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70 



CHAPTER IV. 



Division of the Spoil; Sacrifice after the War ; 

 Congress of Peace. 



THE spoils of war are divided among those who 

 have had the good fortune to take them. But when 

 the capture has been general, they are distributed 

 amt>ng the whole in equal parts, called reg, so that 

 no preference is shown to any of the officers, nor even 

 to the Toqui. The prisoners, according to the cus- 

 torn of all barbarous nations, are made slaves until 

 they are exchanged or ransomed. 



According to the admapu, one of these unfortu- 

 nate men must be sacrificed to the manes of the sol- 

 diers killed in the war. This cruel law, traces of 

 which are to be found in the annals of almost all na^ 

 tions, is nevertheless very rarely put in practice, but 

 one or two instances having occurred in the space of 

 nearly two hundred years. The Araucanians are 

 sensible to the dictates of compassion, although the 

 contrary is alledged by certain writers, who having 

 assumed as an incontrovertible principle that they 

 never give quarter to their enemies, afterwards cout 

 tradict themselves in mentioning the great number of 

 Spanish prisoners who have either been exchanged 

 or ransomed after the war. The sacrifice above 

 mentioned, called pruloncon, or the dance of the head, 

 is performed in the following manner : 



