71 



The officers, surrounded by the soldiers, form a 

 circle, in the centre of which in the midst of four 

 poniards, representing the four Uthalmapus, is pla- 

 ced the official axe of the Toqui. The unfortunate 

 prisoner, as a mark of ignominy, is then led in upon 

 a horse deprived of his ears and tail, and placed near 

 the axe, with his face turned towards his country. 

 They afterwards give him a handful of small sticks 

 and a sharp stake, with which they oblige him to 

 dig a hole in the ground, in which they order him 

 to cast the sticks one by one, repeating the names of 

 the principal warriors of his country, while at the 

 same time the surrounding soldiers load these ab- 

 horred names with the bitterest execrations. He is 

 then ordered to cover the hole, as if to bury therein 

 the reputation and valour of their enemies whom he 

 has ^amed. After this ceremony the Toqui, or one 

 of his bravest companions, to whom he relinquishes 

 the honour of the execution, dashes out the brains 

 of the prisoner with a club. The heart is immediate- 

 ly taken out by two attendants and presented palpi- 

 tating to the general, who sucks a little of the blood, 

 and passes it to his officers, who repeat in succes- 

 sion the same ceremony ; in the mean time he fu- 

 migates with tobacco smoke from his pipe the four 

 cardinal points of the circle. The soldiers strip the 

 flesh from the bones, and make of them flutes ; then 

 cutting off* the head, carry it around upon a pike 

 amidst the acclamations of the multitudb, while, 

 stamping in measured pace, they thunder out their 

 dreadful war- song, accompanied by the mournful 

 sound of these horrid instruments. This barbarous 



