57 



the Araucanian aristocracy, the superior ranks, gene- 

 rally speaking, are comprehended under the same 

 title, which is equivalent to that of Cacique. 



The discriminative badge of the Toqui is a spe- 

 cies of battle-axe, made of porphyry or marble. The 

 Apo-Ulmenes, and the Ulmenes carry staves with 

 silver heads, but the first by way of distinction have 

 a ring of the same metal around the middle of their 

 staves. All these dignities are hereditary in the 

 male line, and proceed in the order of primogeni- 

 ture. Thus have the dukes, the counts and mar- 

 quisses of the military aristocracy of the north been 

 established, from time immemorial, under different 

 names, in a corner of South America. 



With its resemblance to the feudal system, this 

 government contains also almost all its defects. 

 The Toqui possesses but the shadow of sovereign 

 authority. The triple power that constitutes it is 

 vested in the great body of the nobility, who decide 

 every important question, in the manner of the an- 

 cient Germans, in a general diet, which is called 

 Butacoyog or Aucacoyog^ the great council, of coun- 

 cil of the Araucanians. This assembly is usually 

 held in some large plain, where they combine the 

 pleasures of the table with their public deliberations. 



Their code of laws which is traditionary, is de- 

 nominated Admapu^ that is to say, the customs of 

 the country. In reality these laws are nothing more 

 than primordial usages, or tacit conventions that 

 have been estabhshed among them, as was originally 

 the case with almost all the laws of other nations ; 



they have, consequently, all the defects peculiar to 

 Vol. II. H 



