nal; _Avnolu_, the omnipotent; and is
designed by many other similar epithets. Their ideas of the government
of heaven form in a great measure a prototype of the Araucanian system
of civil polity; Pillan is considered as the great _Toqui_ of the
invisible world of Spirits[60], and is supposed to have his _Apo-ulmens_
and _Ulmens_, or subordinate deities of two different ranks, to whom he
entrusts the administration of lesser affairs. In the first class of
these inferior deities, are _Epunamun_, or the god of war; _Meulen_, a
benevolent being, the friend of the human race; and _Guecubu_, a
malignant being, the author of all evil, who is likewise called _Algue_.
Hence they appear to entertain the doctrine of two adverse principles,
improperly called Manicheism. _Guecubu_, or _Huecuvu_, is named
_Mavari_ by the natives on the Orinoco, and is the same with the
_Aherman_ of the ancient Persians. To him every evil is attributed. If a
horse tire, he has been ridden by _Guecubu_. In an earthquake, _Guecubu_
has given the world a shock; and the like in all things. The _Ulmens_,
or subaltern deities of their celestial hierarchy, resemble the genii,
and are supposed to have the charge of earthly things, and to form, in
concert with the benevolent Meulen, a counterpoise to the prodigious
power of the malignant Guecuba. These _ulmens_ of the spiritual world
are conceived to be of both sexes, who always continue pure and chaste
without propagation. The males are called _Gen_, or lords; the females
_Amei-malghen_, or spiritual nymphs, and are supposed to perform the
same friendly offices to men which were anciently attributed to the
_lares_, and every Araucanian imagines he has one of these attendant
spirits in his service. _Nien cai gni Amchi-malghen_, I keep my nymph
still, is a common expression when any one succeeds in an undertaking.
Pursuant to the analogy of their own earthly government, as their
_Ulmens_ have no right to impose any service or contribution on the
people whom they govern, so they conceive the celestial race require no
services from man, having occasion for none. Hence they have neither
idols nor temples, and offer no sacrifices, except in case of some
severe calamity, or on the conclusion of a peace, when they sacrifice
animals, and burn tobacco as a grateful incense to their deities. Yet
they invoke them and implore their aid on urgent occasions, chiefly
addressing _Pillan_ and _Meulen_.

[Footnote 59: _Pillan_