280 



PATAGONI ANS. 



so fabulous a race as many persons have sup- 

 posed. An ancient Peruvian tradition first 

 pointed out a nation of gigantic height, towards 

 the south. Magellan, the first discoverer of 

 the straits which bear his name, saw some of 

 this race. He stated them to average six feet 

 and a half. One in particular was much taller ; 

 the Spaniards only reaching up to his waist. 

 Six Patagonians, he affirmed, ate as much 

 meat as twenty Spaniards : almost the reverse 

 of what the Indians of Hispaniola said of 

 the Spaniards; for that puny race declared 

 one Spaniard to consume as much as four In- 

 dians. At that time they were not horsemen, 

 but rode upon animals that resembled asses : 

 which may have been the guemuh mentioned 

 by Molina. But they then, as now, were with- 

 out any fixed habitation. 



In the year 1592, Cavendish visited the 



