to such a degree, that they proceed to the greatest excesses to revenge themselves.

The names of the Araucanians are composed of the proper name, which is generally either an adjective or a numeral, and the family appellation or surname, which is always placed after the proper name, according to the European custom, as cari-lemu, green bush; meli-antu, four suns. The first denotes one of the family of the lemus, or bushes, and the second one of that of the antus, or suns. Nor is there scarcely a material object which does not furnish them with a discriminative name. From hence, we meet among them with the families of Rivers, Mountains, Stones, Lions, &c. These families, which are called cuga, or elpa, are more or less respected according to their rank, or the heroes they have given to their country. The origin of these surnames is unknown, but is certainly of a period much earlier than that of the Spanish conquests.

CHAPTER IX.

Matrimony and Domestic Employments.

BY the admapu polygamy is allowed among the Araucanians, whence they marry as many wives as they can furnish with a dower, or more properly pur

chase, as to obtain them they must give to their fa thers a certain amount of property, as has been and still is the practice in most countries of both continents. But in their marriages they scrupulously avoid the more immediate degrees of relationship. Celibacy is considered as ignominious. Old batchelors are called by way of contempt vuchiapra, and old maids cudepra, that is, old, idle, good for nothing.

Their marriage ceremonies have little formality, or, to speak more accurately, consist in nothing more than in carrying off the bride by pretended violence, which is considered by them, as by the negroes of Africa, an essential prerequisite to the nuptials. The husband, in concert with the father, conceals himself with some friends near the place where they know the bride is to pass, As soon as she arrives she is seised and put on horseback be. hind the bridegroom, notwithstanding her pretended resistance and her shrieks, which are far from being serious. In this manner she is conducted with much noise to the house of her husband, where her relations are assembled, and receive the presents agreed upon, after having partaken of the nuptial entertainment, Of course, the expenses of an Araucanian wedding are by no means inconsiderable, from whence it happens that the rich alone can maintain any considerable number of wives, The poor content themselves with one or two at most, Nor does there arise any inconvenience from the scarcity of women, as the number of females is much greater

than that of males, which is always the case in those countries where polygamy is permitted.

The first wife, who is called unendomo, is always respected as the real and legitimate one by all the others, who are called inandomo, or secondary wives. She has the management of the domestic concerns, and regulates the interior of the house. The husband has much to do to maintain harmony among so many women, who are not a little inclined to jealousy, and each night at supper makes known his choice of her who is to have the honour of sharing his bed, by directing her to prepare it. The others sleep in the same room, and no one is permitted to approach them. Strangers, on their arrival, are lodg ed in a cabin entirely separate from this seraglio.

The wives have the greatest respect for their husbands, and generally give him the title of buta, or great, Besides female occupations, they are obliged to employ themselves in many that, in civilized countries, are considered as the peculiar province of the men, according to the established maxim of all barbarous nations, that the weaker sex are born to labour, and the stronger to make war and to command. Each of them is obliged to present to her husband daily a dish prepared by herself in her separate kitchen or fire-place; for this reason the houses of the Araucanians have as many fires as there are women inhabiting them; whence, in inquiring of any one how many wives he has, they make use of the following phrase as being the most polite, muri onthalgeimi, how many fires do you keep. Each wife is also obliged to furnish her husband yearly, besides

his necessary clothing, with one of those cloaks already described called ponchos, which form one of the principal branches of the Araucanian commerce.

The greatest attention is paid by the women to the cleanliness of their houses, which they sweep, as well as their courts, several times in the course of a day; and whenever they make use of any utensil they immediately wash it, for which purpose their houses are supplied with an abundance of running water. The same attention to cleanliness is paid to their persons; they comb their heads ́twice a day, and once a week wash them with a soap made from the bark of the quillai,* which keeps the hair very clean. There is never to be seen on their clothes the least spot or dirt. The men are likewise equally as fond of cleanliness; they never fail to comb their heads every day, and are also accustomed frequently to wash them.

Bathing, as among the ancients, is in common use with these people, who think it necessary to preserve their health and strengthen their bodies, and in order to have it convenient they are careful to place their houses on the banks of rivers. In warm weather they bathe themselves several times a day, and it is rare even in winter that they do not bathe themselves at least once a day; by means of this continued exercise they become excellent swimmers, and give wonderful proofs of dexterity in this art. They will swim for a great distance under water, and

* Quillaia Saponaria; it is also much used by the Spaniards, especially those who live in the country.

in this manner cross their largest rivers, which renders them some of the best divers in the world.

The women are also fond of frequent bathing, and for this purpose, select the most obscure solitary places, at a great distance from the men. Even on

the very day of the birth of a child, they take the, infant to the river and wash it, and also themselves, and within a short time return to their customary occupations, without experiencing any inconvenience; so true it is, that the human constitution is not naturally delicate, but is rendered so by our customs and modes of living. Child-birth is with them attended with little pain, which must be attributed to the strength of their constitutions; for a similar reason the women of the lower classes in Europe, according to the statement of Doctor Bland, in the Philosophical Transactions, experience a more easy delivery than the ladies, and are less subject to sickness in consequence.

Whether directed merely by the impulse of simple nature, or actuated by their solicitude to furnish strong men to the state, they rear their children in a very different manner from what is practised in civilized countries. When they have washed them in running water, as I have already observed, they neither swathe nor bandage them, but place them in a hanging cradle, called chigua, lined with soft skins, where they merely cover them with a cloth, and swing them from time to time by means of a cord attached to the cradle, which leaves them more at liberty to attend to their domestic concerns.