LIXCOYA CAUPOLICAN. 



441 



great distance, and ought to rest. Until the next morning, 

 therefore, the trial was postponed. 



jDuring the night, great excitement animated the vast mul- 

 titude. The strength and ability of Caupolican were well 

 known ; even Lincoya doubted the result ; he had deemed his 

 only rival far off ; and the antics in which he had indulged 

 had prematurely exhausted his strength. At daybreak the 

 tribes again assembled, and as the sun rose, Caupolican lifted 

 the tree, and quietly poised it upon his shoulder. His manner, 

 and the ease with which he placed his burthen, excited the 

 surprise and admiration of all, except Lincoya, whose spirits 

 sunk as he watched the cautiously guarded manner and easy 

 movements of his rival. 



During that day and the following night, lighted by the full 

 moon ; during the whole of the next day, and throughout the 

 second night, did Caupolican sustain that overpowering weight 

 which men of common strength could only bear during a very 

 few hours : and when the sun rose on the third morning, the 

 still untired chief lifted the tr^e above his head, and dashed it to 

 the ground, with an effort which showed that his powers were 

 far from being exhausted. He was unanimously chosen general, 

 amidst extraordinary shouting and applause : and no sooner 

 had the other caciques acknowledged his authority, than he 

 began to take measures for acting immediately against the 

 Spaniards. . 



Arauco, their nearest strong hold, was to be attacked. 

 Eighty chosen men approached, disguised as the serving In- 

 dians, who supplied the Spanish soldiers with firewood, and 

 forage for their horses. Each man, with his load of fuel or 

 grass, in which his arms were hidden, advanced unsuspected to 

 the fort, when, by preconcerted signal, they threw down their 

 loads and attacked the unprepared Spaniards. This assault was 

 the signal for other Indians to rush towards the fort ; but the 

 Spaniards, although surprised, made so good a defence, that 

 almost all the eighty chosen men were killed, and no others 

 could gain admittance. The whole Indian multitude then sur- 

 rounded Arauco ; and the Spaniards, seeing that they must be 



