lonzo Reynoso the commandant of Canete used every effort to discover
the place in which Caupolican lay concealed, both offering rewards for
information and even employing torture to extort intelligence from the
natives. He at length found a person who engaged to point out the place
in which the Araucanian general had concealed himself ever since his
last defeat. A detachment of cavalry was accordingly sent under the
guidance of this traitor, and coming upon him by surprise one morning at
day-break, succeeded in taking that great and heroic champion a
prisoner, after a gallant resistance from ten faithful followers who
continued to adhere to him under his misfortunes. During this combat,
his wife incessantly exhorted him to die rather than surrender; and on
seeing him made prisoner, she indignantly threw towards him her infant
son, saying she would retain nothing that belonged to a coward. The
detachment returned to Canete with their prisoner, amidst the rejoicings
of the inhabitants, and Reynoso immediately ordered the redoubted toqui
to be impaled and shot to death with arrows. On hearing his sentence,
Caupolican addressed Reynoso as follows, without the smallest change of
countenance, and preserving all his wonted dignity. "My death, can
answer no possible end, except that of inflaming the inveterate hatred
already entertained by my countrymen against the Spaniards. Far from
being discouraged by the loss of an unfortunate leader, other
Caupolicans will arise from my ashes, who will prosecute the war against
you with better fortune. If however you spare my life, from the great
influence I possess in Araucania, I may be of great service to the
interests of your sovereign, and in aiding the propagation of your
religion, which you say is the chief object of the destructive war you
wage against us. But, if you are determined that I must die, send me
into Spain; where, if your king thinks proper to condemn me, I may end
my days without occasioning new disturbances to my unhappy country."

This attempt of the unfortunate toqui to prevail on Reynoso to spare his
life was in vain, as the sentence was ordered to be carried into
immediate execution. A priest, who had been employed to converse with
Caupolican, pretending to have converted him to the Christian faith,
hastily administered the sacrament of baptism; after which the prisoner
was conducted to the scaffold erected for his public execution. When he
saw the instrument of p