United States or Nauru ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
This cruel spectacle, which some have attempted to excuse on the principle of retaliation, has dishonoured the fame of Putapichion, and was not even pleasing to all the Araucanians . According to Don Francisco Bascagnan, who was an eye witness, many of the spectators compassionated the fate of the unfortunate soldier; and Maulican, to whom the office of dispatching him was assigned as a mark of honour, is said to have declared that he accepted of it with extreme reluctance, and merely to avoid offending his commander the toqui.
The toqui Loncothegua resigned in 1618, and was succeeded in the supreme command of the Araucanian armies by an officer named Lientur, whose military expeditions were always so rapid and unexpected, that the Spaniards used to call him the wizard. All his designs were perfectly seconded by Levipillan, his vice toqui.
He observed, however, that it was necessary in the first place to restore his women, which could be done with safety by obtaining in the first place a safe conduct from the toqui, and undertook to manage the business.
As he expected to be soon attacked again, he immediately proceeded to construct a strong fortification for the protection of his new city; and in fact, the Araucanian confederacy was no sooner informed of the defeat and death of their general Aillavalu, than a new and more numerous army was ordered against the Spaniards, under the command of Lincoyan, who was elected to the vacant office of supreme toqui.
After this second action, Millalauco was sent with a message from the toqui to the Spaniards in the island of Quiriquina, whence he brought back intelligence that Don Garcia, with a large body of troops from Imperial, was laying waste the neighbouring provinces belonging to the Araucanian confederacy.
About this time Lincoyan, the former toqui, who was at the head of a detached body of troops engaged in harassing the dispersed settlements of the Spaniards in Araucania, fell in with a party of fifteen Spaniards, on their march from Imperial to join Valdivia, of whose total defeat they had not yet received intelligence.
Immediately after their late entire defeat at Quipeo, the ulmens assembled in a wood, where they unanimously elected an inferior officer named Antiguenu, who had signalized himself in the last unfortunate battle, to the vacant office of supreme toqui.
Ancanamon had a Spanish lady among his wives, who, taking advantage of his absence, fled for refuge to the governor, accompanied by four other women who were wives to the toqui, and two young girls his daughters. The toqui was extremely indignant on this occasion, though less exasperated by the flight of his wives, than by the kind reception they had experienced among the Spaniards.
Guenucalquin, his successor, after making some successful inroads into the Spanish provinces, lost his life in an engagement with six hundred Spaniards in the province of Ilicura. Curanteo, who was created toqui in the heat of this action, had the glory of terminating it by the rout of the enemy; but was killed soon afterwards in another conflict.
Having by these means assembled a respectable force, the new toqui determined upon making an attack at midnight on the Spanish camp, which was still on the banks of the Carampangui, and of the exact situation of which he had procured information by means of a spy.
Word Of The Day