Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-10-09
CAREFULLY SAVED FOR PUDDING.

CAREFULLY SAVED FOR PUDDING.
BY the way, is it not strange that among
these Indians the blood Of lamb is consiC-
cred an emblem OF safety? Whenever they
go TO war a lamb is killed and its blood
sprinkled upon the arms of the warriors as
a sign that vengeance shall not overtake
them. When they make u treaty of peace
the slain lamb is again brought into requiSi
tion. Each of the covenanting parties
drinks little of the blood and eats a bit of
the raw flesh to prove that what has been
sealed by the blood of innocence cannot be
broken
The mems part of the days labor con-
sisted entirely i'll eating, drinking and Civ
ing orders. When the SquawS had dug the
holes and sprinkled in each a few drops of
Sleeps blood, chlcha pots We're circulated
and all drak freely. An hour Afterwards
chicha ad libitum in the interval-some
posts, tall enough to form the four corners
of the house, were planted by the women
in the holes. After another hour or more of
home-chewed chicha and cheerful converse
lion, cross-pieces We're firmly bound to the
posts with tongs OF raw-hide, and the rails
ing for that day was completed. The III
terpreter told us that it would require not
less than week TO finish the house. The
next day they would weave in the smaller
poles for the walls. On another day they
put up the raftcrS and so on, nursing the
Job as long rs possible-because time, be-
ing made for slaves is no object to these
independent Araucanians. We witnessed
only one day of it, as on the following
morning we started anew for Valdiyia. but
that brief glimpse was sufficient.
Promptly at high noon the squaws an
nounced that the banquet was ready. The
green sward served for t'festive board
and the men seated themselves contentedly
upon it in wide circle under the shadow
-of the trees, while the women who were
not engaged in waiting upon them re-
manned fasting, dutifully willing to partake,
hours later, of whatever crumbs and bits
their lords might leave for the dogs and
them. First. some raw clans were brought
in huge wooden troushS. and on the top of
each trough WAS placed one big red pepper
Every Indian in turn took two or three
clans. and the peppers were passed from
lip to lip, each one sucking it and handing
il on TO his neighbor. This preliminary
ceremony, we are told. was in token OF last
ipg frendship-and very warm such love
must DC, judging from the tears that sprang
ITO every eye. When the ,lams had been
deyoured the chicha jars circulated freely,
passed from mouth to mouth to mouth in
sttfe most confidential manner. Then came
kettles OF cooked corn, steaming hot; then
more chicha. Then quantities of raw NUT
ton. cut in small chunks and piled on wooden
trays. Then ears of roasted corn: and last,
bGt by no means least, our own contribu-
ZION of cold, jam-beSmeared pancakes, whose
sticky sweetness so pleased the chief that
he at once opened negotiations with our
Header with view to
~" PURCHASING FEW ''wHITE soUAws'
who could make them. Between every
course chicha flowed freely, the braves
gobbled raw sheep and corn till full to
bursting. and after a short rest they re-
turned to the charge and ate and drank,
aud drank and 1pDIn and AGAIN fill
nature could endure no more, and all sank
into q Heavy sleep. This was the hungry
sQuaws' opportunity, and so well they i'm
proved it that the remaining store of pro-
visions, which in the morning we had
thoagAts Sufficient to last the whole COM
munity week. disappeared like dew before
the sun. About sunset most Of the younger
men, having overcome their gluttonous stu
por, bestirred themselves for game of
ball. The ball was made of strips of raw
hide, covered with many pieces of wooden
cloth, so that its force might not injure the
moccasined foot. There appeared to be
no rules regulating the game, its whole pur-
could kick the ball. They laughed and
yelled and jostled one another in the good
naturee scramble like lot of noisy school
boys
The moon being at the full. it was deter
mined to keep up the fun till midnight But
. first supper must be had and the delightful
news soon spread that as an extra treat
dish OF nachi would be served. What under
the moon was '.nachil' Even the half
Indian interpreter could not tell US, so We
resolved TO wait and see. 1t was not the
first time that we have had cause to regret
the curiosity that has led women into I'M
pleasant situations from the days Of Great
grandmother Eve down to her latest
descendants. Nachi, it seems, is the great
est luxury of which the Lauisto mind can