MINIATURES

Woodcut depicting cannibalism among natives in America, from 1509 German edition of Amerigo Vespucci's "Letters to Soderini", Strasbourg 1509.Artist- Anon On the Atlantic coast of South America, Magellan's fleet spent almost a year exploring the region and interchanging with its indigenous people. One interesting account by the Italian chronicler Pigafetta mentions about the cannibals of the land which is now present-day Brazil : "They eat the flesh of their enemies, not as good meat, but because they have adopted this custom. Now this custom arose as follows: an old woman of this place of Verzin (Brazil) had an only son, who was killed by his enemies, and, some days afterward, the friends of this woman captured one of the said enemies who had put her son to death, and brought him to where she was. Immediately the said old woman, seeing the man who was captured, and recollecting the death of her child, rushed upon him like a mad dog, and bit him on the s...

 17th C. obvious exaggeration of Patagonian natives Five hundred years ago, the fleet of Magellan was exploring the southern coastline of the Americas -- What is now the border between Argentina and Chile. They encountered a tribe whose male members were taller and heftier than the average European. Pigafetta wrote in his journal: "Departing thence as far as forty-nine degrees and a half in the Antarctic heavens (as we were  in the winter), we entered into a port to pass the winter and remained there two whole months without ever seeing anybody. However, one day, without anyone expecting it, we saw a giant, who was on the shore of the sea, quite naked, and was dancing and leaping, and singing, and whilst singing he put the sand and dust on his head. Our captain sent one of his men towards him, whom he charged to sing and leap like the other to reassure him and show him friendship. This he did, and immediately the sailor led this giant to a little island where the capt...