59 



and govern as absolute masters ; but the people, who 

 cannot endure despotism, oppose then- pretentions, 

 and compel them to keep within the bounds pre- 

 scribed by their customs. 



The civil laws of a society whose manners are 

 simple, and interests but little complicated, cannot 

 be very numerous. The Araucanians have but a 

 few ; these, however, would be sufficient for their 

 state of life, if the}'^ were more respected and less 

 arbitrary. Their system of criminal jurisprudence, in 

 a particular manner, is very imperfect. The offences 

 that are deemed deserving of capital punishment are 

 treacher}^, intentional homicide, "adulter}^ the rob- 

 bery of any valuable article, and witchcraft. Never- 

 theless, those found guilty of homicide can screen 

 themselves from punishment by a composition with 

 the relations of the murdered. Husbands and fa- 

 thers are not subject to any punishment for killing 

 their wives or children, as they are declared, by their 

 laws, to be the natural masters of their lives. Those 

 accused of sorcery, a crime only known in countries 

 involved in ignorance, are first tortured by fire, in 

 order to make them discover their accomplices, and 

 then stabbed with daggers. 



Other crimes of less importance are punished by 

 retaliation, which is much in use among them, un- 

 der the name oí thaulonco. Justice is administered 

 in a tumultuous and irregular manner, and witliout 

 any of those preliminary formalities, for the most 

 part useless, that are observed among civilized na- 

 tions. The criminal who is convicted of a capital 

 offence, is immediately put to death, according to 



