26 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I33 



A child that has outgrown its cradle is transported on the mother's 

 back, resting in her shawl. Two-year-olds were seen being so trans- 

 ported. "A 2-y ear-old child is not able to walk far ; but a 3-year-old is 

 expected to walk holding its mother's hand. When it is tired, the 

 mother will transport it astride on her hip." Long distances the 

 mother covers on horseback with a 2- or 3-year-old child straddling 

 the saddle in front of her. When a child can be trusted to hold on 

 safely, it will sit back of the saddle clutching the saddle. 



Only one Araucanian in all areas, a 52-year-oId Cofiaripe man, had 

 seen a hammock, such as is shown by Cooper (1946, p. 733, fig. 78, 

 recorded in 1855). "The child rested in the hammock in the daytime 

 only; never at night," the informant remarked. No other informants 

 recognized the hammock ; all were agreed that the Araucanians never 

 had hammocks. 



LULLABIES 



Araucanians sing both nonsense- and burden-syllabled lullabies. 

 A nonsense-syllabled one sung by school children w^as a repetition of 

 "sh," another was a repetition of "ssi." A grandmother holding a 

 baby in her arms sang a similar one, timing it with rounds of gentle 

 slaps on the baby's back, shoulders, and abdomen. "This is doing it 

 genuine Mapuche way," she commented. A restless baby was quieted 

 in the lap of an informant by the informant's moving her knees up 

 and down while singing a repetition of "tss." On occasions persons 

 were seen rocking a cradleboard and singing a repetition of "she" 

 as each foot of the cradleboard touched the ground ; another sang 

 "gsch" while doing so ; later the child's grandmother took the cradle 

 and continued rocking it, singing "gushu." Another day a small boy 

 was seen timing his rocking of a child to the singing of "chu." 



A 60-year-old Cofiaripe woman sang for me a burden-syllabled lull- 

 aby in Araucanian. A pencil resting in the palms of her hands repre- 

 sented a baby. She moved her hands horizontally and sang: "Sleep, 

 sleep, little one. As the fox comes to take the chicken, so he can also 

 come to take you, if you don't sleep. If the lion comes, he will leave 

 only bones of you. The tiger, too, will come and eat you. I'll be sorry. 

 I'll be sorry. I will weep. I will weep. For I will have only bones." 

 She then held the pencil against her cheek with both hands and said the 

 baby's face was now resting against hers, and sang more softly a repe- 

 tition of "shlih" to the same melody, and ended saying very quietly, 

 "Now the baby is asleep. That is the way I put my babies to sleep." 



The following lullabies in Spanish were also sung by informants: 

 (i) "Sleep, baby, sleep; sleep, baby, sleep. There comes a bull with 



