The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-29

formed. The girls are good looking and
when young they are plump. They age
rapidly. however. and at 30 they have as
many wrinkles as withered apple. These
women have copper oomplexions and jet
black hair. They have square faces with
low foreheads and high cheekbones. They
are proud of their hair which is long,
thick and straight They bind 1t up in
two braids and wear 1t down their backs
o rtied around the crown of the head,
so that the braids stand cut like horns
over the face. The hraids are often deco
rated with silver beads and their ends
are sometimes joined by string Of silver
balls.
The Araucanans are fond of iewelry,
and as In many semi-savage countries,
the jewelry of the women Is the savings
bank of the family The most common
ornaments are of silver made in earrings
and hreastpins. Some Of the earrings
are of solid silver plates as LARGE az
playing card. with ear hooks attaches.
others arc discs. Some of the women have
silver chains around their necSs and
others have their breasts decorated with
silver beads. They have also rings on
their fingers and beads of silver sewed
Ia the red cloth on their ankles. In the
threshing scene which | have described
tho bags were held by an Indian girl
who wore a silver breastpin as big as my
two hands, and another nearby had on a
ccronet Of silver coins. These girls wore
short skirts and waists, and they had
also bright eolored blankets over their
shouldefs fastened with silver buckles
in front. The Indian men delight in
bright colored ponchos.
The most of the Araucanians drink to
excess l saw some who were sodden
with alcohol. On my way to the reser-
I 81 IN old hFaxf WI
was SO full of liquor that he swayed
this way and that on his pony. His
suuaw rode on the same pony behind
him. She was dressed In a bright col
ored blanket and a red skirt, but her
head was bare and her long black locks
floated out on the breeze. Her feet
were also bare. and | could see that It
was only by pressing her bare heels
tight against the flanks of the horse
that she WAS able to keep on, holding
the while to the waist Of her drunken
swaying husband. The liquor used here
is pure alconol and the women drink
almost as much as the men.
There is some Christian work going
on among the Araueanans. The Cath
olics have one mission and the British
and Canadian Professionals another. There
are mission stations at Temuco. Quepe
and Chochal, with churches, hospitals
and Industrial SCHOOLS Inc missionaries
have translated Genesis. the Acts and a
part of the book of the Revelation in
the Araucanian language. and have re-
duced that language to writing.
The Araucanians themselves have no
literature but they have traditions. which
have come down from generation to
generation. Many of them hold to the
aupersttions of their forefathers, believ-
ing In the Great Father and in good and
evil spirits They think every man has
a good spirit and an evil spirit always
with him and that these two spirits
keep up constant fight Tor his soul. The
evil spirit is supposed to follow him even
to his grave. For this rason dead man
Is seldom buried at once, and when he Is
put into the grave the people make
noises to Brighten the evil spirits away.
There are medicine men and witch doc
tors who are supposed to he able to ward
off the evil spirit and to keep II from
harming n man and his crops.
The witch doctor is always called in
when the Indian grows sick and II he
should recover Ii is supposed to be due
to the skill of the doctor, II not. the
doctor claims that the patient has been
bewitched and he may point ont the
man or woman who has hewitched him.
In the latter event, the relatives of the
deceased are liable TO attack the person
so charged.