“. . . What their numbers were in the first half of the XVIth century it is impossible to say with certainty; but the old narratives, which do not seem on this point to deserve the reproach of exaggeration more than once and with justice attributed to them, estimate them as no fewer than several thousand combatants. In Azara’s time the entire tribe scarcely reckoned a thousand souls, and at the present day it cannot count two hundred.
“Their stature is remarkable, and unquestionably surpasses that of most nations of the globe. The measurements of eight individuals, taken at random, would justify the application of this epithet to the Payaguas, as they gave me an average of 5ft. 9in. The women’s height is no less striking: that of four females over twenty was—the first and second, 5 feet; the third, 5 feet 2 inches, and the fourth, 5 feet 33⁄4 inches; or an average of 5 feet 11⁄4 inches. Many conclusions may be drawn from this double series of measurements. On comparing the average stature of the Payaguas with that of mankind in general, which physiologists agree in fixing at about 5 feet 6 inches, it will be seen that the difference in favour of the former is no less than 3 inches. And further, if we place in comparison the measurements taken by accurate travellers of the races which pass for the tallest on the globe, of the Patagonians for instance, we find that their average height as stated by M. d’Orbigny is 5 feet 7 inches. Consequently the Payaguas actually surpass by two inches the height of a race which has from time immemorial been regarded as fabulously tall.
“The Payaguas are invariably lanky, none but the women ever showing signs of corpulence. Their shoulders are broad and the muscles of their chests, arms, and backs display a development produced by constant use of the oar, for they live in their canoes; but, as a species of compensation, the predominance of the proportions of the upper limbs causes the lower extremities to appear slight and meagre.
193.—A PARAGUAYAN MESSENGER.
“Their skin, smooth and soft to the touch, like that of the natives of the New Continent, is of an olive-brown shade, which it would be difficult to define more accurately. It seems somewhat lighter than that of the Guaranis, and does not exhibit the same yellowish or Mongolian tints.
“The Payaguas carry their massive heads erect, and have an abundant supply of long, straight, or slightly curly hair, which they cut across the foreheads, and never comb, allowing it to grow and fall about them in disorder. The young warriors alone partly gather it at the back of the crown where it is tied by a little red string, or by a strap cut from a monkey skin. A similar custom obtains among the Guatos of Cuyaba, who, we may say incidentally, have more resemblance to this nation than to the Guaranis, though a learned classification has placed them side by side with the latter. Their small, keen eyes, a little contracted but not turned up at the outer angle, have an expression of cunning and shrewdness, and the lines of the long slightly rounded nose recall the Caucasian conformation to the mind. Their cheekbones are but little prominent; their lower lip protrudes beyond the upper, thus imparting to their grave and impressive countenances an expression of scornful pride, well in keeping with the character of this unsubdued race.
“The women when young are well-proportioned without being slight, but they fatten early, their features become deformed, and their figures grow squat and dumpy. To atone for this, however, their hands and feet always retain a remarkable smallness, although they walk barefooted and take no care whatever of their persons. I have also observed this delicate formation, a distinction which European ladies covet so much, among the tribes of the Chaco, who are, with the Payaguas, the finest in America. Their hair is allowed to float about the shoulders and is never confined.
“A young girl on emerging from childhood undergoes tattooing. By means of a thorn and the fruit of the genipa, a bluish streak, about half an inch wide, is drawn perpendicularly across the forehead and down the nose as far as the upper lip; and when she marries this stripe is prolonged over the under lip to below the chin. Its shades vary from violet to a slate-coloured blue, and its marks are indelible. Some women add other lines to this, as well as designs traced with the flaming tint of the urucu; this latter fashion, however, though general half a century ago, and which Azara describes minutely, has become more and more uncommon.