WHOLE VOL. ARAUCANIAN CHILD LIFE — HILGER 20/ 



prepare it." In making it (pis. 47-50), an informant scattered liand- 

 fuls of wheat into a kettle in which ashes had been boiling in water 

 for some time and occasionally stirred. Choice ashes are those of 

 olivillo, lingue, and laurel comun ; next best are those of roble chileno 

 and ulmo, "in fact ashes of any hard wood (pelliri) can be used; not 

 so the ashes of canelo or of rotted wood." Ashes have to be at least 

 a month old, and are powdered and sifted before being used. 



The mixture of ashes and wheat is boiled and occasionally stirred, 

 and at intervals the kernels are tested. Progress is being made when 

 hulls come off the kernels as they are being rubbed between the palms 

 of the hands. When the kernels separate into halves when pressed 

 between the fingers, they are sufficiently cooked. A small amount of 

 cold water is then added and the contents of the kettle poured into a 

 chaiwe to be drained. To hasten drainage the contents is stirred and 

 the chaiwe shaken back and forth and up and down. This done, the 

 mixture is poured into a wooden dish to cool. The informant stirred 

 it with both hands to bring hot kernels to the surface. 



When sufficiently cooled, the informant halved the contents and 

 loosened the hulls of each half by working the kernels with her feet 

 in a wooden dish. This done, she poured the entire mass into the 

 chaiwe again, took it to the source of drinking water — a pool fed by 

 several springs and emptying into a river nearby — and freed the ker- 

 nels of ashes and hulls by first pouring pailfuls of water over them in 

 the chaiwe and then dipping the chaiwe up and down just under the 

 surface of the water in a deeper part of the pool. At intervals she 

 stirred the kernels with her hand. Soon she brought the chaiwe out 

 of the pool and, putting it on the ground, straddled the handle and 

 again worked the kernels with her feet. This done, she took the chaiwe 

 back into the pool and let water seep into it, thus bringing to the top 

 any foreign elements mixed with the wheat. To remove these she 

 moved slowly out of the water, backwards, keeping the chaiwe slightly 

 submerged. She walked home and cooked the kernels in clear water. 

 Her mother tasted them and found them to her liking. Had they 

 retained the taste of ashes, they would have been boiled again, but 

 this time with a twig of maqui, "for maqui eliminates the taste of 

 ashes," and a thorough washing will eliminate the taste of maqui. 

 The informant served her mote to the family in cold, honey-sweetened 

 water ; the writer, her field assistant, and her interpreter, upon their 

 return home, relished theirs in honey-sweetened milk. Mote is also 

 served in broth and in chicha. Occasionally it is dried for future use. 



Catuto are made as follows : Dry ashes and dry kernels of wheat 

 are placed in a wooden dish and worked with the feet until kernels 



