241 



my, he went in pursuit of them with all possible ex- 

 pedition. Having arrived at a place called Rob- 

 lería, upon the shore of the river Itata, he was at- 

 tacked with such courage by the Araucanian gene- 

 ral, that at the first encounter the Spaniards gave 

 way, forty of them being slain, ^vith several of their 

 officers. The rest owed their safety wholly to the 

 valour of their commander, who, with that cool in- 

 trepidity which marks a great character, not only 

 rallied and restored them to order, but also enabled 

 them to repulse the enemy with loss. 



Putapichion, satisfied with his success, and still 

 more with having taken the scarlet cloak of the go- 

 vernor, returned ancj passed the Bio-bio without 

 being pursued. He was received by his army with 

 ihe liveliest demonstrations of joy, and in order to 

 gratify them, he resolved to revive the almost forgot- 

 ten festival of the pruloncon. A Spanish soldier 

 taken in the preceding battles was the victim select- 

 ed for this barbarous spectacle, and after the usual 

 ceremonies theUlmen Maulican, by order of the gen- 

 eral, dispatched him with a blow of liis club. This 

 cruel action, which some have sought to excuse on 

 the principle of retaliation, has dishonoured all the 

 laurels of Putapichion. The torture of an innocent 

 prisoner, upon \vhatever motive, or under whatever 

 pretext it is inflicted, is a crime of the deepest dye 

 against humanity. This cruel amusement was not 

 however pleasing to all the nation. Man/- of the 

 spectators, as Don Francisco Bascugnan, an eye wit- 

 ness, asserts, compassionated the fate of the unfor- 

 tunate soldier, and Maulican, to whom the office of 



Vol. it. H b 



