Cayancura was so
exceedingly mortified by this defeat, that he retired to his ulmenate,
leaving the command of the army to his son, Nangoniel, a young man of
great hopes and much beloved by the nation. This young commander
immediately collected a new army, in which were an hundred and fifty
horse, which from this time forwards became a regular part of the
Araucanian military force. With these troops he returned to invest the
fortress of Arauco, and guarded all its environs so closely that the
garrison were unable to procure a supply of provisions, and were at
length compelled to evacuate it, probably on capitulation. Encouraged by
this good fortune, Nangoniel proceeded towards the Biobio, intending to
attack the fort of Trinidad, which protected the passage of supplies in
that direction from Spanish Chili to the forts on the south of that
river. But while on his march, he was encountered by a detachment of
Spanish troops commanded by Francisco Hernandez, by whom he was
defeated. In this action he lost an arm and received several other
dangerous wounds. Being obliged by this misfortune to take refuge on a
neighbouring mountain, where he was drawn into an ambush by the
sergeant-major[89] of the Spanish army, he and fifty of his soldiers
were slain, after defending themselves valiantly for a long time. On the
same day, an officer named Cadeguala, who had obtained great reputation
in the Arancanian army for his courage and military skill, was
proclaimed toqui by the officers.

[Footnote 88: Lines, it would appear of circumvallation and
contravallation, probably suggested by some of the Spaniards who had
joined the Araucanians.--E.]

[Footnote 89: This officer in the Spanish service seems somewhat
equivalent to our adjutant; and the sergeant-major of the array in
Chili, may be considered as a kind of adjutant-general.--E.]

About this time, while the Araucanians were valiantly endeavouring to
oppose the Spanish arms, the English also planned an expedition against
them in that remote quarter of the world. Sir Thomas Cavendish sailed
with this view from Plymouth on the 21st of July 1586 with three ships,
and arrived on the coast of Chili in the following year. He landed at
the desert port of Quintero[90], and endeavoured to enter into a
negociation with the natives of the country; but he was attacked by
Alonzo Molina, the corregidor of St Jago, and compelled to reimbark with
the loss of several soldiers and seamen, and qui