INTRODUCTION. 



SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF CHILE. 



Ihe discovery of Chile by the Spaniards, arid the accounts of 

 their first settlements there, form one of the most romantic chapters 

 in the history of the European conquest of South America. After 

 "the death of the Inca Atahualpa in 1535, Pizarro, jealous of the in- 

 fluence and ambition of his companion Almagro, represented the 

 conquest of Chile as an object worthy of his talents, and engaged 

 him in it notwithstanding his advanced age, which was then upwards 

 of seventy years. 



The desert of Atacama separates Peru from Chile, and of the 

 two practicable roads connecting those provinces, Almagro's eager 

 impatience chose the shortest, though the most difficult, by the 

 mountains, instead of that by the sea-coast. The sufferings and loss 

 of Almagro's army, from cold and famine, during their march, ap- 

 pear incredible ; and, had not a few soldiers, better mounted than 

 the rest, pushed on to the valley of Copiapo, and obtained supplies 

 from the hospitable natives, which they sent back to meet their 

 suffering companions, in all probability the greater number must 

 have perished. 



The Spaniards were kindly treated, and at first received by the 

 Chilenos with a veneration bordering on idolatry : but the thirst of 

 gold and silver, which had led them to seek the country through 

 burning deserts and over snowy mountains, soon led to disputes be- 

 tween the inhabitants and the soldiers, which Almagro revenged on 

 the former severely, and thus laid the foundation for that opposition 



