CHILIANS IN AllAUCO. 



355 



the rocks, various articles taken out of the prizes : 

 some of them were loaded with plates, dishes, and 

 cooking utensils ; others with books and charts. 

 One man had got hold of a broken quadrant, 

 which puzzled him exceedingly ; another was stir- 

 ring up his fire with a long whale harpoon ; and 

 one poor fellow came running up to us with a 

 bundle of the Tract Society'*s publications, which 

 he had just found ; but was greatly disappointed 

 when we declined becoming purchasers. 



Before I returned on board, the commander of 

 the Chilian forces told me, that a party of Indian 

 auxiliaries under his orders had that morning ta- 

 ken three Araucanian prisoners, two of whom they 

 had deliberately put to death, and had sold the 

 third to himself for four dollars. We expressed 

 great horror at this anecdote ; but he said it was 

 absolutely out of his power to control these In- 

 dians, who made it a condition of their service, 

 that they should never be denied the privilege of 

 cutting the throats of their prisoners. Besides 

 these three prisoners, it appeared that there had 

 been a fourth, a young woman, the wife of one of 

 the men butchered in the morning. The com- 



