CHAP. VII.

COMPRISING A PERIOD OF THIRTEEN YEARS,
FROM 1604 TO 1617.

Second unfortunate Government of Garcia Ramon; Restoration of the Court of Royal Audience; Ineffectual Negotiation for Peace.

WHILST Alonzo Rivera was wholly intent upon checking the progress of the victorious Araucanians, he was removed from the government of Chili to that of Tucuman, in consequence of having married the daughter of the celebrated Aguilera without obtaining the royal permission. Garcia Ramon, his predecessor, was appointed to succeed him, and received at the same time with his commission, a thousand soldiers from Europe, and two hundred and fifty from Mexico. As he was now at the head of an army of three thousand regular troops, besides auxiliaries, he returned to invade the Araucanian territories, and penetrated without much opposition as far as the province of Boroa, where he erected a fort, which he furnished with a good number of

cannon, and a garrison of three hundred men, under the command of Lisperger.

Huenecura waited till the retreat of the army to attack this new establishment. On his march thither he fell in with the commander Lisperger, who had left the fort with one hundred and sixty of his soldiers in order to protect a convoy, and cut in pieces the whole detachment. He then proceeded to the attack of the fort, which he assailed three times with great fury. The battle was continued with the utmost obstinacy for the space of two hours, but Egidius Negrete, who succeeded to the command in place of Lisperger, manifested in the defence so much valour and military skill, that the Araucanian general found himself under the necessity of converting the storm into a blockade, which was continued until the governor gave orders for the garrison to evacuate the place.

After this the Spanish army proceeded to lay waste the enemy's country. For this purpose it was separated into two divisions, one under the command of the quarter-master, Alvaro Pineda, and the other under that of Don Diego Saravia. Huenecura, however, watching his opportunity, attacked and defeated them one after the other, and so complete was the rout, that there was not a single person who escaped death or captivity. Thus in a short time was that army, on which such flattering hopes had been founded, wholly

dispersed. In consequence of these disasters, in
1603, the court of Spain issued orders, that
hereafter there should constantly be maintained
on the Araucanian frontier a body of two thou-
sand regular troops, for whose support an appro-
priation of 292,279 dollars annually was made
in the treasury of Peru.

After having been suppressed for thirty-four
years, the Court of Royal Audience was re-
established on the 8th of September, 1609, in
the city of St. Jago, to the great satisfaction of
the inhabitants, since which period it has con-
tinued to exist with a high reputation for justice
and integrity. Ramon, who, by this new regu-
lation, to the titles of governor and captain-
A general, had added that of president, returned
and crossed the Bio-bio at the head of an army
of about two thousand men. Huenecura ad-
vanced to meet him in the defiles of the marshes
of Lumaco. The battle was obstinate and
bloody, and the Spaniards were in great danger
of being entirely defeated; but the governor,
placing himself in the front line, animated his
troops so far that they at length succeeded in
breaking the enemy. Shortly after this battle,
on the 10th of August, 1610, he died in Con-
ception, greatly regretted by the inhabitants, to
whom he was much endeared by his excellent
qualities, and his long residence among them.
He was also highly esteemed by the Arauca-

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nians, whom he always treated, when prisoners, with particular attention, and a humanity that did him honour in that age.

According to the royal decree establishing the Court of Audience, the government now devolved upon the eldest of the auditors, Don Louis Merlo de la Fuente.

About the same time, either from disease or in consequence of a wound that he received in the last battle, died the Toqui Huenecura. His successor was Aillavilu the Second, whom Don Basilio de Roxas, a contemporary writer, represents as one of the greatest of the Araucanian generals, and as having fought many battles with Merlo, and his successor Don Juan Xaraquemada; but he neither mentions the places where they were fought, nor any particulars respecting them.

Among the missionaries at that time charged with the conversion of the Chilians, there was a Jesuit called Louis Valdivia, who, perceiving that it was impossible to preach to the Arauca nians during the tumult of arms, went to Spain, and represented in the strongest terms to Philip the Third, who was then on the throne, the great injury done to the cause of religion by the continuance of the war. That devout prince, who had more at heart the advancement of religion than the augmentation of his territories, sent orders immediately to the government of Chili to discontinue the war, and settle a permanent

peace with the Araucanians, by establishing the river Bio-bio as the line of division between the two nations. With a view to insure the more punctual execution of his orders, he also determined to exalt the zealous missionary to the episcopal dignity, and commit to him the charge of the government of Chili; but Valdivia refused to accept of any thing except the privilege of nominating in his place a governor whose views were in conformity to his own. This was no other than Alonzo Rivera, who, as we have already observed, had been exiled to Tucuman. - Satisfied with the prosperous issue of his voyage, Valdivia returned to Chili in 1612, with a letter from the king himself to the Araucanian congress, relative to the establishment of peace and the promotion of religion. Immediately on his arrival he hastened to the frontiers, and communicated to the Araucanians by means of some prisoners whom he brought with him from Peru, the commission with which he was intrusted by the court. Aillavilu, who at that time held the chief command, paid little attention to this information, considering it as merely a story invented for the purpose of deceiving and surprising him; but he soon after dying or resigning his office, his successor Ancanamon thought proper to inquire into the truth of the report. With this view he directed the Ulmen Carampangui to converse with Valdivia, and learn his proposals in an assembly of the Ulmenes.