3 X 4
On leaving thefe iflands to continue our courfe, we afcended as high as forty-ninedegrees thirty minutes fouth where we difcovered an excellent port; and as winterapproached (the month was May), we thought bell to take fhelter here during thebad weather.
Two months elapfed without our perceiving any inhabitant of the country. One daywhen the lead we expe&ed any thing of the kind, a man of gigantic figure prefentedhitnfelf before us. He capered almoft naked on the lands, and was finging and dancing,at the fame time calling dull on his head*. The captain fent one of our feamen onfhore, with orders to make fimilar geftures as a token of friendlhip and peace, whichwere well underftood, and the giant differed hitnfelf to be quietly led to a fmall illandwhere the captain had landed. I likewife went on Ihore there with many others. Heteftified great furprife on feeing us; and, holding up his finger, undoubtedly fignifiedto us that he thought us defcended from heaven.
This man was of fuch immenfe llature that our heads fcarcely reached to his waift f.He was of handfome appearance, his face broad and painted red, except a rim ofyellow round his eyes, and two fpots in lhape of a heart on his cheeks. His hair,which was thin, appeared whitened with fome kind of powder. His coat, or ratherhis cloak, was made of furs, well fewed together, taken from an animal which,as we had afterwards an opportunity of feeing, abounds in this country. This animalhas the head and ears of a mule, the body of a camel, the legs of a flag, and the tail
* The inhabitants of the iflands of the South Seas call water on their heads in token of peace. Cook’sSecond Voyage, book iii.
f M. de Paw, of whom I have fpoken in the Introduction, (Par. XIX.) that he might fupport hisfyftem refpeCting America , which he pretends is a country newly emerged from the water, where natureis in a degraded ftate, is unwilling to admit the exiiience of thefe Patagonian giants, as they would militateagainlt his fyltem : he fays that Pigafetta had a wrong view of thefe men, and added much to their naturaldimenfions in order that he might have miracles to relate. M. de Paw certainly is not equally worthy ofcredit with Pigafetta , who was an ocular witnefs, and always faithful and worthy of reliance, where whathe himfelf has feen is a matter in difcuffion. cts he found the Brazilians of the common- form and llature,he fays, “Sono difpofti he,mini e femine como noi.” Hence, when he affures us that the Patagonians weregiants, there is reafon to believe they appeared to him to be of gigantic llature. It cannot reafonably beimagined that he was millakcn, for he lived with them a length of time, compared their dimenfions withhis own, frequently converfed with them, learnt many words of their language, and was aftonilhed at theirvoice, their weight, their ftrength, and the amazing quantity of food and drink they confumed; fo thatevery thing correfponded with their bulk. Thefe are the precife words of our traveller: “ Veni uno dellaftatuia call como uno gigante nella nave capitania. Haveva una vocefimile a lino toro. Fugendo facevanotanto gran pafi'o, che noi faltando non potevano avanzare li fuoi paffi. Venni uno huomo de ftatura degigante. Qucllo era tanto grande che li davamo alia cintura, e ben difpollo, haveva la faza grande etdepinta. Certamente quefti giganti coreno piu che cavalli. Ognuno di li duo che pigliaffemo mangiavauna fporta de befcoto, et beveva in una fiata mezo fecchio de bacqua et mangiava li forgi fenza fcorticarli.”I might neverthelefB allow M. de Paw to entertain his doubts refpeCting the affcrtion3 o' our author,were they not confirmed by other travellers. The celebrated Prefident Debroffes (Navig. aux TerresAuftrales, tome ii. p.324,) has collected the teftimony of all who have feen Patagonians, and whohave fpoken of them as. men of extraordinary fize. The navigators who have touched at this countryfince the appearance of his woik, Byron, Wallis, Carteret, Cook, and Forfter, have all of them confirmedhis opinion, after well examining this monllrous race, on the exiiience of which much doubt was enter-tained It is true that Winter, and Narborough, and finally M. Bougainville, fay, that the Patagonians arebut fix feet and a half in height; but is their negative aflertion to be placed in competition with lomany pofitive witneffes who fpeak of what they have feen, examined, and meafuied ? Mr. Delbrofies hasobftntd that thefe different leftimonies may be reconciled notwithllanding their apparent contradiction.The inhabitants of the moll fouthern coalis of America are not commonly of gigantic llature, but indi-viduals of certain tribes may be of this unufual height. As they do not conllantly inhabit the fame fpot,it will have happened that fome navigators fhall not have feen them. Pigafetta , who did fee them, wasable to fpeak on the fubjeCL