234 



and the custom which they have of plucking out the 

 hair as fast as it grows makes them appear as if 

 beardless ; for this purpose they always carry with 

 them a small pair of pincers, which forms a part of 

 their toilette. There are some of them, however, 

 Vv'ho have as thick a beard as the Spaniards. The 

 hair which marks the age of puberty they have in 

 still greater quantities than the beard. The opinion 

 that a thin beard is the mark of a feeble body is not 

 verified in the case of these people. The Indians 

 are generally vigorous, and are better able to endure 

 ñitigue than the creóles, for which reason they are 

 always preferred in those employments that require 

 strength. 



Those who inhabit the plains are of the same 

 height as the Europeans ; but the natives of the 

 mountains are distinguished by a taller stature, and 

 I am well convinced that these are the famous Pata- 

 gonians of whom so much has been said. Lord An- 

 son is of the same opinion, and the description given 

 by Byron, Wallis, Carteret, Bougainville, Du Clos, 

 and De la Giraudais, of these pretended giants, agree 

 perfectly well with the appearance of the moun- 

 taineers of Chili. What confirms me in my opinion 

 is, that their language, from the specimens of it 

 which those navigators have given, is the Chilian ; 

 I have elsewhere showed that the Chilian language 

 does not extend beyond the limits mentioned in the 

 commencement of this work, besides which, the 

 Patagonian contains a great number of Spanish 

 w^ords, which proves fully a communication be- 



