752 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I02 



made himself Governor on his own motion without authority. 

 Villagra, on learning of their plot and purposes, seized Pedro Sanchez 

 de la Hoz, who was the leader and had come down almost as a 

 colleague of Pedro de Valdivia ; for when Marques Don Francisco 

 Pizarro committed to Valdivia the exploration of Chile, Pedro 

 Sanchez de la Hoz had objected, because he held a royal warrant 

 as Governor of all the territory that should be colonized after leaving 

 the jurisdiction of the Marques ; but the Marques had given that 

 commission to Valdivia, who had given him an encomienda in the 

 city of Santiago. Indulging this presumption in Valdivia's absence, 

 he planned to kill Villagra and take on the governorship. So when 

 the matter was discovered, he was beheaded by order of the Militia 

 Captain, and Romero, a soldier who was seconding this plot, was 

 hanged, and others were punished in accordance with their guilt. 

 When Gov. Pedro de Valdivia returned, he concurred in all this and 

 approved it. 



Chapter XVI 



Continuing the Preceding Theme, and How Pedro de Valdivia 

 Comported Himself in the Exploration and Pacification of the 

 Country, 



1990. After Gov. Pedro de Valdivia had established the city of 

 Santiago and by his energy and valor had brought the Indians of 

 that region to respect and obey him, having had some encounters 

 with them and vanquished them, he was impressed with the pros- 

 perity and wealth of the country and its large Indian communities, 

 and realized that it would be well to make another settlement at 

 the entrance to the Kingdom, to provide safe passage for travelers 

 to and from the Kingdoms of Peru. With this in mind he founded 

 a city in the Coquimbo Valley in the year 1544 and gave it the name 

 of La Serena, for that was the name of his native town in 

 Estremadura. 



1991. He apportioned the Indians of the neighborhood among the 

 colonists, and at that time he was greatly feared and respected by 

 the Indians and enjoyed great authority among them. Hereupon 

 Capt. Alonso de Monroy arrived with a reinforcement of 60-odd 

 soldiers, who had been given him by Gov. Vaca de Castro in Peru. 

 This was a great help to Pedro de Valdivia ; they gave him encourage- 

 ment and he subdued the Provinces of the Rio de Maule, the Kingdom 

 of Gueler, Itata, Quilacura, and others, to the limit of the conquests 

 of Inca Yupangui, tenth king of Cuzco. 



