The expedition sacked the Spanish settlements of Carelmapu and Castro in the Chiloé Archipelago before sailing to Valdivia, having the initial support of the local natives.

The subsequent Arauco War was to smolder for over 250 years but its immediate effect was the so-called "Destruction of the Seven Cities": the Spanish settlements of Angol, La Imperial, Osorno, Santa Cruz de Oñez, Valdivia and Villarrica were either destroyed or abandoned.

[3] In 1600, local Huilliches joined the Dutch corsair Baltazar de Cordes in attacking the Spanish settlement of Castro in Chiloé.

[4][5] While this was an opportunistic assault, the Spanish correctly believed the Dutch could attempt to ally with the Mapuches and establish a stronghold in southern Chile.

[11] Brouwer, a veteran navigator and member of the GWC, who decided to command the expedition despite his advanced age, was the main promoter of this project.

[12][9] The expedition was small compared to the Dutch forces that had taken over much of Portuguese Brazil, but it was anticipated that it would be supported by the fiercely anti-Spanish Mapuche-Huilliche confederation[A] once it reached Chile.

[14] The distant objectives of this expedition were to create a military base in Valdivia and then attack the Viceroyalty of Peru, the Spanish jewel of the American Pacific.

[14] The fleet called at Mauritsstad (modern Recife) in Dutch Brazil where John Maurice of Nassau resupplied it and provided an additional 350 men.

[14][15][19] However, the supply ship Orange Tree had become detached near Cape Horn but managed to return to Recife with a broken mast.

[20][21][22] The plunder of Carelmapu gave the Dutch the opportunity to replenish their depleted food supplies at the cost of revealing their presence to the Spanish.

[20] The Dutch captured Spaniards, including Antonio Sánchez Jinés who later guided them to the Spanish settlement of Castro and other places in the archipelago.

[22] De Alvarado organized the remaining troops in Carelmapu and Calbuco aiming to prevent an indigenous uprising and harass the Dutch invaders.

[25] Amidst heavy rains de Alvarado ordered the city of Castro to be dismantled and the population to hide in the forests.

[25] After Castro the Dutch went back north pillaging the countryside managing to gather chickens, sheep, pigs and many apples.

[28] The letter transferred command to Vice-General Elias Herckmans, who had until then been in charge of the ship Vlissingen; he had previously been governor of Paraíba.

[29] Reaching Arauco in late August safely was in itself an accomplishment as sailing in the Roaring Forties in the Austral winter was dangerous given it was a season of rain and storms.

[29] Once Spanish authorities in Central Chile learned about the Dutch expedition captain Alonso de Mujica y Buitrón was sent with Father Lázaro to Lima to give the news to the Viceroy of Peru.

[30][15] A ship under Captain Elbert Crispijnsen was sent back to Dutch Brazil on 25 September to report on the positive development of the colony and request additional supplies.

[31] The Mapuches began to realise the Dutch had no plans of leaving and their search for gold caused suspicion, leading the locals to halt their deliveries of food.

[20][16] The Mapuche chief Juan Manqueante, from Mariquina, who was in friendly terms with the Dutch, staunchly refused them to access the gold mines of Madre de Dios in his lands.

[24] A mutiny begun to smolder and some Dutch left the encampment at night for the woods with the final aim of surrendering to the Spanish in Concepción.

[24] Local Mapuches went further to attempt to have part of the Dutch to depart to crush an alleged Spanish troop gathering near La Imperial.

[34] Yet before leaving Valdivia the Dutch called local Mapuches for a meeting where Herckmans made them aware that treacherous attitudes had not gone unnoticed.

[30][35] In Brazil the reinforcements and provisions asked for by Crispijnsen were ready to sail for Valdivia and John Maurice of Nassau was disappointed to learn that the colony had been dismantled.

[36][37] Having heard from Juan Manqueante that the Dutch planned to return, Pedro de Toledo conceived an occupation of Valdivia by a synchronous advance by the Spanish army in Chile by land and by a fleet sent from Peru.

[38] The killing of scouting auxiliaries in conjunction with uncertainty regarding the arrival by sea of the Spanish from Peru made López de Zúñiga retreat back north.

Eventually, Narborough left as quickly as he had arrived without disclosing the reason for his presence, greatly confusing the Spanish authorities.