223 



bis Talour and abilities. If his predecessor liaa 

 the fault of being too cautious, the new Toqui^ 

 on the contrary, to avoid that imputation, was 

 so.rash and daring that he ahnost always attacked 

 the Spaniards with troops inferior in number, 

 whence all his enterprises had that result which 

 might naturally have been expected. 



As soon as he was invested with the comrnand 

 he crossed the Bio-bio, probably with an in- 

 tention of attacking Conception ; but before he 

 reached it he was attacked and defeated in his 

 entrenchments by the quarter-master Bernal, not- 

 withstanding the great valour with which he de- 

 fended himself for a long time. Among the pri- 

 soners taken upon this occasion were several 

 women who were found in arms, the greater 

 part of whom killed themselves the same night, 

 PaynenancUj having escaped from the carnage, 

 marched against Villarica, but was again de- 

 feated by Rodrigo Bastidas, the commandant of 

 that city. 



Whilst the war was thus enkindled anew, the 

 licentiate CaMcron arrived at Chili, in 1575, 

 with a commission from the court of Spain a 

 examiner. His first step was to suppress the 

 tribunal of audience, on the sole principle of 

 economy. The auditors themselves were ordered 

 back to Peru, and instead of the president Sara- 

 bia, Rodrigo Quiroga, who but a few years ba- 



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