When desirous of carrying on matrimonial negotiations the would-be bridegroom must always employ a go-between. To omit this ceremonial method of approach would be an outrage on etiquette. I conclude, though I do not know it for a fact as regards Patagonia, that the go-between in that country gets his pickings from both sides as his congener does elsewhere.
The marriage ceremony is delightfully simple. After the preliminary bargaining has been successfully brought to a close, the happy bridegroom mounts his horse and rides to the toldo of his intended and hands over his appointed gifts, receiving those of the parents in return. He then carries back his bride amid the cheers and cries of his friends, and in the evening there is a feast. Musters remarks that on these occasions the dogs are not permitted to touch the meat or offal of the animals killed, as it is considered unlucky if they do so.
The gifts which are exchanged between the parties form in a more or less degree a marriage settlement, for in case of divorce her parents' gifts accrue to the wife. Polygamy is allowed but not much practised among the tribes.
Few phenomena are to my mind more unaccountable than the action of the white man who "goes fantee."
"Went fantee, joined the people of the land,
Turned three parts Mussulman and one Hindoo,
And lived among the Gauri villages,
Who gave him shelter and a wife or twain."
This singular mental or moral warp which results in a man "going fantee" is by no means uncommon in Patagonia. Of course, as may be imagined, a certain proportion of such men fall to this condition at the end of the career variegated. Others prefer ruling in Cathay to serving in any other community more dignified; others again take daughters of the land to wife because their trade lies with the Indians.