248 



STATURE OF THE PATAGONIANS. 



that these navigators might have seen men of six and a half, or even 

 seven feet in height ; for many skeletons of Indians have been found 

 in the western states of North America of a still greater length : but I 

 wish to discountenance all exaggerated accounts of foreign parts, which 

 have a tendency to deter investigation and commercial enterprise. 

 Hawkins, for instance, gravely cautions navigators to beware of the 

 natives on the coast of Magellan : — " They are cruel and treacherous," 

 says he ; " and of so lofty a stature that several voyagers have called 

 them giants." Such gratuitous and unnecessary cautions have been 

 the principal cause that this interesting region has never yet been 

 explored. 



From all I have seen, heard, and read on the subject, I have no doubt 

 that the Patagonians were once (as some of them are now), the tallest 

 race of men in the world. They were seen by Magalhanes and others 

 a long time ago, and there seems to be a natural tendency in all ani- 

 mated nature to degenerate in size. Other countries have at a former 

 period contained inhabitants of as gigantic a size as that imputed to the 

 Patagonians three centuries ago; but their descendants are now de- 

 generated by luxury, refinement, and intermarriages with others of a 

 small stature. The Patagonians, separated from the rest of mankind, 

 have not degenerated by luxury or refinement ; but there is no doubt 

 that they have from oppression. From whatever stock they may 

 have descended, they were doubtless once existing under more 

 favourable circumstances than at present. They have been driven 

 from the southern banks of the La Plata, and the pampas of eternal 

 verdure, where they once grazed their flocks and herds, to the extreme 

 southern verge of the continent, where they preferred to starve in free- 

 dom and independence, rather than become slaves to their remorseless 

 and unprincipled invaders. They are now but the scattered fragments 

 of a colossal fabric — the ruins of a pastoral nation. Though their 

 minds have scorned to bend, it is not surprising if their bodies have 

 degenerated in stature. 



One thing is certain, as I can assert it from my own observation and 

 actual inspection, — there is just as strong testimony in favour of a 

 former gigantic race in Patagonia as there is in favour of the former 

 existence in our own country of a race of animals now known by the 

 appellation of mammoth. We have the bones, and even entire skele- 

 tons of this huge creature in our museums ; and I have seen in the 

 interior of Patagonia the bones and entire skeletons of men who, when 

 living, must have measured more than seven feet in height. The 

 tombs or sepulchres in which I found them were covered with large 

 heaps of stones, probably to prevent their being molested by wild beasts. 

 The position of these was uniformly the same, with the head to the 

 east ; and I sincerely regret that after thus violating the sanctity of 

 their final resting-place, I had not silenced skepticism by taking pos- 

 session of one of these gigantic skeletons, and bringing it to the United 

 States. Such an acquisition to a museum would be a very suitable 

 accompaniment to the mammoth, and such a one shall be exhibited if 

 I ever visit Patagonia again. 



On the present occasion we proceeded into the country, on a west- 



