104 



Wlien their children begin to walk, which is very 

 soon, they neither put them into stays nor any other 

 confined dress, but keep them loosely clad, and let 

 them go any where and eat what they please. 

 Formed thus, as it were, by themselves, they be- 

 come well shaped and robust, and less subject to 

 those infirmities that are the consequence of a tender 

 and a delicate education. Indeed, the maladies that 

 prevail among the Araucanians are but few, and are 

 for the most part reducible to inflammatory fevers, 

 originating either from intemperance in drinking, or 

 to the excessive exercise which they sometimes use. 



If the physical education of the Araucanian chil- 

 dren is in a certain degree laudable, the moral edu- 

 cation which they receive will not certainly meet 

 with our entire approbation. It is, nevertheless, con- 

 formable to the ideas of that high-minded people, 

 respecting the innate liberty of man, and such as 

 may be expected from an uncivilized nation. Their 

 fathers are satisfied with instructing thchn in the use 

 of arms, and the management of horses, and ia 

 learning them to speak their native language with 

 elegance. In other respects they leave them at li- 

 berty to do whatever they please, and praise them 

 whenever they see them insolent, saying that in this 

 manner they learn to become men. It is very unu- 

 sual for them to chastise or correct them, as they 

 hold it as an established truth, that chastisement 

 only renders men base and cowardly. 



