ARAUCANIA THE name of a great and independent nation in South America, who inhabit that part of Chili, which lies be tween the rivers Bio-bio and Valdiva. It is bounded on the east by the Andes, and on the west by the Pacific ocean ; extending from 36° 44' to 39° 50' of south lati tude. The bloody and protracted wars which the brave Araucanians carried on with the Spaniards, will be in troduced with more propriety under the article Cunt. At present we shall give a short account of the political state of the kingdom, the military system which is pur sued, and the manners and customs of the inhabitants.
The Araucanians, tenacious of the customs of their ancestors, have made no progress in the art of building. Regarding walled cities as emblems of servitude, they never associate in large towns, but live in scattered vil lages on the banks of rivers, or in plains susceptible of irrigation. The political division of their state, which is anterior to the arrival of the Spaniards, is marked by more regularity and intelligence. The kingdom is di vided from north to south, into four Uthal-mapus, or pa rallel tetrarchates, which are nearly equal, viz. Lauquen mapu, or the maritime country; Lelbun-mapu, or the plain country; Inapire-mapu, or the country at the foot of the Andes; and Pire-mapu, or the country of the Andes. Each of these tetrarchates is subdivided into five Aillaregues or provinces; and each of these pro vinces into nine regues, or counties. The provinces of Arauco, Tucapel, Illicura, Boroa, and Nagtolten, are included in the maritime country: those of Encol, Pu ren, Repocura, Alaquegua, and Mariquina, belong to the country in the plain; those of Ma•ven, Colhue, Chacaico, Quecheregua, and Guanagua, are compre hended in the country at the foot of the Andes: and the tetrarchate of the Andes embraces all the villages of the Cordilleras which are inhabited by the Puelches, a race of mountaineers, who, though once a distinct na tion, are now united with the Araucanians.
The government of the Araucanians is an aristocracy, consisting of three different orders of nobility, the To quis, the Apo-ulmenes, and the Uhnenes. The Toquis, who are four in number, preside over the tetrarchates. The Apo-ulmenes command the provinces under their respective toquis, and the Ulmenes under the authority of the Apo-ulmenes, govern the regucs or counties. This distinction of ranks among the nobility exists chiefly in their military affairs; for though the Ulmenes form the lowest order, the higher ranks are generally comprehended under the same title. These dignities are hereditary in the male line, and descend in the order of primogeniture.
Every question of national importance is decided by the great body of the nobility, in a general diet, called Butacoyog, or Aucacoyog, assembled in some large plain, where they feast as well as deliberate. Their code of laws called Admapu, is not committed to writing, but is composed merely of those traditionary and pri mordial customs, which have received the sanction of tinie and experience. Though such a system is apt to introduce confusion and dissensions into the administra tion of government, yet all the fundamental laws which regard the preservation of liberty and the constitution, are clearly and explicitly understood. They provide, that no chief can govern more than two states; that when the male branch of the reigning family becomes extinct, the vassals recover their natural right of elect ing their chief from any family they please ; that the vassals are not liable to personal service but in time of war; and that the chiefs must support themselves with out any aid from the people. These enactments have an obvious tendency to protect the liberty of the sub jects; and whenever the nobility attempt to extend the limits of their authority, the people, jealous of their privileges, oppose a firm resistance to every encroach ment, and compel them to conform to the usages of the country.