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15() UUt t lAL OKKISMONIES.
trees, upon which earth is laid. His favourite horse is afterwards
killed. I t is held at the grave while a man knocks it on
the head with one of tlie balls of the deceased. When dead, it
is skinned and stuffed, then, supported by sticks (or set up)
upon its legs, with the head propped up, as if looking at the
grave. Sometimes more horses than one are killed. At the
funeral of a cacique four horses are sacrificed, and one is set up
at each corner of the burial place. The clothes and other
effects belonging to the deceased are burned: and to finish
all, a feast is made of the horses’ flesh.
But there ai-e also other modes of disposing of dead bodies :
and as I am certain that at least two of them are practised by
the Patagonians of the present day, and we are assured by
Falkner that other methods, one of which was cai-rying them
into the desert by the sea-coast, were customary in his time, 1
shall here repeat what he says on the subject (p. 118).
“ The burial of the dead and the superstitious reverence
paid to their memory, are attended with great ceremony. When
an Indian dies, one of the most distinguished women among
them is immediately chosen to make a skeleton of his hody;
which is done hy cutting out the entrails, which they hum to
ashes, dissecting the flesh from the hones as clean as possible,
and then burying them under ground till the remaining flesh
is entirely rotted off, or till they are removed (which must be
within a year after the interment, but is sometimes within two
months) to the proper burial-place of their ancestors.
“ This custom is strictly observed by the Molu-che, Taluhet,
and Diuihet,* but the Chechehet and Tehuelhet, or Patagonians,
place the bones on high, upon canes or twigs woven
together, to dry and whiten with the sun and rain.
“ During the time that the ceremony of making the skeleton
lasts, the Indians, covered with long mantles of skins, and
their faces blackened with soot, walk round the tent, with long
poles or lances in their hands, singing in a mournful tone of
voice, and striking the ground, to frighten away the Valichus,
* The Taluhet, Chechehet, and Diuihet, were tribes of Puel-che.
m o u i i n i n o — b u r i a l . 157
or evil spirits. Some go to visit and console the widow, or
widows, and other relations of the dead, that is, if there is any
thing to he g o t; for nothing is done but with a view of interest.
During this visit of condolence they cry, howl, and sing m the
most dismal manner; straining out tears, and pricking their
arms and thighs with sharp thorns, to make them bleed. For
this shew of grief they are paid with glass beads, brass casca-
bels and such like baubles, which are in high estimation among
them. The horses of the dead are also immediately killed,
that he may have wherewithal to ride upon in the ‘ alhue
mapu,’ or country of the dead, reserving only a few to grace
the last funeral pomp, and to carry the relics to their proper
sepulchres.
“ When they remove the bones of their dead, they pack
them up together in a hide, and place them upon one of the
deceased’s favourite horses, kept alive for that purpose, which
they adorn after their best fashion, with mantles, feathers, &c.,
and travel in this manner, though it be to the distance of three
hundred leagues, till they arrive at the proper bunal-place,
where they perform the last ceremony.
“ The Molu-che, Taluhet, and Diuihet, bury their dead in
large square pits, about a fathom deep. The bones are put
together, and secured by tying each in its proper pkce, then
clothed with all the best robes they can get, adorned with beads,
plumes, &c., all of which they cleanse or change once a year.
They are placed in a row, sitting, with the sword, lance, how
and arrows, bowls, and whatever else the deceased had while
alive. These pits are covered over with trees, canes, or branches
woven together, upon which they put earth. An old matron
is chosen out of each tribe, to take care of these graves, and
on account of her employment is held in great veneradon.
Her office is to open every year these dreary habitations,
and to clothe and clean the skeletons. Besides all this they
every year pour upon these graves some bowls of their first
made chicha, and drink some of it themselves to the good
health of the dead. (N. B. Not the Tehuelhet.)
“ These burying places are, in general, not far distant from
ts
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