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saying she was going for meat (carne), mounted her horse,
and rode off at a brisk pace. Upon her departure a most
active trade commenced : at first, a mantle was purchased for
a string of beads ; but as the demand increased, so the Indians
increased their price, till it rose to a knife, then to tobacco,
then to a sword, at last nothing would satisfy them but ‘ aqua
ardiente,’ for which they asked repeatedly, saying «bueno es
boracho-buenoes—buenoes boracho;”*—but I would not
permit spirits to be brought on shore.
At Mana’s return with a very small quantity of guanaco
meat, her husband told her that I had been very inquisitive
about a red baize bundle, which he told me contained “ Cristo,”
upon which she said to me “ Quiere mirar mi Cristo” (do you
wish to see my Christ), and then, upon my nodding assent,
called around her a number of the tribe, who immediately
obeyed her summons. Many of the women, however, remained
to take care of their valuables. A ceremony then took place.
Maria, who, by the lead she took in the proceedings, appeared
to be high priestessf as well as cacique of the tribe, began by
pulverising some whitish earth in the hollow of her hand, and
then taking a mouthful of water, spit from time to time upon
It, until she had formed a sort of pigment, which she distributed
to the rest, reserving only sufficient to mark her face
eyelids, arms, and hair with the figure of the cross. Thè
manner in which this was done was peculiar. After rubbiuff
the paint in her left hand smooth with the palm of the rio-ht
she scored marks across the paint, and again others at rfo-hi
angles, leaving the impression of as many crosses, which she
* I t is good to be drunk, it is pleasant to be drunk.
t Two Portuguese seamen, however, who had resided some months with
them, having been left behind by a sealing vessel, and taken off by us at a
subsequent period o f the voyage at th e ir own request, informed us that
M a n a is not the leader of religious ceremonies. Each family possesses its
own household g o i, a small wooden image, about three inches in length
th e rough imitation of a man’s head and shoulders, which they eonsfder
stamped upon different parts of her body, rubbing the paint,
and L rk in g the crosses afresh, after every stamp was mad^
The men! after having marked themselves m a similar manner
(to do which some stripped to the waist and covered all
their body with impressions), proceeded to do the same to the
boys, who were not permitted to perform this part of the
ceremony themselves. Manuel, Maria s husband, who seemed
to be her chief assistant on the occasion, then took from
folds of the sacred wrapper an awl, and with it pierced eit er
the arms or ears of all the party ; each of whom Pre-nted in
turn, pinched up between the finger and thumb, that portion
of flesh which was to be perforated. The object evidently
was to lose blood, and those from whom the blood flowed
freely showed marks of satisfaction, while some whose wounds
bled but little underwent the operation a second time
When Manuel had finished, be gave the awl to Maria, who
pierced his arm, and then, with great solemnity and care, mut-
L in - and talking to herself in Spanish (not two words of
which could I catch, although I knelt down close to hei and
listened with the greatest attention), she removed two or three
wrappers, and exposed to our view a fig“ ''’ “
w o o d , representing a dead person, stretched out After exposing
the image, to which all paid the greatest atten ion, and
contemplating it for some moments in silence, Miu-ia began to
descant upon the virtnes of her Christ, telling us it had a good
heart ( ‘ buen corazon’), and that it was very fond of tobacco
“ Mucho quiere mi Cristo tabaco, da me mas, (my Chris
loves tobacco very much, give me some). Such an appeal, on
such an occasion, I could not refuse; L l*
her in praise of the figure, I said I would send on board for
some. Having gained her point, she began to tffik to heirel
for some minutes, during which she looked up, after repeating
the words “ muy bueno es mi Cristo, muy bueno corazon
tiene ” and slowly and solemnly packed up the figure, depositing
it in the place whence it had been taken. This ceremony
ended, the traffic, which had been suspended, recommenced
with redoubled activity.
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