 In September 1543 new arms, clothes and other equipment arrived from Peru on the ship "Santiaguillo"; thanks to these new supplies, Valdivia was in the position to start the rebuilding of Santiago and to send an expedition, led by Juan Bohon, to explore and populate the northern region of Chile.This expedition founded La Serena halfway between Santiago and the northern Atacama Desert, in the valley of "Coquimbo".Valparaíso, though used as a port by the Spaniards from the start, had no considerable population until much later.