When the army is placed in battle array, the cavalry form the two wings, and the infantry is placed in the centre, a pikeman, and a soldier with a club, being ranged in alternate files. The vice-toqui, who com mands the right wing, is every where present, animating the soldiers with eloquent declamation. Convinced that a glorious death is the highest honour that can be ac quired, they raise terrific shouts, and advance against the cannon of the enemy with the most desperate im petuosity. Contending for the first rank as the post of danger, the soldiers of the succeeding lines step into the place of the slain, and never abate the fury of their onset, till they have penetrated the ranks of the enemy. In these desperate conflicts, the soldiers who carry the clubs are the most successful in slaughter ; and it is diffi cult to say whether the discipline and order of the army, or the dauntless intrepidity of the soldiers, are most de serving of admiration.
The spoils taken during the campaign belong to the individual heroes who had the fortune to seize them ; but when the capture has been general, they are distributed in just equality, the commander-in-chief and the common soldier receiving the same share.
According to the Araucanian law, one of the captives of the enemy must be sacrificed to the manes of the heroes who have fallen in battle. This cruel enactment is so rarely complied with, that scarcely two of these sacrifices have been made in the space of two hundred years. The Pruloncon, or dance of death, is thus per formed.
The official axe of the generalissimo, guarded by four poniards, representing the four tetrarchates, is placed in the centre of a circle of officers, surrounded by the troops. The devoted captive is ignominiously ed into the ring, upon a horse deprived of its ears and tail, and is placed near the axe, with his face turned to his native land. He is then compelled to dig a hole in the earth, with a sharp stake, and to throw into it suc cessively, a number of small sticks, while he repeats the names of the most illustrious heroes of his country. At the sound of each name, the soldiers utter against them the bitterest execrations ; and when the list is finished, he covers the hole with earth, to bury, as it were, the fame of the warriors that have been mentioned. The general, or one of his companions, proceeds to dash out the brains of the prisoner with a club. The heart, ex tracted from its trembling receptacle, is presented to the toqui, who sucks a little of the blood, and passes it, palpitating, for the same purpose, to the lips of his of ficers, while he with tobacco smoke, the four cardinal points of the circle. The bones, stripped of their flesh by the soldiers, are formed into flutes ; and the head of the captive is carried round on a pike, amid the shouts of the soldiery, who, stamping with measured pace, chaunt their dreadful war song, to the mournful sound of their horrid flutes. This scene of cruelty is succeeded by the ludicrous custom of applying the head of a sheep to the mangled corpse ; and the cere mony generally ends in riot and intoxication. If the skull is not shattered during the. process of murder, it is'converted into a cup, and used at their entertain ments.
When the Spaniards sue for peace, a congress is held in a delightful plain between the rivers Bio-Bio and D Lulu c co ; consisting of the Spanish president, the chief Toqui, and their respective attendants, who sometimes amount to 2000. The four tetrarchates send to the con gress four deputies, who are generally the four toquis, without whose unanimous consent no peace can be rati fied. Alter several compliments and ceremonies, the
chief Toqui, presenting a branch of cinnamon, as the emblem of peace, begins a speech in the Chilian lan guage, and descants upon the causes of the quarrel, the means of preserving harmony between the two nations, the miseries of war, and the advantages of peace. The Spanish president being made acquainted, by means of an interpreter, of the purport of this harangue, replies in another speech, which is communicated by an inter preter to the Toqui. The peace is then ratified, by the sacrifice of camels ; and the Spanish president dines with the Toqui and the chief Ulmenes, and distributes among them presents in the name of his sovereign. When a new president arrives from Spain, a new con gress is held between the rival nations. An envoy is sent by the president to the four tetrarchates, to invite the Toquis and other nobles to the place of assembly, in order to confirm the engagements of his predecessor. On occasions of this kind, great numbers of the nobility are collected ; and crowds of merchants are attracted to the spot, and hold a kind of fair for the advantage of both nations.
The religious creed of the Araucanians displays a portion of that intelligence which marks their civil and military institutions. They believe in a supreme being, the author of all things, which they call Yillan, or the supreme essence ; and to whom they apply the epithets of, Spirit of Heaven, Great Being, Thunderer, Creator of All, Omnipotent, Eternal, and Infinite. Judging of the affairs of heaven by their own, they regard the Al mighty as the great Toqui of the other world, employ ing his Apo-Ulmencs and Ulmenes to administer his affairs. Among these inferior deities, is Eltunanzun, or the god of war ; iIieulen, the friend of the human race ; and Guecubu, the malignant spirit ; who is the author of all evil and the cause of every misfortune. The gigantic power of this evil spirit is counteracted by the benevolent Meulen, and by the celestial Ulmenes or Genii, who pre side over the affairs of mortals. The male Ulmenes, called Gen, or Lords, continue chaste and pure ; and the females, dmei-malghen, or spiritual nymphs, are the familiar spirits, or guardian angels of the human race. The resemblance which the Araucanians imagine to exist between their own government and that of the supreme Pillan, produces a strange anomaly in their religious creed. As the terrestrial Uimenes demand neither service nor contribution from their vassals, they suppose that the celestial beings have still less occasion for the service of man. Hence they have neither temples nor idols ; and it is only at the time of peace, or in sea sons of severe distress, that they offer to their deities the sacrifice of animals, or the incense of tobacco. This indifference about their religion, has induced them to tolerate Christianity, and to respect the missionaries. The Araucanians believe in divination ; and their dreams, and the singing and flight of birds, arc reckoned the truest organs of the divine will. Their diviners pre tend to the power of producing rain, curing diseases, and checking the ravages of the worms that injure the corn. They believe in ghosts and apparitions, and stand in great awe of the Ca/cus, or sorcerers, who are supposed to conceal themselves in caverns during day, and to transform themselves into nocturnal birds during the night, and annoy their enemies during their aerial ex cursions.