The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-08-21
Tho AraucanOs.

The dwelling of the Araucano Is
round in shape, with conical roof, the
centre of which has an opening for the
escape OF smoke. The size is In pro-
portion to the family occupants. It Is
made Of upright posts planted In the
ground, and horizontal poles are fast
ened all around, leaving narrow place
for the hide doorway. Over the poles
are tied, one hanging down over the
other, punches Of dried grass or straw,
to keep out the rain and wind. Some
of the caciques are said to possess as
many as nine wives, who sleep upon
dried hides spread upon the floor, tho
rest OF the family occupying the space,
the feet toward the middle OF the room
where fire is kept up during wet and
cold weather. Men and women battle
every morning at daybreak in the
rivers or creeks, and ut the trading
posts II Ia said that the womon are very
cleanly In their cooking, using wooden
spoons in place of their hands, The
warriors make raids into the Argentine
Republic, and drive away hundreds Of
horses and cattle. When successful,
they sell the products of their raids to
the Chilians, and, d,whcn an opportunity
affords do not hesitate to steal the animal
back again, to be disposed of a second
time. These raids into tho neighbour
Ing republic are not always profitable.
sometimes the soldiers 0vcrtake them,
showing no mercy, and slaughtering
them lndiscriminatcly, which they can
easily do by the superiority of firearms
over men Oh horseback armed with
lances. When not engaged in war or
hunting expeditions, they delight in
stretching out ut full lcnght on the
ground, In the hot rays of the sun.
Tho women do the outdoor work, the
planting and GA herring Of crops, and
attend to indoor work as we'll. Their
COWS supply the principal wants of the
family and arc taken great care Of.
The husbands are kind to their wives,
to all appearances, and the traders say
that very seldom does quarrel take place
among tho women. The men never
practice medicine, which duty is left
to the medicine women, who use herbs
and roots and when these inil in effect
1T Is attributed to the tricks of the evil
spirits. Use is then made Of horn.
drum and incantations which produce
horrible din. Should Il common man
or woman die, the body is carried out
OF camp, aid oftentimrs cast upon. the
ground and Lett there. With The
oaciquc 1t Is different, for he is believed
to be moro than Il mortal, and can only
d1e by assassination, battle or by at
tacks of the evil spirit. The medicine
women when they find all their remc-
dies and arts useless, and the oaciuue
breathing his last, fly in all directions
TO escape Indian vengeance, many max
Ing their way to Chili scttlcmenst :
others, hidden, die Of starvation. The
neigh boring tribes will not succor them
and they are hunted up in all directions.
No matter how many years elapse,
when caught must be sacrificed to np-
pease the chiefs spirit. When the
cactque is dead, no Immediate notice is
taken Of it, but his body is placed in
"lcker-workcd and hung up in the
dwelling under tic open chimney,
where all the smoke passes over and
above him. The family live in the
room and never remove from it to
another dwelling. During the time OF
smoking the body, the poor medicine
womca, or, prehaps, II wife or two, are
subjected, AT intervals, to tho torture,