A story from Chile's colonial era -- of 17th century bewitchings, murder, and the delicate task of salvation by the Church. Catrala (Quintrala), whose mother had been accused of witchcraft is an apt pupil for evil Josefs but finds her master is Frlar Fedr Figuer whom she envisions as God, and who guides her until she learns his fallibility and then she returns to the Devil and an orgy of bloodlust. A portrait, along lines, of the Chile of that period, the monasteries, the life in the Cordilleras, the mysticism, superstition, and the importance of the Church in this new land and for its new Indian members. Authentic regional feel to this translation, by Lulu Vergas Vila, of a Chilean author's novel of her country.