310 ARAUCANIANS—DEPUTATION. March 1830. 
dress, and wore the deshabille of a Spaniard, a shirt and pair 
of trowsers, in a very slovenly manner. He spoke Spanish with 
great facility, and appeared to be quite at his ease in conversa- 
tion. He has the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Chilian 
army, and receives pay, as a retainer for his friendship. 
A very short visit was sufficient to satisfy us, and we took 
the first opportunity of retiring, for fear of a second cup of 
wine. While leaving the hut, we were beset by some of his 
followers, asking for money. The Indian quarter is a scene of 
drunkenness the whole day; the women, however, are pre- 
vented from thus injuring themselves; they are industrious 
and cleanly, and are principally occupied in the manufacture 
of ponchos. These Indians are frequently at war with other 
tribes, who live on the south side of the Bio-Bio river, and who 
have never yet been conquered by white men, of which they 
are not a little proud. (w) 
These Araucanians are by no means to be despised. The 
Cacique Mariloan,* who resides near San Carlos, on the Bio-Bio, 
has three hundred fighting men under his own command ; and 
from the influence he holds over neighbouring Caciques, could 
bring upwards of one thousand men into the field. Upon the 
occasion of alate revolution in Chile, a deputation of chiefs 
was sent by the Araucanian Caciques to inquire into the cause 
of those disturbances, of which they had received intelligence. 
They first asked’ for an interpreter, whom they cautioned to 
give a true and literal translation of their speech ; and then 
they made a long harangue, in which they explained the cause 
of their visit, and declared their willingness to assist their 
friends, if their aid should be required, to expel a foreign foe ; 
but if the troubles were caused only by the quarrels and dissen- 
sions of parties, they would not take an active part. They 
were then given to understand that an attempt had been made 
by one party to put down another, upon which they declined 
assisting either. ‘The conference being ended, some horses were 
cw) Not since the first Spanish conquest, perhaps.—R. F. 
* From ‘ Mari,’ diez, and ‘loan,’ huapo: whence Mariloan means 
‘huapo como diez,’ or, ‘equal to ten men.’ 
