I was present in his toldo at the arrival of a messenger. The Indian, who had evidently come from a long distance, did not venture to enter until commanded to do so, when, with the utmost respect, he took his seat at a distance from the chief, communicated his message, received his orders, and retired; when again ready for the road he appeared to receive final instructions, after which he mounted his horse and rode off without more ado.
The subordinate caciques, whose office and rank are hereditary, appeared to be finer and more intelligent men than the rank and file. Whether this was owing to a difference of race, or merely to their aristocratic descent and hereditary refinement of features and bearing, I cannot say; but their superiority was very marked; whereas among the Tehuelches no such difference between the caciques and their clansmen is observable. The superiority of these semi-civilised Araucanos to their southern neighbours was evident in every way, save only bodily strength. Their residence in a more fertile country, near the apple and araucaria groves, gives them great advantages over the nomad Patagonians. They cultivate wheat, small quantities of which were brought to us for sale; besides storing the natural harvest of piñones and apples, from which, as before stated, they brew cider of unusual strength, and also distil ‘pulco,’ an intoxicating liquor, from the algarroba bean. My intercourse with both Foyel’s people and those at Manzanas was not sufficiently long to enable me to become conversant with their language and customs, which have been described by others. The language, of which I learnt a few words, seemed softer and more melodious, as well as possessing a more copious vocabulary, than the guttural Tehuelche, and appeared to me closely akin to the Pampa tongue; but Jackechan, who could speak both, and Gravino, strongly insisted on the distinction between the two dialects. Their personal habits were excessively neat and cleanly, the morning bath never being omitted by men, women, and children, who all regularly trooped down to the water just before dawn; and their dress was much more carefully attended to than that of the Patagonians. I had no opportunity of witnessing their religious ceremonies, but was assured that they are worshippers of the sun, and there was no vestige of idols of any sort possessed by them. Their ceremonials on occasions of births, &c., were very similar to those of the Tehuelches, save that the ‘doctor’ appeared on such occasions more elaborately adorned with various colours.
When Quintuhual’s niece was sick, her brother enacted the part of ‘wizard,’ duly painted and adorned with a head-dress of feathers. Instead of a mandil tent, a screen of ponchos hung over posts was erected, and all the finery of the family displayed. I was a guest at the feast of slaughtered mares, but was not present at the previous proceedings, as by this time the restraints of dignity as a caciquillo forbade my wandering about as an idle spectator.
They were invariably scrupulous not to commence a meal without first throwing broth or a small piece of meat on the ground, at the same time muttering a charm to propitiate the Gualichu, and they are generally more superstitious and more fearful of witchcraft than even the other Indians. They have some knowledge of precious stones, and seem to attribute certain virtues to them. Thus Foyel possessed what seemed to be a magnificent rough turquoise, which he was on the point of bestowing on me, when his wife and brother-in-law interposed some remark, upon which he apologised, saying that he did not like to part with it, as it had been long in the family. They object strongly, however, to any strangers picking up stones as specimens, or appearing to ‘prospect’ in any way, which, being forewarned by Ventura Delgado, I was especially careful to avoid. Mons. Guinnard has given a description of some of their games, differing from those in vogue among the Tehuelches, as for instance gambling with black and white beans. Casimiro is my authority for stating that this people preserve the singular custom of abduction in marriage. The intending bridegroom does not trouble himself to obtain the consent of the bride, but having paid the fixed dowry or price to her parents, he gallops up, and forcibly seizing the girl carries her off before him to the bush, whence, after an enforced honeymoon of two days, they return as man and wife to his dwelling. This, however, is not the practice in the case of the marriage of a cacique’s daughters. Polygamy is allowable: thus the great Cheoeque possessed three wives, the chief favourite, whose amiable good-humour deserved the honour, occupying the central place in the toldo; but all three lived in perfect harmony and took care of each other’s children with impartial affection.
These Araucanos are, as I have said, apt to kidnap or buy captives, and I am inclined to suspect that there is a scarcity of women amongst them, of which the exterminating cruelties practised towards women and children by the frontier ‘Cristianos’ is a probable cause. They are certainly more dangerous to strangers than the Southern Indians, and it is unsafe to venture amongst them without proper safe conducts from the cacique.
To myself Cheoeque offered permission to travel directly north through the interior of the country as far as the Argentine Provinces, guaranteeing my safety; and the temptation was only resisted by reflecting on the necessity of keeping faith with my Tehuelche friends by proceeding to Patagones. He also gave me a cordial invitation to return, and an assurance that I should be always welcomed as a friend. All our business, both commercial and political, being concluded, and the farewell banquet over, Cheoeque distributed gifts of horses, &c., among the Tehuelches in return for the numerous presents he had received from them. As a set-off to a set of gold studs, he presented me with one of the peculiar lances always used by his people, about fifteen to eighteen feet long and very light, the shaft being made of a cane, which grows in the Cordillera forests, strongly resembling a bamboo, and of the thickness of the butt of a stout pike rod. This present, by the way, caused me to commit a breach of etiquette. I placed it leaning against the toldo, and was at once requested to remove it, as it was a sign of war, though whether it was regarded as a challenge or an omen was not clear; but I was instructed that the lance must either be laid down on, or planted upright in the ground. Another lance was also bestowed on Casimiro, besides numerous horses and other valuables. We took leave of the powerful Cheoeque, and of Linares, with whom, as it had been settled that I should proceed as chasqui, I made an agreement to meet in Patagones, and on the 11th started on our return to the toldos, all in high satisfaction at the success of our visit. The natural exultation of Casimiro was much lessened by the continual illness of his son Graviel, on whom a careful watch had to be kept to restrain him, in the event of his being attacked by another paroxysm of madness.
Riding up the valley where we had slept the night previous to arriving at Cheoeque’s, we observed some cattle in the thicket on the borders of the stream; part of the herd belonging to the chief, which had been stowed away in various secluded parts of the neighbourhood. We crossed the barren high pampa, and descended, about one o’clock, to the banks of the Rio Limay, bivouacking in the same spot as on our journey to Las Manzanas, close to Inacayal’s toldos. Here we found Orkeke and a good many other Tehuelches; also the four wounded men, two of whom were already on the high road to recovery.
We proceeded to Inacayal’s toldo at his personal request, where we remained until evening was drawing on, when cattle were brought up, caught, and slain, and divided amongst the chiefs. Whilst busy shaving a piece of hide wherewith to make some gear, I received a message from Orkeke, whose fire was situated at perhaps a hundred paces from ours, that he wished to see me when disengaged, and after supper I strolled down, and found the veteran sitting loading his pipe. After a smoke, he invited me to accompany him to inspect his newly-acquired troop of horses, and show him which I considered to be the best. I picked out a young white animal that had belonged to Cheoeque’s own stud. ‘Very well,’ he replied; ‘take him; he is yours; I never made you any return for the revolver you gave me in Teckel.’ Although I did not require the horse, it would have been insulting to refuse it, so I walked off with my racer in tow. This little incident is mentioned to correct the notion entertained by some that the greed of gain is a predominant feature in the Indian character.
The following morning we bid adieu to Inacayal and his people, and turned our horses’ heads for the pass of the river Limay, which was if possible more swollen and rapid than on the previous occasion; but we all crossed in safety, although Casimiro’s and my horse fell once, fortunately where the water was shallow. Everybody, however, got thoroughly wet, and a continual downfall of rain coming on, prevented all chance of drying our mantles. We marched back by a route lying to the westward of that we had before followed, passing under and amongst the high wooded mountains, on the heights of which every now and then we could perceive a condor sitting in majestic solitude, looking down on us like a priest from a pulpit.
About four P.M. the rain cleared off, and we bivouacked in a grassy valley, with incense and other bushes growing on the sides. Here, owing to the sickness of Graviel and another of our party, we passed a miserable time, not even being able to get dry; and in addition to our previous discomfort, towards evening a frost set in, and when I woke up about midnight to look round for the horses my mantle was like a board.