotan to make
incursions on the territory of Villarica from the fortified post of
Liben, where he had supported himself for several years. To Cadiguala,
another officer who afterwards became toqui, he gave it in charge to
harass the district of Angol; appointed Tarochina to guard the passage
of the Biobio, and sent Melilauca and Catipillan to keep the garrison of
Imperial in check. These officers had several encounters with the
Spaniards attended with various success. Guepotan lost the fortified
post of Liben, which was taken by the governors brother. Tarochina made
himself master of a great number of boats on the Biobio, which were
conveying supplies of men and warlike stores to the recently erected
forts on that river.
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° 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 Chiloé, 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 Chiloé 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°
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 Chiloé, 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
Chiloé 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.]