428 PATAGONIANS. 



birds and seals, which they kill with dogs, bows and arrows, 

 bolas, slings, lances and clubs.* The habits of the Pata- 

 gonians must have been much altered by the introduction of 

 the horse, but we can only deal with them as they now are. 



The Horse and Canoe Indians offer a great contrast in 

 point of size ; while the latter are short, ill-looking, and 

 badly proportioned, the former are considerably above the 

 average height, and are described by early travellers as 

 being truly gigantic. They were first visited in 1519 by 

 Magellan, who assures us that many of them were above 

 seven feet (French) in height. In 1525 they were seen by 

 Garcia de Loaisa, who mentions their great stature, but does 

 not seem to have measured them. Similar statements were 

 made by Cavendish, Knevett, Sibald de Veert, Yan Noort, 

 Spilbergen, and Lemaire ; in fact out of the fifteen first 

 voyagers who passed through the Magellanic Straits, not 

 fewer than nine attest the fact of the gigantic size of the 

 Patagonians ; in which they are confirmed by the testimony 

 of several subsequent travellers, and especially of Falkner, 

 who assures us that he saw many men who were over seven 

 feet in height. 



It is difficult altogether to reject these statements, and as 

 they are certainly not applicable to the present race, it is 

 possible that there may have been a change of size owing to 

 the introduction and general use of the horse. 



The huts, or "toldos," of the Patagonians, are " rectan- 

 gular in form, about ten or twelve feet long, ten deep, seven 

 feet high in front, and six feet in the rear. The frame of 

 the building is formed by poles stuck in the ground, having 

 forked tops to hold cross pieces, on which are laid poles for 

 rafters, to support the covering, which is made of skins of 

 animals sewn together, so as to be almost impervious to 

 rain or wind. The posts and rafters, which are not easily 



* Fitzroy, I.e. vol. ii., p. 137. 



