Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/439

CHILI 431 the Andes at an early day. The surveys show that the Planchon pass is the most feasible route. The length of the road by this line will be 1,023 m., and its cost is calculated at $23,000,000 for the Argentine division and $6,000,000 for the Chilian. The time required to build it is estimated at four years. New rail- ways are projected also from Mejillones to the silver mines at Caracoles, 100 m. ; from Huas- co to Vallenan, and from La Serena to Elgin ; and the Copiapo company are to extend their line to the Cordilleras. Lines of telegraph are in operation from Santiago to Valparaiso, and from Copiapo to the mining districts. In July, 1872, the Trans- Andine line, connecting San- tiago and Buenos Ayres, was opened to the public. A number of other lines are in course of construction or projected. On May 13, 1858, the first steamer of a line direct to Eu- rope, by way of the strait of Magellan, sailed from Valparaiso. This line has an annual sub- sidy from the government of $60,000, to be in- creased to $100,000 as soon as permanently established. Prior to 1450, the present terri- tory of Chili was inhabited by the ancestors of the Indian tribes now found there, who seem to have all descended from a common stock, and called themselves by the general title Alapu-che, people or children of the land. They were subdivided into a number of tribes, but all spoke a common language. In 1450 Yupanqui, the reigning inca of Peru, formed the project of extending his sway over the Chilian territory, and, having stationed himself with a powerful army in Atacama, despatched his lieutenant Chinchiruca, with 10,000 men, southward to subdue the Alapu-che. With that tact which characterized the policy of the incas, Chinchiruca sought to win rather than conquer these rude and warlike tribes; and such were his powers of persuasion that tribe after tribe yielded to the "children of the sun," and in six years the inhabitants of north- ern Chili, for 600 m. from the Atacama fron- tier, acknowledged fealty to the Peruvian monarch. But his sway received a check. Pushing further south, his officers and soldiers encountered on the further bank of the river Kapel a warlike tribe of the Alapu-che, known as the Purumancians, who returned a defiant answer to the summons and representations of the inca, refused all overtures for peace, and attacked the Peruvian troops ; a desperate bat- tle followed, lasting three days, in which both armies were too thoroughly shattered to renew the conflict. Upon hearing of the result of this battle, Yupanqui wisely resolved to for- bear offensive warfare, and to maintain only what he already possessed. "When, some 80 years later, the Spaniards had overthrown the empire of the incas, they found Chili owning a nominal allegiance to the Peruvian monarch, and resolved to subjugate that country also ; and Diego Almagro, from the double motive of glory and gold, led an expedition across the desert of Atacama and the mountain passes 182 VOL. iv. 28 of the Andes. When he reached Copiap6 a quarter of his Spanish troops and three eighths of his Indian allies had perished from cold, fatigue, and starvation. They were received by the people very kindly, and met no oppo- sition till they reached the territory of the Purumancians, where, like their predecessors, they found a foe so brave that they were fain to pause and retrace their steps. Almagro and the remainder of his force returned slowly and sadly to Peru, and five years elapsed be- fore another expedition to Chili was attempt- ed. Pedro Valdivia, a prudent and able com- mander, was selected for this service, and so well did he arrange his plans that, though oc- casionally meeting with hostile bands of In- dians, he penetrated without serious difficulty to the river Mapocho, and encamped upon the present site of Santiago. Finding the location pleasant and the adjacent country fertile, he here founded a city, to which he gave the name of the patron saint of Spain. Scarcely had he fortified himself in his new town be- fore the Indians, availing themselves of his temporary absence, assailed it, and would have 'taken it but for the hasty return of the com- mander ; but though balked of their intended prey, they returned again and again to the charge, till Valdivia was compelled to send for reinforcements from Peru. After the arrival of these he proceeded southward, and, though the Purumancians seem to have offered no ef- fectual opposition to his progress, he found after crossing the Maule, which formed their southern boundary, a new foe, braver and fiercer than any he had hitherto encountered the Arau- canians, now for the first time appearing on the page of history. So terrible and unexpected was their first attack, that it well nigh annihi- lated Valdivia's army, and compelled him to re- treat to Santiago, and eventually to return to Peru for further reinforcements. He returned in 1550 with a large and well appointed force, and founded the city of Concepcion, on a site now known as Penco. Here the Araucanians rallied their forces, and with 4,000 men under Aillavalu attacked the new city with a more determined valor than any Spanish general had before witnessed. It was not until the fall of their leader that they would yield an inch of ground. Conflict after conflict followed, and in 1559 Valdivia was captured by the Indians and put to death. They afterward destroyed Concepcion, resisted all attempts to rebuild it, and eventually marched upon Santiago and placed it in great peril, but were finally re- pulsed. Under the count Mendoza the Spanish forces, often reenforced, still persisted in their policy of conquest ; but at length, when more than 100 years had been wasted in the effort to drive the Indians from the territory south of the Biobio, the Spaniards were compelled in 1665 to make a treaty of peace, and acknowl- edge the independence of these mountain tribes, and establish the limits of their territory. This peace lasted till 1723, when war broke out again,