The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-03-05


 gourds which have been scooped clean, and the shells carved and painted We devoutIy hoped that squaws might be exempt from the duty of drinking, but there was no such good luck In an imperative aside, our interpreter told us that we must not only drink, but drink with gusto. pretend to like it and call for more, if we would not give nor tai offense and endanger the lives of the whole party. Before the ceremony be- gan, the chief required his favorite wife to take a sip from every horn-a GUS tom among the Araucanians to prove to stranger guests that the food or drink has not been poisoned. Most of us turned pale with the effort, but ey- cry one of us womanfully swallowed a horn-full at one fell gulp. or pretended to. after spilling much of it in the long thick fur upon which we sat. Chicha is not unpleasant to the taste, whether made of corn, wheat, apples or wild grapes; but we knew that in this brew every dirty female in sight had hand, or rather a tooth. The Indian way of making 1t is truthfully described by | gentleman who recently saw it done in | this part of Auracania. He says: 1 While the women were engaged at their usual avocation, one of them l brought out a dish of pounded corn, slightly moistened, and a small earthen l jug, both of which she placed upon the 1 ground. One of the girls approached, took handful of the crushed corn and made it into ball which she stuffed into her mouth, and with both cheeks l distended, returned to her work. An other followed, and another but still managing to keep up a ceaseless jab- i bering. Tn few minutes the first re- turned and lifting the jug spewed into it the whole contents of her mouth
 She took another mouthful of corn and 1 went off, chewing and jabbering as be- fore. The rest followed in due time, and so it went on until the grain was ex- 1 hausted and the jug was full. l ap- 1 preached one of the women. being puz- | zled to comprehend these proceedings, and pointing to the jug inquired, chen 1 tua-what is that? 'Xuvia, she replied, | 'cune, cune, good, good. Just then l the guide came along and I asked him 1 what on earth the women were doing? l Making mudia, or Indian chicha,' he explained composedly.
 Great Scott! The liquor I have been drinking for a month past? The very same he replied; and without observ- ing the sudden palor of my counten- ance. went on to describe the process minutely. A quantity of wheat or corn is boiled for several hours over a slow l fire, after which the deeoction is
 strained and set aside to cool To this a jug-full of masticated corn is added, in order to produce more rapid fermen- tation; and as soon as fermentation be- I gins, the liquor is fit for use"
 Warmed into confidence by this "loy- ing-cup,'' the chief informed us that 1 he was very rich man, having twenty wives, fifty ponies and many sheep; that his subjects were loyal and con- tented, as were all the tribe to which he belonged. They were at peace with all the world had good homes and enough to eat What more coud be de- sired? True the smallpox visited them pretty often and carried off good many people but notwithstanding that | depopulator, the Llanistos were the most powerful nation on earth. Through the interpreter onr men re- piled that we were not Spaniards nor descendants of Spaniards, and that we
 had read with pleasure how his ances- tors had withstood the conquerers; that We sympathized with his warriors and knew from those facts that they were very brave This diplomatic speech made us solid so to say, with the Indians. The delighted chief beamed i from top to toe, in a smile so broad that nothing stopped it but the position of his ears; and whispered something to a squaw. who left the room and i presently returned with an armful of human skulls. From most of them tine face part had been partially cut away, and all were worn perfectly smooth. The grinning chief assured us that every skull was once the cranium of Spanish officer who had been slain while fighting the Araucanians. Some of these skulls had been handed down from generation to generation through several centuries, and were used only | by chiefs and wise men to drink out of on great occasions. The others had l been taken from enemies during his own time and were used for drinking
 cups at ordinary feasts. The highest honor that could possibly be paid to a stranger was allowing him to drink from one of the ancestral cups. After I an hour or two of this edifying con- versation, our interpreter, on behalf of the rest, begged permission to retire and pitch our tents for the night To this not unreasonable request the chief was loath to consent, insisting that as we had become his friends and brothers, we must remain in his house, where his 1 wives would serve us well. Being in- duced, however, by the gift of a red | blanket, pair of yellow leggins, and a small mirror, he reluctantly let us go having detailed number of the tribe to assist us.
 FANNIE B. WARD.