WHOLE VOL. ARAUCANIAN CHILD LIFE — HILGER 187 



wool, the sheep are washed periodically with water mixed with human 

 urine. 



Every household has chickens, which are owned by women and 

 children. The meat is readily eaten ; the eggs are used only in the 

 preparation of food, and then rarely. A certain breed — spoken of by 

 non-Araucanians as the Araucanian chicken — is found in all areas; 

 it has particularized tufts on the head and lays eggs of pastel pink and 

 blue colors. Chickens are fed in the open, but are taken into the ruka 

 to sleep and brood, to prevent foxes from taking them. An Alepue 

 woman who had worked as a domestic in a Chilean home could no 

 longer tolerate her chickens in the ruka, she said, and consequently 

 had a coop built for them (pi. 54, 5). In general a hen is allowed to 

 brood her eggs, but if eggs are wanted for food preparation, they are 

 searched for in high grass or wherever a hen is heard cackling. If 

 she is set, it is done at the waning of the moon, "the only time the 

 moon has strength." Turkeys are raised for meat. They, too, are 

 owned by women and children. Since they can protect themselves, 

 no shelter is provided for them, and they roost on trees near the ruka. 



Usually every household has several dogs. All are watchdogs, and 

 must guard the sheep at night and the ruka and its inhabitants at all 

 times. "It gives one a feeling of protection to have a dog nearby." 

 A dog is trained to bark at anyone passing along the way, even at 

 some distance from the ruka which he is guarding ; he has been trained 

 to dash out at full speed at anyone on a path that leads toward the 

 ruka or passes close to it, but to halt just before he gets to the person, 

 provided the person stands still and looks at him. By this time, gen- 

 erally, someone from the ruka — often a child — has come forward and 

 either recalls the dog or walks toward the oncoming person ; in either 

 case the dog subsides. When a dog shows signs of laziness ("he be- 

 comes as lazy as a cat is at noon, you know"), he is given a pinch of 

 chili in his food; this spurs him on and makes his bark sharp and 

 fierce. A person who sets out to travel on foot through woods or 

 ravines on the Coastal Range or in unfrequented or wooded regions 

 of the Andes takes his dog with him as a protection against pumas, 

 "Pumas detest dogs !" A dog is not allowed in the ruka ; he is shooed 

 out immediately if he enters it, even though he only pokes his head 

 in at the door. "Why should he be in the ruka? He can protect 

 himself. Chickens cannot ; the fox will get them !" 



Every household has at least one cat that is a mouser. Her place is 

 in the ruka. During an interview a cat tried to get at some cheese 

 which was being pressed under a weight. A little girl corrected her 

 twice with a "tsch" and she obeyed ; at a third attempt, the little girl 



