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["points of the circle. The soldiers strip the flesh from the bones, and make of them flutes ; then, cutting off the head, carry it round upon a pike, amidst the acclamations of the niuUitude, while, stamping in measured pace, they thunder out their dreadful war-song, accompanied by the mournful sound of these horrid instruments. This barbarous festival is terminated by applying to the mangled body the head of a sheep, w hich is succeeded by a scene of riot and intoxication, lithe skull should not bo broken by the blows of the club, they make of it a cup, called raHlonco, '.viilcli they use in their banquets in the manner of the ancient Scythians and Goths.
12. Congress of peace. — On the termination of a war, a congress is assem.blcd, called by tiie Spaniards parlamento. and the Araiicanians huincaeoyag. This is usually held in a delightful plain, between the rivers Biobio and Dnqueco, on the confines of both territories, whither the Spanish president and the Araucanian toqui repair with the attendants agreed upon in the preliminary articles. The four uthal-mapus send at the same time four deputiesfwho are usually the tetiarchs themselves, and whose mranimons consent is requisite for the establishment and ratification of peace. In the congress which was held after the war of 1723, were present 130 ulraenes, with their attendants, who amounted to the number of 2000 men. The camps of the negociating parties were separated by an interval of two miles. The conference is commenced with many compliments on either side, and in token of future friendship, tlicy bind the staves of the ulmencs with that of the Spanish president together, and place them in the midst of the assembly : an Araucanian orator then presents a branch of cinnamon, which is with them the token of peace, and placing his left hand upon the bundle of staves, makes, in the Chilian language, a pertinent harangue on the causes which produced the war, and the most eligible means of preserving harmony between the two nations. He then proceeds with much eloquence to point out the losses and miseries occasioned by war, and the advantages which arc derived from peace, to which he exhorts the chiefs of either party in a pathetic peroration. An interpreter then explains the precise meaning of all that the Araucanian has said. The Spanish president replies in another speech adapted to the subject, which is interpreted in the same manner. The articles of the treaty are then agreed iipon, and are ratified by a sacrifice of several chilineques, or Chilian camels, which the Araucanians immolate for the happy continuance of the peace. After this the president dines at the same table w ith
VOL. I.
the toqui and the principal ulmenes, to whom he makes the customary presents in the name of his sovereign. This parliament is renewed as often as a new president is sent from Spain to Chile, and cannot possibly be dispensed with, as in that case the Araucanians, imagining themselves despised, would without any other cause commence war. For this reason, there is always a considerable sum ready in the royal treasury for the cxpcnces necessary on these occasions. On the arrival of a new president, an envoy, called the national commissary, is dispatched in his name to the four uthalniapus, to invite the toquis and the other ulmenes to meet him at the place appointed, for the purpose of becoming acquainted Avith each other, and to confirm the frienrlship contracted Avith his predecessors. In this convention nearly the same ceremonies are practised as are made use of on ratifying a treaty of peace. The ulmenes collect upon tills occasion in great numbers, not only for the purpose of becoming personally acquainted Avith the new governor, but to form an opinion, from his manners and countenance, of his pacific or Avarlike disposition. A great number of merchants are attracted to the place where this meeting is held, and they form a kind of fair, which is mutually advantageous to both nations.
13. System, of religion. — The religious system of the Araucanians is simple, and Avell adapted to their free manner of thinking and of living. They acknoAvledge a Supreme Being, the Author of all things, whom they call Pillan, a Avord derived from puUi or pilli, the soul, and signifies the Supreme Essence ; they also call him Guenu-pillHn^ the Spirit of HeaA'en ; Bnla-gen, the Great Being ; Thrticore, the Thunderer ; Vil'Ce?nvoe, the Creator of all ; P'ilpepi/voe, the Omnipotent ; Alol/gelif, the Eternal ; Jonolu, the Infinite, Sec. The universal government of the Pillan is a prototype of the A raucanian polity. He is 1 he trreat toqui of the invisible Avorld, and as such, has his a]>o-ulmenes, and his ulmenes, to Avhoin he entrusts the administration of atfairs of less importance, in the first class of these subaltern divinitie.s i.sthe Epunanuin, or god of war ; the Meulen, a benevolent deity, the triend of the human race; and the Guecubu, a malignant being, the author of all evil, Avho appears to be the same as the Algue. From hence it appears, that the doctrine of two adverse principles, called Manicheisin, is very extensive. The Guecubu is the Mavari of the Oronoques, and the Ahernian of the Persians. He is, according to the general opinion of the Araucanians, the efficient cause of all the misfortimes that occur. If a horse tires, it is because tlie Guecubu has rode him. If] 3 G
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[an earthquake happens, the Guecubu has given it a shock : nor does any one die that is not suffocated by the Guccubu. The ulrnenes of their celestial hierarchy are the genii, who have the charge of all created things, and who, in concert with the benevolent Meulen, form a counterpoise to the enormous power of Guecubu. They are of both sexes, male and female, who always continue pure and chaste, propagation being unknown to their system of the spiritual world. The males are called gen^ that is, lords, unless this word should be the same as the ginn of the Arabians. The females are called amei-malghen, which signifies spiritual nymphs or fairies, and perform for men the offices of lares, or familiar spirits. There is not an Araucanian but imagines he has one of these in his service. Nien cai gni amchimalghen, “ 1 keep my nymph still,” is a common expression when they succeed in an undertaking. The Araucanians carry still farther their ideas of the analogy between the celestial government and their own ; for as their ulrnenes have not the right of imposing any species of service or contributions upon their subjects, still less, in their opinion, should those of celestial race require it of man, since they have no occasion for it. Governed by these singular opinions, they pay to them no exterior worship. They have neither temples nor idols, nor are they accustomed to offer any sacrifices, except in cases of Some severe calamity, or on concluding a peace ; at such times they sacrifice animats, and burn tobacco, which they think is the incense the most agreeable to their deities. Nevertheless they invoke them and implore their aid upon urgent occasions, addressing themselves principally to Pillan and to Meulen. To this little regard for religion, is oAving the indifference which they have manifested at the introduction of Christianity among them, which is tolerated in all the provinces of their dominion. The missionaries are there much respected, well treated, and have full liberty of publicly preaching their tenets, but notwithstanding there are but few of the natives who are converted. If the Araucanians discover little regard for their deities, they are, however, very superstitious in many points of less importance. They firmly believe in divination, and pay the greatest attention to such favourable or unfirvourable omens as the capriciousness of their imagination may suggest. Those idle observations are particularly directed to dreams, to the singing and flight of birds, which are esteemed by the whole of them the truest interpreters of the will of the gods. The fearless Araucanian, who with incredible valour confronts death in battle, trembles at the sight of an owl.
Their puerile weakness in this respect would appear incompatible with the strength of their intellect, if the history of the human mind did not furnish us with continual examples of similar contradictions. They consult upon all occasions their diviners, or pretenders to a knowledge of futurity, who are sometimes called gligim or gugol, among whom are some Avho pass for genpugnuy genpiru, &c. which signifies masters of the heavens, of epidemic diseases, and of worms or insects ; and, like the llamas of Tibet, boast of being able to produce rain, of having the power to cure all disorders, and to prevent the ravages of the worms which destroy the corn. They are in great dread of the calcus, or pretended sorcerers, who, they imagine, keep concealed by day in caverns with their disciples, called ivitnches, man-animals, and who at night transform themselves into nocturnal birds, make incursions in the air, and shoot invisible arrows at their enemies. Their superstitious credulity is particularly obvious in the serious stories which they relate of apparitions, phantoms, and hobgoblins; respecting which they have innumerable tales. But, in truth, is there a nation on earth so far removed from credulity in that particular, as to claim a right of laughing at the Araucanians ? They have, nevertheless, some among them who are philosophers enough to despise such credulity as an absurdity, and to laugh at the folly of their countrymen. They are all, however, agreed in the belief of the immortality of the soul. This consolatory truth is deeply rooted, and in a manner innate with them. They hold that man is composed of two substances essentially different : the corruptible body, which they call anca, and the soul, am or pulli, which they say is ancanoluy incorporeal, and mugealu, eternal, or existing for ever. This distinction is so fully established among them, that they frequently make use of the word anca metaphorically, to denote a part, the half, or the subject of any thing. As respects the state of the soul after its separation from the body, they are not however agreed. All concur in saying, with the other American tribes, that after death they go towards the w. beyond (he sea, to a certain place called Gulcheman ; that is, the dwelling of the men beyond the mountains. But some believe that this country is divided into two parts, one pleasant, and filled with every thing delightful, the abode of the good ; and the other desolate, and in want of every thing, the habitation of the Avicked. Others are of opinion that all indiscriminately enjoy there eternal pleasures, pretending that the deeds of this life have no influence upon a future state.]
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[14. EMMera^ceremome^.-— Notwithstanding they know the difference between the body and the soul, tlieir ideas of the spirituality of the latter do not seem to be very distinct, as appears from the ceremonies practised at their funerals. As soon as one of their nation dies, his friends and relations seat themselves upon the ground around the body, and weep fora long time; they afterwards expose it, clothed in the best dress of the deceased, upon a high bier, called pzV/Mnj/, where it remains during the night, which they pass near it in weeping, or iu eating and drinking with those who come to console them ; this meeting is called curicahu/n, the black entertainment, as that colour is among them, as Avell as the Europeans, the symbol of mourning. The following day, though sometimes not until the second or third after the decease of the person, they carry the corpse in procession to the eltun, or burying jdacc of the family, which is usually situated in a wood or on a hill ; two young men on horseback, riding full speed, precede the procession. The bier is carried by the principal relations, and is surrounded by women, who bewail the deceased in the manner of the hired mourners among the Romans ; while another woman, who walks behind, strews ashes in the road, to prevent the soul from returning to its late abode. On arriving at the place of burial, the corpse is laid upon the surface of the ground, and surrounded, if a man, with his arras, if a woman, with female implements, and with a great quantity of provisions, and with vessels filled with chica, and with wine, which according to their opinions are necessary to subsist them during their passage to another world ; they sometimes even kill a horse, and inter it in the same ground. After these ceremonies, they take leave with many tears of the deceased, wishing him a prosperous journey, and cover the corpse with earth and stones placed in a pyramidal form, upon which they pour agreat quantity of chica. The similarity between these funeral rites and those practised by the ancients must be obvious to those acquainted with the customs of the latter. Immediately after the relations have quitted the deceased, an old woman, called 2'empulcague, comes, as the Araucanians believe, in the shape of a whale, to transport him to the Elysiari fields ; but before Ids arrival there, he is obliged to pay a toll, for passing a very narrow strait, to another malicious old woman who guards it, and who, on failure, deprives the passenger of an eye. This fable resembles much that of the ferryman Charon, not that there is any probability that the one was copied from the other ; as the hunaan mind, when placed in similar situations,
will give birth to the same ideas. The soul, when separated from the body, exercises in another life the same functions it performed in this, with no other difference except that they are unaccoiivpanied with fatigue or satiety ; husbands have there the same wives as they had on earth, but the latter have no children, as that happy country cannot be inhabited by any except the spirits of the dead ; and every thing there is spiritual. According to their theory, the soul, notwithstanding its new condition of life, never loses its original attachments ; and when the spirits of their countrymen return, as they frequently do, they fight furiously with those of their enemies whenever they meet with them in the air ; and these combats are the origin of tempests, thunder, and lightning. Not a storm happens upon the Andes or the ocean which th(‘y do not ascribe to a battle between the souls of their fellow-countrymen and those of the Spaniards ; they say that the roaring of the wind is the trampling of their horses ; the noise of the thunder that of their drums, and the flashes of lightning the fire of their artillery. If the storm takes its course tow ards the Spanish territory, they affirm that their spirits have put to flight those of the Spaniards, and exclaim triumphantly, Imvime?i, imivimen, puen, laguvimen! “ Pursue them, friends, pursue them, kill them !” If the contrary happens, they are greatlj’ afflicted, and call out in consternation, Yavidamen^ puen, namunlumcnl “ Courage?, friends, be firm !” I'hus do they believe that the dead, although mere spirits, are possessed, like the sha. dows which thronged about iEiieas in his descent into the infernal regions, of the same passions, and a love of the same pursuits, by w hich they were actuated when living.
“ Quoe, gratia curruum Armorumque fuit vivis, quee curanitenles Pascere equos, eadem sequitur tellure repostos."
Their ideas respecting the origin of creation arc so crude and ridiculous, that to relate them would serve for little else than to shew the weakness of human reason when left to itself. 'They have among them the tradition of a great deluge, in whicli only a few persons were saved, who took refuge upon a high mountain, called Thegtheg, the thundering, or the sparkling, Avhich hadthree points, and possessed the property of moving upon tlie water. From hence it is to be inferred, that this deluge was in consequence of some volcanic eruption, accompanied by terrible earthquakes, or should appear to be a corrupted tradition of Noah’s flood. Whenever a violent earthquake occurs, these people fly for safely to these moun-l
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[tains, which they fancy to be of a similar appearance, and which, of course, as they suppose, must possess the same property of floating upon the water, assigning as a reason, that they are fearful after an earthquake that the sea will again return and deluge the world. On these occasions, each one takes a good supply of provisions, and wooden plates to protect their heads from being scorched, yjrovided the Thegtheg, when raised by the wafers, should be elevated to the sun. Whenever they are told that plates made of earth would be much more suitable for this purpose than those of wood, which are liable to be burned, their usual reply is, that their ancestors did so before them.
15. Division of time.— ‘Time is divided by the Araucanians, as with us, into years, seasons, months, days, and hours, but in a very different method. Their year is solar, and begins on the 22d of December, or immediately after the southern solstice ; for this reason they call this solstice ihaumathipantu, the head and tail of the year, and denominate June Udanthipmtu., the divider of the year, from its dividing it into two equal parts. These two essential points they are able to ascertain with sufficient exactness by means of the solstitial shadows. The year is called tipaniu, the departure, or course of the son, as that luminary departs, or appears to depart, from the tropic, in order to make its annual revolution : it is divided info 12 months of 30 days each, as was that of the Egyptians and Persians. In order to complete the tropical year, they add five intercalary days, but in what manner they are introduced we are not able to determine ; it is, however, probable they are placed in the last month, which in that case will have 35 days. These months are called generally ci(/e«, or moons, and must have originally been regulated wholly by the phases of the moon. The proper names of them, as near as they can be rendered by ours, are the following, which are derived from the qualities, or the most remarkable things which are produced in each month : Avun-cujenj January, The month of fruit. Cogi~cujen, February, The month of harvest.
Glor-cujen, March, The month of maize. JUnm-cujen, April, The first month of the rimu.
Inarimu-cujeny
Thor-cujen^
J nanthor-enjen,
Huin-cujen^
PilluUcujeriy
May, The second month of the rimu.
June, The first month of foam. July, The second month offoahi. August, The unpleasant month. September, The treacherous month.
Hueul-cujeny October, The first month of new winds.
Inanhueul-cujeny November, The second month of new winds.
Huetiru-cujeny December, The month of new fruit.
The seasons, as in Europe, consist of three months ; the spring is called peughen, the summer ucan, the autumn guafug, and the winter puchnm. To render the distribution of the year uniform, they also divide the natural day into 12 parts, which they call gliagantu, assigning six to the day, and six to the night, in the manner of the Chinese, the Japanese, the Otaheitans, and several other nations. Thus each gliagantu, or Araucanian hour, is equal to two of ours. Those of the day they determine by the height of the sun, and those of the night by the position of the stars ; but as they make use of no instrument for this purpose, it follows that this division, which must necessarily be unequal, according to the different seasons of the year, will be much more so from the imperfect manner of regulating it. They begin to number their hours, as is general in Europe, from midnight, and give to each a particular name. In civil transactions they calculate indifferently, either by days, nights, or mornings; so that three days, three nights, or three mornings, signify the same thing.
16. Astronomical ideas.— To the stars in general they give the name of huagleny and divide them into several constellations, which they call pal or ritha. These constellations usually receive their particular appellations from the number of remarkable stars which compose them. Thus the pleiades are called cajupal, the constellation of six ; and the antarctic cross, melerithoy the constellation of four ; as the first has six stars which are very apparent, and the last four. The milky way is called rupuepeu, the fabulous road, from a story which, like other nations, they relate of it, and which is considered as fabulous by the astronomers of the country. They are well acquainted with the planets, which they call gau, a word derived from the verb gaun, to wash ; from whence it may be inferred, that they have respecting these bodies the same opinion as the Romans, that at their setting they submerge themselves in the sea. Nor are there wanting Fontenelles among them, who believe that many of those globes are so many other earths, inhabited in the same manner as ours ; for this reason they call the sky Guenumapuy the country of heaven ; and the moon, Cuyen-mapUy the country of the moon. They agree likewise with the Aristotelians, in maintain-]
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[ing that the comets, called by them cheruvoe^ proceed from terrestrial exhalations, inflamed in the upper regions of the air ; but they are not considered as the precursors of evil and disaster, as they have been esteemed by almost all the nations of the earth. An eclipse of the sun is called by them layanlUy and that of the moon lacujcn^ that is, the death of the sun or of the moon. But these expressions are merely metaphorical, as are the correspondent ones in Latin, of defectus solis mil lunoi. Their opinions as to the causes of tliese phenomena are not known, but it has been observed that they evince no greater alarm upon these occasions than at the most common operations of nature. Their language contains many words solely applicable to astronomical subjects, such as thoren, the late rising of the stars, and others similar, which prove that their knowledge in this respect is much greater than what is generally supposed.
17. A/easwres.— -Their long measures are the palm, nela; the span, duche ; the foot, namun ; the pace, thecan ; the ell, neveu ; and tlie league, tupu, which answers to the marine league, or the parasang of the Persians. Their greater distances are computed by mornings, corresponding to the day’s journeys of Europe. Their liquid and dry measures are less numerous: the gunmpar, a quart ; the can, a pint ; and the wencu, a measure of a less quantity, serve for the first. The dry measures are the chmigue, which contains about six pints ; and the gliepu, which is double that quantity. With regard to the speculative sciences they have very little information. Their geometrical notions are, as might be expected from an uncultivated people, very rude and confined. They have not even proper words to denote the principal figures, as the point, the line, the angle, the triangle, the square, the circle, the sphere, the cube, the cone, &c. ; their language, however, is so flexible and copious, that it would be easy to form from it a vocabulary of technical words to facilitate the acquisition of the sciences to the Araucanians.
18. iiVreiorfc.— Notwithstanding their general ignorance, they cultivate successfully the sciences of rhetoric, poetry, and medicine, as far as these are attainable by practice and observation ; for they have no books among them, nor are there any of them who know how to read or w rite. Neither can they be induced to learn these arts, either from their aversion to every thing that is practised by the Europeans, or from their being urged by a savage spirit to despise whatever does not belong to their country. Oratory is particularly held in
high estimation, and, as among the ancient Romans, is the high road to honour, and the management of public affairs. It is equally valued amongst the North American Indians. The eldest son of an ulmenwho is deficient in this talent, is for that sole reason excluded from the right of succession, and one of his younger brothers, or the nearest relation that he has, who is an able speaker, substituted in his place. Their parents, therefore, accustom them from their childhood lo speak in public, and carry them to their national assemblies, where the best orators of the country display their eloquence. From hence is derived the attention which they generally pay to speak their language correctly, and to jireserve it in its purity, taking great care to avoid the introduction of any foreign word ; in which they are so particular, that whenever a foreigner settles among them, they oblige him to relinquish his name, and take another in the Chilian language. The missionaries themselves are obligerl to conform to this singular regulation, if they would obtain the public favour. These have much to endure from their excessive fastidiousness, as even while they are preaching, the audience will interrupt them, and with importunate rudeness correct the mistakes in language or pronunciation which may escape them. Many of them are well acquainted with the Spanish language, from their frequent communication with the neighbouring Spaniards. They, however, make but little use of it, none of them ever attempting to speak in Spanish in any of the assemblies or congresses that have been held between the two nations; on which occasions they had much rather submit to the inconvenience of listening to some tiresome interpreter, than, by hearing another language, to suffer their native tongue to be degraded. The speeches of their orators resemble those of the Asiatics, or more properly those of all barbarous nations. The style is highly figurative, allegorical, elevated, and replete with peculiar phrases and expressions, that are employed only in similar compositions ; from whence it is called coi/agtucan, the style of parliamentary harangues. They abound with parables and apologues, which sometimes furnish the wdiole substance of the discourse. Their orations, notwithstanding, contain all the essential parts required by the rules of rhetoric; which need not excite our surprise, since the same principle of nature which led the Greeks to reduce eloquence to an art, has taught the use of it to these people. They are deficient neither in a suitable exordium, a clear narrative,a well-founded argument, or a pathetic peroration : they commonly divide their subject]