s of all
they overcome, tearing out their hearts with their teeth, and they
delight to drink their favourite liquor from a cup made of a Spaniard's
skull.

These Indians [the Araucans] are for the most part very stout, and
skilful soldiers, and commit the management of all their military
affairs to the direction of one supreme general, whose orders are
implicitly obeyed. Their method of election to this high dignity is very
singular; for he who carries a certain log of wood on his shoulders the
longest, and with the smallest appearance of weariness, is saluted
general by the army. In this trial several carried the log four, five,
and six hours; but at length one carried it twenty-four hours on end,
and this person was now general. The whole of Chili, from St Jago to
Valdivia, is one of the most fertile and most delightful countries in
the world. It abounds in all kinds of cattle and fruit, has many rich
gold mines, and its climate is so sweet and salubrious as to exclude the
use of medicine, being health and life in itself.

They entered the bay of Guasco[77] on the 1st April, where they remained
till the 7th. The 11th they came into a large bay, named _Moro Gorch_,
in lat. 18 deg. 30' S. ten miles from which is _Moro Moreno_, from which the
shore runs to Arica, and all this coast, up to the hill of St Francis,
is very much subject to south winds, though the adjoining seas have the
winds variable and uncertain. On the 20th the whole air was darkened by
an _Arenal_ which is a cloud of dust, and so thick that one cannot see a
stone's throw. These are raised by the wind from the adjoining shore,
and are very common in these parts. The 25th they were within view of
the famous city of Lima in Peru. At this time they learnt the value of
the treasure of which the Spaniards had deprived them, in the ships they
took on the coast of Chili. Nicholas Peterson, the captain of one of
these prizes, acquainted Van Noort that he had been informed by a negro
of a great quantity of gold having been on board the ship, as he
believed to the amount of three tons, having helped to carry a great
part of it on board. On this information the admiral closely examined
the Spanish pilot, who at first denied all knowledge of any gold; but
another negro having corroborated the information, with some farther
circumstances, the pilot at last owned that they had on board fifty-two
chests, each containing four arobas of gold, and besides these 500 bars