I was not at that time aware of Mr. Cox’s descent from Lake Nahuel-huapi, or could at once have informed him of that means of communication with the settlements on the western side; still I doubt the practicability of that route for women and children carrying with them household goods and agricultural implements. After some more conversation, and receiving a general invitation to visit his toldo whenever I felt inclined, and a hospitable assurance that there would always be food for me if I was hungry, I retired to Casimiro’s, whilst Foyel went away to play cards, taking with him my compass for luck, and curiously enough he won several horses, silver stirrups, and other valuables from the Tehuelches.
The following day a race took place, the Tehuelches first taking their horse up to the top of a neighbouring hill, where the doctor performed some magical ceremony to ensure his winning, which he did, though apparently inferior to his competitor. In this plain, called by the Indians Gatchen-kaik or Rocky Hills, Crimè’s illness caused us to remain encamped until March 21, during the greater part of which time I and several others were suffering from neuralgia and ulcerations in the mouth, caused, I think, by the bad water we had to drink, perhaps also by the want of salt, which had become a very scarce commodity.
Friendly rivalry was kept up between the tribes in play, hunting, and other sports, in which fortune varied from one side to the other. Every other day I visited poor Crimè, whose groans might be heard at night accompanied by the chaunt of some old hag. The sick man always asked me how long he would live. I at first tried to persuade him that he would get well, but after a time, as he was really fast sinking, gave him to understand that he might live a month if he was lucky. I offered to open his leg and endeavour to cure him, but this he would not allow, stating that if he died under the operation it would go hard with the doctor, which was indeed true, so I gave up my intentions of performing a surgical operation.
Before we broke up the camp a Valdivian and other Indians arrived from Cheoeque’s, but brought little news, stating that the Manzaneros were still dispersed amongst the valleys of the Cordillera engaged in gathering the yearly harvest of apples and piñones: of these we had already received plenty from Foyel’s people, who kept up a constant communication with their relations near the Rio Limay.
On the 21st all left the valley and travelled a few leagues through a diversified country. On the line of march cliffs, which stood out in the glens in irregular, picturesque manner, were of yellow and red sandstone, but to the westwards black basaltic heights could be seen abutting on the plains, while in hunting over the higher ground masses of ironstone and igneous rock were met with scattered over the surface. We remained for the night in a valley called Changi, and, proceeding next day, arrived about noon at a large plain shut in by sandstone cliffs on the eastern side, at the northern side of which towered a peculiar pointed rock, perhaps 300 feet in height, standing out alone on the sloping descent; viewed from the western side it appeared like a natural column composed of stratified yellow and red and black layers of sand, and on the summit a condor had his eyry.
The plain extended for several miles to the west, where it was again closed in by cliffs, differing from those to the eastward in being composed of basalt. In this plain, called Geylum, situated, according to Indian accounts, a few leagues to the eastward of Lake Nahuel-huapi, and distant sixty miles from the Rio Limay, and seventy-five miles from Las Manzanas, it was determined to spend the time required for sending chasquis to give notice of our near approach, prior to all marching in company for Cheoeque’s head-quarters.
CHAPTER VII.
LAS MANZANAS.
Catching a Thief.—Miss Foyel.—Start for Las Manzanas.—First View of the Apple Groves.—Omens of War.—Inacayal’s Tolderia.—Crossing the Rio Limay.—Mr. Cox’s Shipwreck.—Lenketrou’s Raid.—A Night of Alarm.—Bravery of my Cousins.—The Great Cheoeque.—A Mounted Parlemento.—Apples and Piñones.—Graviel’s Madness.—Las Manzanas.—Cheoeque’s Palace.—The Revels.—Feuds between the Chiefs.—The Picunches and the Passes to Valdivia.—Trading and Politics.—Resolutions of Peace.—A Grand Banquet.—Power of Cheoeque.—Araucanian Customs.—Farewell Presents.—Invitation to Return.—Orkeke’s Generosity.—Return to Geylum.—Outbreak of an Epidemic.—My Pretty Page.—Departure from Geylum.