223 



years, were destroyed all the settlements which Val- 

 divia and his successors had established and pre- 

 served, at the expense of so much blood, in the ex- 

 tensive country between the Bio-bio and the Archi- 

 pelago of Chiloe, none of which have been since re- 

 built, as what is at present called Valdivia is no more 

 than a fort or garrison. 



The sufferings of the besieged were great, nor 

 can they scarcely be exceeded by those endured in 

 the most celebrated sieges recorded in histoiy. 

 They were compelled to subsist on the most loath- 

 some food, and a piece of boiled leather was consider- 

 ed as a sumptuous repast by the voluptuous inhabi- 

 tants of Villarica and Osorno. The cities that were 

 taken were destroyed in such a manner that at pre* 

 sent few vestiges of them remain, and those ruins 

 are regarded by the natives as objects of detestation. 

 Although great numbers of the citizens perished in 

 the defence of their walls, the prisoners of all ranks 

 and sexes were so numerous, that there was scarcely 

 an Araucanian family who had not one to its share. 

 The women were taken into the seraglios of their 

 conquerors. Husbands were, however, permitted 

 for the most part to retain their wives, and the un- 

 married to espouse the women of the country ; and 

 it is not a little remarkable that the mustees, or off- 

 spring of these singular marriages, became in the 

 subsequent wars the most terrible enemies of the 

 Spanish name. 



The ransom and exchange of prisoners was also 

 permitted. By this means many escaped from cap- 

 tivity. Some, however, induced by the love of their 



