Patagonian Giants
20 Mar 2021
From Mirror of the Australian Navigation by Jacob le Maire, 1622
Many cultures and civilizations have stories about giants in their mythology or folklore. The reports of their size greatly vary and characteristics range from vicious man-eating beasts to superior demigods. But few of them have such a plethora of first-hand accounts in the historical literature as the Patagonia region, specifically the areas around the Strait of Magellan during the Age of Sail.
Note: It is important to take into account that between the 16th and 18th centuries the name “Patagonia” was given to all territory to the South of the Río de la Plata estuary.
| Source | Description |
|---|---|
| Magellan (1523)1 | ten spans [2.3 m, 7 ft. 6 in.] |
| García Jofre de Loaísa (1525)2 | thirteen spans [3 m, 9 ft. 9 in.] |
| Francis Drake (1577)3 | 7 foote and halfe [2.3 m] |
| Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa (1579)4 | big people / giants |
| Anthonie Knivet (1591)5 | corpse fourteen spans tall [3 m, 9 ft. 9 in.] |
| fifteen to sixteen spans (based on footprints) | |
| Sebald de Veert (1599)6 | ten or eleven feet high [3-3.3 m] |
| Oliver van Noort (1599)7 | ten or twelve feet high [3-3.6 m] |
| Joris van Spilbergen (1614)8 | a human being of very big stature |
| Willem Schouten (1615)9 | bones 10 to 11 feet [3-3.3 m] |
| Gonzalo García del Nodal (1618)10 | taller, by the head, than the Europeans |
| Jacques L’Hermite (1624) † | not larger than the inhabitants of Europe |
| Dionisio de Rueda (1641) ‡ | gigantic people |
| John Narbrough (1670)11 | people of average height/not taller that us |
| Jean-Baptiste de Gennes (1696)12 | not taller than six feet [1.8 m] |
| Harrington & Carman (1704)13 | giants |
| Pedro Molina y Valiente (1714)13 | nine or ten foot [2.7-3m] |
| Thomas Pascoe (1741)14 | middling stature |
| John Byron (1764)15 | 8 to 9 feet [2.5-2.8 m] |
| Charles de Brosses (1765)16 | thirteen spans [3 m, 9 ft. 9 in.] |
| corpse of fourteen spans [3.2 m, 10 ft. 5 in.] | |
| Samuel Wallis (1767)17 | six feet tall [2 m] |
| Louis de Bougainville (1676)18 | between 5 feet 10 and 6 feet 2 [1.8-1.9 m] |
| Thomas Falkner (1774)19 | 7 feet and some inches tall [~2.1 m] |
| Antonio de Viedma (1783)20 | between two varas and nine palms [~1.8 m, 6 ft.] |
| Alonso de Cordova (1785)21 | 6 ft. 7 in. [2 m] |
Sources
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Austin Whitall - Patagonia Monsters: Patagonia Giants – Parts One, Two & Three.
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† Mentioned in Hawkesworth22, p. xviii (1773). We could not locate the original source.
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‡ Mentioned in Patagonian Monsters blog, but we could not locate the original source.
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Blair, Bourne, Robinson. The Philippine Islands, 1483-1803 — Volume 01 of 55, 2004 (gutenberg.org) ↩
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Becco, Horatio J. Crónicas de los Patagones, 2003, p. xiv (archive.org) ↩
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Drake, Francis. The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake, 1854, p. 60 (archive.org) ↩
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Sarmiento de Gamboa, Pedro. Narratives of the voyages of Pedro Sarmiento de Gambóa to the straits of Magellan, 1579-1589 (English translation, p. 136) (archive.org) ↩
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Purchas, Samuel. Knivet’s memoir in Purchas his Pilgrimes, vol. XVI, 1905, p. 264 (archive.org) ↩
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de Reneville, Constantine. A collection of voyages undertaken by the Dutch East-India Company for the improvement of trade and navigation, 1703, p. 319 (archive.org) ↩
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Kerr, Robert. A general history and collection of voyages and travels, arranged in systematic order: forming a complete history of the origin and progress of navigation, discovery, and commerce, by sea and land, from the earliest ages to the present time, 1824, p. 119 (archive.org) ↩
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Van Spilbergen, J. The East and West Indian mirror: being an account of Joris van Speilbergen’s voyage round the world (1614-1617), 1906 (archive.org) ↩
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Schouten, W. C. Relación diaria del viaje de Jacobo Le Maire y Guillermo Cornelio Schouten, 1620s (archive.org) ↩
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Fitzroy, Robert. Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty’s ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836, 1839 (archive.org) ↩
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Narbrough, John. Sir John Narbrough’s voyage to the South-Sea, 1711 (archive.org) ↩
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Froger, François. Relation d’un voyage fait en 1695. 1696. & 1697. aux côtes d’Afrique, détroit de Magellan, Brezil, Cayenne & isles Antilles, par une escadre des vaisseaux du roy, commandée par Monsieur de Gennes., 1773, p. 98 (archive.org) ↩
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Frézier, A. F. A voyage to the South-Sea, and along the coasts of Chili and Peru, in the years 1712, 1713, and 1714, 1717 (archive.org) ↩ ↩2
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Pascoe, Thomas. Voyage To The South Seas 1740—1744, 1745, p. 126 (archive.org) ↩
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Officer on Board the Said Ship the Dolph. Voyage round the world, in his Majesty’s ship the Dolphin, commanded by the Honourable Commodore Byron, 1767 (archive.org) ↩
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de Brosses, Charles. Histoire des navigations aux terres australes, 1756, p. 232 (archive.org) ↩
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Hawkesworth, John. An account of the voyages undertaken by the order of His present Majesty for making discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere, and successively performed by Commodore Byron, Captain Wallis, Captain Carteret, and Captain Cook, in the Dolphin, the Swallow, and the Endeavour, vol. iii, 1773 (archive.org) ↩
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de Bougainville, Luis. A voyage round the world. Performed by order of His most Christian Majesty, in the years 1766, 1767, 1768, and 1769, 1772 (English translation, p. 142) (archive.org) ↩
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Falkner, Thomas. A description of Patagonia, and the adjoining parts of South America, 1774 (archive.org) ↩
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de Viedma, Antonio. Diario de un viaje a la costa de la Patagonia, para reconocer los puntos en donde establecer poblaciones, 1837 (cervantesvirtual.com) ↩
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de Vargas Ponce, José. A voyage of discovery to the strait of Magellan: with an account of the manners and customs of the inhabitants; and of the natural productions of Patagonia, 1788, (English translation), p. 88 (archive.org) ↩
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Hawkesworth, John. An account of the voyages undertaken by the order of His present Majesty for making discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere, and successively performed by Commodore Byron, Captain Wallis, Captain Carteret, and Captain Cook, in the Dolphin, the Swallow, and the Endeavour, vol. i, 1773 (archive.org) ↩