Fuegian Monster Sculpture by the Chonos (?) in the 1820s

William Low is mentioned by FitzRoy his account of the voyages of the ships Adventure and Beagle (1826 and 1836). Low was a British sealer and ship captain who shared information with FitzRoy when they met in the Falkland / Malvinas Islands in 1833.

Low provided FitzRoy with plenty of useful tips on the Patagonian natives, Southern Chile, and the geography, weather, culture, etc. Of interest is what FitzRoy wrote in his book about a "sculpture" done by the Chono people (See p. 194).

He says that Low took a young boy, who spoke English, on board his ship, the Adeona. The child acted as pilot and interpreter during the 18 months Low surveyed the area. He was named Bob by the sealers that hunted in the region. FitzRoy says he was "one of the Chonos tribe ... Niqueaccas".

The wooden effigy of an evil spirit is mentioned in the underlined text in the quote below:

"The boy Bob had been taken on board the Adeona, in consequence of some dispute with the natives, who had stolen things from the vessel. Mr. Low intended to keep him as a hostage until the missing property should be restored; but the tribe decamped, and as Low was obliged to sail, he carried the boy away with him. At the return of the vessel, about eight months afterwards, the boy saw something on shore, at the entrance of the harbour, which he looked at for some time very earnestly, and then gave Mr. Low to understand that the natives had declared war against him and his ship, and intended to attack her at her return. No natives being visible, Low went ashore with the boy, to see what it was that had attracted his attention, and found a number of spears, arrows, and clubs, roughly cut out of wood, painted red, and stuck into the ground, across a point of the island, and having in the middle a large block of wood, roughly carved into a strange figure (said by the boy to be that of their evil spirit) curiously painted, with long red teeth, and having a short halter of hide (seal-skin) round the part intended to represent a neck. Notwithstanding this outward demonstration of anger and intent to revenge, not a native was seen in the neighbourhood during the many months which Low passed there, and in consequence he had no opportunity of restoring the boy to his own tribe; but he was afterwards kindly received, and treated as Low's son, among the Patagonians of Gregory Bay"

This is the first reference of a wood sculpture among Southern Patagonian tribes. I wonder, which is this animal depicted by the wood block, the "strange figure... evil spirit... curiously painted, with long red teeth, and... short halter of hide... round the neck"?

This is the first description of the image of a demon or spirit in Southern Patagonia. The artistic expressions of the Patagonian natives were painting on their guanaco hides, or quillangos, and the rock art of the ancient Paleoindians. They seldom carved stone other than for utilitarian purposes, and the use of wood for making whittled effigies is unheard of. In 2014 I posted about some "sculptures" done by Fuegian natives, none resemble the one described above. Below is an example found in a museum.

Kaweskar (Alakaluf) mask. See the 3-D version online at the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Chile

Was it a mythical beast, or a depiction of some real creature. As you can see in the image above, the Alakaluf boat people made wooden masks, they were coarse, but perhaps colored with white (ash) and red (ochre) like the ones used by the Selk'nam Fuegians in their Hain initiation ceremonies (see a colored postage stamp series below based on real black and white photos taken by Father M. Gusinde in the early 1900s).

I have read many articles and books, and this is a first. This is different from the Rewe or wooden totems of the Mapuche, who lived 1,600 km (1,000 mi.) further north, and were more civilized than the Chono people (living in houses, farmers, with domesticated llamas -chilihueque). The Chono were canoe people, who were hunter-gatherers and lived on the edge of the Ocean in a rainy region, with coarse tents made of seal skin. Not one reference mentions their art or sculpted wood.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2025 by Austin Whittall © 

Monsters, Cryptozoology and Genetic Memory

 

Monsters, are they written in our genes?

Today I read an interesting post in a blog (see [1]) on Genetic Memory. Which was defined as:

a process in which a memory is passed down through the generations without the individual having to experience first-hand the topic of the memory. [1]

So, for instance, the fear of snakes, which is virtually universal across mankind can be explained as follows:

Snakes are really dangerous and we evolved in the tropical climes of Africa, where snakes are abundant. If we were frightened enough to keep clear of snakes, our survival (and our species’) would be greatly enhanced. So, this fear was somehow (alas, no explanation is given for the hard-wiring mechanism) incorporated into our genes and thus transmitted to future generations. So, even nowadays, people who have never seen a snake are frightened of them, and get out of their way.

Genetic memory would be an evolutionary adaptation to our survival, and, snakes are not alone as part of this "memory"; the post mentions several other “ingrained” fears:

• Ape men (apparently caused by the rival Neanderthal hominds)
• Universal Floods
• Incubus, Succubus and demons
• Ghosts
• Lake monsters, wild cats, werewolves and terror birds

To his credit, the author states in a rational manner: “ Personally I think [Genetic Memory] is a really flimsy idea, somewhat logical when discussing global phobias but lacking in logic when it comes to modern day sightings of global phenomena” [1].

However, if it was true, this storehouse of latent memory traces that we have all inherited from our long dead cavemen ancestors, could account for our deep fears towards “monsters”.

This theory of a genetic memory was first forward by Carl Gustav Jung (1875 - 1961|), with his “collective unconscious”, which he said was made up of unconscious images or “archetypes”, inherited from our ancestors, images that help us respond to the world in a certain way, and survive. God, fear of dark, babies and mothers instant bonding, etc., all derive from it.

And its relationship with cryptozoology, dates back to 1982: “ In effect, myths support and impregnate all our thoughts, and seem to have their roots in the subsoil of our being, in what CG Jung called ‘the collective unconscious’. “ [2].

In October 2009 I posted on Belief in monsters and Patagonian cryptozoology, and gave several explanations for the universal fear towards monsters, but I did not include Jung's collective unconscious or genetic memory as one of them. Today's post rectifies that omission.

Sources

[1] Theophanes. Examples of Genetic Memory or Something Else?
[2] Heuvelmans, Bernard, (1982). What is Cryptozoology?. Cryptozoology, Vol 1. International Society of Cryptozoology, Winter 1982. pp. 9+

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

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

Open your mind but keep it rational

 

El sueño de la razõn produce monstruos (The sleep of reason brings forth monsters)
by Goya (1799). From [1]

Just a reminder to keep an open mind when analyzing strange phenomena such as cryptozoology, above I reproduced a famous piece of art.

It is an etching with aquatint, "El sueño de la razón produce monstruos", by Spanish painter Francisco de Goya y Lucientes. It is included in his 1799 series "Los Caprichos (it is the 43^rd of the series).

The meaning of the drawing, according to its author is that fantasy, by itself, without the company of reason produces monsters, yet when it is reinforced by reason it is the mother of art.

So, fantasy alone produces pseudo-science, fantasy plus reason can shake the foundations of science (i.e. Einstein and his insight on relativity or Kekulé and his dream on the shape of the Benzene molecule).

Bibliography.

[1] Online Here.



Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters

Strait of Magellan Sea Monster

 

Sea Monster.
By Michael Nicoll (1905).[2]

In the midst of the "plesiosaur furore", an article was published stating that Lieutenant-commander O. Bavilaqua had seen a strange creature one afternoon in 1906 while sailing 500 meters (1,600 ft.) off the coast, along the Strait on the USS Kaweah:

I heard a splash and saw a huge ice-covered boulder splash into the sea from the high, rocky shore. A moment later a large animal appeared at the point from which the boulder had dropped and looked out toward me. The head was shaped like that of a horse and the neck was fully thirty feet long [10 meters].[1]

Note that the long neck is definitively plesiosaur-like and may have been added to embellish the story.

At about that same time frame, a very similar sea monster was reported off the coast of Brazil (very far from Patagonia).[2] Below is the eyewitness (Mr. Michael Nicoll) account:

On the 7th December, 1905, when in latitude 7° 14' S., longitude 34° 25' W., and about fourteen miles from the coast of Brazil near Para, a creature of most extraordinary form and proportions was sighted by two of us. At the time we were under
sail only, and were slowly making our way to Bahia. It was at about 10 o'clock in the morning, and I was leaning on the rail of the poop deck, when a large fin suddenly appeared close to the ship at a distance of about fifty yards. This fin resembled that of no fish I had previously seen, and I pointed it out immediately to Mr. E. G. B.
Meade- Waldo, who was on deck with me at the time, and we watched it together for several minutes. As we passed slowly by, a long eel-like neck surmounted by a head, shaped somewhat like that of a turtle, rose out of the water in front of the fin. This creature remained in sight for a few minutes, but we soon drew ahead of it, and it
became lost to view, owing to the ripple of the water. Owing to the fact that we were under sail at the time, it was not possible to go about and make a closer inspection, and with great regret we had to be content with the view we had had of this remarkable monster.
[...]
This creature was an example, I consider, of what has been so often reported, for want of a better name, as the " great sea-serpent." I feel sure, however, that it was not a reptile that we saw, but a mammal. It is, of course, impossible to be certain of this, but the general appearance of the creature, especially the soft, almost rubber-like fin, gave one this impression.[2]

The full account of the sighthing was published printed in the " Proceedings " of the Zoological Society of London (10th October, 1906, p. 721).

So perhaps, there is a slim chance that Commander Bevilaqua read this report in 1906 or (and the chances of this are really slim) saw the same creature a few months later in the Strait.

Could it be some kind of cryptid? a long-necked seal? (notice that it is described as mammalian not reptilian by Nicoll).

Or was it an Oarfish a "sea serpent" (actually a fish that looks like one)?

Bibliography.

[1] The New York Times (1922). Says he has seen Patagonia monster. N. York, U.S., 12.03.1922.
[2] Nicoll, M., (1908). Three voyages of a naturalist, being an account of many little- known islands in three oceans visited by the "Valhalla," R.Y.S.. London: Witherby & Co. pp. 22+

Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters

Why Patagonian Monsters?

 

The Book, coming soon. Copyright © 2010 by Austin Whittall

Myths about monstruous animals and weird beings have permeated and haunted all cultures around the world since the dawn of mankind; examples can be found in North America’s Bigfoot, Scandinavian trolls and in the Australian Aboriginals’ Yahoo.

These Little People, Giants, Wild Men and monsters may just be the product of the universal unconscious mind that binds human cultures across the chasm of space and time, or they may be based on some hidden aspect of reality till undiscovered by science.

Even within the safe embrace of our Western XXI^st century society we may still feel a shudder of apprehension during dark nights or while trekking in thick gloomy forests. The world is evidently still full of monsters that captivate our imagination and awaken our deepest fears.

Modern technology has done little to abate this irrational dread and perhaps has made us even more aware of our vulnerabilty to the mysteries lurching in the dark.

The Southern tip South America, Patagonia, also has its share of legendary beasts and mysterious monsters. Patagonia’s wonderful yet lonely scenery, from its barren steppe to its shady forests, crystal clear lakes and frozen Andean peaks, raises disquieting questions in the minds of those who venture into it:

Are there any mysterious creatures lurking in the depths of those seemingly peaceful mountain lakes or lying in wait within the damp somber woods?

Are we being watched by some unknown beings while we stroll along the lonely sunlit mountain paths?

This blog will look for answers to these and other questions focusing on the subject with healthy skepticism and a certain reluctance to belief without substance.

Objectivity requires us to be wary of wishful thinking and the evidence that I will provide, though circumstancial and perhaps inconclusive, is reasonable and well documented from a wide variety of sources.

Patagonia which was until quite recently unknown and considered the uttermost part of the Earth is still a vast and virtually empty land.

Spanish conquest had left it alone in splendid isolation for nearly three centuries, lacking easy gold or tame natives, its inhospitable geography and tough climate rendered it useless to them.

Their “Conquistadors” and explorers did not venture far inland, they merely reconnoitered its fringes or sailed past its bleak coasts en route to the riches of Asia, only sporadically meeting whatever natives came down to its shores to trade furs and feathers for European goods.

To enlighten those back in Europe, Bestiaries were written taking Indian tales, hearsay and myth as factual; colonial naturalists wrote tracts about mysterious creatures as if they were a confirmed fact. Cartographers and navigators drew them into their maps to show what to expect when exploring the region.

This isolation and lack of interest means that there are very few original sources that document the natives’ “real” beliefs and their tales of the monsters that peopled their world.

The chronicles of the few missionaries who dared to enter the Patagonian wilderness in an attempt to convert the “Indians” provide a sketchy record of their now extinct customs during the period spanning from the late XVII^th century to the early XIX^th century.

South American independence wars, civil strife and turmoil delayed scientific exploration of Patagonia until the last years of the XIX^th century when Victorian gentlemen penned unclear and perhaps biased notes on the free roaming Patagonians during the dying days of their ancestral cultures.

Regrettably this was a period of chaos for the natives; alcohol and disease brought by Western men were taking their toll on them. Subsequent military conquest and war led to the final destruction of their cultures. In less than fifty years, their way of life that had lasted for millennia disappeared forever.

The surviving natives, scattered across their former territories, were highly acculturalized and absorbed by western civilization. Their myths about strange forest and lake beings, giants and dwarves, monsters and wild creatures vanished with their ancient knowledge, irrevocably lost.

Only later, during the mid XX^th century, would anthropologists and sociologists approach the last reluctant elder natives in an attempt to document their fading childhood recollections before they died.

It is on these three types of sources, the Missionaries’ chronicles the explorers’ travelogues and the anthropologists’ papers that I have pieced together the monsters portrayed in this blog.

Several publications have dealt with Patagonian cryptozoological creatures, most of them focusing on a few well known yet evidently apocriphal examples such as "Nahuelito"; others deal with European tales recently incorporated into the Patagonian lore such as gnomes and elves, ignoring the genuine native dwarves such as yosi and trauco.

I, on the other hand have preferred to emphasize the many lesser-known and even obscure mysterious beasts that abound in the native myths and in forgotten and scarcely read travelouges, historical accounts or journals.

These Patagonian creatures have walked through the forests of my mind for over three decades, now I want to share them with you. Perhaps under the veil of mythology lies a solid reality, a truth waiting to be found and proven by science.

My purpose is to introduce readers to the rich variety of bizarre creatures that Patagonia harbors, and I hope that this blog will answer some questions and provoke others; that it challenges readers to conduct further research on their own.

Please read and enjoy it with a skeptical yet open mind.

Austin V. Whittall





Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters