THE OBSEQUIES OF AN APO-ULMEN.
The emotion caused by the death of the machi gradually died away, and
order was re-established. Curumilla and Trangoil-Lanec, abjuring any
feeling of enmity, exchanged a fraternal embrace, amidst the frantic
applause of the warriors, who loved both the chiefs.
"Now my father is avenged, we can restore his body to the earth,"
Curumilla observed. Then, advancing towards the strangers, he bowed to
them, saying--
"Will the palefaces assist at the obsequies?"
"We will," Louis replied.
"My toldo is large," the chief continued; "my brothers will do me honour
by consenting to inhabit it during their sojourn with the tribe."
Louis was about to reply, but Trangoil-Lanec hastily prevented him.
"My brothers the palefaces," he said, "have deigned to accept my poor
hospitality."
The young men bowed in silence.
"Good!" the Ulmen continued. "Of what consequence is that? Whichever be
the toldo the Muruches may choose, I shall consider them as my guests."
"Many thanks, chief," Valentine replied; "be assured that we are
grateful for your kindness."
The Ulmen then took leave of the Frenchmen, and resumed his place by the
side of his father's corpse, and the ceremonies commenced. The Araucanos
are not, as some travellers have led us to believe, a people destitute
of any faith; on the contrary, their faith is warm, and their religion
rests upon bases which are not deficient in grandeur. They have no
dogma, and yet they recognize two principles--that of good and that of
evil.
The first, named Pillian, is the Creating God; the second, named
Guécubu, is the Destroying God. Guécubu is in a state of continual
struggle with Pillian, endeavouring to disturb the harmony of the world,
and destroy what exists; by which we see that the doctrine of Manicheism
was embraced by the barbarians of both the old and the new world, who,
being unable to penetrate the causes of good and evil, have imagined two
contrary principles. In addition to these two principal deities, the
Araucanos recognize a considerable number of secondary genii, who assist
Pillian in his contest with Guécubu. These genii are males and females;
the latter are all virgins, for--and it is a refined idea which we could
not expect in a barbarous people--procreation is not necessary in the
supernatural world. The male gods are named Géru, or lords; the females,
Amey-Malghen, or spiritual nymphs.
The Araucanos believe in the immortality of the soul, and, consequently,
in a future life, in which the warriors who have distinguished
themselves on earth hunt in game-abounding prairies, surrounded by
everything they have loved. Like all American aborigines, the Araucanos
are extremely superstitious. Their worship consists in assembling in
the medicine toldo, where there is a shapeless idol, said to represent
Pillian. They weep; they utter loud cries, with numberless contortions;
and sacrifice to him a sheep, a cow, a horse, or a _chilihuegue_.
At a signal from Curumilla, the warriors drew back to give place to the
women, who surrounded the body, and began to walk in a circle, singing
in a low and plaintive tone the noble feats of the deceased. At the
expiration of about an hour, the cortege moved off after the corpse,
which was borne by the four most renowned warriors of the tribe, and
directed its course towards a hill where the place of sepulture was
prepared. Behind followed the women, casting handfuls of hot ashes over
the traces left by the passage of the funeral train; so that if the soul
of the defunct should have any inclination to return to its body, it
would not be able to find the way to his toldo, or come and trouble his
heirs.
When the body was laid in the grave, Curumilla cut the throats of his
father's dogs and horses, which were placed near him, to enable him
to hunt in the happy prairies. Within reach of his hand was placed a
certain quantity of provisions for the nourishment of himself and the
_tempulazzy_, or boatman, appointed to convey him to the other country,
and into the presence of Pillian, where he is to be judged according
to his good or evil actions. Earth was then thrown in upon the body.
But, as the defunct had been a renowned warrior, a heap of stones was
collected, of which a pyramid was formed; then everyone walked slowly
once more round the tomb, pouring upon it a great quantity of chica. The
relations and friends returned dancing and singing to the village, where
awaited them one of those Homeric repasts of Araucanian funerals called
cahuins, which last till all the partakers lie upon the ground utterly
intoxicated.
Beyond a little natural curiosity, our travellers did not take much
interest in the ceremony or feast; they were fatigued, and preferred a
short repose. Trangoil-Lanec guessed their thoughts; and, as soon as the
procession returned, he left his companions, and offered to conduct the
young men to his dwelling. They availed themselves of his kindness with
alacrity. Like all Araucanian huts, this was a vast wooden building,
covered with whitewashed mud, in the form of a rectangle, the roof being
a terrace. This simple, airy residence displayed, in its interior, a
perfect Dutch cleanliness.
Trangoil-Lanec, as we have said, was one of the richest and most
respected chiefs of his tribe, and had eight wives. Polygamy is allowed
among the Moluches. When an Indian is desirous of marrying a woman, he
declares his purpose to her parent, and fixes the number of animals he
is willing to give. His conditions being accepted, he comes with a few
friends, carries off the young woman, throws her on the saddle behind
him, and gallops off to the woods, in the depths of which the couple
remain three days. On the fourth they return; he slaughters a young
mare in front of the hut of the father of his bride, and the marriage
festivities begin. The abduction of the bride, and the sacrifice of
the mare, take the place of a civil contract. After this fashion an
Araucano is at liberty to marry as many wives as he can support. And
yet, the first wife, who bears the title of unem domo, or legitimate
wife, is most honoured; she has the direction of the household, and
is the superior of the others, who are called inam domo, or secondary
wives. All inhabit the same toldo, but in different apartments, where
they employ themselves in bringing up their children, in weaving
ponchos with the wool of guanacos and chilihuegues, and in preparing
the dish which an Indian woman is bound to place every day on the table
of her husband. Marriage is held sacred, and adultery is considered
the greatest of crimes; the man and woman who should commit it would
inevitably be assassinated by the husband and his relations, unless they
redeemed their lives by means of a compensation imposed by the injured
husband. When an Araucano leaves his home, he confides his wives to
his relations, and, on his return, if he can prove that they have been
unfaithful to him, he has the right of demanding of the guardians all he
thinks proper to ask; so that the relations are interested in watching
them. This strictness of morals only regards married women; others
enjoy the greatest liberty, and take advantage of it without any person
presuming to find fault with them.
The two Frenchmen, thrown so suddenly into the midst of these strange
manners and customs, were some time before they could comprehend Indian
life. Valentine, in particular, was completely at a loss; he was in
a state of perpetual astonishment, which, however, he took good care
should not appear in his words or in his actions; for the adventure of
the machi had raised him so high in the estimation of the inhabitants
of the toldero, that he dreaded, with reason, lest the smallest
indiscretion should cast him down from the pedestal upon which he
maintained his erect position.
One evening, when Louis was preparing, as he frequently did, to visit
the various toldos, in order to inquire after the sick, and administer
to them all the relief his limited knowledge of medicine permitted,
Curumilla came to the two strangers to invite them to be present at the
cahuin given by the new machi, who had been elected that day, in place
of the dead one. Valentine promised that they would come. From what
we have said before, it may easily be comprehended what an enormous
influence a sorcerer possesses over the members of the tribe; the choice
is therefore difficult to make, and is seldom a good one. The sorcerer
is generally a woman: when it is a man, he assumes the female costume,
which he wears for the rest of his life. In almost all cases the science
is inherited.
After smoking a considerable number of pipes, and making endless
speeches, the Araucanos had chosen, as a successor to the machi, an old
man, of a mild, kindly character, who, during the course of his long
existence, had only made friends. The repast was, as may be supposed,
copious, abundantly furnished with ulpo, the national dish of the
Araucans, and moistened with an incalculable number of couis of chica.
Among the other delicacies which figured at the feast was a large basket
filled with hard eggs, which the Ulmens swallowed in emulation of each
other.
"Why don't you eat some eggs?" said Curumilla to Valentine. "Do you not
like them?"
"On the contrary, chief, I am very fond of eggs, but not cooked in that
fashion; I have no inclination to choke myself, thank you."
"Oh! yes," the Ulmen said; "I understand; you prefer them raw."
Valentine burst into a Homeric fit of laughter.
"Not better than these," he said, when he had recovered his gravity;
"I like eggs boiled in the shell; I like omelettes, or pancakes, but
neither hard nor raw, if you please."
"What do you mean by that? Cooked eggs must be hard."
The young man looked at him with astonishment, and then said to him in a
tone of profound compassion--
"Now, really, chief, do you mean to say you are only acquainted with
hard eggs?"
"Our fathers have always eaten them thus," the Ulmen replied, quietly.
"Poor people! how I pity them! They have been ignorant of one of the
greatest enjoyments of life. Well, my friend," he exclaimed, raising his
voice with jocular enthusiasm, "I am determined you shall adore me as
a benefactor to humanity! In short, I will endow you with soft-boiled
eggs, and with omelettes; at least, the remembrance of me shall not die
from among you. When I am gone, and you eat one of those two dishes, you
will think of me."
In spite of his sadness, Louis could not help laughing at the burlesque
humour and inexhaustible cheerfulness of his foster brother, in whom,
at every minute, the gamin prevailed over the serious man. The chiefs
welcomed with joy the offer of the spahi, and asked, with loud cries, on
what day he would carry his promise into execution.
"Oh, I will not make you wait long," he said; "tomorrow, on the square
of the toldería, and before all the assembled tribe of the Great Hare,
I will show you how you must set about boiling an egg, and making an
omelette."
At this promise, the satisfaction of the chiefs mounted to the highest
pitch, the couis of the chica circulated with increased vivacity, and
the Ulmens soon found themselves sufficiently intoxicated to begin to
sing as loud as they could shout, and all together,--a sort of music
that produced such an effect upon the two Frenchmen, that they made
their escape, stopping their ears. The feast was kept up long after
their departure.