Sir Walter Raleigh's Blemyes

 

Blemyes, the headless creatures with eyes in their chests. From [3]

While writing my previous post I came across several “copy – paste” blogs and websites that are all mirror images in their content and just repeat the same thing again and again without any of their “authors” bothering to check if what they are posting is true.

An example of this is the following phrase, which I invite you to google:

“In his writings, Sir Walter Raleigh made brief note of reports of large monkey-like creatures in South America”

You will see that it appears 631 times! In different websites.

And what is worse, is that it is FALSE.

The truth of what Sir Walter Raleigh reported

We have all heard about Sir Walter Raleigh (c. 1554 - 1618), he was a master of many trades: warrior, sailor, explorer, courtier and, a writer who jotted down is expeditions to America.
He is well known for his role in defeating the Spanish Armada and as a close friend to Queen Elizabeth I.

He sailed to South America several times starting in 1594 and he popularized the legend of “El Dorado”, the city of gold. He sailed on his last voyage in 1616, and after returning to England was executed by King James I.

He wrote about his South American voyages while in prision in the Tower of London (1596), and in his book [1], we come across a strange reference to a group of peculiar natives known as Ewaipanoma:

likewise a most beawtifull countrey Next vnto Ami there are two riuers Atoica and Caora and on that braunch which is called Caora are a nation of people whose heades appeare not aboue their shoulders which though it may be thought a meere fable yet for mine owne parte I am resolued it is true because euery child in the prouinces of Arromaia and Canuri affirme the same they are called Ewaipanoma they are reported to haue their eyes in their shoulders and their mouths in the middle of their breasts and that a long train of haire groweth backward betwen their shoulders [1]

Below is the text, once again, from the book:



Comments

So, there is no reference to any monkey-like creatures. Instead he talks about:

• a nation of people
• whose heads appear not above their shoulders
• they are called Ewaipanoma
• They have their eyes in their shoulders and their mouths in the middle of their breasts
• a long train of hair grows backward between their shoulders

Odd creatures but not uknown.They are the Blemmyes

Pliny mentions them [2] : “ blemmyis traduntur capita abesse, ore et oculis pectori adfixis", which means something like the “Blemmyis” lack heads and have their eyes placed on their chests.

And so does Sebastian Munster in his Cosmographia, placing them in India, beyond the Ganges. [3]

They are also mentioned in the epic poem Beowulf (from the tenth century AD), [4], in a place beyond the Brixontes River (which I have not managed to place on the map):

Then there are other islands south from the Brixontes on which there are born people without heads, who have their eyes and mouth on their chest. They are eight feet tall and eight feet wide[4]

Interestingly, the Blemyes were real, but not necessarily monstrous: Strabo, The Greek Historian (63 BC – 23 AD), mentions that among the tribes that lived south of Egypt, were the Blemyes. They inhabited along the east bank of the Nile and were subjects of the Ethiopians. He based his account on an older one by Eratosthenes c. 196 B.C.

Later Pliny would refer to them as headless beings (he lived between 23 and 79 AD), perhaps demonizing the enemies of the Roman state.

They were a bellicose bunch these Blemyes, as they would later invade Egypt and fight the Romans in the Fourth and Fifth centuries AD.

The following image shows a medieval depicton of a Blemye. And it looks rather harmless doesn't it?

Could they be a mistaken representation of a Neanderthal or some other hominid? Or, did Raleigh hear about Neanderthals in Guyana and associate the native's description with the Blemye (he must have read Beowulf and known about Pliny's work being a learned nobleman).

My next post shows a Blemye on Admiral Piri Reis' map.

Sources

[1] Sir Walter Raleigh, [1596] (1848). The discovery of the large, rich, and beautiful empire of Guiana: with a relation of the great and golden city of Manoa... etc. performed in the year 1595, by Sir W. Ralegh, knt... Reprinted from the edition of 1596, with some unpublished documents relative to that country. Ed., with copious explanatory notes and a biographical memoir, by Sir Robert H. Schomburgk (Google eBook). Printed for the Hakluyt Society. Pp.85
[2] Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia. Karl Friedrich Theodor Mayhoff, Ed. Liber V.
[3] Sebastian Munster (1552). Cosmographia. Basel. Pp. 1080.
[4] Beowulf English & English (Old English), R. D. Fulk. Harvard University Press, 2010. Parra. 55. Pp 23.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2011 by Austin Whittall © 

Horse Eating Frog - Chile

 

Beelzebufo ampigna Giant Prehistoric Frog .From: [1], by Stony Brook University.

A team of paleontologists found the remains of a giant fossil frog that lived some 70 Million years ago in Madagascar, off the eastern coast of Southern Africa during the Age of the dinosaurs, the Beelzebufo ampigna.

This giant frog measured about 41 cm long and weighed 4.5 kg (16 in and 10 lbs). It had a thick skin and sharp teeth.

The team that found it, led by David Krause of Stony Brook University named it "the frog from hell" hence its name, Beelzebufo (devil = Beelzebub and toad (in Latin) = bufo).

It was probably the largest frog that ever existed and was more than twice the size of its closest relative, the South American Ceratophrys aurita and nearly five times larger than the biggest extant frog on Madagascar, the Mantidactylus guttulatus.

The interesting thing is the "South American Link", it seems that Beelzebufo is quite similar to the South American Ceratophryinae, and, on the other hand quite unlike the local Madagascar frogs. If it was similar to its American relatives, it would be a predator gobbling up everything that it came across (small mammals, other frogs and even small newborn dinos).

These Ceratophryinae ,or "horned frogs", are a subfamily of the leptodactylid frogs. And they are only found in South America.

Also in South America, another interesting frog can be found; it lives in Chile and is known as the "helmeted water toad" or "giant Chilean toad", (Calyptocephalella gayi, formerly Caudiverbera caudiverbera).

It is found in the temperate and cold areas from Central Chile to northern Chilean Patagonia, from Coqimbo to Los Lagos, it is a big frog and can reach up to 32 cm (11.9 in.) from snout to vent [4] and weigh 3 kg (6.6 lbs.) . As it is the only extant member of its genus, it is sad news that it is endangered by exotic frogs and fungal infections. [3]

Frogs and lake monsters

So, why frogs? Well, I read a comment at a post on lake monsters in Southern Chile that offers an interesting explanation on the possible animal behind the sightings, below I quote the relevant text :[5]

I looked into some stories and diaries of old Chilean families. And it is so, that in one, whose surname I will not disclose, that tells how a hose was devoured by an immense toad. I knew that the caudiverbera frog has a very strange gene that expresses itself once every ten thousand millions to produce a frog of one meter [3.3 ft.] [long] It is a recessive gene. I knew then that another recessive gene produced yet an even bigger frog when it is phenotypically expressed. I believe that this solved the case of the vilú the immense killer toad of the great irrigation channels and lagoons. [5]

The idea is intriguing, the helmeted frog does live in the cold waters of the Patagonian Lakes all the way Reloncavi area. So they are in the right location. The "recessive gene" is something that should be investigated. I have not yet found any papers about this mysterious gene or its "phenotypic expression". However, the Madagascar remains prove that frogs can grow to a big size, alas, as far as the fossils found to date show, not big enough to eat a horse in one mouthful.

Nevertheless, the diary entry (if true and not just some yarn made up by someone)with the horse eating frog is indeed interesting. It is a pity that the date and site of this incident are not given.

Myths and frogs

What did the natives have to say about frogs? Did they believe in giant toads?

We have the Arumco is a myth about a giant Mapuche frog, whose name derives from "arun" = "big frog" and "có = water. [6]

The name and supernatural nature of Arumco were recorded by Naturalist Juan Ignacio Molina, who mentioned it in his book (1788) on Chile's natural history: " aquatic frogs, the Arunco [...] that the Araucano [Mapuche] call Genco which means father of the water because they believe that they contribute to keeping and to the health of the waters. [2]

Then there is the Mapuche's "piwichen" myth, a flying feathered snake, which, in some versions, according to Vicuña Cifuentes, is a snake that mutates into a gigantic frog covered with fine hair which then sprouts wings (more info on this hairy frog). The winged frog was depicted by Renaissance artist Hieronymus Bosch in his "The Temptation of St. Anthony", which shows that the range of the human mind, when it comes to weird creatures, is quite limited.

And last but not least is the Matuasto, depicted below in a photograph that I took at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Cueva de Las Manos, Santa Cruz province, Argentina:

Paleoindian Rock art: Matuasto at Cueva de Las Manos. Copyright © 2007 by Austin Whittall

These creatures are said to be tailless lizards (whatever that may be) or a variety of short tailed lizard. In my opinion, they look quite frog-like and may depict some variety of monster-toad. They were drawn in red paint on the walls of Cueva de las Manos ledge some 8 to 10 thousand years ago by the Tehuelche Indian's ancestors.

It was a persistent myth, because, the creature was mentioned by British explorer George Musters who in 1870, after traveling from Punta Arenas to Carmen de Patagones with a band of Tehuelche, wrote:

Another animal supposed to be possessed of magical powers is a flat toad-like lizard, which is believed to lame horses by mysterious agency, and is killed whenever met with. [7]

The word Matuasto is imported, exotic, of Quechua origin (from the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes Region), [8] so it can not be a local myth, perhaps it was introduced from Chile by the Mapuche (who acquired it from the Inca invaders ca. 1430) who in turn passed it on to the Tehuelche. Fear of Matuastos prevails in the area that came into contact with the Incas, such as Northern Argentina.

This site (SIB.gov.ar) has some details and an image of a matuasto.

Sources

[1] Ned Stafford . Giant frog found in Madagascar. 'Frog from hell' fossil hints at later split of continents. Nature. Online. 18.02.2008. doi:10.1038/news.2008.607
[2] Molina, Juan Ignacio, (1788). Compendio de la historia geografica, natural y civil del Reyno de Chile. Madrid: Sancha, pp. 238
[3] Veloso, A. & Formas, R., ( 2004). Caudiverbera caudiverbera. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
[4] Naish, Darren (2007). It's the Helmeted water toad! 27.10.07.
[5] Andrés El monstruo del lago generla Carrera, Comments. 23.10.10
[6] José María Alfonso Félix Gallardo, (1994). Anfibios y reptiles: relatos y leyendas, etimología, usos y abusos. Librería Agropecuaria, pp. 33.
[7] Musters George Chaworth, (1969). At home with the Patagonians: a year's wanderings over untrodden ground from the Straits of Magellan to the Rio Negro. (1869).Greenwood Press, pp. 182.
[8] Fernando Hugo Casullo, (1963). Voces indígenas en el idioma español. Cia. Argentina de Editores, pp. 34

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

2010 International Year of Biodiversity Copyright 2009-2010 by Austin Whittall © 

Hueñauca - Osorno volcano monster

 

This creature is the lord of volcanoes. It is a monster that is described as goat-like, with yellow hair and a long goatee; it is bipedal and stands tall on its hind legs.

A mountain hermit, it lives in caves under volcanic slopes. Its goat appearance is post-Hispanic, what it looked like before is not known; did he resemble Iemisch or was it some variety of wild man?[1]

Its name is the one that the native Mapuche gave Osorno volcano, and which meant "danger in the heights". The foot of this beautiful volcano is bathed on the west by Lake Llanquihue and on the south by Lake Todos los Santos. We have already posted (follow the links) on the monsters that have been reported at both lakes.

Osorno Volcano and Lake Llanquihue. From the Internet.

Bibliography.

[1] Batic, L., (2005). Seres mitológicos argentinos. Diario 1. Patagonia. B. Aires: Ed. Albatros. pp. 64.
[2] El Correo de Santiago. Chile. Online.

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Lea este post en español

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

2010 International Year of Biodiversity Copyright 2009-2010 by Austin Whittall © 

Sea monster by Chiloe Island and the "water Trauco"

 

Chilean historian Diego de Rosales wrote in 1674 that in the sea by Chiloé Island the natives had seen fish that were:

as large as whales with two heads and one with the body of a small whale with a horrible head notably out of proportion with its body, armed with two long and sturdy horns; that on its back it had a wide eye. It was an enormous and stupendous beast.[1]

A similar myth circulated among the Selk’nam at Tierra del Fuego which told of a fat yet agile man named Shai who “transformed into a fish without scales, thick, with two horns on its head”.[2]

"Horned" sea creatures. From: [3]

A horned aquatic beast is something unheard of by science, excluding the one horned narwahl that lives in the Arctic waters; there is no other animal with this feature (the see einhorn or sea unicorn shwon above is a mythical creature).

Perhaps it was some large huemul deer swimming in the sea, or the “water Trauco”. The “two heads” part seems to be made up or, perhaps refers to some unknown animal.

The water “Trauco”

The dwarfish Trauco mentioned in our post Here is not always depicted as a midget troll, it has some local variations. For instance on Mount Quicaví on the eastern coast of Chiloé Island it is described as a dangerous goat with a long beard that has guanaco-like legs; its body is covered with scales and tufts of bristly hair.[4]

At other places within Chiloé it is a sea creature “with the legs of a guanaco, fish tail, the [spiky] bristles of a sea urchin and two pointed horns”.[5]

Walrus?

This is a very strange sea creature, a horned fish-goat hybrid. But what if the descriptions are wrong and the two horns are not horns but fangs, that is tusks?

Perhaps it is a Southern Hemisphere walrus? However walruses do not live outside of the arctic sea and the north Atlantic and Pacific Oceans close to the polar region. This southern walrus may be an unknown and possibly extinct animal.

Chiloé map. Quicaví is shown with an arrow.

Bibliography.

[1] de Rosales, D. Op.Cit. v. 1 pp. 308-309.
[2] Canclini, A., (2007). Leyendas de Tierra del Fuego. Mitos de los onas y yaganes, aborígenes fueguinos. B. Aires: Zaguier & Urruty. pp. 92.
[3] Online, Here.
[4] Barrio, J. El Diccionario de Mitos y Leyendas. Online.
[5] Housse, E., (1939). Une épopée indienne: les Araucans du Chili; histoire... Paris: Lib. Plon. pp. 150.


Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters

Habitat for Grazing Herbivore

 

When I mentioned in a previous post (Here) that the sustainability issue (how a massive lake creature feeds in low "food-content" lakes such as the Patagonian ones) could be circumvented if the animals were herbivores and grazed outside of the lake.

I also mentioned that an old lady at Bariloche stated that she had seen one grazing in a field by the lake.

So today I thought that it might be a good idea to show the kind of fields that can be found by the Patagonian lakes. Below is a photograph taken last April by Lake Villarino in the Nahuel Huapi National Park.

See the field in the foreground, the forest to the right and the Andean peaks behind.

Lake Villarino - Neuquén province. Copyright © 2009 by Austin Whittall

You can see the lake on this map Here, in the upper-central part, Lake Villarino flows into Lake Falkner and from there east towards the Atlantic Ocean.



Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters

Patagonian Lakes and Rivers with monsters

 

Map with some Northern Patagonia Lakes. Copyright © 2008 by Austin Whittall

Map with some Southern Patagonia Lakes. Copyright © 2009 by Austin Whittall

In this post I will try to give you some bearings regarding the location of some Patagonian lakes and rivers that are home to strange aquatic creatures.

The list below shows only some of these lakes and rivers, as more appear, I will extend the list.

Some of them have appeared as our "Lake of the week" if so, they are linked to their respective posts. Other lakes have already been posted and their "creatures" described, in those cases there is a link to the post.

Patagonian lakes and rivers with "lake monsters"
Lake Vichuquen - (34°50' S, 72°05' W)
Lake Caviahue - (37°52' S, 71°02' W)
Lake Quillen - (39º25'S, 71º19'W)
Bio Bio River at Santa Bárbara (37°39' S, 72°01' W). Creature
Toltén River - (39°11' S, 73°12' W). Creature
Lake Villarrica - (39°15' S, 72°06' W). Creature
Aluminé River at Pilo Lil - (39°35' S, 70°57' W)
Polcahue - (39° 04' S, 71° 07' W). Culebrón
Aucapan [Huaca Mamul] - (39°38’ S, 71°17' W). Creature
Lake Huechulafquen - (39°46' S, 71°23' W). More on Huechulito
Lake Paimun - (39°43' S, 71°35 W)
Lake Lolog - (40°01' S, 71° 26' W)
Lake Lacar - (40°10' S, 71°25' W)
Lake Nonthue - (40°09' S, 71°37' W). Creature Here.
Lake Maihue - (40°16'S, 72°13' W)
Lake Ranco - (40°11' S, 72°22' W)
Lake Carrilaufquen - (41°08'S, 69°27'W). Cuero
Lake Nahuel Huapi - (40°58' S, 71°20' W). Several posts on Nahuelito
Lake Llanquihue - (41°09' S, 72°47' W)
Lake Todos Los Santos - (41°06'S, 72°13' W). Lake creatures
Reloncavi Fjord area - (41°41' S, 72°26' W). Water cryptids
Lake Vidal Gormaz - (41°29' S, 71°56' W). Creature Here
Lake de Las Rocas - (42°02' S, 71°05' W). Creature Here
Lake Tagua-Tagua - (41°41' S, 72°07' W). Creature Here
Chiloé Island – various locations (42°34' S, 73°57'W)
Lake Plesiosaurio - (42°09' S, 71°24' W)
Lake Futalaufquen (42°50' S, 71°38'W)
Lake Esquel - (42°53' S, 71°04' W). Creature Here
Lake Rosario - (43°16' S, 71°20' W)
Lake Vintter / Palena (ex-General Paz) - (43°56' S, 71°31' W). Creature Here
Lake La Plata - (44°52' S, 71°48' W)
Senguer River (45°49' S, 69°40' W)
Lake Colhue Huapi - (45°30' S, 68°50' W). Creature Here
Lake el Toro - (45°31' S, 71°51' W). Creature Here
Lake Foitzick - (45°38' S, 72°05' W). Creature Here
Lake Blanco - (45°53' S, 71°13' W)
Lake Buenos Aires / General Carrera - (46°28' S, 71°34' W). Creature Here
Tamango or Chacabuco River - (47°04' S, 72°10' W)
Deseado River - (47°53' S, 65°56'W to 46°31' S, 70° 51' W)
Lake Pueyrredón / Cochrane - (47°18' S, 71°55' W)
Lake Cisnes - (48°25' S, 72°39' W). Creature Here
Lake Tar - (49°15' S; 72°00' W). Creature Here
Lake Viedma - (49°41' S, 72°00' W)
Lake Argentino - (49°58' S, 71°58' W). Creature Here
Santa Cruz River - (49°58' S). Creature Here
Strait of Magellan (Sea) - (53°7' S, 70°40' W). Creature Here
Lake Fagnano - (54°34' S, 68°00' W) (not shown in map is on Tierra del Fuego Island). Creature Here

Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters

Two-headed Patagon Giant

 

While researching on Mapuche sculptures for my post on "Fake" Patagonian Plesiosaur stone carving, I came across a very interesting "two headed" man.

It is on display at the Bullock Dillman Museum in Angol, Chile.

American naturalist, Dillman Samuel Bullock Lytle (1878-1971), excavated in that part of Chile (Arauco) during the mid XX^th century and uncovered funerary urns that were different to those used by the local Mapuche people (Huilliche) and whose size indicated a very small race. An adult’s mummy, five hundred years old recently found in Angol was barely 1,30 m tall (4.2 ft.).[1]

These findings led Bullock to believe that the Mapuche were not the area’s original inhabitants. He assumed that they had originated in the Argentine Pampas and then migrated into Chile. When they arrived there they came across a race of “small people”, which he named Kofkeche. Perhaps the two-headed statue was made by the Kofkeche instead of the Mapuche? I do not know.

Below is an image of the statue:

Detail of "Museo Naturalista Dillman Bullock, Angol". Copyright ©katyta.liraz.[2]

This statue (which may be two people hugging instead of a bicephalic person) reminded me of something that I had read and discarded as a hoax. But now it seems interesting so, let me share it with you.

The article which was published in the ForteanTimes as "The two-headed giant" [3] tells about a giant Patagon with two heads that was captured by the Spaniards in the late 1600s. He killed himself after murdering four of his captors.
He was 3.7 m tall [12 ft.] and, was known as kap dwa which is Malay for "two heads". Why a Patagon ended up with a Malaysian name is a mystery. Somehow he arrived in England in the 1800s and was a fairground attraction since then.
In the 1930s, two doctors and a radiologist inspected it in Weston and found “no perceptual evidence of its being a fake”. Their guess was that the man was a pair of conjoined twins (i.e. "Siamese twins").

He was last seen at Newcastle in 1999. Fake or hoax? that is not known.[3]

The article that I reviewed, included some photographs, one of which I reproduce below (and which seems to depict an African and not a Patagon):

Two Headed Patagon Giant. From [3]. See Footnote [*]

There is another virtually identical mummified Patagon (or was it the same one?), "King Mac-A-Dula", he was " nine feet high, had two heads, was as strong as an elephant, and a great warrior who led his tribe to many victories, and that after one great battle he disappeared and was never seen or heard of again".

His mummy (a natural process acording to the pamphlet we are quoting) "was found in a cave in Patagonia. South America, by a party of English miners, while prospecting for gold". Apparently it was exhibited by the Nelson Supply House at South Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. It was under lease from England, so perhaps it was the same being.

It seems however that Mr. Nelson made his fake mummies out of papier-maché and sold them to anyone willing to display them.[5]


Two-headed creatures have existed as "curios" since time immemorial. See This image of some strange creatures, among which is a two-headed dwarf.

Patagonia also has myths about a condor with two heads and an enigmatic two-headed guanaco, which was a bad omen, a "forerunner of sickness"[6].

Bibliography.

[1] Aburto, M., (2005). Vaca arqueóloga. Encontró esqueleto humano de más de 500 años en Angol. Las Últimas Noticias. Santiago, Chile. 27.06.2005.
[2] Katyta.liraz. Flickr posting. 01.10.2008 Museo Naturalista Dillman Bullock, Angol.
[3] Fortean Times. The Two-Headed Giant.
[4] Sideshow World. Special Attraction King Mac-A-Dula. The Two-Headed Patagonian Giant. Lecture on the Two-headed Giant.
[5] Show History. The Nelson Supply House.
[6] Musters, C. (1873). At home with the Patagonians: a year's wanderings over untrodden ground from the straits of Magellan to the Rio Negro. J. Murray. pp.192.

[*] Footnote.
Legal stuff:
Regarding Copyright of third parties, please see my FAIR USE NOTICE (items 13.a and 13.b) at our Terms and Conditions page. Thank you.

Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters

"Fake" Patagonian Plesiosaur stone carving

 

Plesiosaur fossils are found all over Patagonia, from its northern reaches[1] to its southernmost areas[2]. They have been dead for roughly 65 million years so they can't[*] be related to the "creatures" reported in several Patagonian lakes (i.e. Nahuelito, and the "Plesiosaur Lake creature").

[*]The long dead Plesiosaurs were sea monsters. The Patagonian lakes are freshwater lakes. These lakes were carved quite recently by the glaciers during the last Ice Ages.
For plesiosaurs to live in them we would have to explain how they survived in the oceans for millions of years and then, suddenly -the glaciers melted about 10,000 years ago- opted to live in cold land-locked lakes.
Why did they swim up the long Negro and Limay rivers from the Atlantic to set up their home in a mountain lake?
The mesozoic reptile theory is too flimsy and should be dismissed.

Today I came across an incredible piece of evidently "fake evidence" regarding Nahuelito. It is an article Other Strange Sea Creatures,which in good faith includes the following image assuming it to be true:

Alleged "Ancient Carving of Nahuelito". From: [3]

The text that includes the photograph refers to different "Sea Monsters" and includes Nahuelito, it repeats the usual brief comments on the 1922 Plesiosaur expedition and Garrett's 1910 "sighting".

But the most surprising part of the article is the following, which refers to the above image:

To the left is a depiction of an ancient carving of Nahuelito showing a horned reptilian form (from Eggleton & Suckling, The Book of Sea Monsters, 1998, p. 90.)

In other words we must believe that the local Tehuelche (Poya) or Mapuche people carved that amazingly oriental dragon head in rock!

There are no known comparable or similar carvings by these people. And this one seems to be Chinese, but not native American.

Below is a great book on Mapuche art, compare the style of wood carvings (totems) which they called rehue shown on the cover with the "stone reptile" shown above. Absolutely no similarity. Here is another example, notice how coarse it is in comparison to the dragon.

You can read more about the Mapuche's sculptures Here.

"Mapuche Art (wood carvings). From: [4]

How come I have never seen it in all the years I have spent in Bariloche? It would be a top tourist attraction. I must somehow find the location of the ledge, cliff or cave where this sculpture is and organize tours (I may make a fortune).

I have not been able to check the original source[3], but please do it for me and let me know if the image really appears there, and what is the text that goes with it.


Bibliography.

[1] Salgado, Leonardo, Parras, Ana y Gasparini, Zulma. Un plesiosaurio de cuello corto (Plesiosauroidea, Polycotylidae) del Cretácico Superior del norte de Patagonia. Ameghiniana. [online]. abr./jun. 2007, vol.44, no.2, p.349-358. ISSN 0002-7014.
[2] Otero, Rodrigo A; Suarez, Mario E; LE ROUX, Jacobus P. First record of Elasmosaurid Plesiosaurs (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauria) in upper levels of the Dorotea Formation, Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), Puerto Natales, Chilean Patagonia. AndGeo, Santiago, v. 36, n. 2, jul. 2009. doi: 10.4067/S0718-71062009000200008.
[3] Suckling, Nigel and Eggleton, Bob. (1998). The book of sea monsters. Overlook Press.
[4] Molina, Joaquin. (2007) Mapuche: arte de los pueblos del sur.Fundación Nicolás García Uriburu.

Legal stuff: Regarding Links to other sites, Non endorsement, Brand Names and trademarks and Other products and vendors, such as The Book of sea monsters or Mapuche: arte de los pueblos del sur, please see our Terms and Conditions.
Regarding Copyright of third parties, please see my FAIR USE NOTICE (items 13.a and 13.b) at our Terms and Conditions page. Thank you.


Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters

1421 China discovered Patagonia and its "mylodons"

 

Book Cover. 1421 The year China discovered the World.

Photograph of the book cover from my personal library.

Gavin Menzies' book "1421 The year China discovered the World"[1] proposes a highly imaginative and improbable theory by which a fleet of junks that set sail in 1421 (hence the name of the book), navigated around the globe exploring it thoroughly.

He states that they mapped the world and that the Portuguese and Spanish navigators who would later sail around Africa and discover America used these maps. Additionally they collected specimens of plants and animals taking them back to China. Some of their junks capsized and the shipwrecked survivors peopled different spots around the globe with ethnic Chinese and their domestic animals (dogs, otters, chickens).

Far fetched? In my personal opinion, Yes!!

I base this opinion on what Menzies wrote about Patagonia. First of all he calls the Huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) Huemil, spelling it incorrectly. Then he contends that an animal depicted on Piri Reis 1513 World Map is a mylodon (see my post on this map). Adding that:

It would strip the [trees] branches bare of fruit before lumbering off to demolish the next tree. The animal was said to reach three metres, sometimes even more, in height and slept for most of the time. The native people of Patagonia harnessed these 'harmless souls' in caves during the winter, taking them out to graze in summer; their meat apparently tasted like bland mutton.[2]

Amazing creativity and distortion of scientifically established facts:

1. He is repeating something that is known to be untrue. Tehuelche and mylodons co-existing:
- The remains of mylodon found in Patagonia at least 10,400 years old. So nobody could record what their meat tasted like. (Bland mutton? why not tough moose meat or pungent gnu steaks?).
2. Grazing in summer, enclosed in winter? Based on what proof? We know that these creatures were never domesticated.
3. Furthermore, the native people of Patagonia (Paleo-Indians and their Tehuelche descendants) were hunters and gatherers. They never bred or raised cattle.
4. Fruit from trees? The Patagonian forest is made up of “Southern Beeches” (Nothofagus) species like the ñire, lenga and coihue. None of which have juicy or edible fruits. The mylodon would have eaten their leaves not their fruits.

See my post "The Mylodon Saga" for the real accurate facts regarding Patagonian mylodons.

Menzies then says that the Chinese loaded some specimens on their junks to take them back to the Emperor's zoo in Beijing.

Of course there is no proof that there were ever any mylodon at Beijing.

To add even more incredible "facts" to this fantastic tale, he states that in 1831, at Dusky Sound, New Zealand, two sailors "saw a strange animal perching at the edge of the bush and nibbling the foliage", it had a thick an pointed tail, stood nine meters tall. It chomped on the leaves of big branches that it pulled down quite easily. This is not too unusual, it may be the description of some cryptid. But then, he adds:

The animal described corresponds in size, posture and eating habits with the mylodons the Chinese could have taken aboard in Patagonia. Perhaps a pair escped from the [junk] wreck, survived and bred in similar conditions to their home territory in Patagonia - the latitudes are the same.[3]

The only accurate statement in the parragraph is that New Zealand and Patagonia are located at the same latitude (also, there are some Nothofagus species there, similar to the Patagonian ones - a fact Menzies overlooked).

So in other words, we are asked to believe that: in 1421 a group of Chinese explorers [of an unproved voyage] after discovering America [no proof of that either], took mylodons [which were then extinct] from Patagonia and transported them to New Zealand which, by the way they also discovered [unproved]. These mylodons somehow swam ashore after a shipwreck at New Zealand, where they bred and survived [at least four hundred years - because they have not been seen since 1831].

Can anyone top that as the most amazing tale ever told?

If the other "proof" given in the rest of the book is as tenuous and unfounded as this, then I seriously doubt that the Chinese discovered the world in 1421.

Bibliography.

[1] Menzies, G., (2003). 1421 The year China discovered the World. London: Bantam Press.
[2] Ibid. pp. 150+
[3] Ibid. pp. 209.

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Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters

"Monster" at Bahía López

 

The photograph was taken at Bahía López, on Lake Nahuel Huapi one rainy day in February 2007. At the back is Mount Capilla (2.167 m - 7,104 ft.) which forms the western "corner" where two of the lake's fjords merge (Blest and Tristeza fjords).

Nothing unusual in the image.

However if you look carefully, you will see in the center, something dark jutting out of the lake about 200 meters away (650 ft.).

A long-necked plesiosaur? a clawed fin of some lake creature? Nahuelito?

No. It is only a tree trunk.

Sometimes we see what we want to see. So we should always look at things with a critical eye.

"Monster" at Bahía López. Nahuel Huapi.
Copyright © 2007 by Austin Whittall

Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters