WHOLE VOL. ARAUCANIAN CHILD LIFE — HILGER 359 



two poles were laid parallel to each other. Holes were then burned 

 vertically through each pole and through the tree trunk below it, and 

 wooden pegs pounded into the holes. If rapids had to be contended 

 with, a third pole was usually pegged in the same manner across the 

 middle of the raft. Rowing was done by two or three men, each using 

 a polelike paddle known as kawewe. Before setting out in a dugout or 

 on a raft, a prayer was said for a safe landing. 



Today, transportation on land is on foot, on horseback (pi. "jj, 2), 

 and in oxcarts ; on lakes, in flat-bottomed boats and commercial steam- 

 boats. During the present study, cattle and sheep were transported 

 on the hoof, and sheep also on horseback with a rider. Firewood was 

 hauled on oxcarts. \>getables were carried in baskets and sacks. The 

 wilal, a carrying bag used by Chilean Araucanians, was not known 

 in Argentina — informants examined one with interest and curiosity. 

 Formerly luggage was transported in sacks of hide, and in saddlebags, 

 on horseback. 



HUNTING, TRAPPING, FISHING 



Wild animals hunted for food were the guanaco ; puma (par)i or 

 trapial) ; the wild boar or jabali (kiitrekiitre) ; the Patagonian hare 

 (mara) ; the huemul (shunam) ; the pudu, a Patagonian deer (truli or 

 piidu or pa/o) ; and the armadillo (kofiir). Since Spanish days, the 

 European deer and European rabbit have been added to these. 



Although all the above-named animals are still extant in the Arau- 

 canian country, they are only occasionally used as food. Pumas today 

 are killed primarily because of their raids upon sheepfolds or flocks. 

 \\'hen one is killed, however, its meat is eaten. 



Wildfowl hunted for food were the rhea, spoken of as the ostrich 

 (choike) ; ibises or bandurria (raki) ; the avutarda; cisne bianco 

 or ganzu ; gallareta (pollolla or, popularly, piden) ; flamingo (pital) ; 

 martineta or perdiz grande (/sdu). 



Implements used in hunting were the boleodora (I'akai), the bola 

 perdido, lasso, and spear. The bow and arrow were not known to have 

 been used, but arrowheads and spearheads are found throughout the 

 country once occupied by the Araucanians. Kolupan, as a child, had 

 searched for flint from which men made spearheads. Dogs generally 

 assisted in all types of hunting. 



A boleodora — a lariat thrown to twist about an animal's legs — con- 

 sisted of either two or three balls of porous lava covered with tough 

 horsehide and fastened together with thongs. Today balls are often 

 made by filling ball-shaped horsehide containers with pebbles or 

 crushed stone. In the 3-balled one (pi. 76, 4), a ball was fastened to 



