32 



A DIARY OF THE 



a small tent, at a little distance south of our 

 camp, for shelter for himself and his armed party 

 of Indians, which was accepted. It may not be 

 here misplaced to give a slight sketch of the his- 

 tory and character of the savages amongst whom 

 it had been our fate to be thrown. The popula- 

 tion of the province of Arauco in Chili is by 

 far the most warlike in the whole of South 

 America : all the valour and experience of the 

 Spanish arms, in the days of their greatest glory, 

 failed in their obstinate and repeated endeavours 

 to subdue the Indians of Arauco, who have 

 maintained their independence to the present 

 day, and are denominated by the Spaniards 

 The unconquerable Araucanos." A beautiful 

 epic poem in the Spanish language, written by 

 Don Alonso de Ervilla y Zunija, pubhshed in 

 1590, describes the battles in which he was ac- 

 tively engaged. His descriptions of the won- 

 derful valour and perseverance of those valiant 

 Indians would appear exaggerated, did not their 

 protracted and heroic resistance against the best 

 men of Spain, at a period when every Spanish 

 soldier was a hero, fully justify the truth of the 

 narration. The greatest part of the Araucanos 



