45 



of Gonzalo Pizarro. Gasea the president, who un- 

 der the royal standard, had gained the victory, 

 pleased with the service rendered him upon this oc- 

 casion by Valdivia, confirmed him in his office of 

 governor, and furnishing him with an abundance of 

 military stores, sent him back to Chili, with two 

 ships filled with those seditious adventurers, of 

 Vv^hom he was glad of an opportunity to be disem- 

 barrassed. 



In the mean time, Pedro de Hoz, who, as we have 

 already observed, had been deprived of that share in 

 the conquest that had been granted him by the 

 court, and who had imprudently placed himself in 

 the power of his rival, was accused of wishing to 

 usurp the government. Whether this accusation 

 was well founded, or whether it was merely a pre- 

 text to get rid of him, he was, in 1546, publicly be- 

 headed by order of Francis Villagran, who acted as 

 governor in the absence of Valdivia, whom he pro- 

 bably thought to please by thus freeing him from a 

 dangerous competitor, if he had not even received 

 private instructions relative to the business. 



The Copiapins, eager to revenge the murder of 

 their prince, killed about the same time forty Spa- 

 niards, who had been detached from several squad- 

 rons, and were proceeding from Peru to Chili ; and 

 the Coquimbanes, instigated by their persuasion, 

 massacred all the inhabitants of the colony lately 

 founded in their territory, razing the city to its foun- 

 dation. Francis Aguirre w^as immediately ordered 

 there, and had several encounters with them with va- 

 rious success. In 1549 he rebuilt the city in a more 



