[Captain John Byron and landing party in the Strait of Magellan.]

Rare engraving of Captain John Byron landing a party at Patagonia, Strait of Magellan on Friday 21 December, 1764. He describes the chief; ‘he was of a gigantic stature, and seemed to realize the tales of monsters in a human shape…not much less than seven feet.’ This was part of the myth of the Patogonian Giants first mentioned in the accounts of Magellan’s voyage in the 1520’s.

From Hawkesworth, J. 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 : drawn up from the journals which were kept by the several commanders, and from the papers of Joseph Banks, Esq

References:
Beddie, M. Bibliography of Captain James Cook, RN,FRS, Circumnavigator. Sydney 1970 650.

Collections:
National Library Australia: Bib ID 861232
State Library Victoria: RARELTF 910.41 H31V
State Library New South Wales: CALL NUMBERS Q77/16
State Library South Australia: 990T