1835. 



TORMENT ARAUCANTANS. 



463 



claimed that their father would beat them terribly, that the 

 sheep was worth eight rials !^ A dollar for the sheep, and 

 another for each of themselves, altered their tone ; and before 

 long we had such a fire and supper as the old ' rancho ' had 

 not witnessed since the wedding-day of its owners. 



But what a night of penance we passed — the place swarmed 

 with fleas, not one moment could I rest, though very tired ; 

 and it Was raining too hard, and was too cold to sleep outside 

 in the open air. These insects are the torment of travellers 

 in Chile. The natives appear either not to feel, or not to be 

 attacked by them, but an unlucky stranger who ventures to 

 sleep within the walls of an inferior kind of house, or even 

 any country house, in Chile, is sure to be their victim. When 

 I stripped to bathe the next day, I found myself so covered, 

 from head to foot, with flea-bites, that I seemed to have a 

 violent rash, or the scarlet fever. 



As the day broke (on the 25th) we mounted our horses, eager 

 to get away from such unceasing tormentors : and the Indian 

 girl undertook to show us a place where we might pass the 

 river, even flooded as it was. By the help of fallen trees, las- 

 soes, and poles, we conveyed ourselves and the saddles across ; 

 but to get the horses over was very diflicult. The stream being 

 rather wide and rapid, and the banks steep and rotten, occar 

 sioned so much difficulty, that two whole hours were spent in 

 getting the animals across and out of the river. Our united 

 strength applied to good lassoes, was barely sufficient to help 

 the struggling and frightened creatures up the muddy broken 

 banks. When one had passed, the others followed in their turns 

 more readily ; but I thought we should have lost one of them. 

 From this river to Arauco was not above an hour'*s ride, at the 

 pace we went, though it is called seven leagues. 



During the last two days I had seen several Indians of pure 

 Araucanian blood, in their native dress, and was much struck 

 by the precise similarity of that worn by the women, to the dress 

 of the aborigines of Peru, as described and figured in Frezier's 

 voyage. The square cloak, or mantle, thrown over the shoulders^ 

 * Or a dollar, equal to about four shillings. 



