The engraving that we saw at the National Historical Museum of Buenos Aires impresses with the height of the native of Patagonia. The inscription under the engraving states: “The myth of the Patagonian giants is part of the European imagination and perception of the American continent.” However, according to the narratives of the travelers of the 18-19th centuries, the shortest Patagonian was about 2 meters tall.
“No he encontrado jamás hombres mejor construidos ni más proporcionados; para pintar Hércules y Marte no se encontrarían en ninguna parte tan hermosos modelos. Nada distingue sus rasgos de los de los europeos; y si estuviesen vestidos y si viviesen menos al aire libre y al pleno sol, serían tan blancos como nosotros.” (Bougainville)
“I never saw men better made, and whose limbs were more proportionate: in order to paint a Hercules or a Mars, one could no where find such beautiful models. Nothing distinguishes their features from those of the Europeans: and if they were cloathed; if they lived less in the open air, and were less exposed to the sun at noon, they would be as white as ourselves…” (Bougainville)