Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: May 10, 2025
They had made their foray, or "chacu," as it is called, from the neighbouring cones; they had attacked the helpless ais, and put them to death, with their poisonous stings! Already they were tearing them to pieces, and bearing them off to their dark caves!
It requires a dead shot to bring him down, for, if only wounded, he will scale the cliffs, and make off perhaps to die in some inaccessible haunt. "While sojourning with my hunter-friend, I heard of a singular method practised by the Indians, of capturing the vicuna in large numbers. This was called the `chacu.
"Of course I became very desirous of witnessing a `chacu, and the hunter promised to gratify me. It was now the season of the year for such expeditions, and one was to come off in a few days. It was the annual hunt got up by the tribe to which my host belonged; and, of course, he, as a practised and professional hunter, was to bear a distinguished part in the ceremony.
"About twenty minutes after the animals had entered the rope inclosure the last of them was seen to `bite the dust, and the chacu of that day was over. Then came the mutual congratulations of the hunters, and the joyous mingling of voices. The slain vicunas were collected in a heap the skins stripped off, and the flesh divided among the different families who took part in the chacu.
We then began to close, driving before us, with loud shouts, all the herds of vicunas we met with. The men opposite the entrance advanced more slowly than the rest; and the timid animals, seeing the fluttering bits of cloth, ran before us with affright, till they reached the open space, when they darted into the chacu.
A chacu is no common occasion no one day affair. It was to be an affair of weeks. There were rude tents carried along; blankets and cooking utensils; and the presence of the women was as necessary as any part of the expedition. Their office would be to do the cooking, and keep the camp in order! as well as to assist in the hunt.
As soon as the vicunas were killed, they were carried off to the camp to be skinned and cut up; and we then moved to a distance, to form a new chacu. During three days, which we passed in the neighbourhood, we killed two hundred vicunas; and then, laden with their flesh, we continued our journey. The vicuna is a more beautiful animal than either the llama or the alpaca.
"An hour afterwards the rest of the party set forth most of them mounted one way or other. These were the real hunters, or `drivers. Along with them went the dogs the whole canine population of the village. I should have preferred riding with this party, but the padre took me along with himself, promising to guide me to a spot where I should get the best view of the chacu.
Along the rope were fastened bits of coloured rags, which blew about in the breeze, and were intended to frighten the animals, and prevent them from leaping over the barrier. This enclosure is properly called a chacu. It being arranged, we withdrew, and breaking into a number of small parties, we formed a circle at a little distance apart from each other, and several miles across.
See! the whole ground is in motion. The bodies of the ais, though dead, are covered with living, moving objects! Ha! it is a "chacu" of the white ants. Leon now comprehended the whole affair. The ground was literally alive with the terrible termites.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking