INTRODUCTION. 
SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF CHILE. 
Tue discovery of Chile by the Spaniards, and 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 
B 
