The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1891-10-16

circulated freely. pdSSeu IIOn luOuJh W
mouth in the most confidential manner
Then came kettles of cooked corn, steam
ing hot; then more chicha Then guam
ties of raw mutton, cut in small chunks
and piled on wooden trays. Then ears
of roasted corn; and last, but by no
means least, our own contribution of
cold, jam-besmeared pancakes, whose
sticky sweetness so pleased the chief that
he at once opened negotiations with our
leader with a view to purchasing few
white squaws" 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 returned to the charge
and ate and drank, and drank and ate,
again and again, till nature could endure
no more and all sank into heavy sleep.
This was the hungry squaws' Opportuni-
ty, and so well they improved it that the
remaining store of provisions, which in
the morning we had thought sufficient to
last the whole community week, dis
appeared like dew before the sun.
About sunset most of the younger
men having overcome their gluttCnous
stupor, bestirred themselves for a 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 ap-
peared to be no rules regulating the game,
its whole purpose being to see how often
and how far each warrior could kick the
ball. They laughed and yelled and
jostled one another in the gOod-natured
scramble like lot of noisy school-boys,
The moon being at the full, it was de-
termined to keep up the fun till mid
night. 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
''nachi?" Even the half Indian inter
pretor 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
unpleasant situations from the days of
great-grandmother Eve down to her
latest descendants.
Nachi, it seems, is the greatest luxury
of which the Llanisto mind can conceive,
and this is the receipt for its prepare
ton: Take living, full-grown, fat
sheep, and hang it up by the fore feet,
instead of by the hind feet as usual.
Then carefully cut a hole in the wind
pipe and stull down it several handfulls
of salt and pepper mixed together. This
accomplished, despite the poor animals
struggles, sever the iugular and pull it
out sufficiently to turn the mouth of the
vein into the wind-pipe, down which the
blood flows, carving the pepper and salt
into the lungs. The writhing, tortured
creature is soon surprisingly swollen up
and dies in inexpressible agony When
the body is opened, the lungs are found
horribly distended with blood, pepper
and salt, the whole forming one coagu-
lated mass. This is nachi-and may
heaven preserve us from seeing it again.
1t is carefully extracted from the yet
quivering animal, cut in slices and served
up warm.
The bodybuilding before mentioned,
which is daily article of Araucanian
diet, is merely the uncooked blood of
any animal, coagula'ed by the addition
of salt to the consistency of custard.
Whenever sheep is killed by the ordi-
nary process, while one woman catches
the blood in wooden bowl, another
stands by to receive the entrails, which
are stewed like tripe and much appre-
ciated. After the skin has been stripped
off, the carcas is divided along the spine,
from tail to head, and is usually roasted,
one-half at time, over a blazing fire
spitted upon a sharp stick.
In the soft light of the moon the village
beaux engaged in their favorite game of
pelican, while the girls stood watching
them in silent admiration. During the
afternoon number of boys had been
busily engaged in planting twigs short
distances apart, until an alley was
formed, perhaps forty feet wide by 800
feet long. When ready for the fray, half
the young men retired to the woods.
After little time those that remained
behind set up fearful footing on instru-
ments made by the insertion of cows
horn into hollow cane; and answering
notes came back from the rival band
secreted in the forest. This was the
challenge and reply to trial of skill and
presently the enemy came dashing
through the forest with deafening shouts.
The Araucanian game of pelican differs
little from the sport so common in Eng
land known to school boys as 'hocky"
or ''shinty." 1t is played with small
wooden ball, propelled along the ground
by sticks curved at the lower end. The
opposing sides have their bases at the
two extremes of the alley; the ball is
placed in hole half way between the
bases, and over it two boys are stationed,
one from each party, while the other
players are scattered along the alley,
each armed with stick. When all is
ready, the two in the middle strike their
sticks together in the air, and commence
a rough and tumble fight for the ball,
each striving to knock it toward the 9TH
er's party. The object of every one is to