THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 145 



epilepsy. After some time he comes to himself, as having got the 

 better of the demon ; next feigns, within his tabernacle, a faint, shrill, 

 mournful voice, as of the evil spirit, who, by this dismal cry, is supposed to 

 acknowledge himself subdued ; and then, from a kind of tripod, answers 

 all questions that are put to him. Whether his answers be true or 

 false, is of no great signification ; because, if his intelligence should 

 prove false, it is the faidt of the devil. On all these occasions the 

 wizard is well paid." 



We are, however, informed that, although the profession is 

 honourable and lucrative, it is not without its drawbacks, as 

 in the case of any misfortune occurring to the tribe, such as 

 the death of a chief, or the ravages caused by pestilence, the 

 wizards are often put to death. Elsewhere, he states, that 

 the Patagonians say that 



" The stars are old Indians, that the Milky Way is the field where 

 the old Indians hunt ostriches, and that the two southern clouds are the 

 feathers of the ostriches which they kill." 



How far the foregoing account of the religious rites of 

 these people is correct we have no means of knowing. Cap- 

 tain King, in his narrative, gives a curious account of a cere- 

 mony, apparently founded on Eoman Catholicism, of which 

 he was an eye-witness. He states that having shown himself 

 inquisitive about the contents of a red baize bundle in the 

 possession of Maria, a woman who was cacique of her tribe, 

 she said to him, " Quiere mirare mi Cristo?" (do you wish to 

 see my Christ?), and that the following proceedings then took 

 place : — 



" Maria, who, by the lead she took in the proceedings, appeared to 

 be high priestess as well as cacique of the tribe, began by pulverising 

 some whitish earth in the hollow of her hand ; and then taking a 

 mouthful of water, spit from time to time upon it, until she had formed 

 a sort of pigment, which she distributed to the rest, reserving only 

 suflScient to mark her face, eyelids, arms, and hair, with the figure of 

 the cross. The manner in which this was done was pecuhar. After 



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