During the absence of Valdivia, affairs in the south were by no means at a standstill. In the first place, Pedro de Hoz, who, it will be remembered, had been designated by the court of Spain for the conquest of _Chili_, was accused, rightly or wrongly, of endeavouring to supplant Valdivia, and was accordingly beheaded by order of the acting governor. In the next place, the inhabitants of _Copiapo_, eager to avenge the treacherous murder of their prince’s son, cut off some forty Spaniards who were proceeding from _Peru_ to _Chili_, whilst, at their instigation, the people of _Coquimbo_ massacred the whole colony which had been recently founded in their territory, razing the city to its foundation. Aguirre was immediately sent thither, and after various encounters rebuilt the settlement on a more advantageous situation. Aguirre is considered by the inhabitants of _Coquimbo_ as the founder of their city, and many of the patricians of the place claim him as their ancestor.
After a toilsome contest of nine years, Valdivia considered himself to be so firmly established in that part of _Chili_ which had been under the dominion of the Peruvians as to warrant his partitioning the land amongst his soldiers. Having by these means satisfied the ambition of his companions, he set out anew for the southern provinces with a respectable army of Spaniards and of Promaucian allies. After a march of eighty leagues he at length arrived at the bay of _Panco_--already reached by Pastene--where, on the 5th of October 1550, he founded the city of _Conception_. This place, the situation of which is so advantageous for commerce on account of its excellent harbour, is exposed to earthquakes, by which, and by the simultaneous inundations of the sea, it has been twice destroyed.[M] Its occupation by the Spaniards excited alarm amongst the neighbouring warlike Araucanians, who, foreseeing that their turn would come next, resolved to succour the tribes near _Conception_. Thus was produced a fresh war, the details of which may be preceded in a future chapter by some account of the remarkable people who have hitherto, even to the present day, by their obstinate valour, alone amongst the native inhabitants of South America, withstood the tide of Spanish invasion, and maintained themselves independent in their mountain strongholds.