LOVE OF THE HORSE — THE STIRRUP, BIT, AND SPUR OF THE ARAUCANIANS — MODE OF FASTENING THE SPUR ON THE HEEL — TRAINING OF THE HORSES — VALUE OF THE HORSE ACCOUTREMENTS — HATRED OF SHAMS — LOVE FOR SILVER AND CARELESSNESS OF GOLD — HOW THE ARAUCANIANS RIDE — THE BOLAS OR LAQUI, AND THE LASSO — MODE OF MAKING AND THROWING THE LASSO — CAPTURE OF A SAVAGE BULL — COURAGE OF THE ARAUCANIANS — THEIR SUCCESSFUL STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY — CAREER OF A YOUNG HERO — MARRIAGE AMONG THE ARAUCANIANS — ABDUCTION OF THE BRIDE — RECONCILIATION WITH THE PARENTS — ARAUCANIAN COOKERY — PREPARING NACHI, CHICA, AND MUDAI — THRESHING CORN.

We now come to the ordinary life of the Araucanians.

Like the American tribes in general, they have become wonderful adepts in the use of the horse, the climate, the natives, and the horse seeming to agree with each other in a way which is really remarkable, considering that the animal is of comparatively late introduction into America. Unlike the Patagonians, they pride themselves on the massive solidity of the accoutrements with which they bedizen their horses; and, although they care little about the individual animals, and are rather hard masters to them, they bedeck the horses in the most lavish manner.

Their saddles are made very much after the fashion employed by the Patagonians, being little more than rude wooden frames. A few skins are laid on the back of the horse, the saddle is placed on them, a saddle cloth of thick leather is thrown over it, and the whole apparatus is complete. The bridle is made, like that of the Patagonians, of twisted hide, or sometimes of a number of strips of horse-skin plaited together, a few threads of silver being mingled with them. The bit is generally the ordinary Spanish bit, with its cruelly powerful arrangement of curb and ring.

The stirrups are generally nothing more than a piece of cane twisted into a triangular form, and hung to the saddle by leathern cords; but the wealthy Araucanians pride themselves in having these articles of solid silver. The shape of these stirrups varies in some degree, the usual form resembling that of the English stirrup, but very much larger and heavier, the sides being from one to two inches wide, and pierced in ornamental patterns, while the cross-bar on which the foot rests is fully two inches in width.

The form of stirrup to which they are most partial resembles the other, as far as the side pieces are concerned; but the foot-bar is developed into a large plate of silver, which comes over the front of the stirrup, and protects the toes and instep from the thorns which are plentiful in the country. The back of this plate projects behind in a sharp point, which is used as a spur.

About the spurs themselves the Araucanian is very fastidious. They are of enormous size, and armed with rowels measuring from two to three inches in diameter, and sometimes even exceeding that measurement. It may be imagined that spurs of this size, which are exceedingly weighty, must be buckled on the feet very tightly, so as to keep them in their places.

This, however, is not the case. On the contrary, the strap by which they are fastened is quite loose, so that when the wearer walks the rowels trail on the ground, and when he is mounted they hang nearly perpendicularly from his heels. The Araucanian cares little for the impediment in walking, as he never walks twenty yards if he can help himself; while the position of the spurs when he is mounted is a real necessity. An illustration of stirrups and spurs is given on the 1175th page.

The horses are never more than half trained. They are taught to wheel within a very small circle, to stop suddenly and throw themselves on their haunches, and to dash off at full gallop; but that is the extent of their accomplishments. Many of them are young, spirited, and nervous steeds, and if, in the course of the struggles for victory which they occasionally attempt, the spurs were to come against their sides, they would be greatly alarmed, and their struggles would only be increased. But as the spurs hang down almost below the rider’s feet, they swing clear of the horse’s flanks, while at any time, if they are needed for use, the wearer has only to bend his feet, which brings them into position.

The Araucanians have a very wholesome contempt for shams, and will have nothing that has any pretence about it. The poorest peasant, who can only afford an iron spur, or possibly not even a spur of any kind, would scorn to wear either spur or stirrups of plated metal, or of any imitation of silver, however good.

They are so fastidious in this matter that they will not use articles that have been made abroad; and even if a spur is made of solid silver in imitation of their own patterns, they will be nearly certain to reject it, the workmanship being sure to betray itself to their experienced eyes. A high polish always excites their suspicions, inasmuch as the native artificers are incapable of imparting it. All these articles are made from the silver currency of the country, and the wealthy Araucanian always carries with him a pair of balances, and a number of dollars which serve as standard weights.

It may be imagined that the purchase of a pair of spurs or stirrups is a matter of importance with these people. The buyer sits in silence on the ground, takes the spurs, and examines every part with the minutest attention, scrutinizing every joint, smelling the metal, tasting it, and ringing it, in order to judge whether it has been debased by the mixture of any inferior material. Not only spurs and stirrups, but pendants for the bridle, and ornaments for the headstalls and saddles, are made of silver; so that the accoutrements of a wealthy Araucanian will sometimes be worth a hundred and fifty pounds, merely as silver, without regard to the value of the workmanship.

The men who make these highly prized ornaments use the very rudest of tools, and their workshops are but rough hovels, quite out of keeping with the barbaric magnificence of their wares. Sometimes the artificer makes the ornaments for sale; but in the case of large articles, such as spurs or stirrups, which weigh several pounds, and consume a great number of dollars, he prefers to wait for the order, and make the required article out of the bag of dollars with which it is accompanied.

It is remarkable that the Araucanians, fond as they are of silver, will have nothing to do with gold. Besides these horse accoutrements, they wear earrings, breastpins, and other ornaments of silver, but none of gold. Some travellers think that their reason for the rejection of gold is their wish to conceal its presence in the country from the knowledge of the foreigner, remembering that it was the cause of the disastrous war with the Spanish invader. The real cause is, probably, that it cannot be procured in sufficient quantities without more labor than they choose to bestow, and that they have not learned to work gold as they do silver.

The Araucanians are admirable riders, though their seat would not please an European riding master. They depend entirely on balance for retaining their seat, and seem rather to hang on the horse’s back than to hold by any grip of the knee. Indeed, a stranger to the country always thinks that an Araucanian rider is on the point of being thrown, so loose is his seat, whereas the very idea that he can by any possibility be thrown never enters his mind. He and his horse seem one being, actuated by one mind. A traveller once saw a horse take fright, and leap sideways from the object of terror. He thought that the rider must be flung by the suddenness of the movement; but, to all appearance, the man took fright and shied at the same moment with his horse.

The Araucanians use the bolas in common with their southern neighbors, the Patagonians, and are never seen without the “laqui,” as they term the weapon, hanging at their waists. Some of them have a way of leaving one of the balls without its covering of leather, saying that the covered bolas is used when they fight with friends, but the bare bolas when they fight with an enemy.

They also use the lasso, that terrible weapon which extends over so vast a territory, and which supersedes the bolas as it proceeds northward.

This terrible weapon is simple enough in principle, being nothing more than a leathern rope, forty feet in length, with a noose at the end. As, however, the construction is rather ingenious, I have given an illustration on the 1175th page, taken from specimens in my possession. Fig. 1 shows the lasso coiled through the strap by which it is attached to the saddle of the rider. It is made of a number of thongs of raw hide, plaited into a round rope, about three-eighths of an inch in diameter; so that, although it appears very slender, it really possesses enormous strength, and an elephant could scarcely break it. This part of the rope is shown at fig. 5.

For the last ten feet of its length the rope is much thicker, is composed of more strips of hide, and is plaited into a square form. At the extreme end the various strands are plaited round an iron ring, as seen at fig. 4. Through this ring the lasso passes, so as to form a running noose. The change from the round to the square plait is seen at fig. 3, and fig. 2 shows the peculiar knot which keeps the lasso from slipping from the saddle.

Fig. 6 shows the end of another sort of lasso, made of the silk-grass fibre, i. e. the long fibres from the leaves of a species of agave. These fibres are wonderfully strong, and the lasso is remarkable, not only for its strength, but its elasticity. Instead of an iron ring being placed at the end, the rope is brought round so as to form a loop, the interior of which is lined with stout leather, and the exterior adorned with colored wools.

When the lasso is to be used, the thrower takes the ring in his left hand, and the lasso in the right, and separates his arms so as to make a running noose nearly six feet in length. Grasping the ring and the cord with his left hand, he slips his right hand along the rope so as to double it, and there holds it. When he throws it, he whirls it round his head until the noose becomes quite circular, and then hurls it at the object, throwing after it the remainder of the rope, which has hung in coils on his left arm. As it passes through the air, the noose becomes gradually smaller, so that the thrower can always graduate the diameter of the noose to the object which it is intended to secure.

The skill with which they fling this noose is wonderful, as may be seen from Mr. Smith’s account of a struggle with an infuriated bull:—

“The capture of a particular animal from a herd, within a range of pasture utterly unbounded except by mountains and rivers, is often difficult, and gives rise to many exciting cases and ludicrous scenes. Even when taken, the captives are not easy of management, their attachment for old associates manifesting itself in frequent attempts to return.

“One particular bull gave great trouble. He was a noble fellow, of spotless white,—such an one as bore the beautiful Europa through the waters of the Phœnician deep, or such an one as might be worshipped on the shores of the Ganges.

“After a long time he was lassoed, and the horseman, who had literally taken the bull by the horns, started off complacently to lead him to the place of gathering. But his bullship did not take the going as a matter of course; for, with a mad bellow, he charged upon his captor, who, seeing a very formidable pair of horns dashing toward him, started at full gallop, still holding fast the lasso, which he in vain tried to keep taut. The horse was jaded, and old Whitey was fast gaining. Another Indian bounded forward, and, dexterously throwing his lasso, caught the unoccupied horn, bringing up the prisoner with a round turn.

“The bull was not yet conquered. After plunging, pawing, bellowing, and tossing for a while, he changed his tactics. Making a rush and a feint at one of his annoyers, he wheeled about suddenly, and nearly succeeded in catching the other on his horns. Things were becoming more complicated than ever, when, as the infuriated animal stood head down, with his tail stuck out at an angle of fifty-five degrees, a third horseman came to the attack, and, whirling his lasso with a jerk, caught the caudal extremity in a running knot.

“Thus the two men at the sides were safe, provided that the man behind kept his lasso strained. But a question in the rule of three now arose. If three men catch a bull, one by each horn, and one by the tail, and all pull in different directions, which way can the bull go?

“No one seemed able to work out the answer; but Katrilas was a man ready for all emergencies, and, dismounting, he started to the assistance of his companions, armed with a long lance and an old poncho. Running before the bull, he threw the poncho on the ground, a few paces in front, the man behind slackened a little, and the bellowing captive made a desperate plunge at the red cloth. A jerk on the tail stopped further progress, till Katrilas, picking up the poncho on the tip of the lance, tossed it several yards in advance. There was another slackening, another plunge, another jerk, and so on, until the ‘critter’ was brought to the desired spot.

“The next trouble was to loose the captive. Sundry scientific pulls brought him to the ground, and Katrilas, springing forward, stripped the lassos from his horns. But another remained on the tail. That no one would venture to untie, for the bull had risen, and stood glaring frantically around. An Indian, unsheathing his long knife, ran full tilt at the extended tail, and with one blow severed the greater part of that useful member from the body.

“The last was literally the ‘unkindest cut of all.’ The poor brute was fairly conquered. He stood with head hanging, eyes glaring, the tongue lolling from his frothing mouth, his once spotless coat defiled with foam and dirt, while the drip, drip, drip, of the warm blood upon his heels rendered the abjectness of his misery complete.”

That the Araucanians are a courageous race is evident from their struggles with the Spaniards. Though vanquished again and again by the superior arms and discipline of the Spaniards, they were never conquered, and when repulsed, only retired to gather fresh forces. Toqui after Toqui fell in the struggle, the most remarkable of these warriors being a mere youth named Lautaro, who was unanimously elected to the post in consequence of his conduct when the Araucanians attacked the Spaniards at Tucapel. He was a captive and a servant in the family of Valdivia, when the place was attacked. The Spanish musketry told so terribly upon the Araucanians, that they were on the point of retreating, when Lautaro dashed forward, rallied his countrymen, and led them to the attack with such spirit that the whole Spanish force was destroyed with the exception of two, who escaped to Concepcion with the news of the defeat. Valdivia himself was captured, and it is said that Lautaro desired to save the life of his former master, when an old chief seized an axe and dashed out the brains of the captive general.

Foreseeing that General F. de Villa Gran, who was at Concepcion, would march at once to avenge the destruction of Tucapel, Lautaro assembled the troops, pushed forward, and concealed half of them in the sides of a defile through which the road led, while the other half were also concealed at the summit of the mountain. The battle began in the defile, and, after causing great destruction among the enemy, the Araucanians had to retire.

Fancying that the enemy were beaten, the Spaniards pressed on, and arriving wearied at the summit, found a second and fresh army opposed to them. They fought with the utmost courage, and their artillery nearly turned the day in their favor, when Lautaro told off one of his bravest officers with orders to capture the cannon, while he attacked Villa Gran on the flank. So furiously was the charge made, that the guns were taken, and the Spaniards had to retreat, Villa Gran barely escaping with his life.

When they entered the pass through which they had come, they found the outlet blocked with fallen trees, and the sides filled with warriors, whom the far-seeing Lautaro had despatched for that purpose at the beginning of the conflict. The slaughter was terrific, and only a few of the Spaniards escaped, led by Villa Gran, who at last forced his way through the barriers.

Lautaro showed his splendid generalship, by pushing on at once to the headquarters at Concepcion, which he took, pillaged, and burned. Orders were received from Lima to rebuild Concepcion, and no sooner was it done than Lautaro captured and burned it again. He then conceived the bold project of attacking Santiago itself, and in a wonderfully short time appeared before the place.

Here he committed his only error in generalship. He had to pass through the territory of the Purumancians, who had become allies of the Spaniards, thinking them invincible. Lautaro should have remembered that the late defeats must have altered the opinions of the Purumancians, who could have been easily induced to act against their former allies. But his indignation at their treachery was so great, that he stopped to ravage their territory and destroy their crops.

Villa Gran, who was then the governor of Santiago, knew his enemy well, and employed the time in fortifying the city, which would have fallen at once had Lautaro pushed on without stopping to punish his traitorous countrymen. Three times Villa Gran sent a force against the Araucanians, the last being commanded by his own son, but all were routed and driven back.

At last Villa Gran, stung by these repeated defeats, determined himself to conduct an expedition against his foes, and with a mixed force of Spaniards and Purumancians came stealthily upon the Araucanian camp. Born general though he was, Lautaro did not know the use of outposts, and the consequence was, that Villa Gran surprised his camp, and as he rushed to the front to rally his followers, he was pierced by a dart flung by one of the Purumancians, and fell dead on the spot.

Thus fell Lautaro, a youth worthy to be named with the greatest heroes of antiquity. Chosen commander at the age of seventeen, he opposed for two years the best soldiers of Europe, armed with infinitely superior weapons, and accustomed to military discipline. Though a mere boy, he displayed a military skill and a fertility of resource worthy of the most accomplished generals, and by sheer force of intellect and courage won every battle except that in which he fell.

A nation which could produce men such as Lautaro, or the troops who fought and conquered under his command, is evidently capable of great things, and, at all events, worthy of the liberty which it won from the Spaniards, and which has never again been threatened.

Marriage among the Araucanians is an odd mixture of ceremonies. Theoretically, the bridegroom is supposed to steal his wife against her own will and in opposition to the wishes of her parents; practically, he buys her from her parents, who have long looked upon their daughter as a valuable article, to be sold to the first purchaser who will give a sufficient price.

Sometimes the match is one of affection, the two young people understanding each other perfectly well. Music is the usual mode by which an Araucanian expresses his feelings, and the usual instrument is the jews-harp. The Mapuché lover is never seen without his jews-harp hanging from his neck, tied upon a little block of wood to prevent it from being injured, and decorated with strings of many-colored beads. Furnished with this indispensable instrument, the lover seats himself at a little distance from the object of his choice, and produces a series of most dolorous sounds, his glances and gestures denoting the individual for whom they are meant.

After a little while, the lover thinks that he had better proceed to the marriage. Should he be a wealthy man, he has no trouble in the matter; but if not, he goes among his friends and asks contributions from them. One gives an ox, another a horse, another a pair of silver spurs, and so on. It is a point of honor to make these contributions, and equally so to return them at some time or other, even if the intending bridegroom has to wait until in his turn he can sell his eldest girl.

The next process is, that the friends of the young man assemble, all mounted on their best horses, and proceed in a body to the house of the girl’s father. Five or six of the best speakers dismount and ask permission for the marriage, extolling to the utmost the merits of the bridegroom, and expatiating on the happiness of his daughter in being married to such a man. The father, treating the matter as gravely as if he had not done exactly the same thing himself, makes a speech in his turn.

All this ceremony is intended to give time to the young man to hunt for his intended bride, and, until he has found her, they will go on with their speeches. As soon as the young man discovers the girl, he seizes her and drags her to the door, while on her part she screams and shrieks for protection. At the sound of her voice all the women turn out, armed with sticks, stones, and any other weapons which come to hand, and rush to her help. The friends of the bridegroom in their turn run to help their friend, and for some time there is a furious combat, none of the men escaping without some sharp bruises, and the girl screaming at the top of her voice.

At last the bridegroom dashes at the girl, seizes her as he can, by the hand, the hair, or the heels, as the case may be, drags her to his horse, leaps on its back, pulls her up after him, and dashes off at full speed, followed by his friends. The relatives of the girl go off in pursuit, but are constantly checked by the friends of the bridegroom, who keep them back until he has dashed into the forest with his bride. They halt at the skirts of the forest, wait until the sounds of the girl’s screams and the galloping of the horse have died away, and then disperse. This Araucanian ceremony of marriage is represented on the following page.

The young couple are now left alone until they emerge from the wood on the second day after the abduction, when they are supposed to be man and wife. That all the fighting and screaming are a mere farce is evident from the fact that, if a man should offer himself who is not acceptable to the parents of the girl, and should proceed to carry her off, one of her relatives blows the horn of alarm, as has already been mentioned, and all the male relations turn out and drive off the intruder. Sometimes, however, he succeeds in gaining the bush before he is caught, and in that case the marriage holds good.

Some few days after the marriage, the friends call on the newly-married couple, and bring the contributions which they had promised. The whole party then proceed to the house of the girl’s father, and offer him these goods, which are taken as if they were merely offerings, and not the price for which the girl was sold. Being satisfied with the presents, he expresses himself pleased with the marriage, and congratulates the young couple and their friends.

But the mother is not so easily to be satisfied. With her it is a point of honor that she is not satisfied, but, on the contrary, is highly outraged at the abduction of her child. So she will neither speak to nor look at the bridegroom, but sits down with her back turned to him.

Now comes a difficult point. She is bound, in accordance with the laws of hospitality, to entertain the guests, and as the offending son-in-law is the most important person, he must be consulted first. So she addresses the bride, “My daughter, ask your husband if he is hungry.” The conversation thus begun is carried on in a similar manner, and ends with an entertainment on which the mother of the bride exhausts all her culinary knowledge. Sometimes the husband never addresses his mother-in-law for years, except with her back turned to him, or with a fence intervening between them. The reader may remember that a similar custom is followed by the Kaffir tribes of Southern Africa. See page 88.

The cookery of the Araucanians is at first anything but agreeable to European taste.

Mutton is largely consumed in the country, and is killed, dressed, and cooked in a speedy and simple manner. The sheep being hung by its hind legs to a tree, its throat is cut, and the blood is received into a bowl and mixed with salt, in which state it is thought to be a very great delicacy. The sheep is then opened, and the whole of the interior removed to be cleaned and cooked, this being held as the best part of the animal. The skin is then removed, the body is split along the spine from head to tail, and each half is transfixed with a stick, and set over the fire.

The greatest delicacy, however, that can be placed before a guest is called “nachi.” The mode of preparing this dish is a good example of the total disregard of inflicting pain which is common to all uncivilized people.

A sheep is hung up by the fore-legs, a quantity of cayenne pepper and salt is mixed in a bowl, and the throat of the sheep is cut so as to open the windpipe, down which the operator stuffs the salt and pepper as fast as he can. He then draws out the jugular vein, cuts it, and turns the end into the severed windpipe, down which the blood flows, so as to mix with the pepper and salt, and carry them into the lungs. The unfortunate sheep swells up and dies in horrible agony, which is totally disregarded by the spectators, not from intentional cruelty, but utter want of thought. The sheep is then opened, and the lungs are found distended with a mixture of salt, pepper, and blood. This is the nachi, which is served up by being cut in slices and handed to the guests while still warm.

There are two national drinks, namely, chica and mudai. The former is a sort of cider, and prepared as follows. A sheepskin is laid on the ground, with the woolly side downward, and a ponchoful of green apples is emptied on it. Two or three men sit round it armed with switches, with which they beat the apples, and in a short time convert them into a pulp. Water is next poured upon them, and the chica is ready for use. The men take up large handfuls of the pulp, and squeeze them into jars, this being all the preparation which the chica receives.

This drink is at first hated by foreigners, and afterward liked by them. See, for example, two extracts from the journal of the same traveller. “After riding for a long time in the hot sun without meeting any running stream, we spied a farmhouse in the distance, and, going to it asked for a glass of water.

“‘There is not a drop of water within a mile of the house,’ said an old woman who came to the door, ‘but we can give you some chica de manzanos (cider) that is very nice,’ producing at the word a huge glass of a green, muddy liquid. To call it vinegar would be too high a compliment, and to add that it was flavored with gall would convey no adequate idea of this abominable stuff, which had been made from the very greenest of green apples. One mouthful sufficed for me, and my first impressions of chica de manzanos were not favorable; but our guide tossed it off with infinite relish.”

This description was written immediately after entering the country for the first time. Here is another description of the same liquid. After describing the mode of its manufacture, he proceeds to say: “Such cider is somewhat coffee colored, and rather sour, but I soon became fond of it, especially with the addition of a little toasted meal, which makes it much more palatable.”

Mudai is a drink which resembles almost exactly the kava of Polynesia, and is prepared in the same manner, meal being substituted for the kava root. A bushel or so of wheat is slowly boiled for several hours, after which the decoction is strained off and set to cool. In order to hasten fermentation, a quantity of meal is masticated and added to the liquid. The effect is very rapid, and when fermentation has fairly begun, the mudai is fit for use, and is strained off into jars. It has a muddy look, but possesses a pleasant and slightly acid flavor, which is very agreeable in a hot country if the mode of preparation be not known.

Wheat is prepared in a rather peculiar, not to say poetical and romantic, manner. The sickle is not employed, but the ears are plucked by hand. The wheat gatherers separate themselves into pairs, a young man and a girl taking a basket between them, and walking slowly through the cornfield. As they pass along, they gather the ears, rubbing them on the back of their companion’s hand, so that the ripe grains fall into the basket. They accompany the light toil with songs, which mostly treat of love, and as the tendency of each pair is naturally to diverge from the others, it happens that in this way is originated many a love-match, which afterward finds its issue in the marriage ceremonies above described.

This plan is, however, only employed when corn has to be gathered and threshed on a small scale. When a large quantity is prepared the horse is brought into requisition, the ears being thrown into a circular shallow pit, round and round which six or seven horsemen urge their steeds, shouting and yelling as if mad. When they think that the grain is sufficiently released from the ears, they leap out of the ring, and a number of women and children enter, who sweep up the corn and chaff to the edge of the ring with bunches of twigs which serve as brooms.

This operation, however, is a very imperfect one, and before the corn can be taken to the mill a further husking has to be performed. This is done by placing the wheat in shallow wooden dishes, getting into them barefooted, and keeping up a sort of shuffling dance, throwing up the grain with each foot alternately, and rubbing it with the other.

The winnowing is simply accomplished by flinging the wheat into the air, so that the chaff is blown away by the wind. As to the grinding, it is exactly similar to that mode which is practised by the Kaffirs, the women placing the corn on the top of a flat, sloping stone, and rubbing it with another stone shaped like a rolling-pin. The mill being placed on a sheepskin, the meal falls upon the skin as it is ground. This is very hard work indeed, and even the skilled Araucanians are bathed in perspiration before they have ground enough corn for a meal.