WHOLE VOL. ARAUCANIAN CHILD LIFE — HILGER I5I 



tain and sergeant from the leader's locality have moved, on horseback, 

 to where the sacrificial sheep and hens have been tied. After the 

 leader has finished the pipe, these two men dismount, and while they 

 are doing so, several persons throw pieces of lung toward them. The 

 two men then pray quietly for about 5 minutes, addressing their 

 prayers to chau and to wenemapu iiuke (the woman with chau). "It 

 looks as though these prayers were being addressed to the sun, for the 

 men look directly at the sun." They again mount their horses and 

 ride nearly 50 yards beyond the sun shelters, one carrying a vessel of 

 mudai and the other a pipe filled with tobacco. At this distance they 

 gallop completely around the ellipse of the grounds four times. Each 

 time they come back to the place where the sacrificial animals are tied, 

 pieces of lung are thrown toward them, and all the people yell 

 "Ya-ah!" After the fourth ride is completed, the two men slide ofif 

 their horses, and each takes a colihiie from the middle of the row at the 

 parufe. With these in their hands both dance around the parufe four 

 times. After this all the participating young men run round the psrufe, 

 each one carrying a vessel of mudai, and everyone yells "Ya-ah !" 



One-half of the sheep that was sacrificed is consumed in the sacred 

 fireplace; the other half is roasted over the sacred fire and is then 

 divided among the people by the captains and sergeants. The first 

 piece that is cut off the roasted meat is placed at the parufe for chau. 

 All bones left after the flesh has been eaten are burned in the sacred 

 fire (pi. 31, 5). Great care is always taken that none of them is gotten 

 by dogs. The entrails and hides are buried so close to the fire that 

 dogs will not dig for them. Toward the end of the ceremonial, the 

 tortillas are cut into strips and shared by all ; the mudai, too, is con- 

 sumed by participating persons. This is drunk from wooden tumblers 

 or pottery vessels. 



The ceremonial of the second day is merely a repetition of the first 

 day's, except that usually all hens are sacrificed on the second day by 

 being thrown on the fire to be consumed there. 



Two old men — one each from a separate locality — act as policemen. 

 "Order must be maintained about the place ; there must be no laughing 

 or visiting during the ceremonies." Informants said that the recur- 

 rence of the number four has no significance — four is not considered 

 a sacred number. According to Cooper's sources (1946, pp. 742-743), 

 the rewe at one time was one of the main features of the qillatun. It 

 was not known to have been used in areas I visited. 



The konchitun (sharing a meal of mutton supplied by one of two 

 men) is not a part of the ceremonial, but is an adjunct to it. Formerly 

 it was an expression of sincere mutual friendship between two men 



