HISTORY OF AMERICA.

57

hundred and feventy men, the greateft body ofEuropeans that had hitherto been affembled inPeru . From impatience to finifh the expedition,or from that contempt of hardflnp and dangeracquired by all the Spaniards who had fervedlong in America , Almagro, inftead of advancingalong the level country on the coaft , chofe tomarch acrofs the mountains by a route that wasfhorter indeed , but almoft impra&icable. In thisattempt his troops were expofed to every calamitywhich men can fuffer , from fatigue, from famine,and from the rigor of the climate in thofe elevatedregions of the torrid zone , where the degree ofcold is hardly inferior to what is felt within thepolar circle. Many of them perifhed ; and thefurvivors , when they defcended into the fertileplains of Chili , had new difficulties to encounter.They found there a race of men very different fromthe people of Peru , intrepid , hardy, independent,^tnd in their bodily conftitution, as well as vigorof fpirit, nearly refembling the warlike tribes inNorth - America . Though filled with wonder atthe firfi: appearance of the Spaniards , and ffillmore aftonifhed at the operations of their cavalryand the effe&s of their fire-arms, the Chilefe foonrecovered fo far from their furprife , as not only todefend themfelves with obflinacy , but to attacktheir new enemies with more determined fiercenelsthan any American nation had hitherto difcovered.The Spaniards , however, continued to penetrateinto the country, and colleded fome confiderablequantities of gold ; but were fo far from thinking

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