The name "Patagonia" comes from the legend of the Patagons (large feet), an indigenous race of giants nevertheless vouched for unanimously by the first sailors to these parts: Magellan in 1520, Simon de Alcazaba y Sotomayor in 1535 and Thomas Cavendish in 1578. Amazed Europeans learnt these giants were more than 3 metres tall, danced on the beaches and threw sand on their head.