The Chilote Juan Antonio paid us a visit in the evening, and informed us that the toldos had been several months in this place, which was named Esgel-kaik; the men having been absent hunting, first the young guanaco, and afterwards catching and taming cattle in the Cordillera.
By his account these Indians were great adepts with the lazo, and would gallop through the forests in chase of animals in the most wonderful manner; one man only being required to catch and secure an animal, and then proceeding to capture another. How different from our dreadful failure, where seven men could not lazo one animal!
He further stated that with Foyel’s Indians, who were distant a few marches to the north, eight Valdivians had for the last two years been employed catching cattle, and having now succeeded in getting together a herd of about eighty head, intended shortly to return to Valdivia.
The third day after our arrival I visited the toldos of our new allies; and while talking to one of the principal Indians, named Malakou, who could speak a little Spanish, was asked if I could repair firearms, and one or two very antique specimens of flint pistols and blunderbusses were produced, the locks of which were wood-bound. Half an hour served to set these to rights, at which the owners were much delighted, and offered me tobacco, &c., which however I refused, taking instead a hide to make a small lazo.
After bidding, not adieu, but au revoir, to my new friends, whilst strolling back I was called into a toldo where four women were sitting sewing mantles. One, who appeared to be of the Pampa tribe, old and ugly, spoke Spanish, and stated that she was formerly in the Rio Negro with the cacique Chingoli. She acted as spokeswoman for the others, three tall, buxom lasses, daughters of a brother of Quintuhual, who was Capitanejo of the party. They were gaily dressed in variegated ponchos, with silk handkerchiefs bound round their fine glossy hair, which was plaited into two long tails, and set off their clear, fresh complexions charmingly. The first question they asked me was where I came from. On answering ‘From the direction in which the sun rises,’ they asked if it wasn’t very hot there. They then asked if I had ever been above in the sky; if I had not been dead one time and come to life again; whether Casimiro had not been dead and come back again, and various other questions of the same description.
After satisfying their curiosity to the best of my ability, and smoking a pipe, I received a message by Juan Antonio that Quintuhual wanted to see me in his toldo. Proceeding thither, I was shown to a seat on a poncho, and discoursed with the old chief for half an hour; at the end of which he made me a present of a ‘jurga,’ or, as the Tehuelches term it, ‘lechu,’ a sort of blanket made by their women, similar to the poncho, except, instead of two parts with an opening for the head to pass through, it consists of an entire piece. It was perfectly new, having been just completed by his daughters.
After a good dinner we adjourned to see the races, a great match being on between the two tribes. The course was about four miles; and the race resulted in a victory for the Tehuelches. Both sides had backed their favourites heavily; and as on this occasion the ladies took a prominent share in the betting, the Tehuelches were in great glee, having won from the fair Araucanians many valuable mandils and lechus. In the evening a grand feast took place, with a mandil tent and dance.
Near this place grew a quantity of the wild potatoes, and the women used to start early in the morning and come back towards evening with their horses loaded. The tubers were the largest I had seen, and closely resembled the sweet potato in flavour. The usual way of cooking them was boiling in a pot, a sod of earth being placed over all to keep the steam in.
We made a stay of eight days in Esgel-kaik, amusing ourselves by racing, visiting the Araucanos, and passing a very pleasant time, the only drawback being the illness of Crimè, who grew gradually worse.
The day before our departure Jackechan and El Sourdo intimated that, as they feared a disturbance, and wished to keep clear of any fight, they would not accompany us to Las Manzanas, but purposed to proceed in the direction of Chupat, and send in a messenger to the Welsh colony. So I at once took the opportunity of forwarding a letter to Mr. Lewis Jones, requesting certain supplies of yerba, tobacco, and sugar.