50 



In the meantime, Pedro de Hoz, who, as ^.re 

 have al ready observed, had been deprived of 

 that share in the conquest that had been granted 

 him by the court, and who had imprudently 

 placed himself in the power of his rival, wa* 

 accused of wishing to usurp the government. 

 Whether this accusation was well founded, or 

 M'hether it was merely a pretext to get rid of 

 him, he was, in 1548, publicly beheaded by 

 order of Francis Villagran, who acted as go- 

 vernor in the absence of Valdivia, whom he pro- 

 bably thought to please by thus freeing him 

 from a dangerous competitor, if he had not even 

 received private instructions relative to the 

 business. 



The Copiapins, eager to revenge the murder 

 of their prince, killed about the same time forty 

 Spaniards, who had been detached from several 

 squadrons, and were proceeding from Peru 

 to Chili ; and the Coquimbanes, instigated by 

 their persuasions, massacred all the -inhabitants 

 of the colony lately founded in their territory, 

 razing the city to its foundation. Francis 

 Aguirre was immediately ordered there, and had 

 several encounters with them with various suc- 

 cess. In 1549 he rebuilt the city in a more ad- 

 vantageous situation ; its inhabitants claim him 

 as their founder, and the most distinguished of 

 them boast themselves as his descendants. 

 After a contest of nine yearSj aad almott in- 



