ABSTRACT
In 1535 Almagro led five hundred and seventy Spaniards and fifteen thousand Peruvians into Chile. The hostility with which Almagro was received in Chile persuaded him to withdraw, and he returned to Peru in 1538, where he took possession of the ancient capital, Cuzco. The death of Almagro left Francisco Pizarro master of the Spanish possessions of South America, with a prospect of further conquests in Chile. Mendoza's troubled reign as governor of Chile came to an end on the return of Francisco Villagran from Spain as his successor. The spirit of the Araucanians is expressed in the reply which the Araucanian ambassador is said to have made to the governor of Chile in the last decade of the sixteenth century. During all the governmental changes through which Chile passed at this time, the barbarous war with the Araucanians continued with such equal fortune as to put off indefinitely the day of final victory.
