83 Cordcvj^s Vol/ age of Discovejy 



tbemselTcs, fluctuating in their imaginary nieasurements from 

 10 to 13 feet; until tlie latest and repeated expeditions of the 

 iCnglishj the French, and the Spaniards, in oor own times, under 

 the command of oilicers of distinction, judgment, and veracity, 

 liave for ever overturned and destroyed those fables and false- 

 hoods, and reduced the Patagonians to their true and proper 

 Stat lire and appearance. 



This however, it is true, has not been effected %vithout some 

 opposition ; for, prior to tiie publication of the journal of Com- 

 modore Byron, and the Letter from Captain P. Carteret^ in the 

 Philosophical Transactions, a person who called himself an offi- 

 cer belonging to the Dolphin, Byron's ship, published his ac« 

 count, insisting much on the extraordinary size of the Patago- 

 iirans, and other circumstances equally unfounded. And as this 

 Journal, unfortunately, fell into the hands of Dr. Ortega, of 

 Madrid, he translated it into Spanish ;. and^ in his introduction., 

 overpowered with this authority, and also by his own mistake in 

 believing that almost all navigators that have passed the Strait of 

 Magellan are of the some opinion, he finds himself obliged, 

 in sonie measure, to conceal his own opinion in a matter 

 ©f such nicety. We, however, who are determined not to 

 conceal our real sentiments on the subject, have already showa 

 what it is ; and alsa how much the world was imposed on by 

 that English author, who relates many things entirely omitted 

 b^y bis commander himself, in the very judicious account of his 

 voyage he after v^^ards published. 



As so many falsehoods have been circulated respecting these 

 Patagonians, it shall be our business now to state the little cer- 

 tain information we have been able to collect concerning them; 

 for we must observe, that, although we had various opportunities 

 of intercourse with them from our first arrival at the strait, we 

 are still unable to sav much concerninc^ their o-overnment, cus- 

 toms, and manner ot hie. 



The Patagonians, so called by Magellanes, and not by Ca- 

 vendish, as is said by the tirst editor ot Byron's Voyage, are a 

 collection of wandering savages, who occupy all that vast tract 

 of country extending from the Rio de la Plata about S. latitude 

 37^, to the Strait of Magellan in S. latitude 52° 20'. Their 

 most settled habitations are in the interior of the country; but, 

 in the hunting-season, they approach the strait, where naviga- 

 tors have met with them. 



Their stanire, so much disputed yexcecds, in general, that of Eu^ 

 ropeaiis. Some (f them beiug vieasured accurately^ we found that 

 ike tallest did noi exceed 1 J at l^inci'iesy Burgos meoLSLue j and 



