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THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



South of the Kio Maule the aborigines called themselves Moluche, or "warrior-people," 

 the affix die in the Araucanian language denoting "people." They are, however, more 

 generally known by their Spanish title of Araucanians (rebels), a name due to their independence 

 and intolerance of foreign dominion. In Chili, however, the Araucanians, although retaining a 

 modicum of freedom, are fast allies of the republic. As to the exact sense in which the term 

 Moluche, or Araucanian, is employed, there is, however, some difference of usage. Properly 

 speaking, the sections known as Picunche, Pehuenche, Huilliche, and Puelche, respectively 

 meaning North, Central (from the Pehuen district), South, and East tribes, are but divisions of 

 the Moluche. Of these, the term Puelche rightly includes those Moluches which extend 

 eastwards of the Cordillera into Argentine territory as far as Mendoza, but it has also been 

 extended to embrace the Pampas Indians of Buenos Aires, and thus all the aborigines as far 

 south as the Rio Negro. The Araucanians have not only no central government, but no tribal 



chiefs; the head of each family being the chief of 

 all his descendants. Custom seems, indeed, to be 

 the only force which impels the members of the 

 various tribes to collect together for mutual self- 

 defence or other purposes; after which they rapidly 

 disperse to their scattered dwellings. The spirits 

 of departed Moluche are supposed to dwell in the 

 Milky Way, whence they watch over their kindred 

 below; this ancestral supervision being apparently 

 the main bond of union between the tribes. Most 

 Araucanians are of a distinctly lighter shade of com- 

 plexion than the Peruvian tribes. From the greater 

 part of the Pampas of Buenos Aires the Indians 

 have been swept away by European colonisation; 

 their places being at first taken by the Gauchos, or 

 half-breeds, who are themselves fast disappearing 

 before the tide of foreign immigration. Both 

 Gauchos and Indians are essentially horsemen, the 

 introduction of the horse having profoundly modi- 

 fied the original mode of life of the latter, of 

 which little is really known. So ingrained is the 

 habit of riding among both peoples, that it is a 

 common saying in Argentina that an Indian or 

 Gaucho will walk a mile to catch a horse in order 

 to ride a quarter of a mile. Both are well clothed; 

 the poncho, or blanket with a hole cut in the centre, 

 through which the head is thrust, being the garment 

 donned over others in bad weather. Both are experts 

 in the use of the lasso and bolas; the former being 

 a rope with a running noose at one end, and the 

 latter either two or three balls fastened together by 

 strings and hurled at animals. After mentioning 

 that the union between man and horse is less 

 marked in the Gaucho than in the Pampas Indian, 

 Mr. "W. H. Hudson observes that the savage nature 

 of the latter brings him nearer to the level of the 

 animal he rides. " The Indian horse is more docile, 

 he understands his master better; the slightest touch 

 of the hand on his neck, which seems to have 

 developed a marvellous sensitiveness, is sufficient 



By permission of the South American Missionary Society. 

 AN ARAUCANIAN BEAUTY. 



