64 



The commander in chief, appoints his Vice Toqui, 

 or lieutenant-general, and the otherofficers of his staff, 

 who in their turn nominate their subaltern officers. 

 By this method, harmony and subordination are 

 maintained between the respective commanders. 

 The Vice Toqui, is almost always selected from 

 among the Puelches, in order to satisfy that valiant 

 tribe, who as I have already observed, amount to 

 the fourth part of the population of the state. Nor 

 have the Araucanians ever had cause to repent of 

 this selection. During the last war, one of these 

 mountaineers, Leviantu, lieutenant-general of Cu- 

 rignancu, harrassed the Spaniards greatly, and gave 

 their troops constant employment. 



The army is at present composed of infantry and 

 of horse. It originally consisted entirely of the for- 

 mer, but in their first battles with the Spaniards, 

 perceiving the great advantage which their enemies 

 derived from their cavalry, they soon began to disci- 

 pline themselves in the same manner. Their first care 

 was to procure a good breed of horses, which in a 

 short time became so numerous that in the year 

 1568, seventeen years after their first opposing the 

 Spanish arms, they were able to furnish several 

 squadrons, and in the year 1585, the cavalry was 

 first regularly organized by the Toqui Cadeguala, 



The infantry, which they call namuntulinco^ is di- 

 vided into regiments and companies ; each regiment 

 consists of one thousand men, and contains ten com- 

 panies of one hundred. The cavalry is divided in 

 the like manner, but the number of horse is not al- 

 ways the s^me. They have all their particular stan- 



