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caiiaon^ and a garrison of three hundred men, 

 under the command of Lisperger. 



Huenecura waited till the retreat of the army 

 to attack this new establishment. On his march 

 thither he fell in with the commander Lisperger, 

 who had left the fort with one hundred and sixty 

 of his soldiers in order to protect a convoy, and 

 cut in pieces the whole detachment. He then 

 proceeded to the attack of the fort, which he 

 assailed three times with great fury. The battle 

 was continued with, the utmost obstinacy for the 

 9pace of two hours, but Egidius Negrete, who 

 succeeded to the command in place of Lisperger, 

 manifested in the defence so much valour and 

 military skill, that the Araucanian general found 

 himself under the necessity of converting the 

 storm into a blockade, which was continued 

 until the governor gave orders for the garrison 

 to evacuate the place. 



After this the Spanish army proceeded to lay 

 waste the enemy's country. For this purpose it 

 was separated into two divisions, one under the 

 command of the quarter-master, Alvaro Pineda, 

 and the other under that of Don Diego Saravia. 

 Huenecura, however, watching his opportunity, 

 attacked and defeated them one after the other, 

 and so complete was the rout, that there was not 

 a single person who escaped death or captivity. 

 Thus in a short time was that army, on which 

 s^ch flattering hopes had been founded^ wholly 



si: 



