The manuscript sent to the king of Spain in 1788 is the part of Olivares’ work which has determined his place in the literature of the colonies. It is not known what was the fate of the second part sent from Chile to Madrid in 1790 by Governor Ambrosio O’Higgins. In writing his _Historia militar, civil y sagrada_, Olivares used the works of Antonio de Herrera, Ovalle, Ercilla, Xufré del Águila, Tesillo, and Bascuñán, as well as the _Voyage_ of Frezier, the writings of Juan and Ulloa, the chronicle of Techo, the description of the bishopric of Santiago by José Fernández de Campino, and the manuscript history by Córdoba y Figueroa, which, according to Medina, “served as his principal guide.” Documents in the archives were not accessible to him, and this limitation of his sources made certain errors inevitable; but his experience and observations enabled him to present especially valuable descriptions of the country and the customs of the Indians. In his pages, moreover, one may find independent judgments regarding the defensive military operations, and on the extent of success achieved by the missionaries in their efforts to convert the Indians. Compared with his work on the Jesuits in Chile, the history written later shows a more marked maturity of judgment and a greater degree of originality. “But anyone who may wish to examine the book on the Jesuits will find in it not only a mass of facts most useful for a knowledge of the history of the Jesuits in Chile, but also for a complete understanding of the political and civil history.”[203] [Sidenote: Historians of the 18th century] [Sidenote: Córdoba’s _Historia de Chile_]