ducted his
victorious army to the sea-shore, where he was saluted by repeated
discharges of cannon from the fleet of Peru, then scouring the coast in
search of the English squadron, and which had witnessed the victory.
These were answered by the army with repeated vollies of musquetry, and
the customary demonstrations of joy on so glorious an occasion. Availing
himself of the opportunity afforded by the presence of the fleet, the
governor sent the quarter-master-general into Peru to solicit the
greatest possible reinforcement of troops without delay, to enable him
to prosecute the war to advantage in the ensuing campaign. In the mean
time, he abandoned the ancient scite of the fort of Arauco, and rebuilt
it in a more convenient situation on the sea-shore. Colocolo, son of the
celebrated ulmen of that name, but of a very different disposition from
that of his father, was lord of that district, and being indignant at
seeing his country occupied by the Spaniards endeavoured to drive them
off; but being defeated and made prisoner, he solicited for his life,
which he obtained on condition of persuading his subjects to return
from the mountains and to submit to the authority of the Spaniards. On
being urged by his wife Millayene, to fulfil the promise made by their
chief, they replied that he ought to endure his misfortunes with the
firmness that became his rank and lineage; that they were willing to
encounter every danger under his command, and according to his example,
or to revenge the outrages he might be subjected to, but could never
consent to betray their country by submitting to obey its bitterest
enemies. Irritated by this patriotic resolution of his subjects,
Colocolo devoted himself in future to the service of the Spaniards, and
even served them as a guide in the pursuit of his own people among the
fastnesses in which they had taken refuge.

In the year 1592 there happened to be a Spanish prisoner among the
Araucanians, who by his ingratiating manners had acquired the confidence
and esteem of the principal people of that high-spirited nation. Either
by secret instructions from the governor, or from gratitude for the kind
treatment he had received while prisoner, this man exerted himself to
effectuate a treaty of peace between the nations, and had at one time a
fair prospect of bringing it about. But the preliminaries which he
proposed as the ground work of a reconciliation did not prove
satisfactory to either party