Chapter V: Part 5

The vaqueros have been instructed to collect in a large corral, representing a half circle, all the cattle from the hill potreros. The animals are usually unaccustomed to the sight of anyone except the vaquero who attends them, and are wild and easily excited. When the time arrives for opening the rodeo, the horses of the men who are to participate, are brought out, each attended by a mozo (personal servant), who carefully adjusts the huge spurs always used on such occasions, to the boots of their respective masters. The men then mount and ride to the corrals, each followed by his mozo with several reserve horses to be used in case of necessity. About the corrals, which are decorated with flags and bunting, is a large crowd, including the mounted servants of the hacienda, as well as the inquilinos and servants from other farms, on horseback and in carts. Later the ladies of the household and their friends and guests arrive and occupy seats especially prepared for them, which command a good view of the corral. An order is given for the function to begin and employés of the hacienda enter the corral and drive the animals close together, encircling them to prevent their escape. The men who are to participate in this sport take their positions and a bullock is permitted to pass through the line encircling the herd. It is immediately charged by two of the waiting party, one following and urging it on, the other riding by its side, forcing the beast as closely as possible to the corral fence. When they have traversed the distance of the corral enclosure the person riding by the animal’s side rushes to its head, and by a clever move turns it suddenly around. The positions of pursuing parties are reversed, first one riding at the side of and turning the infuriated beast, and then the other, until it is completely subdued. Until it is conquered the riders must at no time leave the animal. If it bolt through the herd, or amongst the bunch of mounted servants on guard, they must follow, each keeping his respective position. Their horses are well trained and enter into the sport with as keen a zest as the riders. When one animal has been conquered it is driven from the corral and another turned loose, different persons taking part in each separate contest. If a horse is gored, as is often the case, or the rider dismounted and trampled upon, others quickly take their places and the sport continues. During the rodeo the spectators applaud or groan at the acts of the participants, according to their merit or demerit. Rodeos sometimes last for several days. An intermission is given in the middle of the day during which lunch is served, and at night there is always entertainment and much merrymaking at the hacienda residence. This sport is full of surprises, both comic and tragic, as there is always an element of uncertainty in the actions of a wild and infuriated young bull, when pursued and harassed until he becomes desperate. The day’s entertainment often closes with some daring vaquero lassoing, saddling and mounting a big, untamed bull.

One of the purposes of a rodeo is that the owners of cattle in neighboring haciendas may have all of the cattle brought in from the hills, identified and separated. The cattle belonging to each estate bear the registered mark of the owner by which they are identified. Frequently animals stray from their ranges and potreros and join the herds in neighboring haciendas. In these annual rodeos, or round-ups, they are divided and each lot according to mark or brand is returned to the owner. All the vaqueros of the different estates in the locality attend and participate. In this way the hacendados get all the wild young animals from the hills brought in, separated and branded at practically no expense. What is considered sport, and a festival by the vaqueros and employés on the big farms, is in reality the annual collection of cattle, as a matter of business to the owner.

The crowd constituting the spectators at a rodeo is made up of peons, inquilinos and vaqueros from neighboring haciendas. They dance the cuaca, and there is music of primitive harps and guitars. There is much drinking of chicha and exchange of badinage, all mixed with talk of, and comment on the rodeo, and the personal skill and bravery, or the lack of those qualities, displayed by those engaged in the sport. In the evening, after the conclusion of the rodeo, along the dusty country roads leading to the homes of these people one may witness strenuous and exciting contests in topeadura, in which sturdy Chilean ponies and tipsy riders form the component part.

CHACRA.

Chacra (vegetable farm), is usually land rented in small sections by the poor people from the rich landowners. After the servants have been allotted their portion of land in the poorest soil of the hacienda, other portions are rented, usually for a stipulated rental of two thousand kilos of beans for each quadra (four acres). At the harvest time the landowner must be paid his rent, either in the proportion of the products stipulated, or the cash market value of same. This settlement must be made before the “chacrero” is permitted to remove any of the crops. The lessee’s family live in the chacra in huts made of the branches of trees. The hacendado knows the productive capacity of his land, and gauges the rental value accordingly. If the renter manages to save a few sacks of beans, after living and paying his rent, he is fortunate. As a rule this class of tillers of the soil receive nothing more than a meager living for their labor.

HABITS AND CUSTOMS

A careful study of the history of Chile from the time that Pedro de Valdivia attempted to subjugate the Indians, through the colonial period to the revolution of 1810, when Spanish rule was overthrown and Chile took her place in the sisterhood of South American Republics; through the varying vicissitudes of its first half century of national existence, down to the present time, will reveal the fact that certain customs and traditions characteristic of the race have been maintained. In some instances they reflect the influences of changed conditions and environments; foreign ideas have been engrafted upon the social structure and the body politic, but in character, and in general characteristics, the Chileno retains his inheritance from Spanish and Indian ancestors. This is particularly true of their economic use of water. It can be safely said that the majority of the working classes or country people apply water sparingly to their hands and faces only, and never to their bodies, and many of them are utter strangers to its personal application.

This does not apply, of course, to the wealthy, educated and traveled Chilenos, who go annually to the seashore, or other pleasure and health resorts, such as Panca, Cauquenes, or Viña del Mar, the latter being the summer playground of the rich. A visit to any of the pleasure resorts by a Chilean family, be they residents of the country or city, is an event attended with much pomp and ceremony. They take with them their horses and carriages, a retinue of servants and an extra supply of clothes for display for the purpose of impressing other visitors with their financial standing and social importance. The vacation season in Chile is usually from the first of January to the fifteenth of March. For two months government service is transferred from Santiago to Valparaiso, the president and his cabinet taking up their temporary residence in Viña del Mar, a suburb of Valparaiso. The courts are closed and practically all business suspended in the capital. Members of the diplomatic corps follow the Santiaginas to the seashore, and the suburbs of Valparaiso, with their hotels and bathing beaches, are gay with fashionably dressed visitors and social functions. Many people who indulge in this annual seaside frolic are compelled to resort to strenuous domestic economy for the remainder of the year, in order to recuperate from the financial sacrifice made in the effort to compete in the social exhibit with those who can well afford the expense. Others whose financial condition will not admit of their joining the procession of those who appear for a few brief weeks in the year upon the social stage at Viña del Mar, close the front of their city residences, and do not appear in public during the vacation season.

The poor classes who cannot afford a vacation, live in filth and unsanitary conditions the year round, and during their natural lives. The dwellings of the poor are built without regard to architecture, comfort or hygiene, and the domestic condition of the occupants is a menace to health. The floor of a majority of the huts is the ground, which during the rainy season becomes damp, and not infrequently muddy. The refuse water from the houses is thrown any place outside to get rid of it, and there being no drains to carry it away, it becomes stagnant and creates disease. Donkeys, dogs, pigs and poultry maintain intimate social relations with the members of the household, not infrequently being housed with the family at night.

Chile has several dishes peculiar to and characteristic of the country. Cazuela is, strictly speaking, a national dish. It is a sort of soup, served as a first course at any meal, but more particularly for breakfast. It is made of mutton, “cordero,” or fowl, with various kinds of vegetables, all cooked together and served hot. It possesses the merit of including both meat and vegetable, solid and liquid food. In addition to being inexpensive, it is easily made and is very palatable. It is extremely popular with all classes of Chilenos and is a dish that foreigners invariably become fond of after once having tested its good qualities. A breakfast in Chile without cazuela would be considered a poor meal. “Puchero,” is another dish of which the Chilenos are fond, and which is usually served at dinner. It consists of meat boiled with a variety of vegetables, all being cooked dry, and served without liquid. “Empanadas,” a sort of meat pie, is also popular and peculiar to the country.

The zama cuaca is the national dance of Chile. It is danced by all classes, and is made clownish or genteel, coarse or refined, according to the different social grades of the participants. In no case can it be considered vulgar, and when properly danced it is graceful and attractive. It is danced in couples. The lady and gentleman each carry a handkerchief in the right hand, which they wave in front of their partner as they move about the room, keeping time to the lively and inspiring music of harps and guitars. The music of the instruments is usually accompanied with the hum of voices and the clapping of the hands of spectators. The dancers always face each other, except at certain intervals, when they turn suddenly around and then proceed as before. Whether in the parlor, in a despacho, a cancha de bola, or in the open, the zama cuaca is a national favorite, and the music will always arouse the interest and enthusiasm of everyone present. It is indulged in on all occasions where people congregate, day or night, and crowds frequently stop along the country roads to dance the cuaca.

At places where the country and village people congregate on feast days, “fondas,” enclosures prepared especially for dancing, are provided. The fonda is enclosed on three sides and is covered with branches of the arrayan, a flowering bush, which emits a strong, but pleasant odor. In front of the entrance is a “vara” for topear. Most of the people attending feast day demonstrations go on horseback, and there is always a mixed and miscellaneous mounted crowd in front of the fonda. Inside, seated upon benches, are men and women who divide their time between dancing and drinking. Those not engaged in the dance keep up a constant hand-clapping, timing their movements with the music. Sometimes during the dance, when a woman performs a special evolution that is thought to be very clever or unusually graceful, some man in the crowd, perceptibly affected with alcohol, calls out in a loud voice, “aro, aro.” At the sound of this magic word, which means drinks for all, the music and the hand-clapping cease and the dancers stop. Then the woman in charge of the fonda appears and passes to the man who called “aro,” a “potrillo” (a large glass tumbler) filled with chicha, or a mixture of aguardiente and milk. The man takes the brimming potrillo, approaches the dancers, and bowing profoundly, offers it to the lady. She appears shy, makes several courtesies, accepts the cup, takes a sip and returns it to the man. After the women dancers have been served, the cup is passed to the men engaged in the dance, and later to the spectators, all drinking from the same potrillo until it is finished. The man calling aro does the honors in passing the drink, and for anyone present to refuse would be considered an insult that would probably be resented.

A peculiar feature of the cuaca is the solemnity with which it is conducted. There is never a laugh or a joke, and seldom a smile. Levity on such occasions would be considered an indiscretion. The Chilenos take every phase of life lightly and indifferently, except their amusements, which are sacredly serious.

A peculiar custom in Chile is that of offering to a friend any article that he may desire. It is not proper, however, to accept the proffered gift. The would-be donor is given an opportunity to show his generosity, and at the same time made happy by having his offer declined.

There prevails in Chile a pretty custom in salutations, conversation and in summoning persons, in which the christian name is always used. It is practiced between members of families, friends, acquaintances, servants and masters. To strangers it conveys the idea of familiarity, but on the contrary it is the most polite formality. The christian name is always used in social, domestic and commercial intercourse where the parties are known to each other. When strangers are addressing each other it is always Señor, Señora or Señorita. Friends and even acquaintances are profuse in the use of personal and endearing terms. Another method of expressing pleasure when friends or relatives, either male or female, meet, is to embrace, each passing the right hand around and patting the other affectionately upon the back.

Politeness is one of the characteristics inherited by the Chilenos from their Spanish ancestors. Members of the same family, especially among the better classes, are kind and always considerate of each other’s feelings and wishes. Family quarrels and disputes are seldom indulged in, and never in the presence of strangers. Among the middle and poor classes, there are occasional rows, and sometimes encounters between members of the same family, but it is usually due to the influence of drink rather than their natural inclinations. It is a national custom for the right of correction and punishment to rest with parents, so long as they and their children live. A son never becomes too old to be chastised by his father or mother. He may have reached middle age, be the father of a large family, and even venerably gray, but if either of his parents sees fit to box his ears, or even to apply more vigorous methods of punishment for any dereliction of duty or for any offense, the chastisement is administered with impunity and is accepted without resentment.

It is the custom among uneducated country people in calculating their ages, to reckon time from some important event that has taken place in the country, such as the revolution, severe earthquake, or other notable occurrences. The great earthquake of 1851, is often used as a basis for calculating the ages of old people.

An aire is a muscular affliction of the face or neck, which may result from sitting or remaining in a draught when one is warm or perspiring. It is a common affliction in Chile, and to avoid the danger, not only the country people, but those living in cities and towns, are disposed to keep their rooms closed to the exclusion of fresh air, and to the great discomfort of the occupants.

Sometimes foreigners on arriving in Chile find the customs of the country unsatisfactory, according to their theories, and at once constitute themselves missionaries to “convert the natives,” as they put it. They proceeded to introduce ideas and methods that conform to their own standard of ideals. The result usually is the acquisition of an unsatisfactory lot of experience, without having affected any changes in the prevailing customs, or even made any impression upon those for whom the education was intended. The Chilenos are slow to accept innovations, and quick to resent the presumption of foreigners who attempt to engraft new ideas and customs upon the ways and traditions of their country.

RELIGION

The sanctity of the church is considered forbidden ground to all those who attempt to portray the life and customs of the people of any country. To criticise religious forms or customs is to incur the displeasure, arouse the combative spirit and the resentful nature of the communicants of the church under discussion. It means to bring down upon the head of the offending scribe the wrath of those who have found consolation in the church. Religious views and ideas, with prejudices deep rooted and strong, are generally inherited.

Believing that there is good in all churches, that the Christian religion is the foundation upon which the superstructure of good society and modern civilization is based, the writer wishes to preface his comments on the Church in Chile, with the statement that it is not the purpose to criticise the Christian religion, but to point out some of the peculiar, and what would seem to the disinterested observer, objectionable practices in the dominating church.

The Catholic religion has been so closely interwoven in the fabric of Chilean history that it forms a feature of every chapter in the Republic’s record. It is impossible to accurately describe the life and customs of the country, and at the same time omit so important an influence as that exercised by the church on the political and social life of Chile.

Article 4 of the constitution (1833), says: “La Religion de la República de Chile és la Católica Apostólica Romana, con exclusión del ejercicio publico de cualquiera otra.” (The religion of the Republic of Chile is the Roman Catholic Apostolic with the exclusion of the public exercise of whatever other.)

Under constitutional authority the public exercise of all religious worship, except the Catholic, was excluded from Chile until 1865, when the right was conceded to establish non-Catholic schools within private property, and to be supervised by a Catholic board. Later came another innovation in the civil register law.

In Chile the State sanctions, helps to support and maintain the Catholic church, and the church participates in politics and the affairs of state. Reaching out through its various ramifications the church extends its influence to the farthest limits of the country, both socially and politically. The union of Church and State is strong, and the day seems far distant when they will be divorced. Able and courageous men, individually and in party groups, have tried to loosen the hold Catholicism has on Chile, and have in some instances weakened its influence upon the body politic, but it is still powerful. President Balmaceda endeavored to separate Church and State, not by destroying the church, but by directing each in its legitimate channel. The result was defeat, revolution, disaster and death.

One of the Popes said concerning the Catholic church: “Its catholicity is its credentials to Divine origin and authority.” It is not the intention of the writer to challenge this statement, but the broad, liberal Catholic idea would seem to suggest that the influence of the church should be directed along lines laid down in the Divine Law, and not exerted in an effort to control political policies.

It is not the purpose to discuss here the individual merits of the clergy, but to consider it as a body politic, its influence for weal or woe with the people and upon the nation. It is a significant fact that every law on the statute books tending to secure greater liberty of action, freedom of thought and speech, has been opposed by the political element of the church. Such progressive measures as the civil register law, providing for a public record of births, deaths and marriages, and requiring civil marriage ceremonies; the establishment and maintenance of public and private schools, and the designation of non-Catholic cemeteries, where Protestants might receive burial, have received the opposition of the clergy.

To try to lift the veil and look into the private lives of the clergy would seem little less than sacrilege. It would reveal acts pure and noble, lives worthy of example and emulation, and it would also show startling and shocking scenes enacted in the name of religion. There are those who are sacrificing their lives in the cause of the Master, others living vicious and licentious lives under the cloak of Christianity. The illiteracy and superstition of the people give to the unworthy and insincere opportunities to practice deception and imposition. Upon the other hand, these same conditions afford an ample field and unlimited opportunities for good, with those who are conscientious and possess the true Christian spirit.

There are more than ten thousand monks of different orders in Chile. During the summer months they go about the country in pairs or in trios, holding mission services, which they conduct without price or reference to money. The expenses of these itinerant clergymen are paid from the funds of the order they represent. They do much good in the way of instructing the poor country and village people in the rudiments of civilized life, cleanliness, and how to rear their children. These mission services usually continue for a week or ten days in one place, during which time many of the women and children of the community remain about the church, sleeping upon the ground at night. These mission fathers in no way clash with the regular priests, everything being understood and prearranged. Medallions and colored prints of their patron saints are freely distributed, and never fail to create a pleasing effect upon the women and children. The children are gathered into classes and turned over to the more intelligent of the women of the church, who teach them the catechism, and to sing the chants. If the children appear indifferent, or especially stupid in these first instructions and church discipline, their minds are brightened and their memories sharpened by whacks with a stick in the hands of the monks. But alas, these poor children only memorize the printed prayers, no explanations of their true meaning being made, and so through life they go on repeating prayers without knowing the significance of the words. Not infrequently this smattering of an education, gained through the mission teachings of the traveling monks, is all that many of them receive. It is through these methods of early instruction that the prolific growth of superstition prevalent in Chile is cultivated and kept alive. Children are taught that the several saints on the calendar, the anniversary of each of which is celebrated with a religious feast, are all powerful, and that the good offices of the saints can be secured through the intermediary of the priests.

FEAST DAYS.

The chief national feast in Chile is September 18th, the anniversary of the independence of the Republic, known as “El Diez y ocho.” There are, however, numerous other anniversary celebrations, commemorating victorious battles and historic events, which are observed with much demonstration in the cities and thickly populated districts. All other holidays, of which there are something like seventy in the year, are called religious festivals. Every saint has his or her feast day, known as church feasts, except the patron saint of the local church, in which event the festival lasts for a week or more.

Ordinary feasts are held at private houses. The adobe walls of the room selected for the service are covered with paper, and an improvised altar arranged by placing lighted candles upon a table. Upon the wall above the table is hung a colored print of the particular saint whose anniversary is being celebrated. Those taking part in the services are usually seated around the room upon stones or blocks of wood, and if such seats are not available they squat upon the dirt floor, the crowd frequently extending into the open in front of the house. There are harpists, guitar players and singers. The feast, which is held after the service, consists of boiled beans mixed with hulled corn, and as extra, boiled dried peaches mixed with flour or toasted wheat. After the food has been served someone in the crowd gives a “chaucha” (twenty cents), to one of the players and music is rendered in praise of the donor. Someone then buys wine or chicha and the health of the saint is drunk. When the singers have rendered what they consider the value of the donation, another person contributes, and by this means the music is kept up. Liquor is passed and repassed until the supply is exhausted, and the festival continues until the candles are burned out and the crowd lapses into a state of innocuous desuetude, to sleep off the effects of the debauch.

Religious ceremonies and feast day demonstrations are events of much general interest to the country people. Easter on a farm brings about the annual festival of “Correr á Cristo” (running to Christ). A mounted procession with waving flags and banners, and weird shouting, makes a tour of the farm, and the day is given over to a saturnalia of noise. Sometimes the procession will stop by the roadside, or in the garden in front of the farmhouse to hear mass, or long enough for those in attendance to receive the blessings of the priests. The procession is usually headed by a cart draped with palms and decorated with flowers.

PROCESSION OF THE PELICAN.

One of the peculiar religious festivals of the country is “La Procesión del Pelicano” (procession of the pelican), a passion play held annually at Quillota, one of the first communities established by the Spaniards in Chile. To the old city in the valley of the Aconcagua, there is an annual pilgrimage of thousands of devout Catholics, and others attracted by curiosity, to witness the strange procession.

The Procession of the Pelican has no mythological origin or significance, as is generally supposed, but derives its name from the colossal bird, which has figured in the demonstration for more than a century. The Cathedral of Quillota was built by the Bishop of Romero, in the beginning of the eighteenth century. By the influence of the Bishop the ladies of the community formed the society of the “Santo Sepulcro” (Holy Sepulchre), and by collecting alms raised the funds for this traditional procession. The annual arrangement was always placed in charge of one of the ladies of the society, and as only those from the first families were selected it was considered a great honor.

About the year 1776, Doña Amilia Alverez de Araya, whose family founded the original town of Quillota, was selected to direct the demonstration. Previous to that time the Santo Sepulcro, on which the figure representing the body of Christ was placed, on being lowered from the cross, was a common wooden box. With the help of a San Franciscan monk, who was a good joiner, Doña Amilia planned the receptacle since used, which represents a swan with wings extended. The huge image, constructed of wood, represents the bird with arched neck, picking at its breast upon which there is a bright red spot, in imitation of a blood stain.

On Good Friday a cross is erected in the Plaza, on a miniature mount, covered with green. During the day it is guarded by huasos, dressed to represent the Jews. Previous to the procession a man is placed upon the cross in imitation of the Crucifixion. In the evening the Cura, standing upon the steps of the cathedral, preaches a sermon on the “Passion of Our Lord,” after which the procession is formed. The “andas” (floats), carried upon the shoulders of men, represent scenes in the life of the Savior, such as “Christ Before Pilate,” “Christ Carrying the Cross,” “The Virgin Surrounded by Angels,” etc. The feature of the procession is the Pelican, which is borne by twelve men. The procession marches from the cathedral to the mount, and the body of the man representing Christ is lowered from the cross and placed in the Holy Sepulchre, the Pelican. During the procession the wings of the Pelican, which are covered with mirrors, open and shut mechanically, adding a spectacular feature to the scene. After marching around the Plaza, and through the principal streets the procession returns to the cathedral, and the Pelican is placed back of the altar where it remains until the recurrence of Good Friday, when it is again brought into service in “La Procesión del Pelicano.”

The hotels in the provincial town are inadequate to accommodate the people who journey annually to Quillota to witness the strange scenes presented in the procession of the Pelican, and when the ceremony is concluded there is an undignified rush for trains. The crowd, that stands quietly with bared heads during the passion play, resolves itself into a mob, each individual scrambling and fighting for the most advantageous position at the railway station. Those who cannot secure accommodation in the trains must spend the night in the streets, and following “La Procesión del Pelicano” the usual quiet of Quillota is turned into a drunken rabble. The police are unable to control the crowd, and the scene of religious fervor and devout Christian spirit shown by the multitude during the procession representing Christ crucified, is changed to a bacchanalian carousal. The event brings out the peculiarities of the Chilean character. One hour they are intoxicated with religious excitement and the next on aguardiente, entering as enthusiastically into the spirit of one condition as the other, with never a thought, apparently, of the inconsistency of their actions.

FEAST OF THE PATRON SAINT.

The celebration of the anniversary of the patron saint of the parish church is an important event. The little vice-parroquia (district church), where the annual feast is held, is generally whitewashed, and has a tile roof, blue doors, and yellow painted windows, and is topped by a square belfry tower. It is usually situated upon a slight elevation from which the ground slopes down to a nearby country road. The only relief to the monotony of the dreary surroundings is a few flowering shade trees. About the time the “novena” is concluded, carts begin to arrive and form in line along the roadside. As the crowd augments the scene resolves itself into one of animation and activity. People are constructing out of tree boughs, places of temporary residence, in which they sleep and where they conduct a small business during the festival. Women are engaged in bringing in firewood and jugs of water, which they carry on their heads. Oxen are unhitched from carts and driven home, as the feast lasts many days. Often as many as fifty carts, covered with canvas, branches of trees or skins are arranged side by side in close proximity. They serve as places of shelter for the owners, who remain throughout the feast. Each cart is supplied with a barrel of chicha, wine and aguardiente, and also with fowls and vegetables, from which is made cazuela, to supply the hungry crowd.

During all the day before, and up to the hour of the feast, which begins at midnight, active preparations for the event continue. People are arriving from every direction, those from a distance on horseback, and those from the neighborhood on foot, each carrying a quantity of supplies to eat or drink, and each expecting to do a little business on the morrow, and succeeding days, in the way of catering to the appetite or thirst of the mixed multitude. Some are ladened with skin bags filled with wine or chicha, others carry earthen pots or baskets containing such articles as they may have to dispose of. Fires are blazing, pots are boiling, and the scene along the roadside resembles a miniature military camp, with active preparations for the customary meal of soup and beans going forward.

Later the crowd is divided into groups, squatting upon the ground and eating from black earthen dishes. There is a tapping of barrels, uncorking of skin bags and earthen jugs, in which the supplies of liquor are stored. Small groups of gentlemen, or families, possessing a little more money than the average persons present, are seated at home-made tables, which are covered with coarse sacking. All are merry, and apparently happy to renew acquaintances, many of which have been neglected since the last feast of our lady of mercy, Santa Mercedes, the patroness saint of the little church where the feast is being held.

The parish priest has not yet arrived from his parochial residence, hence the feast has not formally begun. A murmur along the line of feasters announces the approach of the cura, the church bells peal joyously, and the crowd files into the little church, where lighted tapers and gilt images add a spectacular effect to the scene. The priest preaches a pleasing sermon, for the purpose of conciliating his congregation, which has not yet made its offering to the virgin. At the conclusion of the service the people give to the priest such money as they think they can afford to contribute, or that which has been entrusted to them by others who could not attend. They have come from every section of the surrounding country, some from great distances, who wish to show their gratitude to this particular saint, for favors they may have received, or may desire to receive in the future. The priest is not made aware of the object of the donations. The donors place their faith implicitly in the saints, believing that they will execute the bequests. These poor contributors for the most part have nothing to do with the particular church where the offering is made. As an example, in case of serious illness or threatened calamity in a family, the friends or relatives, as the case may be, make a vow that if spared the impending trouble, they will give a certain amount to a certain saint for a given number of years. These promises are usually redeemed, and the obligation is discharged at the particular church patronized by the saint to whom the promise is made. Many individual instances might be cited to illustrate the fidelity with which these people make offerings to the saints.

The day following the midnight services is “La Mercedes,” and the early morning shows hundreds of additional votaries en route to the church. After the morning mass the image of the virgin Mercedes, bedecked with flowers, is removed from the church altar, and carried at the head of a procession that marches about the church. The priest, leading the procession, and reciting prayers, is showered with flowers. After this parade the image is again placed upon the altar, there to remain until the following year, September 8th, which is the date of the anniversary of Mercedes. The priest then goes his way and the real fiesta, for which a majority of those present have come, that of eating, drinking, dancing and carousing uninterruptedly for several days, begins. The scene about the church presents some features peculiarly novel and picturesque. The hundreds of people dressed in the costumes of the country, in which bright colors predominate, dozens of clumsy bullock carts, and hundreds of horses huddled together in the church grounds, where they remain for days without being unsaddled, and in many instances without food or water, are some of the features of this feast day picture. There are improvised dance halls, bowling alleys, and every cart and temporary hut is turned into a shop where is dispensed such articles as those in possession may have to offer. At each place where liquors are dispensed there is singing, dancing and music of guitars. Everyone seems to have something to sell, and money with which to buy. Having made their contributions to our lady of mercy, they pursue the god Bacchus with enthusiasm and reckless indulgence. Good fellowship prevails, drinks encourage generosity and the feast goes merrily on.

This festival falls upon a date that marks the approach of spring in Chile. The espino is in bloom, and the odor of the yellow blossoms of that repellant, thorny bush, which grows abundantly throughout the country, fills the air with sweet perfume; birds in the mating season are revelling in the first green of the trees and the bloom of wild flowers. Under clumps of blossoming trees women are cooking cakes and vending sweets, while señoritas send winning glances at young men who, too often under the influence of liquor, are easy preys to the arrows of cupid. The feast continues to increase in interest and enthusiasm for three or four days, continuing night and day, when it reaches the climax, after which from loss of sleep and deficiency of drink, the tide begins to recede, and the crowd to decrease. At the end of the sixth or eighth day, at the farthest, the last of the crowd disperses, leaving only the trodden grass and the blackened remains of camp fires as evidences of the greatest and merriest local frolic of the year.

SUPERSTITIONS

In Chile there are large tracts of sparsely populated territory where there are neither doctors nor drug stores, and in such communities it is necessary in case of illness for the people to resort to home remedies. In these rural communities there are many old women who assume the rôle of doctresses, calling themselves “Medicas.” They are absolutely ignorant of medicine or its effect upon the human system, yet with their odd preparations of herbs they sometimes effect cures within a very short time. However, it is said that they more frequently kill than cure the persons they treat. Should the patient live for several days under the treatment of the Medica, and then die, nothing is said by the friends of the deceased, but should the victim succumb with the first dose the doctress is asked to change her residence at once.

“Brujeria,” or witchcraft, is common among the women in the lower classes in Chile, many of whom claim to be “brujas,” or sorceresses. The women profess to be able to inflict strange and wonderful punishment upon their enemies, or persons who refuse to accede to their demands. The most common delusion of these superstitious people, especially the women, is the power of the “brujas” to place reptiles or insects in their stomachs. Frequently when one becomes ill or distressed with a pain, she is possessed with the idea that she has been bewitched, declaring that she has a frog, a toad, a snake, spider, or other object in her stomach, placed there by a sorceress. These poor women believe that they cannot recover from an illness of this sort until they have made peace with the person having bewitched them, which means the giving of money or its equivalent in presents. It is a sort of faith cure, and any other treatment seems useless, as it will not dispel the delusion. The man or woman with dropsy or other affliction will almost invariably attribute the malady to an evil sorceress. These superstitions even extend to matters of business and chance with the country people. The methods employed by these witches are curious and ridiculous. Many claim, and the claims are accepted as true, to be able by slipping into the presence of an enemy and burning a certain kind of herb or vegetable, to place the person in their power. In some cases persons so bewitched assume a form of madness, which unfits them for service, and sometimes makes them dangerous. Many of these people claim to cure disease by prayer.

There are few diseases among the ignorant country people attributed to legitimate causes. They are believed to be due to the influence of witches; to be ill from any cause is to be bewitched. It is one of the many superstitions inherited from Indian ancestors, and is deep rooted in the minds of the people.

To predict the elimination or uprooting of these primitive customs would be hazardous, as they are countenanced, fostered in the minds of the people and encouraged by the priests. They preach and teach the supernatural, and in the rural districts the clergy sell “santitos” (small images representing saints), and medallions that are alleged to have been consecrated by them, as cures and preventatives for all kinds of diseases and maladies. Sometimes when a liberal donation has been made to the church, the donor is given one of these consecrated objects, which is highly prized, and the curative powers of which are never doubted by the possessor. Although the laws of the Catholic church prohibit its members from eating meat on Fridays, the priests sell privileges, called “bulas,” which permit purchasers to eat whatever kind of food they like on that day. A very poor person can secure a bula for fifty centavos, while a well-to-do member will pay according to his ability, and very rich people in Valparaiso and Santiago have paid as much as one thousand pesos for the privilege of violating a fundamental law of the church. With the encouragement of such beliefs and practices by those who are accepted as teachers and who should stand as exemplars of moral and intellectual progress, it is little wonder that the masses among the poor and ignorant cling tenaciously to customs that seem obsolete in this age of enlightened progress.

Superstitions are generally prevalent among the better classes also, particularly those engaged in agricultural pursuits. It is believed that sowing, reaping, planting, wood cutting, grafting or pruning trees, storing of crops, etc., should be done during the last quarter of the moon. Seed planted during the new moon will not grow, crops harvested will be damaged, trees pruned will die, etc. The weather for the following month is always judged by the Indian sign indicated in the position of the new moon on its first appearance.

A curious superstitious custom in Chile is the manner of marking the place where a person has been killed by accident or murdered. Along the country roads one frequently comes upon a crude sort of altar by the roadside, which marks the last resting place of some victim of violence. It may consist of a little enclosure made of rough boards and covered with the same material, in which lighted tapers are kept burning practically all the time. In each of these places there is a small box for the reception of coins, and many passers-by add small contributions to the collection, and when the candles have burned out, the money in the receptacle is used to purchase more. A strange feature of this practice is that no sneak thief, of which there are many in every community, will ever rob one of these houses of the dead. He has a superstitious belief that the money is sacred, and that the one who steals it will be cursed.

The cry of the “chuncho,” a sort of night owl, is regarded as an evil omen by all classes. People who are otherwise apparently sane on hearing the cry of this bird in the night indulge in actions indicative of a peculiar form of madness. If in bed they leap out, get down upon their knees, cross themselves, pray, beat their chests and appeal to God to save them from impending calamity. The origin or significance of this particular superstition has never been satisfactorily explained.

One of the superstitious customs that still prevails, and which is practiced on religious feast days, especially that of San Juan, is fortune telling. Matrimonial fortunes are told with three potatoes, one of which is peeled, from one, half the peeling is removed, and one is left in its natural state. These potatoes are placed in a dark room, and the woman seeking her fortune is directed to go into the room, and to take the first potato with which her hand comes in contact. If it is the peeled potato, she is to marry a poor man; should it be the half-peeled tuber, she will marry a man who can clothe and support her, and should she be lucky enough to secure the unpeeled potato, she is destined to marry a man who can keep her in comfort and plenty. So firm is the faith of many of the people in the fulfillment of these superstitious prophecies that they invariably preserve the potatoes thus drawn, to be eaten on their wedding day. Another superstition among the country women is that of washing their hair at daylight on the morning of the feast of San Juan. They believe that the practice will cause the hair to grow luxuriantly during the year.

MARRIAGES

In Chile marriage is simply a contract, entered into between two persons of opposite sex, regarding exclusive possession, society and service, and who by a civil, legal ceremony are pronounced husband and wife. The contract does not by implication, or actually, necessarily include protection or affection. This does not refer to marriages among the better classes, where money, social position or advantage are taken into consideration, but the poor, or middle classes, with whom marriage is a matter of convenience. With these people fidelity is not expected or demanded. The women have little to claim their attention, beyond domestic duties and personal adornment. Inherited characteristics and the influence of environments make them an easy prey to flattery, in the dispensing of which the Chilenos are artful and crafty. Evil motives, wrapped in delusive words, suggesting no interpretation of their true meaning, are the common weapons used by the men to ensnare trusting hearts guided by uneducated minds. Manly protection to woman is so rare in the sub-stratum of Chilean society as to be almost unknown.

Twenty-five years of age constitutes a legal majority for both sexes, after which marriage may be contracted at the pleasure of the interested parties. A boy of twelve or a girl of fourteen years may legally marry with the consent of parents or guardian. Once married the law declares them of legal age.

Previous to the year 1885, marriage ceremonies were celebrated only in the Catholic churches, which was recognized by the government as legal. After a prolonged and bitter discussion, a law was passed on January 10, 1884, requiring a civil registry of all births, deaths and marriages, and which deprived the church of the right to legalize marriages. This act, which went into effect January 1, 1885, recognizes as legal only marriages solemnized by the “Oficial del Registro Civil,” residing in the same municipality or sub-delegation as the contracting parties. The ceremony must be witnessed by two or more persons. Although a marriage ceremony performed by the priests has no legal import or effect, women of the Catholic faith always demand it, and most legal weddings are celebrated by two ceremonies. Even yet in some instances the civil, or legal service is disregarded, and only the church ceremony performed. Such marriages are not recognized in the courts, however, and in case of inheritance by the children born of such a union, they are barred from sharing in property rights.

There was much conflict and contention between Church and State during the first few years of the civil registry law. The priests preached violently against it, directing their efforts principally to the female members, who are the loyal supporters of all church organizations, and with whom they made the law offensive and objectionable, by refusing in many instances confession and absolution to all those who were married according to the civil law only. They were given the ultimatum of defying the law of the land and accepting a church marriage ceremony as binding, or excommunication. The result of these church teachings was, that for several years after the law went into effect most Catholics, and especially those representing the aristocracy, were married by the church only, not realizing, apparently, the complications that would result from such defiance of law, until their children were declared illegitimate by the courts. This created a dilemma, and a serious effort was made to legalize their marriages and legitimatize their children by a repeal or modification of the law, but without success. In the meantime the more radical members of the clergy declared that it were better to live together as husband and wife under sanction of the divine order, than to resort to civil marriage. As a compromise members of the Catholic church are now married before the “Registro Civil,” and afterwards in the Catholic church. But even now, in the rural districts of Chile, many people are married by the church only.

The party constituting the Liberal-Alliance, which was in power, and organized the ministry at the sitting of the Ordinary Session of the National Congress in June, 1904, in outlining a programme for the party, declared itself in favor of a law that would prohibit the church from celebrating marriages, without the presentation of a certificate attesting the fact that the marriage had been previously celebrated before a Civil Registrar. The Conservative party in Congress announced through its leaders its intention to vigorously oppose the measure, showing that there is still a political element in Chile in favor of empowering the church with authority to legalize marriages.

In discussing this phase of social life, reference is made to the common people of the country, and not to the rich and educated few, where wealth, family connections, or social position may enter into and influence the question of matrimonial alliances, and among whom wedding ceremonies are conducted much as they are in other civilized countries.

Courtship is short; there are no long years of waiting. Once the question is decided the matter is consummated and all doubts as to congeniality or advisability are left for future consideration. The custom of courtship is the same as that prevailing in other Spanish-American countries. It consists more in impassioned glances, smiles and actions on the part of the participants to attract each other than in conversation or a discussion of mutual interests. Sometimes the proposition is made and accepted after the first meeting, and not infrequently it is arranged by the families of the interested parties. Whether the majority of marriages in Chile are contracted from motives of affection, passion, or material interests is difficult to determine. There would seem to be little love in the motive that inspires, for among the poorer classes the object appears to be mutual care, service and protection. During religious festivals, where men and women are brought into close relationship and intimate association, under the influence of liquor, marriages are generally arranged, proposals accepted, and bans simultaneously published by the contracting parties and the priests. Their past lives have been more or less the same and there are no sacrifices on the part of either. There is no demonstration to make the event conspicuous; what to expect and how to meet it are conditions well known to both. There is no foolish sentiment exhibited. The wedding is consummated and celebrated because it is mutually convenient. Their standards of honor, honesty, fidelity and veracity are about equal. Should either of the contracting parties hesitate or refuse to comply with the agreement, he or she, as the case may be, is accused before the priest of the parish church, who commands the delinquent to respond, and the marriage is celebrated at once. Protests are in vain, the marriage contract once having been announced, like the sentence in court, must be carried out, under ecclesiastical authority. Illegitimacy among the poor of Chile is no disgrace, and is not a bar, or even a disadvantage when it comes to the question of marriage. Children born to women previous to marriage are treated by the husband upon terms of equality with those of the legal union. An examination of the baptismal record of the churches in the country districts will reveal the fact that a large per cent. of the children are inscribed as “El padre desconocido” (the father is unknown).