166 



Bis march with 196 Spaniards and 1000 auxili- 

 aries in search of Lautaro. But too well re- 

 membering- the defeat of Mariguenu^ he re- 

 solved to attack him by surprise. With this 

 intent he quitted the great road, secretly directed 

 his march by the sea shore, and, under the 

 guidance of a spy, by a private path came at day 

 break upon the Araucanian encampment. 



Lautaro, who at that moment had retired to 

 rest, after having been upon guard, as was his 

 custom during the night, leaped from his bed at 

 the first alarm of the sentinels, and ran to the 

 intrenchments to observe the enemy. At the 

 same time a dart, hurled by one of the Indian 

 auxiliaries, pierced his heart, and he fell lifeless 

 in the arms of his companions. It would seeni 

 that fortune, hitherto propitious, was desirous 

 bv so sudden a death to save him from the mor- 

 tification of finding himself for the first time in 

 his life defeated. It is, however, not impro- 

 bable that his genius, so fertile in expedients, 

 would have suggested to him some plan to have 

 baffled the attempts of the assailants, if this 

 fatal accident had not occurred. 



Encouraged by this unexpected success, Vil- 

 lagran attacked the fortification on all sides, and 

 forced an entrance, notwithstanding the obstinate 

 resistance of the Araucanians, who, retiring to 

 an nnglc of the works, determined rather to be 

 put to pieces than to surrender themselves in 



