- - went with Sir Thomas Cavendilb, in 1592» into Port Defire, fonn3
.m e n . there, people,, that where 16 hands high, which amounts to fix feet,
reckoning a hand at 44 inches. R i c h a r d H a w k i n s * likewife
lpeaks o f tall people at Port St. Julian, in 1593, fo tall that they
are often, taken by voyagers Tor.giants. There are fome Spaniards,
. who pretend that in the back o f Chili, are a people o ften of twelve
feet high : but as this account is too vague, and has not authority
which may be depended upon, we will make. no ufe o f it. However,
from, the above mentioned numerous accounts, it appears, that
on the continent o f America, near Cape Virgin Mary, there is a
nation, whofe individuals ■ undoubtedly are molt remarkably Rout
and tall, none of them Teem to be below five feet ten-inches, feve-
ral are above fix feet, one.was meafured fix feet feven inches high.;
nay, according to Pigafetta, Tome are .laid to be feven feet four
.inches ; in the more interior parts o f South America, are tribes o f a
fize Hill greater than -thofe who were meafured by Captain Wallis.;
for Mr. F a l k n e r , f who fpent feveral years among thefe nations,
defcribes the great Cacique Cangapol, who refided at Huichin
rupon the Black River, as being feven feet and fome inches high, be-
-caule on tiptoe, he could not reach to the top o f his head : and he
adds, that he did not recoiled ever to have feen an Indian that was
above an inch or two taller than Cangapol; and the brother o f this
.tall Cacique, was about fix .feet h igh : .thefe brethren belonged1 to
the
* Hawkins’s Voyage to the South1 Seas. 'London, 1622.
, f Falkner’s Defcription. of Patagonia, p. z6} 1 1 1 , x ia.
H U M A N S P E C I E S ,
the tribe o f Puelches. Thefe nations feldom refort to the fea, or v
. . . . . . ' T
the neighbourhood of the Straits o f Magellan, and are therefore little
known to fuch navigators as touch at thole unfrequented places..
It will perhaps appear to. us a ftrange phenomenon, that a whole
nation Ihould preferve that remarkable tall feature. But we are
united in focieties, where the conftant intercourfe with foreigners,.
makes it next to impoflible to preferve the purity o f races without
mixture; and pity it is, that the guilfes o f art and deceit are H P
great in one fex, and curiofity, levity, and: lfewdnels, are fo common.
in the other,, in our enlightened and highly-civilized focieties,:
that they contribute ftill more to- make the- prèfervation óf races-;
precarious. This depravation prevailed fo far, that even O m -a -i
became the objedt of concupifcence o f fome females Of.rank- Th e
Puelches,. on the contrary, and the other Patagonian tribes,.. whatever
be their names, live in a country, which is little frequented
by nations different from their own ; their neighbours; the Spaniards,
. in Chili and Rio de la Plata, having- very littlè inter-
eourfe with them; and being happy to live 1 undifeurhed. from the-:
incurfions and- depredations o f fuch dangerous-: enemies-.- Th e y
procure, with great-facility, their livelihood- by the chace, and:
from their own numerous herds, h a country rich in. paftüres,
and of immenfe extent, bounded by-the fea, and feparated by-
high ridges o f mountains from all other nations. Thefe are the
moefti
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