WHOLE VOL. ARAUCANIAN CHILD LIFE — HILGER 93 



Eye measurements (approximate) are used in selecting a tree from 

 which oxcart wheels are to be made. "Any man who knows how to 

 make a wheel knows that the tree minus the bark must make wheels 

 large enough to keep the oxcart from hitting high spots in oxcart 

 trails." An informant indicated by eye, on a table, the length and 

 width of a bird trap. Two Alepiie men prepared bundles of cochayuyo 

 for the market. Cochayuyo is an edible alga collected in shallow water 

 on the shores of the Pacific. The length of each bundle (approxi- 

 mately 1 8 inches) was measured by eye ; the thickness included what 

 a man could hold between both hands when tips of thumbs and fingers 

 met. 



Chilean linear measurements now in use, "because we have to deal 

 with Chileans," are the pulgada, measured by distance from tip of 

 thumb to first knuckle (approximately an inch) ; the vara (approxi- 

 mately 34 inches) ; the meter (39.37 inches) ; and the darea (approxi- 

 mately 42 by 47 feet). 



The diameter of logs sold to lumber camps is measured in pulgadas 

 and paid for on this basis. Fences are erected and paid for on the 

 basis of vara. "To make certain that I shall always know where I 

 can find the length of a vara, I measured one off on the singletree of 

 my oxcart." Something I noticed other men had also done. I saw 

 one man lay a stick on the singletree of his oxcart where he had 

 marked off a vara, mark the stick and use it in measuring a fence. 

 Vara were also marked off on ax handles. 



The meter serves as a basis for linear and surface measurements in 

 many instances when dealing with Chileans. Orders for woven throws 

 and choapino and blankets to be sold in Chilean markets are given 

 in meters. "But I do not always have a meter measure handy ; I know 

 that my wima is nearly a meter and I use it. Men usually know how 

 many of their duke make a meter, and they then measure off in so 

 many duke. My husband knows a meter is four of his fiichi duke." 

 A Chilean present at an interview remarked, "I know that from the 

 earth to my belt, when I stand erect, measures a meter; but five of 

 my complete hand stretches is also a meter." "Yes, five fiichi duke," 

 agreed an Araucanian. A darea, according to informants, is a measure 

 used only at harvest time. "It is used in connection with a field of 

 grain ; it covers as much land as a man, who works conscientiously all 

 day, can cut with a sickle. We never spoke of darea until the Spanish 

 came here." 



Quantity measures were pinches of various amounts and both single 

 and joined handfuls. These were generally used in measuring herbs. 

 Another measure was a cuplike implement made by cutting off the 



