PIRACIES OF BENAVIDES. 



325 



roads ; nearly the whole resources of the country 

 being required to fit out the expedition against 

 Peru. 



Benavides, taking advantage of this favourable 

 momentj augmented his authority amongst the 

 Araucanians, by many successful incursions into 

 Chili ; till^ at length, fancying himself a mighty 

 monarch, he thought it becoming his dignity to 

 have a fleet as well as an army. Accordingly, 

 with the help of his bold associates, he captured 

 several vessels. The first of these was the Ame- 

 rican ship Hero, which he surprised in the night, 

 as she lay at anchor off the coast. His next prize 

 was the Herselia, an American brig, which had 

 sailed on a sealing voyage to New South Shet- 

 land, and after touching there, had come on to 

 the Island of St Mary''s, where she anchored in a 

 small bay exactly opposite to the town of Arauco, 

 the well-known scene of many desperate contests 

 between the old Spaniards and the unconquered 

 Indians of that territory. 



While the unconscious crew were proceeding, 

 as usual, to catch seals on this island, lying about 

 three leagues from the main land of Arauco, an 



