448 



LAUTARO VALDIVIA S DEATH.- 



to no cautions. The three thousand Indians, supposed to 

 be friendly, accompanied him to the battle but turned against 

 him : and his own page, Lautaro, who there immortalized his 

 name among his countrymen, was the first to set the example 

 and proved himself the most daring in the fight. (It should 

 be mentioned that Lautaro's servitude was compulsory, having 

 been brought up against his inclination, in the Spaniard's 

 house.) ^ Onward dashed Valdivia, at the head of his small 

 band, and was speedily surrounded by a countless throng. 

 Hemmed in on every side, and overpowered by men who till 

 then used to fly from a man in armour and mounted on a horse, 

 all that desperate brave men could do, was done : but their 

 horses tired, slaughter appeared to diminish neither the number 

 nor rage of their opponents, and one after another sunk to the 

 ground. Valdivia''s chaplain fell the last, except the general 

 himself, who fought like a lion at bay : till, seeing that he 

 was alone, he turned and fled. The goodness of his horse 

 enabled him to escape for a little while, but he was hunted by 

 the swiftest and strongest, whose speed exceeded that of a 

 tiring horse. His steed failed, and he was taken prisoner to be 

 tortured and put to death, after suffering every torment that 

 savage ingenuity could devise. When he was at the stake, the 

 rage of the older Indians could not be repressed : and an aged 

 man named Leocato, who had suffered long and severely by 

 Spanish oppression, struck him on the head with his club, and 

 at one blow deprived him of life. 



Although surrounded by a multitude, so resolute and 

 energetic were the companions of Valdivia, that they were 

 actually gaining the day, until Lautaro rallied the retreating 

 Indians, and by his heroism turned the tide of victory against 

 the Spaniards. The natives'* superstitious awe of these superior 

 men, once thought gods, added to their being mounted on 



* Lautaro was the son of an Araucanian chieftain, who fell in battle 

 against the enemies of his race. Though brought up and educated in 

 the family of Valdivia, from a mere child, he had never ceased to long 

 for an opportunity of turning his forced acquirements to the disadvantage 

 of his instructors, and revenging the death of his father. 



