41 



and beat out the brains pf the captive chief*!;, 

 who had attempted to break their fetters and 

 regain their liberty. 



The battle began at day- break, and was con- 

 tinued till night,, while fresh assailants;, with a 

 firmness worthy of a better fate, constantly oc- 

 cupied the places of those that were slain. In 

 the meantime, the commander of the fort, Alonzo 

 Monroy, found means during the confusion t6 

 dispatch a messenger to Valdivia, who returned 

 immediately, and found the ditch filled with 

 dead bodies, and the enemy, notwithstanding the 

 loss they had sustained^ preparing to recommence 

 the combat ; but, joining the besieged, he ad- 

 vanced in order of battle against their forces, 

 which were posted on the shore of the Mapocho. 

 There the battle was again renewed, and con- 

 tested with equal valour, but with great disad- 

 vantage on the part of the natives, who were far 

 inferior to their enemies in arms and discipline. 

 The musketry and the horse made a dreadful 

 slaughter among men, who were armed only 

 with bows and slings ; but, obstinately con- 

 tending with even their own impotence, they 

 furiously rushed on to destruction until, wholly 

 enfeebled, and having lost the flower of their 

 youth, they fled dispersed over the plains. 



Yet, notwithstanding this defeat, and others 

 of not less importance that they afterward;? ex- 

 perienced, they never ceased, for the space of six 



