TO THE HONORABLE DAINES BARRINGTON.

I NOW execute the promiſe I made in Town ſome time ago, of communicating to you the reſult of my viſit to Mr. Falkener an antient Jeſuit who had paſſed thirty eight Years of his life in the South⯑ern part of South America between the River la Plata and the ſtreights of Magellan. Let me endeavour to prejudice you in favor of my new Friend, by aſſuring you, that by his long intercourſe with the Inhabi⯑tants of Patagonia, he ſeems to have loſt all European guile, and to have acquired all the ſimplicity and honeſt impetuoſity of the people he has been ſo long converſant with. I venture to give you only as much of his narrative as he could vouch for the authenticity of; which conſiſts of ſuch as he was eye witneſs to, and ſuch as will (I believe) eſtabliſh paſt contradiction the veracity of our late Circumnavigators and give new lights into the manners of this ſingular race of Men: It will not I flatter myſelf be deemed impertinent to lay before you a Chronological Mention of the ſeveral evidences that will tend to prove the exiſtence of a People of a ſupernatural height inhabiting the Southern Tract. You will find, that the majority of Voyagers who have touched on that Coaſt have ſeen them, and made reports of their ſize that will very well keep in coun⯑tenance the verbal account given by Mr. Byron, and the printed by Mr. Clarke; you will obſerve, that if the old Voyagers did exaggerate, it was thro' the novelty and amazement at ſo ſingular a ſight; but the latter forewarn'd by the preceding accounts, ſeem to have made their remarks with coolneſs, and confirmed them by the experiment of meaſurement.

[2]A. D. 1519. The firſt who ſaw theſe people was the great Magellan, one of them juſt made his appearance on the banks of the River la Plata, and then made his retreat, but during Magellan's long ſtay at Port St. Ju [...]an, he was viſited by numbers of this tall Race. The firſt approached him, ſinging, and flinging the Duſt over his head; and ſhew⯑ed all ſigns of a mild and peaceable diſpoſition; his viſage was painted, his Garment the ſkin of ſome Animal neatly ſewed, his Arms a ſtout and thick Bow; a quiver of long Arrows feathered at one end and armed at the other with Flint. The height of theſe People was about ſeven Feet (French) but they were not ſo tall as the Perſon who ap⯑proached them firſt, who is repreſented to have been of ſo Gigantic a ſize, that Magellan's Men did not with their Heads reach as high as the waiſt of this Patagonian. They had with them Beaſts of Burden on which they placed their Wives; by Magellan's deſcription of them, they appear to have been the Animals now known by the Name of Llama.

Theſe Interviews ended with the captivating two of the People who were carry'd away in two different Ships, but as ſoon as they arrived in the hot Climate each of them died

I dwell the longer on this account, as it appears extremely deſerving of credit; as the courage of Magellan made him incapable of giving an exaggerated account through the influence of fear: nor could there be any miſtake about the height; as he had not only a long intercourſe with them, but the actual poſſeſſion of two, for a very conſiderable ſpace of time.^*

It was Magellan who firſt gave them the name of Patagons, becauſe thy wore a ſort of ſlipper made of the ſkin of Animals, Tellement ſays M. de Broſſe ^† quils, paroiſſoit avoir des pattes de Bêtes.'

In 1525. Garcia de Louiſa ſaw within the ſtreights of Magellan ſava⯑ges of a very great ſtature, but he does not particularize their height.

After Louiſa the ſame Streights were paſſed in 1535 by Simon de Alcazova, and attempted in 1540 by Alphonſo de Camargo but without be⯑ing viſited by our tall People.

[3]The ſame happened to our Countryman Sir Francis Drake, but becauſe it was not the fortune of that able and popular ſeaman to meet with theſe gigantic People, his Contemporaries conſidered the report as the invention of the Spaniards.

In 1579.—Pedro Sarmiento aſſerts, that thoſe he ſaw were three Ells high; this is a Writer I would never venture to quote ſingly, for he deſtroys his own credibility by ſaying, the Savage he made priſoner was an errant Cyclops; I only cite him to prove that he had fell in with a tall race tho' he mixes Fable with Truth.

In 1586.—Our Countryman Sir Thomas Cavendiſh in his Voyage had only opportunity of meaſuring one of their footſteps, which was eigh⯑teen inches long: he alſo found their Graves, and mentions their cuſ⯑toms of burying near the ſhore.^*

In 1591. Anthony Knevet who ſailed with Sir Thomas Cavendiſh in his ſecond Voyage relates, that he ſaw at Port-Deſire Men, fifteen or ſixteen ſpans high, and that he meaſured the bodies of two that had been re⯑cently buried, which were fourteen ſpans long.^†

1599.—Sebald de Veert who ſailed with Admiral de Cordes was at⯑tacked in the ſtreight Magellan by ſavages whom he thought to be ten or eleven feet high: he adds, that they were of reddiſh color and had long hair.^‡

In the ſame Year Oliver du Nort a Dutch Admiral, had a rencontre with this gigantic race, whom he repreſents to be of a high ſtature and of a terrible aſpect.

1614.—George Spilbergen, another Dutchman in his paſſage thro' the ſame ſtreight ſaw a Man of a gigantic ſtature climbing a hill as if to take a view of the Ship.^§

1615. —Le Maire and Schouten diſcovered ſome of the burying places of the Patagonians beneath heaps of great ſtones, and found in them Skeletons ten or eleven feet long.^‖

Mr. Falkener ſuppoſes, that formerly there exiſted a race of Patagonians ſuperior to theſe in ſize; for ſkeletons are often found of far greater dimenſions particularly about the River Texeira. Perhaps he may have [4] heard of the old tradition of the natives mentioned by Cieza, ^* and re⯑peated from him by Garcilaſſo de la Vega, ^† of certain Giants having come by ſea and landed near the cape of St. Helena, many ages before the arrival of the Europeans.

1618.—Gracias de Nodal a Spaniſh Commander in the courſe of his Voyage, was inform'd by John Moore one of his crew, who landed be⯑tween Cape St. Eſprit and Cape St. Arenas on the S. ſide of the Streights; that he trafficked with a race of Men taller by the head than the Europeans. This and the next are the only inſtances I ever met with of the tall race, being found on this ſide of the Streights.

1642.—Henry Brewer a Dutch Admiral obſerved in the Streights le Maire, the footſteps of Men which meaſured eighteen inches, this is the laſt evidence in the 17th. Century of the exiſtence of theſe tall People: but let it be obſerv'd, that out of the fifteen firſt Voyagers who paſſed through the Magellanic Streights, not fewer than nine are undeniable Witneſſes of the fact we would eſtabliſh.

In the preſent Century I can produce but two evidences of the exiſ⯑tence of the tall Patagonians. The one in 1704 when the crew of a ſhip belonging to St. Maloes commanded by Captain Harrington ſaw ſeven of theſe Giants in Gregory Bay. Mention is alſo made of ſix more being ſeen by Captain Carman a Native of the ſame Town; but whe⯑ther in the ſame Voyage my authority is ſilent.^‡

BUT as it was not the fortune of the four other Voyagers ^§who ſailed through the ſtreights in the 17th. Century to fall in with any of this tall race, it became a faſhion to treat as fabulous the account of the pre⯑ceding nine, and to hold this lofty race as the mere creation of a warm Imagination.

In ſuch a temper was the public on the return of Mr. Byron from his Circumnavigation in the Year 1766. I have not the honor of having had perſonal conference with that Gentleman, therefore will not repeat the accounts I have been inform'd he has given to ſeveral of his friends, I rather chuſe to recapitulate that given by Mr. Clarke ^‖ in the Philo⯑ſophical [5] Tranſactions for 1767 p. 75. Mr. Clarke was Officer in Mr. Byrons ſhip, landed with him in the ſtreights of Magellan, and had for two hours an opportunity of ſtanding within a few yards of this race, and ſeeing them examined and meaſured by Mr. Byron. He repreſents them in general as ſtout and well proportion'd, and aſſures us, that none of the Men were lower than eight feet, and that ſome even exceeded nine; and that the Women were from ſeven feet and an half to eight feet, he law Mr. Byron meaſure one of the Men, and notwithſtanding the Commodore was near ſix feet high, he could when on tip toe, but juſt reach with his hand the top of the Patagonian's head; and Mr, Clarke is certain, that there were ſeveral taller than him on whom the experiment was made, for there was about five hundred Men Women and Children. They ſeem'd very happy at the landing of our people, and expreſſed their joy by a rude ſort of ſinging. They were of a copper color, and had long lank hair, and faces hideouſly painted; both ſexes were cover'd with ſkins, and ſome appeared on horſeback and others on foot.

M. de Premontel makes this an object of ridicule, as if the ſize of the horſes were unequal to the burden of the riders. Our Navigators tell us, that the horſes were fifteen or ſixteen feet high. It is well known, that a Mill-horſe has been known to carry nine hundred and ten pounds, a weight probably beyond that of any Patagonian they ſaw.

A few had on their legs a ſort of boot with a ſharp pointed ſtick at the heel inſtead of a ſpur. Their bridles were made of thong, the bit wood; the ſaddle as artleſs as poſſible, and without ſtirrups. The intro⯑duction of horſes into theſe parts by the Europeans, introduced likewiſe the only ſpecies of manufacture they appear to be acquainted with. All their ſkill ſeems to extend no further than theſe rude eſſays at a har⯑neſs; and to equip themſelves for Cavaliers. In other reſpects they would be in the ſame ſtate as our firſt parents juſt turned out of para⯑diſe, cloathed in coats of ſkins; or at beſt in the ſame condition in which Caeſar found the ancient Britons; for their dreſs was ſimilar, their hair long, and their bodies like thoſe of our Anceſtors made terrific by wild painting. Theſe people by ſome means or other had acquired a few beads and bracelets; otherwiſe not a ſingle article of European [6] fabric appeared among them. Theſe they muſt have gotten by the intercourſe with the other Indian tribes: for had they had any inter⯑courſe with the Spaniards, they never would have neglected procuring knives, the ſtirrups, and other conveniences which the people ſeen by Mr. Wallis had.

I ſhould have been glad to have cloſed in this place theſe relations of this ſtupendous race of Mankind; becauſe the two following accounts given by gentlemen of character and abilities ſeem to contradict great part of what had been before advanced, or at left ſerve to give ſcoffers room to ſay, that the preceding Navigators had ſeen theſe people thro' the medium of magnifying glaſſes inſtead of the ſober eye of obſervation: but before I make my remarks on what has been before related, I ſhall proceed with the other Navigators, and then attempt to reconcile the different accounts. In 1767 Captain Wallis of the Dolphin and Captain Philip Carteret of the Swallow Sloop ſaw and meaſured with a pole ſeve⯑ral of the Patagonians who happen'd to be in the ſtreights of Magellan during his paſſage,^* he repreſents them as a fine and friendly people, cloathed in ſkins, and on their legs a ſort of boots, and many of them tied their hair, which was long and black with a ſort of woven ſtuff of the breadth of a garter made of ſome kind of wool. That their arms were ſlings formed of two round balls, faſten'd one to each end of a cord, which they fling with great force and dexterity, He adds they hold one ball in their hand and ſwing the other at the full length of the cord round their head by which it acquires a prodigious velocity: they will fling it to a great diſtance, and with ſuch exactneſs, as to ſtrike a very ſmall object; theſe people were alſo mounted on Horſes, their faddles bridles &c. were of their own making; ſome had iron and others metal bits to their bridles, and one had a Spaniſh broad ſword; but whether the laſt articles were taken by war or procured by commerce is uncertain, but the laſt is moſt probable. It ſeems evident that they had intercourſe with Europeans, and had even adopted ſome of their faſhions, for many had cut their dreſs into form of Spaniſh Punches, or a ſquare piece of cloth with a hole cut for the head, the reſt hanging [7] looſe as low as the knees. They alſo wore drawers, ſo theſe people had attained a few ſteps farther towards civilization than their gigantic neighbors, others again will appear to have made a far greater ad⯑vance, for theſe ſtill devour'd their meat raw and drank nothing but water.

M. Bougainville in the ſame year ſaw another party of the natives of Patagonia: he meaſured ſeveral of them, and declares that none were lower than five feet five inches, French, or taller than five feet ten, i. e. five feet ten or ſix feet three Engliſh meaſure, he concludes his account with ſaying, that he afterwards met with a taller people in the S. ſea, but I do not recollect that he mentions the place.

I am ſorry to be obliged to remark in theſe voyages a very illibral propenſity to cavil at, and invalidate the account given by Mr. Byron: but at the ſame time exult in having an opportunity given me by that Gentleman of vindicating his and the national honor. M. Bougainville in order to prove he fell in with the identical people that Mr. Byron con⯑verſed with, aſſerts, that he ſaw numbers of them poſſeſſed of knives of an Engliſh manufactory, certainly given them by Mr. Byron, but he ſhould have conſidered that there are more ways than one of coming at a thing, that the commerce between Sheffield and South America through the port of Cadiz is moſt uncommonly large; and that his Indians might have got their knives from the Spaniards at the ſame time that they got their gilt nails and Spaniſh harneſs: but for farther ſatisfac⯑tion on this ſubject, I have liberty to ſay from Mr. Byron's authority, that he never gave a ſingle knife to the people he ſaw, that he had not one at that time about him, that excepting the preſents given with his own hands, and the tobacco brought by Lieutenant Cummins, not the leaſt trifle was beſtowed. I am furniſhed with one other proof, that theſe leſſer Indians whom Mr. Wallis ſaw were not the ſame with thoſe deſcribed by Mr. Byron as has been inſinuated: for the firſt had with him ſome officers who had been with him on the preceding Voyage, and who bear witneſs not only to the difference of ſize, but declare that theſe people had not a ſingle article among them given by Mr. Byron ^*. It is extremely probable that theſe were the Indians that Mr. [8] Bougainville fell in with, for they were furniſhed with bits, a Spaniſh ſcymeter and braſs ſtirrups as before mentioned.

My laſt evidence of theſe gigantic Americans is that which I received from Mr. Falkener; he acquainted me that about the year 1742 he was ſent on a miſſon to the vaſt plains of Pampas, which if I recollect right lies to the S. W. of Buenos Ayres and extends near a thouſand miles towards the Andes. In theſe plains he firſt met with ſome tribes of theſe people and was taken under the protection of one of the Caciques. The remarks he made on their ſize were as follows; that the talleſt which he meaſured in the ſame manner that Mr. Byron did, was ſeven feet eight inches high, that the common height or middle ſize was ſix feet, that there were numbers that were even ſhorter, and that the tall⯑eſt Women did not exceed ſix feet. That they were ſcattered from the foot of the Andes, over that vaſt tract which extends to the Atlantic Ocean and are found as far as the red river at Bay Anagada lat. 40. 1; below that the land is too barren to be habitable and none are found except accidental migrants till you arrive at the river Gallego near the ſtreights of Magellan.

They are ſuppoſed to be a race derived from the Chilian Indians, the Puelches who inhabited the eaſtern ſide of the Andes, the ſame brave nation who defeated and deſtroyed the avaritious Spaniard Baldivia but after that were diſpoſſeſs'd of their ſeat.

They dwell in large tents covered with the hides of Mares and di⯑vided within into Apartments for the different ranks of the Family, by a ſort of blanketting. They are a moſt migratory people and often ſhift their quarters; when the Women ſtrike the tents aſſiſt in putting them on their horſes and like the females of all ſavage countries under⯑go all the laborious work.

They have two motives for ſhifting their quarters, one for the ſake of getting ſalt which they find incruſted in the ſhallow pools near the ſea ſide.

The other inducement is the ſuperſtition they have of burying their dead within a certain diſtance of the ocean, and I may certainly add a third, that of the neceſſity they muſt lie under of ſeeking freſh quarters on account of the chace which is their principal ſubſiſtance.

[9]Thoſe who deny the exiſtence of theſe great People never conſider the migratory nature of the Inhabitants of this prodigious tract, and never reflect that the tribes who may have been ſeen this month on the coaſt, may the next be ſome hundreds of miles inland and their place occupied by a tribe or nation totally different. Theſe Gentlemen ſeem to lay down as a certain poſition, that Patagonia is peopled by only a ſingle nation, and from that falſe principle they draw their arguments, ſneer inſult and even groſsly abuſe all that differ in opinion. Among the moſt illiberal of theſe writers is M. de Premontel, who with the rapid inge⯑nuity of his country mounts on his head ſtrong courſer PREJUDICE, ſets off full ſpeed, rides over all the honeſt fellows that would inform him of his road, and ſpurns even truth herſelf tho' ſhe offers to be his guide: but truth is unadorned and hated by this fantaſtic writer, would ſpoil him of all the flowers of fiction, and tropes of abuſe againſt a rival country, would teach him facts that would ruin his argument and re⯑duce his eloquent memoire to a ſingle narrative of unconteſted veracity.

Their food is (almoſt entirely) animal: the fleſh of Horſes, Oxen, Guanacoes and Oſtriches, all of which they eat roaſted or boiled. Their drink is water except in the ſeaſon when certain ſpecies of Fruit are ripe, for of thoſe they make a ſort of fermenting Liquor called Chucha common to many parts of South America. One kind is made of a podd⯑ed fruit called Algarrova which ſmells like a bug, and when bruiſed in Water becomes an inebriating Liquor. The ſame fruit is alſo eaten as bread. The other Chucha is made of the Molic a ſmall fruit, hot and ſweet in the Mouth, both theſe cauſe a deep drunkenneſs, eſpecially the laſt which excites a phrenetic inebriation and a wildneſs of Eyes, which laſts, two or three Days.

The Cloathing of theſe People is either a mantle of Skins or of a Wool⯑en^* Cloth manufactur'd by themſelves; ſome is ſo ſtrong and compact as even to hold Water, the color is various; for ſome are ſtriped and dyed with the richeſt red made of Cochineel and certain Roots. They wear a ſhort apron before, which is tucked between the Legs and pre⯑ſerves a modeſt appearance. They never wear feather'd ornaments, ex⯑cept [10] in their Dances. Their Hair is long and tied up with a fillet. They have naturally Beards,^* but they generally pluck up the Hairs; not but ſome leave Muſtaches, as was obſerv'd by Mr. Carteret and M. Bou⯑gainville.

When they go to War they wear a fourfold Coat of the Skin of the Tapier, a Cap of Bull's hide doubled, and a broad Target of the ſame. Their offenſive Weapons are Bows and Arrows, the laſt headed with bone, launces headed with Iron and broad ſwords, both which they procure from the Spaniards; but their native Weapons are Slings, of theſe they have two kinds, one for War which conſiſts of a thong, headed with Stone, at only one end; and during their Campaigns they carry numbers of theſe wraped about their bodies.

The Slings which they uſe in the chace of Horſes, Cattle or Oſtriches have a Stone fixed to each end; and ſometimes another thong with a third Stone is faſten'd to the middle of the other: theſe with amazing dexterity, they fling round the objects of the chace be they Beaſts or Oſtriches which entangle them ſo that they cannot ſtir. The Indians leave them I may ſay thus tied neck and heels, and go on in purſuit of freſh Game; and having finiſh'd their ſport return to pick up the Animals they left ſecur'd in the ſlings.

Their Wars are chiefly with the other Indians, for Patagonia is inha⯑bited by variety of People, not a ſingle nation. They have a great deal of intercourſe with the Spaniards and often come down to Buenos Ayres to trade for Iron, Bugles &c.

This commerce with the Europeans has corrupted them greatly, taught them the vice of dram-drinking and been a dreadful obſtacle to their moral improvement. Mr. Falkener inform'd me, that he once prevaled on about five hundred to form a reduction, but that they grew unruly and ungovernable as ſoon as the Spaniſh Traders got among them.

Their War and their chace are carried on Horſeback, for they are moſt expert riders and have multitudes of Horſes with which the Country is perfectly over-run for they go in herds of thouſands. The price of a Horſe at preſent is two Dollars or 9s. and 2d. provided it has been [11] broken About the Year 1554^* near the time of the Conqueſt of Peru, the common price of one was from four to ſix thouſand to ten thouſ⯑and Peſos ^† or from 1350l. to 2250l. Engliſh.

The venereal diſtemper is common among them. They do not ſpeak of it as an exotic diſorder, ſo probably it is aboriginal.

In reſpect to religion they allow two principles a good and a bad.^‡ The good they call the Creator of all things; but conſider him as one that after that, never ſollicits himſelf about them. He is ſtyled by ſome Soucha or chief in the Land of ſtrong drink, by others Gauyara-cunnee or Lord of the dead. The evil principle is called Hucccovoe or the wanderer without. Sometimes theſe (for there are ſeveral) are ſuppoſed to pre⯑ſide over particular Perſons, protect their own People or injure others. Theſe are likewiſe call'd Valichu or dwellers in the air.

They have Prieſts and Prieſteſſes, whoſe office is to mediate with theſe Beings in caſe of ſickneſs or any diſtreſs; by the intervention of the Prieſt they are conſulted about future events; at thoſe ſeaſons the Prieſt ſhuts himſelf up and falls into a phrenetic extacy ^§ and appears epilep⯑tic. If he gives a wrong anſwer he lays the fault on the evil principle who he ſays had deceived him by not coming in perſon, but only ſent one of his ſlaves. At theſe times the great People aſſemble about the cabin, from whence the Oracle is to be delivered, waiting its report with great anxiety.

If a Cazique dies or any public calamity happens; for example in particular when the ſmall pox had made great ravages among the Tribes, the Prieſts are ſure to ſuffer, for the misfortune is preſumed to have happened thro' their neglect in not deprecating the evil, in theſe caſes they have no other method of ſaving themſelves, but by lay⯑ing the blame on others of their Brethren.

Prieſts are choſen from among the young People the moſt effeminate they can find, but thoſe that are epileptic have always the preference, and theſe dreſs in a female habit.

[12]The Puelches have a notion of a future ſtate, and imagine that after death they are to be tranſported to a Country, where the fruits of inebriation are eternal, there to live in immortal drunkenneſs, and the perpetual chace of the Oſtrich.

When a Perſon of eminence dies, the moſt reſpectable Women in the place goes into the Tent, clears the Body of all the inteſtines, and ſcrapes off as much of the fleſh from the bones as poſſible, and then burns very carefully both that and the entrails; when that is done, the bones are buried till the reſt of the fleſh is quite decay'd: they are taken up with⯑in a year; and if any of the bones drop out of their places they are re⯑fixed and tied together, and the whole form'd into a perfect ſkeleton. Thus complete, it is packed up in a hide, put on the back of a favorite Horſe of the deceaſed, and then tranſlated to the Tomb of his Anceſ⯑tor, perhaps 300 miles diſtant and always within a ſmall ſpace from the Sea.

The ſkeleton is then taken out and deck'd in its beſt Robes, and adorn'd with plumes and beads, is placed ſiting in a deep ſquare pit parallel with thoſe buried before, with Sword Launce and other Wea⯑pons placed by them, and the ſkins of their Horſes ſtuff'd and ſupported by ſtakes alſo accompany them. The top of the pit is that cover'd with Turf placed on tranſverſe Beams.

A Matron is appointed to attend theſe Sepulchers, whoſe office it is to keep the Skeletons clean and to new Cloath them Annually.^* I forgot to add that on depoſeting a Skeleton in its Tomb the Puelches make a libation of Chucha, and like what I have heard of an honeſt Spaniard drank viva el morte long live the dead.

They allow Polygamy, and marry promiſcuouſly among other Ame⯑ricans, they are allowed as many as three Wives apiece, but if any take more htan that number he is eſteemed a libertine and held in very little eſteem.

Widows black their Faces for a Year after their Huſbands deceaſe.

In reſpect to Government the Caziques are hereditary, it is their buſi⯑neſs to protect the property of tehir People, and they have power of life [13] and death the office is far from being elegible; many reject it, becauſe they are oblig'd to pay all their People for their ſervices who may at pleaſure change their Caziques, ſo that ſeveral refuſe to accept new vaſſals, who may offer themſelves; for it is not allow'd any Indian to live out of the protection of ſome Cazique: in ſuch a caſe he would certainly be looked on as an outlaw.

Eloquence is in high eſteem with them. If a Cazique wants that talent he keeps an orator juſt as leaders in oppoſition have been known to do among us.

This cloſes the hiſtory Mr. Falkener favored me with, but I muſt not quit that Gentleman without informing you that he return'd to Europe with a ſuit of Patagonian Cloth, a Cup of Horn and a little Pot made of Chilian copper, the whole fruits the Spaniards left him after the labors of a thirty eight years miſſion.

From the preceding account it appears that the country which goes un⯑der the name of Patagonia extending from the River la Plata Lat. 35. to the ſtreights of Magellan Lat. 53 ^* and weſtward as far as the Andes, is inhabited by Men who may be divided into three different Claſſes, and to them may be added a fourth a combination or mixture of others.

The firſt is a race of Men of common ſize, who have been ſeen by numbers and whoſe exiſtence is indiſputable. Theſe often are ſeen on the northern ſide of the ſtreights of Magellan and oftner on the Terra del Fuego ſide even as low as oppoſite to Cape Horn. Theſe are frequently an exiled race, unhappy fugitives drove by their enemies, to take ſhelter from their fury, in thoſe diſtant parts; for ſuch is the information Mr. Falkener received from ſome Indians he met with in the ſouthern parts of Patagonia, and this will account for the ſettled melancholy of the People obſerved by the Navigators in Terra del Fuego.

The ſecond Claſs conſiſts of thoſe who (in general) exceed the com⯑mon height of Europeans by a few inches or perhaps the head; ſuch were thoſe who were ſeen by John Moore who ſail'd with Gracias de Nodal in 1618; by Mr. Carteret in 1767, and by M. Bougainville in the ſame year.

[14]The third Claſs is compoſ'd of thoſe whoſe height is ſo extraordi⯑nary as to occaſion ſo great a diſbelief, of the accounts of Voyagers; and yet they are indiſputable an exiſtent People, they have been ſeen by Magellan and ſix other in the 16th. Century and by two if not three in the preſent.

The fourth Claſs is a mixed race, who careleſs about preſerving their generous and exalted breed pure and undegenerate, have degraded themſelves by intermixing with the puny tribes of the country, and from that intercourſe have produced a mongrel breed of every ſize, except that of the original ſtandard, ſome few, as if by accident, ſeem to aſpire to the height of their anceſtors, but are checked in their growth, and ſtop at the ſtature of ſeven feet eight inches, ſcarce the middle ſize of the genuine breed. But another reaſon maybe aſſigned for the degene⯑racy and inequality of ſize in this Claſs: they live within the neighbor⯑hood of Europeans, they have intercourſe with them, and from them they have acquired the vice of dram drinking and all its horrible con⯑ſequences; this alone is ſufficient to make a nation of giants dwindle into pygmies.

A third reaſon may ſtill be aſſigned viz. The introduction of manu⯑facturies among them. Thoſe people who depended on the ſpoils of the chaſe for their habiliments were certain of preſerving their full vigor, their ſtrength of conſtitution and fullneſs of habit, while thoſe who are confin'd to the loom grow enervate and loſe much of the force of their bodily faculties. They alſo live in tents lin'd with woollen manu⯑facture, which doubtleſsly are much more delicate, luxurious and warm than the dwellings of the third undegenerate Claſs. We are unacquaint⯑ed with the form of their tents, but we know that they ſtill cloath themſelves with the ſkins of beaſts, and that among thoſe, Mr. Clarke ſaw there was not the leſt appearance of manufactury excepting what related to their horſe furniture. Theſe ſeem to have been the genuine remains of the free race, the conquerors of Pedro de Baldivia, the Puelches whoſe original ſtation was among the Andes of Chiloe in about Latitude 43 and almoſt due eaſt of the iſle of Chiloe. Theſe were the deſcendents of the Indians who retreated to the ſouth far out of the common track of Europeans and who retain their primaval grandeur of ſize; the others [15] who fled northeaſt forgetful of their orignal magnificent ſtature, loſt in general that noble diſtinction by unſuitable alliances and the uſe of ſpirits, while the firſt probably only marry among themſelves and certainly have all ſtrong liquor in abhorrence; ſome of this tall race ſeem ſtill to inhabit the ſtations of their Anceſtors or ſome not very remote from them; for M. Frezier was aſſur'd by Don Pedro Molina Govenor of Chiloe that he once was viſited by ſome of theſe People, who were four varas or about nine or ten feet high; they came in company with ſome Chiloe Indians ^* with whom they were friends and who probably found them in ſome of their excurſions.

M. de Premontal inſults M. Frezier with much acrimony on account of this relation; and charges him with changing the ſeat of thoſe Peo⯑ple from the eaſtern coaſt to the weſtern or the tract between Chiloe and the Magellanic ſtreights, but the truth is, that Frezier ſays no ſuch thing, but mentions them as a nation living up the country inland not near the ſhores; M. Premontal alſo ſneers at the evidence of the crews of the Maloe ſhips; but they by no means place theſe tall People on the weſtern coaſt of S. America, but at Gregory Bay a place very little diſtant from the eaſtern entrance of the Streights and near which theſe giants have been more frequently ſeen than any where elſe.

My remarks on M. de Premontal are but a tribute to the many civili⯑ties I have received from doctor Matie who has been moſt unprovokedly unjuſtly and illiberally abuſed by this vague and pragmatical writer.

Thus I conclude all that I collect relating to theſe ſingular People. Let me beg you to receive the account with your uſual Candor and think me with the moſt regard

Copy of a Paper tranſmitted from Admiral Byron to me; through the hands of the Right Reverend John Egerton late Biſhop of Durham, after he had peruſed the Manuſcript of the foregoing account.