at last taken prisoner, his
chief wife, on learning of his capture, hastened to his side; not, as
might be expected by those of less Spartan culture, to alleviate his
captivity with her tenderness, but to upbraid him for his pusillanimity
in being taken alive. Coming into his presence, she threw at his feet
their infant son, saying, passionately and scornfully, _No quiero titulo
de madre del hijo infame, del infame padre!_ [I do not wish to be called
the mother of the infamous son of an infamous father!] At least, that is
what she is reported to have said; but as the Spanish is in rhyme, and
the chronicler was one rather given to romance, we may be permitted to
doubt the implicitness of the narrative in this respect; yet it is most
probable that the incident really occurred, since it would have been in
entire conformity with the fierce pride of the Araucanians.

The other woman of whom Araucanian history tells us was called Janaqueo.
She was the head wife of a chief who was defeated and slain by the
Spanish invaders. As soon as she learned of the death of her husband she
organized a band of Puelche Indians, was chosen their chief, and sallied
forth against the enemy. She proved herself a most skilful leader in the
peculiar fighting which was appropriate to the terrain; she hung on the
flanks of her foes as a hound on a clumsy boar, alternately fighting and
disappearing, and even in pitched battle defeating more than one noted
Spanish general. She was one of the most enterprising and dangerous foes
ever encountered by the invaders; and when at last she was conquered
through her affection for her brother,--who, having been taken captive
and condemned to death, was enlarged on condition that his sister
retired to her distant home,--the Spaniards felt that they had won a
victory which was most important, even though the forces of the Amazon
still held the field against them. There can be no doubt that Janaqueo
was a most skilful and valiant general; and she relieves the Araucanian
nation from the aspersion of being the only people that cannot claim a
national Joan of Arc to play against the French heroine.

Before turning to a consideration of South American women as descended
from Spanish civilization, it may be well to say a word concerning a
most singular class of natives of South America one which, happily, may
be dismissed in a few words, but yet which must be mentioned for the
sake of completeness, _the Gauchos_. Ther