The Adventurers

by Gustave Aimard

  CHAPTER XXVIII.

  THE TREATY OF PEACE.

  General Bustamente had come to Valdivia under the pretence of himselfrenewing the treaties which existed between the republic of Chiliand the Araucanian Confederation. This pretext was excellent in thesense that it permitted him to concentrate a considerable force in theprovinces, and gave him, besides, a plausible reason for receiving themost powerful Ulmens of the Indians, who would not fail to come to themeeting, accompanied by a great number of mosotones. Every time a newpresident is elected in Chili, the minister at war renews the treatiesin his name. General Bustamente had, up to this moment, neglected to doso: he had good reasons for that.--

  This ceremony, in which a great retinue is purposely displayed,generally takes place in a vast plain situated upon the Araucanianterritories, and not at a great distance from Valdivia. By a curiouscoincidence, the pretext of the General suited equally well theinterests of the three factions which, at this period, divided thisunhappy country. The Dark-Hearts had skilfully profited by it to preparethe resistance they meditated, and Antinahuel, feigning to wish topay the greatest honours to the war minister of the President of therepublic, had collected a real army of his best warriors in the environsof the place chosen for the solemnity.

  Such was the state of things, and of the various parties with regard toeach other, at the time we resume our narrative. The enemies were aboutto come face to face; it was evident that each, being well prepared,would endeavour to take advantage of the opportunity, and that a shockwas imminent; but how would it be brought about? Who would set fire tothe mine, and cause all those passions, those grudges, those ambitions,so long restrained, to explode? Nobody could say!

  The plain on which the ceremony was to take place was vast, coveredwith high grass, and belted by mountains verdant with lofty trees. Theplain, crossed by woods and lines of apple trees, loaded with fruit,was divided in two by a meandering river, which flowed gently along,balancing on its silver waters numerous troops of black-headed swans;here and there, through the breaks of the thickets, might be seen thepointed nose of a vicuna, which, with ear erect, and eye on the watch,seemed to sniff the breeze, and all at once bounded away into thedistance.

  The sun was rising majestically in the horizon when a measured noiseof tinkling bells proceeded from a wood of apple trees, and a troop ofhalf a score mules, led by the mother mare, and driven by an arriero,debouched into the plain. These mules carried diverse objects for anencampment, provisions, and even some bales of clothes and linen. Attwenty paces behind the mules, came a rather numerous troop of horsemen.When they arrived at the banks of the little river we have spoken of,the arriero stopped his mules, and the party dismounted. In an instantthe bales were unpacked and arranged with care, so as to form a perfectcircle, in the centre of which a fire was lighted. Then a tent waserected in this temporary camp, and the horses and mules were hobbled.

  This party, whom, no doubt, our readers have already recognized, wereDon Tadeo, his friends the Frenchmen, the Indian Ulmens, with DonaRosario, and three servants. By a strange coincidence, at the same timethat they were arranging their camp, another party nearly as numerousestablished theirs on the opposite bank of the river, exactly in faceof them. The leader of this was Dona Maria. As frequently happens, ithad pleased chance to bring into propinquity irreconcilable enemies, whowere only separated from each other by a distance of fifty yards at themost. But was this entirely owing to chance?

  Don Tadeo had no suspicion of this dangerous proximity, or he wouldprobably have done everything in his power to avoid it. He had cast avacant glance at the caravan opposite to him, without taking any furtherheed of it, being absorbed in thoughts of the highest importance. DonaMaria, on the contrary, knew perfectly well, what she was about, andhad placed herself where she was with the skill of an able tactician.In the mean time, as the morning advanced, the number of travellerskept increasing on the plain; by nine o'clock it was literally coveredwith tents; a free space only being reserved around an old half ruinedchapel, in which mass was to be celebrated before the commencement ofthe ceremony.

  The Puelches, who had descended from their mountains in great numbers,had passed the night in making joyous libations around their campfires;many of them were sleeping in a state of complete intoxication;nevertheless, as soon as the arrival of the minister of the Chilianrepublic was announced, they all sprang up tumultuously, and began todance, and utter cries of joy. On one side arrived General Bustamenteat a canter, surrounded by a brilliant staff, all glittering with goldlace, and followed by a numerous troop of lancers; whilst on the otherside came, at a gallop, the four Araucano Toquis, followed by theprincipal Ulmens of their nation, and a great number of mosotones.

  These two troops, which hastened to meet each other amidst the _vivas_and cries of joy of the crowd, raised immense clouds of dust, in whichthey disappeared. The Araucanos in particular, who are excellentjinetes, a term used in this country to designate good horsemen,indulged in equestrian eccentricities, of which the so-much vaunted Arabfantasias can give but a faint idea; for they are nothing in comparisonwith the incredible feats performed by these men, who seem born tomanage a horse. The Chilians had a much more serious bearing, fromwhich they would gladly have freed themselves, if human respect had notrestrained them.

  As soon as the two troops met, the chiefs dismounted and rangedthemselves, the Ulmens, armed with their long, silver-headed canes,behind Antinahuel, and the three other Toquis and the Chilians behindGeneral Bustamente. It was the first time the Tiger-Sun and the Generalhad met. Each of these two men, therefore, equally good politicians,equally false and equally ambitious, and who, at the first glance,understood one another, contemplated his rival with intense earnestness.

  After exchanging a few salutes, impressed with a rather suspiciouscordiality, the two bands retrograded from each other a few paces, toafford room for the commissary-general and four Capitanes de Amigos.These officers are what they call in the United States Indian agents;they serve as interpreters and agents to the Araucanos, for trade, andall that concerns their transactions with the Chilians. It must beobserved that all these Indians speak Spanish perfectly well; but theynever will use it in appointed meetings. These Capitanes de Amigos, who,for the most part, are half-breeds, are much beloved and respected.They arrived, leading a score of mules loaded with presents, destinedby the President of the Republic for the principal Ulmens. For, be itnoted, when Indians treat with Christians, they consider nothing settledtill they have received presents: it is for them a proof that the otherparty does not wish to deceive them; they constitute an earnest whichthey require to bind the bargain, and prove that they are treated ingood faith. The Chilians, who, unfortunately for them, had long beenaccustomed to Araucanian habits, had taken good care not to forget thisimportant condition.

  Whilst the commissary-general was distributing the presents, GeneralBustamente repaired to the chapel, where a priest, who had comepurposely from Valdivia, celebrated mass. After mass, the speechescommenced, as soon as the minister of the republic and the four Toquisof the Uthal-Mapus had embraced. These speeches, which were very long,resulted in mutual assurances that they were satisfied with the peacewhich reigned between the two peoples, and that they would do all intheir power to maintain it as long as possible. We think it our duty tobeg our readers to observe, in justice to the two speakers, that one wasnot more sincere than the other, and that they did not mean one wordthey said, since in their hearts they determined to break their promisesas soon as possible. They appeared, however, very well satisfied withthe comedy they were playing, and they terminated it by a final embrace,more close and warm than the first, but equally false.

  "Now," said the General, "if my brothers, the great chiefs, will pleaseto follow me, we will plant the cross."

  "No," Antinahuel replied, with a honied smile, "the cross must not beplanted in front of the stone toldo."

  "Why not?" the General asked, with astonishment.

  "Because," the India
n replied, in a tone of decision, "the words wehave exchanged must remain buried on the spot where they have beenpronounced."

  "That is just!" said the General, bowing his head in sign of assent. "Itshall be done as my brother desires."

  Antinahuel smiled proudly.

  "Have I spoken well, powerful men?" he asked, looking at the Ulmens.

  "Our father, the Toqui of the Inapire-Mapu, has spoken well," the Ulmensreplied.

  The Indian peons then went to fetch from the chapel, upon the floor ofwhich it lay, a cross of at least thirty feet in height, which theybrought to the spot where the conferences had been held. All the chiefsand the Chilian officers ranged themselves around it; the troops forminga vast circle at a respectful distance. After the pause of an instant,of which the priest took advantage to bless the cross with that off-handcarelessness which distinguishes the Spanish clergy in America, it wasplanted in the ground. At the moment it was about to gain its uprightposition, Antinahuel interposed.

  "Stop!" he said to the Indians armed with spades; and turning towardsthe General, "Peace is well assured between us, is it not?" he asked.

  "Yes, certainly," the General replied.

  "All our words are buried under this cross?"

  "All of them."

  "Cover them with earth then," he said to the peons, "that they may notescape, and that war may not be rekindled between us."

  "When this ceremony was accomplished, Antinahuel caused a young lamb tobe brought, which the machi slaughtered near the cross. All the Indianchiefs bathed their hands in the still warm blood of the quiveringanimal, and daubed the cross with hieroglyphic signs, destined to keepaway Guecubu, the genius of evil, and prevent the words from escapingfrom the spot in which they were buried. In conclusion, the Araucansand the Chilians discharged their firearms in the air, and the ceremonywas ended. General Bustamente then coming up to the Toqui of theInapire-Mapu, passed his arm through the chiefs in a friendly manner,saying in an ingratiating tone--

  "Will not my brother, Antinahuel, come for an instant in my tent, totaste a glass of aguardiente de Pisco and take mate?--he would renderhis friend happy."

  "Why should I not?" the chief replied, smiling, and in the mostgood-humoured tone.

  "My brother will accompany me!"

  "Lead on, then."

  Both moved off, chatting upon indifferent subjects, directing theircourse towards the General's tent, which had been pitched within gunshotof the place where the ceremony had taken place. The General had givenhis orders beforehand, so that everything was prepared to receive theguest he brought with him magnificently, as for the success of hisprojects he had so great an interest in pleasing him.