256 



the city of Canete^ the inhabitants of which re- 

 tired to Conception. 



In the meantime Paillamachii was in constant 

 motion ; sometimes encouraging by his presence 

 the forces that besieged the cities^ at others ra- 

 vaging the Spanish provinces beyond the Bio- 

 bio, to the great injury of the inhabitants. 

 Having learned that the siege of Valdivia had 

 been raised, he secretly hastened thither with a 

 body of four thousand men, consisting of in- 

 fantry and horse, among whom were seventy 

 armed with arquebuses, taken in the last engage- 

 ments from the Spaniards. On the night of the 

 14th of November he passed the broad river 

 Calacala or Valdivia by swimming, stormed the 

 city at day-break, burned the houses, killed a 

 great number of the inhabitants, and attacked 

 the vessels at anchor in the harbour, on board of 

 "which many had taken refuge, who only effected 

 their escape by immediately setting sail. After 

 this he returned in triumph to join Millacalquin, 

 to whom he had entrusted the guard of the 

 Bio-bio, with a booty of two million of dollars, 

 all the cannon, and upwards of four hundred 

 prisoners. 



Ten days after the destruction of Valdivia, 

 Col. Francisco Campo arrived there from Peru 

 with a reinforcement of three hundred men, but 

 finding it in ashes, he endeavoured, though in- 

 effectually, to introduce those succours into 



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