nd souls.

We do not propose to tell the story of Valdivia's wars with the many
tribes of Chili. He was in that land nine years before his conquests
brought him to the Biobio and the land of the Araucanians, with whom alone
we are concerned. On the coast near the mouth of this river he founded a
new town, which he named Concepcion, and made this the basis of an
invasion of the land of the Araucanians, whom he proposed to subdue.

As it happened, the Araucanian leader at this time was a man with the body
of a giant and the soul of a dwarf. He timidly kept out of the way of the
Spaniards until they had overrun most of the country, built towns and
forts, and had reason to believe that the whole of Chili was theirs.
Valdivia went on founding cities until he had seven in all, and gave
himself the proud title of the Marquis of Arauco, fancying that he was
lord and master of the Araucanians. He was too hasty; Arauco was not yet
his.

A new state of affairs began when the Araucanians, disgusted with the
timid policy of their leader, chose a bolder man, named Caupolican, as
their toqui, or head chief. A daring and able man, the new toqui soon
taught the Spaniards a lesson. He began with an attack on their forts. At
one of these, named Arauco, the invaders had eighty Indians employed in
bringing them forage for their horses. The wily Caupolican replaced these
laborers by eighty of his own warriors, who hid their arms in the bundles
of hay they carried. On reaching the fort they were to attack the guards
and hold the gates till their ambushed comrades could come to their aid.

This device failed, the garrison attacking and driving back the
forage-bearers before Caupolican could reach the place. Foiled in this, he
made a fierce assault upon the fort, but the fire of eighty cannons proved
too much for Indian means of defence, and the assailants were forced to
draw back and convert their assault into a siege. This did not continue
long before the Spaniards found themselves in peril of starvation. Vainly
they sallied out on their assailants, who were not to be driven off; and
finally, hopeless of holding the fort, the beleaguered garrison cut its
way by a sudden night attack through the besieging lines and retired to
the neighboring fort of Puren. A similar result took place at another fort
called Tucapel, its garrison also seeking a refuge at Puren.

When news of these events reached Valdivia, he saw that his conquests were
in pe