88 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I33 



means south ; wiifchitun and lloftun mean to lie in ambush. Later 

 these stars tell us that fall is here. Then comes pukan (summer). 

 Next comes kon'a pukem, which means about to enter winter. It 

 introduces winter. And last of all comes pukem (winter)." 



Two Maiquillahue women (Alepue area also), 80 and 60 years of 

 age, agreed that spring was called wiin'n tripantu and winter pukem, 

 but that summer should be called aqtunen, and fall peurjen. Other 

 informants had heard of only two seasons, spring and fall : "After 

 all there is one time in the year when seeds are sown and one time 

 when the new ones are gathered. After the planting everything grows, 

 and after the harvest the rains soak the earth for new planting." 



Treutler recorded the words peuggen for spring, ucan for summer, 

 gualug for fall, and puchem for winter (1861, vol. i, p. 67). The 

 following are according to Felix Jose (1916) : Spring may be desig- 

 nated in four ways: we tripantu (new year), wiin'n tripantu (begin- 

 ning of year), ellaka tripantu (the time of the year when days become 

 longer), and pewiiqen (the time of buds) (vol. i, p. 40; vol, 2, 

 p. 301). Summer may be antiitripantu or antiiqen (the time in which 

 one feels keenly the heat of the sun) (vol. 2, p. 403). Wabn is the 

 period of the year in which fruit ripens; it may also be called 

 wabr)man (about to harvest, or soon to have that which is eaten) 

 (vol. I, p. 244; vol. 2, p. 403). Fall is called both chomun (the drying 

 and falling of flowers and leaves) and chomijqen (vol. i, p. 25 ; vol. 2, 

 p. 267). Winter is pukem or pukemqen (vol. i, p. 188). 



Equinoxes are taken notice of. "We know that planting time is 

 near when the days begin to be longer than the nights. There is also 

 a time after the harvest when nights begin to be longer than days, and 

 we know that from then on we shall see the sun less often, and the 

 weather will soon be more disagreeable." 



There was no conventional way of keeping count of years. An 

 important or unusual event was generally kept in mind and years 

 reckoned from there on. Quoting a Panguipulli teacher: "I have 

 often heard adults and children tell of an event as having happened 

 before or after one of the earthquakes — there have been several 

 severe and frightening earthquakes in this area in recent years." 



Adults seldom knew their ages. One old woman gave as her age: 

 "I am so old that I remember the days when there was no bridge 

 over this river [Rio Imperial in San Jose de Mariquina]." *T really 

 do not know how old I am," said a man; "my oldest son says he is 

 now 36." Since baptism and marriage certificates are often given to 

 adults, the date of birth, as nearly as the officiating person could dis- 

 cover it, can be found on them. Not infrequent answers of adults 



