They used fire-arms with great skill, whenever they took powder and muskets from the Spaniards; but, as soon as the powder was expended, they returned to their own way of fighting. They were, however, very anxious to learn the secret of making powder, and, it is reported, tried one very extraordinary experiment.
There happened to be a few negroes with the Spanish troops; these, the Araucanians thought, were the powder magazines; or, at least, that the Spaniards used them in making powder. So, happening to take a poor black man prisoner, the Araucanians first covered him with stripes from head to foot, and then burned him to a coal, in order, by reducing it to powder, to obtain the so much wished for secret. But the cruel experiment failed!
The troops of this warlike nation are very vigilant, and always choose excellent positions. They are, moreover, acquainted with the art of constructing military works, and of protecting themselves with deep ditches, which they guard with branches of thorn.
When action becomes necessary, they separate the cavalry into two wings, and place the infantry in the centre; the files being arranged in such a manner that a pikeman and one who carries a club always fight side by side. They are brave, indeed utterly fearless, in battle.
Though they know full well that the first ranks will be exposed to almost certain destruction, they eagerly contend with each other for these posts of honor. As soon as the first line is cut down, or swept away by the cannon, the second occupies its place, and then the third, pressing on, until they succeed in breaking the front ranks of the enemy. In the midst of their fury, they preserve the strictest order, and perform all the evolutions directed by their officers. The most terrible of these are their club-bearers, who, Hercules-like, destroy or beat down all before them.
The prisoners they take are usually made slaves, until they are exchanged or ransomed. They seldom put a prisoner to death.
The religious system of the Araucanians differs, in some respects, from that of other Indian nations. They acknowledge a Supreme Being, the author of all things, whom they call Pillan—a word derived from pulli, the soul, and signifies the supreme essence. This Supreme Being is the great Toqui of the invisible world, and has a number of subordinate spirits, to whom is entrusted the administration of affairs of less import. There is a god of war, a benevolent deity, and the guembu, a malignant being, the author of all evil. If a horse tires, the guembu has rode him; if the earth trembles, this evil spirit has given it a shock; and he suffocates all who die,—so think the Araucanians.
Then the people believe in genii, who have charge of all created things, and who, united with the benevolent meulor, are constantly at war with the power of the wicked guembu. These genii are of both sexes—the females are lares, or familiar spirits, and always watch over mankind. Every Araucanian thinks he has one in his service. They sometimes invoke these deities, and implore their aid on urgent occasions; but they have no temples of worship, nor idols of any description; nor do they offer any sacrifices, except in case of some great calamity, or on concluding a peace. At such times they sacrifice animals and burn tobacco.
They believe in the immortality of the soul. This consolatory truth is deeply rooted, and seems innate with them. They think the soul, when separated from the body, goes to a country west, beyond the sea: one part of this land is pleasant, and filled with everything delightful—it is the abode of the good; the other part—desolate and wretched—is the habitation of the wicked.
Missionaries are much respected, and well-treated among them, and have full liberty of preaching their tenets; but yet, very few of the natives have ever been converted to Christianity. Still, they would seem to be the most likely of any of the Indian nations, to become, by suitable instruction, rational and real Christians. Their mode of worship, or manner of thinking respecting religious subjects, is more pure and spiritual than that of any other heathen people; and if books, in their own beautiful language, could be furnished them, and schools could be established among them, and good men and women, teachers of righteousness, in example as well as precept, would devote themselves to the work of instruction, it seems as though this interesting nation might be soon raised to the high rank of a civilized and Protestant Christian republic.