Elated with the liberty which they enjoy, and proud of that heroic valour which has triumphed over all the efforts of the Spanish power, the Araucanians consider themselves as a pure and uncorrupted people, and as the only nation in the world that deserves the appella tion of men. Hence they regard every other people with contempt, and have applied to the Spaniards the name of Chioni, or vile soldiers.
The mutual attachment of the Araucanians forms a striking feature in their national character. The acci dental circumstances of having the same name with another, or of being placed in similar situations, or en gaged in similar concerns, form new ties of affection, which have appropriate names in the Araucanian lan guage. This propensity to friendship leads them to supply each other's wants ; and it is a remarkable cir cumstance, that there is not a beggar or a poor person in the kingdom; and that even the most helpless are decently clothed and well supported. Nor is this kind ness limited to their countrymen. To strangers of every description, they are kind and hospitable; and a travel ler may live free of expellee in any part of the king dom.
In the common ceremonies of life, the Araucanians are rather tiresome and loquacious. They are extreme ly grateful for any favour which they receive, and can be easily managed by kindness and attention ; but they cannot endure to be despised or overlooked ; and, by treatment of this kind, they are generally incited to the most fatal revenge.
The names of the Araucanian families are chiefly bor rowed from external objects ; such as rivers, moun tains, stones, lions ; and the surname is always placed after the proper name, as Cari-/entu, the Green Bush ; Meli-antu, lour Hens.
Polygamy is permitted by the Araucanian laws ; but the number of wives is limited by the circumstances of the husband, who is obliged to pay a dowry to the father of each woman that he marries. They never marry within the nearer degrees of consanguinity. Celibacy is reckoned disgraceful ; and here bachelors and old maids are called Iruchiafira and Cudefira, idle good-for ho th ing s.
The only ceremony which attends their marriages, is that of carrying off the bride by open violence. Her fa ther and her intended husband, accompanied with other friends, conceal themselves near the place where the bride is to pass. Whenever she appears, she is seized, and put on horseback behind the bridegroom ; and, not withstanding her resistance and counterfeited shrieks, she is conveyed to the house of her husband, where her relations are assembled to receive the customary presents.
Though the rich have generally a considerable num ber of wives, yet the first is always regarded as the le gitimate one by the others, who are called secondary wives, and is entrusted with the management of do mestic affairs. At supper the husband makes choice of his companion during the night, by desiring her to pre pare his bed. The rest sleep in the same room, and arc protected with jealous care against the addresses of strangers. As in other barbarous nations, the females are employed in occupations which in civilized coun tries belong solely to the men. Each of the wives is obliged to prepare a dish every day for her husband, dressed in her separate kitchen, so that every house has as many fires as there are wives ; and hence it is custo mary to learn the number of wives which any person has, by asking him how many fires he keeps ? Bt,s;des his clothes, each wife is bound to supply her husband every year with a cloak, or Poncho, which is one of the chief articles of their commerce.
The Araucanian women arc romarkable for their neatness and cleanliness. Their houses and courts are swept several times every clay : and whenever any uten sil is used, it is immediately washed in the running stream. The women comb their heads twice a day ; and wash them once a week with soap manufactured from the bark of the Quithii ; and a spot of dirt is never to be seen on their clothes. The men perform the same acts of cleanliness. Their houses being placed on the banks of rivers, they bathe three or four times a clay in summer, and always once in winter ; and hence they have attained a remarkable expertness in swimming and diving.
The women likewise practise frequent bathing, but always in some sheltered retreat. When they arc de livered of a child, it is immediately washed in the river along with the mother, who, in a few clays, returns to her usual employment, having suffered almost no pain in child-birth. \Vhen the child is washed, it is placed without swathing or bandages in a hanging cradle lined with soft skins, where it is covered with a cloth, and occasionally swung by means of a cord. When the chil dren begin to walk, they are permitted to go where they choose, and eat whatever they please. They are never punished or reproved, but are always praised when they are forward or insolent. The only attention paid to them by their father, is in teaching them the use of arms, and the management of horses ; and in ac customing them to speak their native tongue with cor rectness and elegance.