CHAPTER X.

THE FIRST GIANT.--THE ISLANDS OF GEESE AND GOSLINGS.--THE DANCING GIANTS.

The narrative of Pigafetta, the Knight of Rhodes, has much curious lore in regard to giants. At a place on the coast, formerly called Cape St. Mary, the first of these giants appeared.

He was a leader of a tribe "who ate human flesh." The lively Knight of Rhodes informs us that this man, who towered above his fellows, "had a voice like a bull."

He came to one of the captains' ships and asked--of course in sign language; for a man may have a "voice like a bull" and yet fail to be understood in cannibal tongues--if he might come on board the ship and bring his fellows with him.

He left a quantity of goods on the shore. While he was negotiating at the ships, his people on the shore, who seem to have been unusually wise and prudent, began to remove the stores of goods from exposure to danger to a kind of castle at some distance.

The officers of the ships grew inpatient when they saw the tempting goods being thus removed. So they landed a hundred men to recover the goods, which they seemed to have deemed theirs after the "right of discovery."

The men began to run after the provident natives, when they became greatly surprised. The natives seemed to _fly_ over the ground, and leave them behind at a humiliating distance.

"They did more in one step than we could do at a bound," says Pigafetta, Knight of Rhodes.

The giant people here showed that there was need to approach them with caution. Some time before, these "Canibali" had captured a Spanish sea captain and sixty men, who had landed and pastured inland to make discoveries. They ate them all--a fearful feast!

Our voyagers probably had no desire to go too far inland in view of such a warning; so they returned and proceeded on their course toward the antarctic pole.

They discovered two small islands, which had more agreeable inhabitants than the land of Cape St. Mary. "These islands," says our good Knight Pigafetta, "were full of geese and goslings and sea wolves." He adds: "We loaded five ships with them for an hour."

The Knight has also left us the following curious picture of the birds, which must have been very much surprised at being so rudely disturbed:

"The geese are black, and have feathers all over the body of the same size and shape; and they do not fly but live on fish, and they were so fat that we did not pluck them, but skinned them. They have beaks like that of a crow.

"The sea wolves of these islands are of many colors and of the size and thickness of a calf, and have a head like a calf, and ears small and round. They have teeth but no legs, but feet joining close to the body, which resemble a human hand. They have small nails to their feet, and skin between the fingers like geese.

"If these animals could run they would be very bad and cruel, but they do not stir from the waters, and swim and live upon fish."

This seems to be a very admirable description of a sea wolf, O Knight of Rhodes!

A great storm came down upon the ships here. But, marvelous to relate, the fiery body of good St. Anselmo or Anseline "appeared to us, and immediately the storm ceased."

The fleet sailed away again and came to Port St. Julian, the true land of the giants, of which place our Knight has some very interesting stories to tell.

The fleet entered the Port of St. Julian. It was winter, and for a long time no human beings appeared.

Suddenly one day a most extraordinary sight met the eyes of some of the adventurers. Our Knight's description of this being is very vivid. He says:

"One day, without any one's expecting it, we saw a giant who was on the shore of the sea, quite naked, and was dancing and leaping and singing, and, while singing, he put sand and dust on his head." The Captain of one of the ships, who first saw this extraordinary creature, said to one of the sailors:

"Go and meet him. He dances and sings as a sign of friendship. You must do the same. Beckon him to me."

The Captain himself was on a little island.

The scene that followed must have been comical indeed.

The giant danced and sung and sprinkled his head with sand. The sailor did the same, danced and sang, and the two approached each other.

So the giant was made to think that he was among friends. The sailor led him on to the island, where he met the Captain.

But the lively giant now began to be afraid in the presence of a new people. He seemed to wish to ask them who they were and whence they came. Then an answer to this question came to him. He looked up to the sky and pointed upward with one finger, saying by signs:

"Did you come down from Heaven?"

"He was so tall," says our descriptive Knight, "that the tallest of us only came up to his waist." He was probably hardly taller than many of his race. Falkner, in his account of Patagonia (1774), says that he saw men there seven feet and a half high.

Of this dancing giant our historian gives a further description in lively and interesting colors:

"He had a large face painted red all around, and around his eyes were rings of yellow, and he had two hearts painted on his cheeks. He had but little hair on the top of his head, which was painted white.

"When he was brought before the Captain, he had thrown over him the skin of a certain beast, which skin was very carefully sewed."

The skin was that of a guanaco, a kind of llama.

Our historian thus describes the guanaco:

"This beast has its head and ears of the size of a mule, and the neck and body of the fashion of a camel, the legs of a deer, and the tail of a horse, and it neighs like a horse. There are great numbers of these animals in the same place."

Patagonia is the land of these strange animals, which are still found there, and are hunted by Indians who lie upon the ground with drawn bows. The animal has great curiosity, and he draws near this living snare and is killed. When tame he is an interesting companion, but if angered he suddenly emits a great quantity of offensive liquid from his nose, like a half bucket of water, which he throws upon the offender. He is the South American camel.

This giant when he made himself ready to meet the adventurers had shoes of leather or skins, and carried a bow made of the "gut of a beast" and a bundle of cane arrows feathered, at the end of which were small white stones.

"The Captain caused food and drink to be given to him.

"Then the crew began to show him some of the presents they had brought, among them a looking-glass."

When the giant saw himself in the glass he was filled with wonder. It was as though his own ghost had appeared to him. There were men behind him curious to see how he would be affected. He leaped back with such force as to tumble them over. They were but pigmies to him.

The Captain now gave the giant two bells, a mirror, a comb, and beads, and sent him back to the shore.

One of the giants of the country saw him coming back, ran to the habitation of the giants, and summoned the giant people to the shore to meet him. They came, almost naked, leaping and singing, and pointing upward to Heaven. What a sight it must have been!

The women were laden with goods. The sailors beckoned them to the ships to trade.

Queerly enough, the women brought with them a baby or little guanaco, which they led by a string. Our historian learned that when these giants wished to capture the old guanacos or camels they fastened one of the little guanacos to a bush, and the old ones came to the bush to play with it, and so became an easy prey.

"Six days afterward, our people going to cut wood," writes the Knight, "saw another giant, who raised his hands toward Heaven.

"When the Captain General came to know of it, he sent to fetch him with his ship's boat, and brought him to one of the little islands in the port. This giant was of a better disposition than the other, and was a gracious and amiable person, he loved to dance and leap. When he leaped, he caused the earth to sink to a palm's depth at the place where his feet touched."

The good giant remained for a time with the adventurers. They gave him the name of John. They learned him to pronounce the name of Jesus.

"Say Pater Noster," said they.

"Pater Noster," said the giant.

"Say Ave Maria," said the men.

"Ave Maria," said the susceptible giant.

They made him presents when he went away, among them some of the many tinkling bells.

"We must capture some of these people," said the Captain, "and take them to Spain for wonders."

So the explorers began to study how to secure some interesting specimens of these tall people, to excite the wonder of the people of Spain.