4 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I33 



they now believed him— they saw his wounds and beUeved that he had talked to 

 his people, and they let him go home. Jose Martin did not return for some time. 

 When he did he came home on a Chilean boat and disembarked at Chan Chan. 

 He brought with him many gifts from the Chileans for the now sick cacique, 

 Andres, among them rice and sugar— Andres Lienlaf was the first Mapuche here 

 to eat rice and sugar. After Andres had completely recovered, he again went to 

 Valdivia and spoke to the Colonel. As a reward for establishing peace among 

 his people, the Colonel gave him a cane topped with a crook of silver. The cane 

 is still at Pedro Martin's, but it does not look like the same cane; it was dam- 

 aged in a fire and repaired by a silversmith. Later the Colonel came here to sign 

 the peace with the cacique, Andres. He disembarked at Chan Chan with 1,500 

 soldiers. When we saw him lead these soldiers on to our land, our people fled and 

 hid; they thought that now their homes would be burned and they themselves 

 exterminated. The women wailed. But this ended the wars. That is how the 

 Mapuche in this area saved themselves from annihilation. 



The territory occupied by the Araucanians (in what is now Chile) 

 when the Spanish first entered it probably extended from the Andean 

 uplands to the Pacific and from the southern tip of the Island of 

 Chiloe to the river Choapa, or still farther north. Cooper's sources 

 place them between latitude 30° and 43° S. (1946, p. 687). At present 

 the Araucanians are found mainly in the provinces of Cautin and 

 Valdivia, with the largest number between latitude 39° and 40° S. 



In the western part of these two provinces, on the Pacific, is the 

 Coastal Range. Its altitude averages 1,000 feet, with a maximum of 

 1,600 feet. In the eastern part is the Andean Cordillera. Between 

 these two mountain systems lies the great Central Valley. The rivers 

 Imperial, Tolten, Mehuin, Crucis, and Calle-Calle and their tributaries 

 drain the area from east to west across the valley. The main pass over 

 the Andes in the Araucanian country, the old Tromen Pass, is by 

 way of Villarrica and Pucon in Chile to Junin de los Andes in Ar- 

 gentina. In the low altitudes of the Andes in the Araucanian country 

 are the beautiful lakes of Colico, Villarrica, Cahuegua, Calafquen, 

 Pelaifa, Panguipulli, Riiiihue, and Pirehueico. From nearly all parts 

 of the provinces snow-capped ridges of the Andean ranges can be 

 seen, as well as the volcanoes Llaima (10,040 feet), Villarrica (9,317 

 feet), Quetropillan (7,740 feet), Shoshuenco (7,740 feet), and 

 Lanin (12,270 feet). Lanin is just beyond the boundary in Argentina. 



The climate of the region is affected by strong east winds, known as 

 puelches, and by the Himiboldt Current of the Pacific moving north- 

 ward along the shore. Except in high altitudes there is no snowfall ; 

 the winter season is a rainy one. 



Based on estimates, the Araucanians may have numbered from 

 500,000 to three times that when the Spaniards first met them. 

 How many there are at present is not accurately known ; Chilean au- 



