Vicente Valdivia

“ To Villagran, his lieutenant, he made over the province of Maquegua, with thirty thousand inhabitants. Other officers obtained from eight to twelve thousand natives, with lands in proportion; whilst Alderete was despatched with sixty men to form a settlement on the shore of Lake Laquen. To this was given the name of Villarica, from the quantity of gold found near it. Valdivia himself, still undisturbed by the Araucanians, continued his march towards the south, where he founded his sixth city, which he called Valdivia, being the first Spanish conqueror who thus sought to perpetuate his name. ”

“ It was a beautiful place, and abounded with every convenience of life. The Spaniards felt highly gratified with their success. Valdivia called the name of their new city Imperial, and he prepared to divide the country among his followers, as Pizarro had divided Peru. Valdivia gave to Villagran, his lieutenant-general, the province of Maquegua, called by the Araucanians the key of their country, with thirty thousand inhabitants. ”

“ In one hour's time Valdivia had more dead than fighting men. Valdivia himself became desperate and mounted his horse, and, accompanied by a hundred horsemen, proceeded towards the gate leading to Sant-Jago, that gate which the Indians had left unguarded. He heard the triumphant shouts of the Indians and saw before him the ancient forest shooting out flames in hundreds of directions. He was surrounded! The enraged Indians followed him up behind, and in front the burning forest cut off the means of escape. His companions rode away in alarm; they preferred to die fighting, not in this manner. ”

“ Valdivia practically had no choice in the matter. Each soldier had to be paid a grant of land, with a certain number of slaves. The soldiers were of a fierce and intractable character, and it was almost impossible to maintain any sort of discipline among them. Valdivia founded the city of Imperial, fortified it and employed the natives in washing the gold found in this district. He also established the city of Villa Rica, which means the rich village, and was so named because of the wealth and fertility of that valley, and another town that was named after himself. ”

“ In many skirmishes Valdivia always defeated the Araucanians and put them to flight, as they were in such dread of the Spanish horse that they never dared to adventure into the open plains, where ten Spaniards were able to beat a thousand Indians, for which reason they always kept lurking in the woods and mountains, where the Spanish cavalry could not get at them; whence they often sallied out, doing all the injury they were able against the Spaniards. ”

“ A portion of the province which he had first conquered was named Valdivia, and also that river from which Bria Rocca's horse refused to drink. The splendid city too, which was built on the site of the ancient bamboo town of Bria Rocca, was named Valdivia. This Valdivia gave quite a different appearance to the whole district. Stone-made roads, constructed by European adventurers, were laid, and from town to town people have ploughed and gathered in the earth's produce, and have exposed the precious metal of the mountains, just as if they were really quite at home. ”

“ 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 ”

“ Valdivia soon found that he had no ordinary Indians to deal with. These were not of the kind that could be dispersed by a squadron of cavalry. A fierce charge was made on his left wing, which was cut to pieces by the daring warriors of Caupolican. The right wing was also vigorously attacked. But the artillery and musketry of the Spaniards were mowing down the ranks of the Araucanians, whose rude war-clubs and spears were ill-fitted to cope with those death-dealing weapons. Driven back, and hundreds of them falling, they returned with heroic courage three times to the assault. ”

“ We cannot persuade ourselves that his lordship does not acknowledge, that all the stores existing at Valdivia at the time of its restoration belong to the state of Chile in the same manner as those in the provinces actually forming the state, without any other difference than that these were restored to the free exercise of their liberty before that was. Even if Valdivia did not belong to Chile, we do not make war on every section of America, but on the Spaniards who hold a domination over it: these are the principles which have always regulated the conduct of our armies ”

“ After several years of indecisive warfare, in which the Spaniards made no progress in the way of conquering the Indians, or the undisputed occupation of the territory, Valdivia decided to return to Peru for the purpose of enlisting a more formidable force of men and arms with which to prosecute the war against the Araucanians. He started on this mission in 1547, leaving the depleted forces in Chile in charge of Francisco Villagran, returning two years later with two hundred infantry and a troop of one hundred cavalry, all well armed and equipped. ”

“ Valdivia was among the prisoners taken and was slain. Again and again, under the lead of a youthful hero, Lautaro, and a vigorous toqui, or chief, named Caupolican, the Araucanians assailed the invaders of their country with success; but the latter increased in numbers and gained ground, at last, for a time, building towns and extending settlements in the Araucanian territory. The indomitable people were not broken in spirit, however; and in 1598, by an universal and simultaneous rising, they expelled the Spaniards from almost every settlement they had made. ”

“ Thus fell Pedro de Valdivia, the conqueror of Chili; a man of superior genius and of great political and military talents, but who, seduced by the romantic spirit of his age and country, had not sufficient prudence to employ them to the best advantage. His undertakings had been more fortunate, if he had properly estimated his own strength, and had less despised the courage and skill of the Araucanians, presuming on the dastardly example of the Peruvians, and the want of concert in the more northern tribes of Chili, against whom he had hitherto been accustomed to contend. ”

“ As a consequence, misled by this favorable experience with the northern tribes and his own with the easily conquered natives of Peru, Valdivia took with him, besides his Indian auxiliaries, only about two hundred Spaniards and a number of women belonging to their families. He soon found that, since they had learned of the execution of Huascar and Atahualpa and that the new Inca, Manco Capac, was little more than a mere puppet of Pizarro’s, the disposition even of these northern tribes had changed ”

“ Whilst there encamped at night, at a place called Quilacura, he was attacked by the natives, who inflicted on him such a loss that he thought it prudent to renounce his intended expedition and to return to Santiago. Being disappointed by the non-arrival of the succours which he expected from Peru, he now resolved to proceed thither in person. As he was on the point of starting [1547] , Pastene returned, but alone, and bringing news of the civil war. This did not deter Valdivia from his purpose, and the two set sail together for Peru. ”

“ Valdivia thus relieved the siege, and rebuilt the city; but, for six years, the natives were constant in their attacks; they cut off the Spaniards at every opportunity, destroyed the crops, and, finally, rendered all the fertile plains around St. Jago uncultivated and desert; and then retired to the mountains.
The Spanish soldiers had become heartily tired of this fighting life. A few battles did very well, but to spend year after year in warfare was not at all comfortable. So they finally determined to kill their general, and then return to Peru. ”

“ It was here that Inez Suarez, who had followed Valdivia from Cuzco, rendered her name immortal by her active defence of the fort; tradition says that she cut off with her own hands the heads of six Indian chieftain prisoners and threw them over the palisades to intimidate the attackers. Valdivia returned, from the Maule, where he had received a check, and re-established his colony. ”

“ Valdivia is the name of a Chilian province; also of the river which there pours down from the mountains into the plains: and likewise of a city which is remarkable for its architecturally constructed bamboo-bridge, and for the fact that every man you meet in the street is called Rocca, and prides himself on his ancestors having been the ancient rulers of Chili and walked about there barefooted. Now the inhabitants have degenerated into wearing boots and they talk Spanish. ”

“ It might be supposed that the New World was the land of promise for monks; they appear to rise out of the earth at every step. Thanks to the extensive commerce which Valdivia carries on by means of its port, which is visited by the numerous whalers fishing in those seas, and ships which come there to refit, after doubling Cape Horn, or before passing it,—its streets have more animation than is generally to be met with in American cities.
Don Tadeo arrived in Valdivia, accompanied by Don Gregorio and Doña Rosario, on the evening of the sixteenth day after his departure from his friend's chacra. ”

“ My plan is most assuredly to go to Valdivia, and as we are close to Talca, it would be folly to turn back."
"Pardon me, general, if I insist, but it is because I have not yet told you all you ought to know."
And Don Pedro seemed to hesitate before proceeding.
"Speak, speak," the general and his wife said in chorus; "what is it?"
"If the reports which have reached Santiago are correct, the Indians have plundered and burnt your fine haciendas between the Bio Bio and the Valdivia."
"It is the fortune of war," Don Juan answered in a hollow voice ”

“ Rode, with a lance, attendant at his side, 100
In Spanish mantle gracefully arrayed;
Upon his brow a tuft of feathers played:
His glossy locks, with dark and mantling grace,
Shaded the noonday sunbeams on his face.
Though passed in tears the dayspring of his youth,
Valdivia loved his gratitude and truth: [Pg 313]
He, in Valdivia, owned a nobler friend;
Kind to protect, and mighty to defend.
So, on he rode; upon his youthful mien
A mild but sad intelligence was seen; 110
Courage was on his open brow, yet care
Seemed like a wandering shade to linger there ”

“ Gold in abundance, surpassing the visions even of the Spaniards, was to be had for the digging or washing, but the Indians would only dig or wash the metal whilst a white man with a harquebus stood over them, and not always then. Poison and treachery were common to both sides, and cruelty surpassed itself. In one battle Valdivia cut off the hands and noses of hundreds of Indian prisoners and sent them back as an object lesson, and the Araucanians, with devilish irony, killed the Spaniards by pouring molten gold down their throats. ”

“ The Captain-General, Raymon, who once more took the field, ended his days at Conception, greatly regretted, not only by those whom he had commanded and governed, but likewise by the Araucanians, whom, when prisoners, he invariably treated with humanity. In consequence of the representations of a Jesuit missionary, named Louis Valdivia, respecting{160} the injurious influence exercised by the long-continued struggle on the progress of conversion, the pious Philip III. sent orders to the government of Chili to discontinue the war and to establish peace, taking the Bio-bio as a frontier. ”

“ Valdivia, the regidor, sailed for the island and Spain, but was never heard of more, and it is probable that his ship went down with all on board. With him, also, went the fifteen thousand pieces of gold, besides other sums, sent by Balboa and his men to satisfy their creditors in Santo Domingo. Truly, an evil genius pursued him, he was prone to say, for, labor as he might, he could not make head against his adverse fortune. ”

“ When De Castro was informed of the critical situation of affairs in Chili, he immediately sent off a considerable reinforcement by land under the command of Monroy, who had the good fortune to conceal his march from the Copaipans, and to join Valdivia in safety. At the same time the president of Peru dispatched by sea Juan Batista Pastene, a noble Genoese, with a more considerable reinforcement for Valdivia. On receiving these two reinforcements, which arrived about the same time, Valdivia began to carry his great designs into execution. ”

“ Then the boat stranded on the coast of Yucatan, and the poor wretches were captured by Indians, to be taken before their Cacique. They were now put into a kind of pen to fatten for the cannibal festival. Valdivia and four others were taken first, and the horror produced on their comrades led them to risk everything and break out of their prison in the night. Having succeeded in reaching the forest, they were almost as badly off, for no food could be had, and they dared not run the risk of going near the villages. ”