342 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL, 1 33 



she showed signs of nervousness because of the noise or because of 

 something she saw her children do. Llakatrul did away with kiUing 

 persons suspected of witchery." 



I was told by an 80-year-old woman that she heard that a woman, 

 a suspected witch, was coming to visit her. "I made a cross of garlic 

 (ajo) on the bench where she was to sit. That kept her away from 

 here," said the woman revengefully, and added triumphantly, "and 

 I have not heard since that she plans to visit me." The interpreter 

 was convinced that the informant herself was a witch, for how else 

 could she know what to do to keep a witch away. 



Solomonkeros, witches of "people who lived north of us," formerly 

 lived in the Araucanian country. They were said to be small people, 

 half human and half animal and were fierce fighters. They lived in 

 certain caves (renu), traveled underground from lake to lake, "like 

 from Lake Huechulafquen to Lake Lacar," and went from what is 

 now Argentina to Chile through passages under the Cordillera. 



There is a belief in hobgoblins, which are called anchimallen. "They 

 seem to be made of fire, but they do no harm to anyone. When they 

 appear they are all over, everywhere." "My mother," said a 65-year- 

 old woman, "told me anchimallen are round in shape and appear like 

 fire. They leave small footprints in the ashes around the fireplace. 

 When people see them or the footprints, they are frightened." 



Several informants had had visions, among them Kolupan. "When 

 I was a young fellow," he said, "I was herding sheep along a well- 

 traveled road. Suddenly, before sundown, the sheep stirred, like 

 sheep do when they are frightened, and made sounds of *sh, sh, sh,' 

 like frightened sheep do. Since sheep are frightened only when they 

 see something bad, I looked around and then I saw what they were 

 seeing : I saw a kalku, a woman dressed in black. By that time the 

 sheep had scattered in all directions. Then the woman vanished. 

 Nothing more happened that day. Another day, at sunset, a man and 

 I were walking home — the man was no longer sober. Suddenly, we 

 both saw a radal (tree) turn into a giant man. He was dressed in 

 black, too. I called out, 'What are you ? A person ? Living or dead ? 

 Are you a good or a bad person ?' He vanished without answering." 



A woman in her fifties had often heard old Araucanians tell, when 

 she was still a child, that a woman who was still a virgin walked along 

 a road and met a snake. The snake was walking upright, as all snakes 

 formerly walked. The woman commanded the snake to crawl on the 

 earth, and ever since then snakes crawl on the earth. The interpreter, 

 a non- Araucanian, had often heard the same story told by old 

 Araucanians. 



