n usual, and to make
a great noise with their drums and trumpets. Alarmed by the noise and
shouts of the Indians, the Spaniards sallied forth to battle, and seeing
the many divisions of the enemy, they imagined it would be much easier
to break through and defeat these smaller battalions than if united in
one body."

"So soon as the Araucanian captain saw the Spaniards advancing, he
exhorted the foremost battalion of his army to do their best; 'not, said
he, that I expect you to overcome them; but you must do your utmost in
defence of your country, and when you are worsted, then betake
yourselves to flight, taking care not to break into and disorder the
other battalions; and when you get into the rear of all, you must there
rally and renew your ranks.' He gave similar orders to all the successive
battalions, and appointed another officer to remain in the rear to
restore the order of those who should retreat, and to make them eat and
refresh themselves while the others continued the fight successively.
Accordingly the foremost battalion fought for some time against the
Spaniards, and when no longer able to withstand the impetuosity of their
charge, they retired as ordered into the rear. The second, third,
fourth, and fifth battalions did the same in succession, and were all
successively defeated by the Spaniards, all retiring according to orders
when their array was broken; yet in these reiterated combats the
Spaniards sustained some loss both in men and horses. The Spaniards,
having already defeated and put to flight five successive bodies of the
enemy, and having fought three long hours, were astonished still to
observe ten or twelve similar successive battalions before them in firm
array, yet they gallantly attacked the sixth body which they likewise
overthrew, and in like manner the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth.
Having now fought seven hours without intermission, both the Spanish men
and horses began to fail from long fatigue, and were unable to charge
with the same vigour as in the beginning of the action, yet they exerted
their utmost efforts not to shew any appearance of failure to the
Indians. Yet the Indians could clearly perceive a material relaxation in
the exertions of their enemies, to whom they did not allow a moment of
repose, but plied them as at first with new and fresh battalions."

"At length, seeing there was likely to be no end of this new way of
fighting, as there were still eight or nine batta