On his return from this expedition, the toqui was received by his army with lively demonstrations of joy, and resolved to gratify his troops by reviving the almost forgotten festival called pruloncon, or the dance of death.  A Spanish soldier, who had been made prisoner in one of the preceding battles, was selected for the victim of this barbarous spectacle [99].  “The officers surrounded by the soldiers form a circle, in the centre of which is placed the official axe of the toqui, with four poniards representing the four Uthalmapus of the confederacy.  The unfortunate prisoner is then led in on a sorry horse deprived of his ears and tail, and is placed near the axe, having his face turned towards his own country.  He is then ordered to dig a hole in the ground with a sharp stake, and is given a handful of small sticks, which he is ordered to throw one by one into the hole, naming one of the principal warriors of his nation at each stick, while the surrounding soldiers load these detested names with bitter execrations.  He is then, ordered to cover up the hole, as if to bury the valour and reputation of the persons whom he has named.  After this, the toqui, or one of his bravest companions to whom he relinquishes the honour of being executioner, dashes out the brains of the prisoner with a war-club.  The heart is immediately taken out by two attendants and presented still palpitating to the toqui, who sucks a little of the blood and passes it to his officers, who successively repeat the same ceremony.  The toqui then fumigates the four cardinal points of the circle with tobacco smoke from his pipe.  The soldiers strip the flesh from the bones of the victim, and convert the bones into flutes.  The head is cut off and carried round on the point of a pike, amid the acclamations of the multitude, while stamping in measured pace, they thunder out their dreadful war-song accompanied by the mournful sound of their horrible instruments of music.  The mangled body is fitted with the head of a sheep, and the barbarous festival is terminated by riot and intoxication.  If the skull of the victim has not been broken by the stroke of death, it is made into a drinking cup, called ralilonco, which is used in their banquets in the manner of the ancient Scythians and Goths.”

[Footnote 99:  The particulars of this ceremony are here inserted from a different part of the work of Molina, B.I.  Ch. iv. containing an account of the manners and customs of the Araucanians.—­E.]

On the present occasion, the honour of dispatching the victim was conferred upon the ulmen Maulican.  This cruel spectacle, which some have attempted to excuse on the principle of retaliation, has dishonoured the fame of Putapichion, and was not even pleasing to all the Araucanians[100].  According to Don Francisco Bascagnan, who was an eye witness, many of the spectators compassionated the fate of the unfortunate soldier; and Maulican, to whom the office of dispatching him was assigned as a mark of honour, is said to have declared that he accepted of it with extreme reluctance, and merely to avoid offending his commander the toqui.  The torture of an innocent prisoner, upon whatever motive or pretence, is certainly a crime against humanity of the deepest dye, and can never be justified on any principle whatever.