Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-11-07
The Indians Of Pafagouia.

he INDIANS OF FatA6oo1A-
do rot vish 10 incur the charge o.
stt<Hptihg to revive the exploded le-
eend q tie " noble savage N favor ol
the Tehuelche rsce, ba: must ssy that
IN general intelligence. sentleDess O.
temper, chastity Of conduct and con
sciencious behavior in their social and
domestic relations, they are immeassr.
ably Superior. not only TO the Other
South AmerieAn indigenous tribes, but
also. all their dissdvantASes being
taken into consideration, 10 the general
run Of civilized white men. Their m
tural talents are displayed in . marked
manner by the rapidity with Which they
pick up 9 neg language. and the esse
with which they grasp the totally nev
ideas which the acquiring OF Q com
pleX foreign tongue must peceesarily
entail on Q race whose original range OF
thought il Of . most limited nature
Among the southern Tehuelches met
several who spoke Spanish With ready
ease. notwithstanding that they seldom
had opportunities OF practising it.
| There was one Indian who called him.
self Capt. johnson, who surprised me
very much when / first met him by
a.kipg me with Q round British oath
for I" = plug of tobacco"
Polygamy Is admitted on principle,
but no man may marry more wives
than he can afford to maintain, and
there is therefore, seldom more than
one mistress to each household. Mar.
riages de conrendnce are very rare; but
a. Q matter of form the bride 10 pur.
chased from her parents for . certain
number Of mares. or whatever objects
her lover can afford to give. But o.
the dowry of the girl generally quite
compensates for the expense her lover
has incurred in obtaining her, the
transaction must be considered rather
as On exchange OF presents than . mere
unsentimental bargain. Out OF mere
curiosity to learn the technical details
Of Tehuelche marriage settlements ]
once entered into negotiations with a
rich old squaw for the purpose Of con.
tracing matrimopy with her daughter,
who was a charming girl of about Is.
The price I finally agreed upon was
eight mares, q bag Of biscuits and
some sugar, which I was to procure
from Sandy Point. The dowry of the
daughter consisted in four new guiana
co nantes. I held out for five, and,
on my remaining infexible on this
point, the negotiations fell through.
Again We read:
Husband and wife seem always to &c,
on very we'll together. indeed, one Of
the plessantest traits in the Tehuelche
character is the affection with which
relations regard one another. The love
of the parents toward their offspring is
almost morbid in intensity. Their
grief at the decease of an only child
frequently manifests itself in the most
exaggerated manner. It is not unusual
in. such cases for the parents to turn all
their belongings, kill all their horses,
and reduce themselves to . state of ut
ter poverty-a touching proof of the
sincerity and depth of their sorrow, il
not of soundness of their views on
practical economy. "When an Indian
dies, however many horses he may pos.
sess, they are all killed, and his other
belongings are scrupulously burned.
Thus NO family can acquire such pre-
ponderance OF wealth ~ would enable
it to obtain ascendant influence over
and curtail the liberties of the rest OF
the tribe. Whatever the defects of this
system may be from the p ,litical econ
omist's point of view, it seems to be
very we'll adapted to the desires and
circumstances of the Tehuelches; and
as an instance OF how socialistic tenden-
cies may be practically modified to suit
certain exceptional conditions of exist
ence, it is perhaps not without some in.
terest."
OF the Patagonian generally, Mr..
Beerbohm writes:
eff required to distinguish the
Tehuelche by q single characteristic
epithet I should call him not only the
noble, but the happy savage. Far
from being saturnine or grave, he is as
light-hearted rs q child, all mirth and
contentment, and wonderfully easily
moved to laughter. Life is, indeed, q
very pleasant matter for him. With
out any exertion on his part being ne.
cessary, all his wants are supplied in
abundance. He has no onerous daily
drudgery to undergo; he has no enc
mics to fear; he is not driven from his
hunting-grounds to starvation and
death, like his North American cousins,
by the ever-sdvancing white man. He
is seldom visited by sickness, and his
life is unusually prolonged. That he
has absolutely no troubles will not
affirm, but If he has any he certainly
takes them very lightly."-From
Wdnderimgs in Patagonia"
Marriage In Public Parks.
The latest Stiffness that Cincinnati in
dulges in is public marriages. at Inwood