156 



feats of valour, rescued him from ihe hands of 

 his enemies, and remounted him on his horse. 

 The remaining Spaniards, pursued by the victors, 

 spurred on their exhausted horses, in order to 

 pass the narrow defile where the battle had com- 

 menced, but on their arrival they found it ob- 

 structed, by the order of Lautaro, with the 

 trunks of fallen trees. Here the engagement 

 was affain renewed with such violence, that not 

 one of the miserable remains of this broken army 

 would have escaped, had not Villagran, by a 

 desperate effort, opened the pass at the most im- 

 minent hazard of his life. The Araucanians, 

 although they had lost about seven hundred , 

 men, continued the pursuit for a long time ; but 

 at length becoming extremely fatigued, and not 

 able to keep up with the horses, they stopped 

 with a determination of passing the Bio-bio the 

 following day. 



The few Spaniards who escaped the slaughter 

 produced, on their arrival at Conception, inde* 

 scribable sorrow and consternation. There was 

 not a family but had the loss of some relation to 

 deplore. The alarm was greatly heightened by 

 the news of the near approach of Lautaro. Vil- 

 lagran, who thought it impossible to defend the 

 city, embarked precipitately the old men, the 

 women and the children, on board of two ships 

 that were then fortunately in the harbour, with 

 orders to the captains to conduct part of them to 



