This great central valley is parcelled out among large landowners, many of whom own almost princely estates. As agriculture has always been the chief occupation of the Chilenos, fully one-half of the population being engaged in it, these estates have been held in the same family for generations in many instances. A farm of a thousand acres is small, and there are many which number thirty or forty thousand acres. Upon the product of these broad acres the owner lives in luxury almost like the feudal lords of old. Hundreds of peons work on the haciendas, just as their forefathers did before them, and they really form a small army of retainers, who used to be ready to fight the battles of the hacendado at a moment’s call. Now they work for them for small wages, and are always in debt. So long as they are indebted to the master they can be compelled to remain and work it out.

Irrigation has been considerably developed in some parts. Each hacendado is a subscriber to or shareholder in an irrigation canal. These have been constructed at a great expense and are protected by very strict laws. They consist of main canals starting well up among the hills, and are pierced by many small outlets, called regadores. Each of these has an outlet of a fixed number of litres per second. The fields are traversed by parallel and intersecting smaller channels, and the water is thus conducted from place to place. Movable dams of canvas stop the flow into these intersecting channels, so that the amount flowing can be regulated as the needs require.

It is seldom that one will see fences of wire or boards, for most of the estates are hemmed in with walls of stone. The absence of barns on the landscape is a striking feature, and the only buildings of any size are the low, rambling structures which form the residence of the hacendado, his administrador, and other heads. These usually consist of one-storied buildings, which are built around a central patio, and have wide porches floored with brick. The patios are laid out in pretty little gardens, in which the palm is sure to have its part in the attempt at ornamentation. Great avenues of lofty trees usually run out in every direction along the roads or irrigation channels. The most of the estates are fairly well kept, for the Chileans are quite progressive agriculturalists. One will find on many of these great farms the very latest of farming implements, including steam or gasoline tractors for certain phases of the work. Especially is this true of their harvesting machinery, which includes the latest North American patterns. But in one respect there are some antiquated features, and that is in transportation. If animal power is employed it is almost invariably oxen, and not horses or mules. They plough the ground, haul the timber, and behind them the thousands of bushels of grain produced in this valley are conveyed to market. These animals are yoked by the horns, which seems a very cruel way to treat these humble but faithful servants of man. It looks to the onlooker as though every jar of the great carts must give pain to the oxen, and oftentimes their eyes seem almost darting from their heads.

The vineyards of this valley cover thousands of acres, for the Chileans drink wine as the Germans drink beer. A meal without the white or red contents of a long-necked bottle would be incomplete. The vines are dwarfed, and are planted in rows five or six feet apart. In many cases they are trained upon wires, and the vineyards are not unlike those in some parts of France. The abundance of a certain species of snail is said to be one of the worst enemies of vitaculture. The Chilean wines, both red and white, have quite a reputation, and the exports are increasing each year.

The abundance of dogs about these Chilean haciendas impresses the traveller. The Chilenos are very fond of these animals, and everybody seems to keep many of them. Most of them are obliged to forage for a living. They naturally become rather unsavoury scavengers under such circumstances. It is not advisable to approach a farm, especially at night, without being accompanied by some one connected with the place, as the dogs seem to consider it their duty to protect the household from intrusion. Furthermore, the people living there are free to fire at any unauthorized person, because of the prevalence of petty thieving.

Temuco is at a distance of a little less than five hundred miles from Santiago. It is situated on the Cautin River, and is the capital of the province of that name. Only thirty years old, this city already has a population of twelve thousand, and covers about as much space as an American town of the same size. Like an American town, also, its houses are mostly of wood, a striking contrast to the older towns, farther down the valley toward the capital. Although the temperature becomes quite cold here at times the houses are built without chimneys, for the people believe that fires are unhealthful. Churches, clubs and hotels have been built, and there are saloons where almost pure alcohol is dished out to the poor peons.

Back into the wilderness from here and other places the government has pushed short spurs of railroads in order to open it up. The government locates the stations and lays out the lots, which are sold at low prices to actual settlers. The lands round about are sold at auction in good sized blocks of fifteen hundred acres or more. This land will bring from one to twelve dollars per hectare (about two and a quarter acres). A farm of two thousand acres of choice land could probably be secured for five thousand dollars in United States currency. The sales are generally made upon the basis of one-third cash, and the balance is distributed over a period of years. The only provision exacted by the government is that the purchaser must fence in his newly-acquired possessions, but this is oftentimes a great expense. This land when heavily stocked with cattle is said to yield very good returns.

A few years ago every new immigrant was promised one hundred acres of land, a team of oxen, a barrel of nails and enough boards to build a small house. He was also advanced the money necessary for his transportation. All of this had to be repaid, however, and the land alone was the only actual gift. Under these terms many Germans were induced to come to this land of promise. Many of these settlers have done well, and some towns, such as Valdivia and Puerto Montt, are largely German cities.

The first German settlers arrived about 1850, and they continued to come in considerable numbers for the next decade. The first emigrants arrived in the German barque Hermann, after a journey of one hundred and twenty days from Hamburg. She brought seventy men, ten women and five children. They had been lured by the promises of an immigration agent who described the country as flowing with milk and honey. When they arrived everything was in hopeless confusion, for titles were uncertain and the country was an almost unbroken forest. The colonists began work under these discouraging conditions and the face of the country soon showed alteration. Puerto Montt was founded, and a good road built through the trackless and swampy woodland to Lake Llanquihue. The influx of Germans has continued even to this day, and many will be found who can speak no other tongue than that of the Vaderland.

On the journey from Santiago to Puerto Montt no less than a dozen provinces are passed. Many of these are comparatively small, such as O’Higgins, which is about the size of Delaware, to Llanquihue, which corresponds with our own state of Indiana. Most of them run from the Andes to the coast, but Arauco and Maule are purely coast provinces. The names of the provinces in this section, and their order beginning with the one adjoining the province of Santiago, are as follows:—O’Higgins, Colchagua, Curico, Talca, Maule, Linares, Nuble, Concepción, Bio-Bio, Arauco, Malleco, Cautin, Valdivia, and Llanquihue.

Along the coast between Puerto Montt and Valparaiso are several ports of more or less importance. Among these are Constitucion, situated at the mouth of the River Talcahuano, and Coronel. The latter is the Newcastle of Chile, for it is in the midst of many coal mines. Many of these mines run out under the Pacific for long distances. The seams of coal are from three to five feet thick. They are under a strata of slate and shale, which is so compact as to be absolutely water-tight. It is a strange experience to run out in these mines, which form a veritable catacomb of corridors and chambers, and realize that perhaps at that very moment some of the great ocean steamers are majestically sailing the blue waters directly over you. I know of no similar mines except those of Whitehaven, England, where the galleries run out several miles under the sea and seem to be headed for the Isle of Man.

Lota is also another mining town on this same bay, and is a town of about fifteen thousand people. This city and Coronel are really twin ports. Lota was founded by Matias Cousiño, who opened up the mines and established smelter works in 1855. The company owns a large amount of property and employs several thousand men. It furnishes huts, free medical attendance, a church, schools and a hospital for its employees. The sight of this town is the wonderful palace built by his widow, which was constructed at a cost of many thousands of dollars. It is a château of white Italian marble, and stands in the centre of a French landscape garden. There are ravines, fountains, statuary, arbours, terraces, grottoes, artificial lakes and a small zoological exhibit on the grounds. It blends French and English landscape gardening with some original ideas. Few country homes in Europe can compare with it. It is said that all the material was brought from France in the Señora Doña Isadora Goyenecheo de Cousiño’s own ships, and the interior is adorned with fine furniture and decorations by famous French artists. Cousiño Park at Lota has become the pride of Chile.

By far the most important town is Concepción, also in the coal district, and which is known as the southern capital. It has had many serious struggles with the Indians, gaunt famine and the still more terrible earthquake. It is really a fine city of about fifty thousand inhabitants. The last serious earthquake occurred in 1835, when nearly the whole town was destroyed. It is situated on the banks of the Bio-Bio River, and has for its port Talcahuano at the mouth of that river. Talcahuano has a splendid harbour, and is better protected than Valparaiso, as it is sheltered by the island of Quiriquina. Whaling ships now leave it for the Antarctic seas and bring back considerable oil and whalebone. There is a factory here for the manufacture and refining of whale oil. It is the Chilean Annapolis, as it is the principal naval harbour, with arsenals and dockyards, and is also the site of a naval school. It will eventually be the Pacific terminus of a transcontinental railroad running to Bahia Blanca, in Argentina.

Concepción is the supply centre of Southern Chile, and does a large wholesale business as well as some manufacturing on a small scale. Quite a foreign colony is found there, and there are as good clubs and hotels as in Valparaiso, its northern rival. It has forgotten all about earthquakes and has risen above its former disasters. It is arranged very much as other Chilean cities. There is an alameda bordered with poplars, and there is a plaza. Lord Cochrane (pronounced Coch-rah-ne by the Chileans), and Admiral O’Higgins are remembered in the nomenclature of the streets. You can sit under municipal vines and fig-trees, or the pear or cherry loaded with blossoms, if you happen to be there in September. The markets are overflowing with fine vegetables, such as cauliflower, lettuce, artichokes, carrots, radishes, potatoes, cabbage, etc., etc. Indian faces are very numerous at the market and on the streets. Bands play two or three nights in the week and the music is good. The flat plain on which the town is situated is not especially beautiful, but it gives unlimited opportunity for growth, and the Bio-Bio, especially when at flood, is an impressive stream. The galvanized iron used so extensively in construction does not add much to the beauty of the town. As Southern Chile develops, Concepción becomes of greater and greater importance, and it has a steady and healthy increase each year.

Osorno is a thriving city a little ways inland on a branch of the Rio Bueno, and was a place of considerable importance in the Spanish days. Corral is at the mouth of the river that leads back to Valdivia, a dozen miles inland. It has a trade of considerable importance with the other ports, and is distant from Valparaiso almost five hundred miles. The coast is not so densely wooded as farther south, and the tide is not more than one-fourth as high on the average. Puerto Montt is a prosperous and progressive little town situated on Reloncavi Bay. It has a well protected harbour and enjoys a considerable trade in lumber, wheat and leather. The lofty Andes are plainly visible on a clear day, especially the volcano Cabulco, which is only twenty-two miles distant. A half century ago this port had a commerce of considerable value and was even then exporting food products, although its population did not much exceed a couple of thousand.

There are innumerable islands, which lie close to the mainland, from Puerto Montt to the Fuegian Archipelago. The largest of these is Chiloé, which is a hundred miles long by from thirty to fifty miles in width. It is generally considered to be one of the sloppiest islands in the world, for that was the reputation the naturalist Darwin gave it, and his opinion has been corroborated many times. Its length runs parallel to the mainland, from which it is separated by a quite broad bay. The shores are generally wild and rather inhospitable. If one lands any place, excepting where a settler is located, the dense growth will be found almost impenetrable, with all branches dripping with moisture, and only an occasional sunbeam being able to push its way through the openings in the evergreen shrubbery. Moss-covered bogs abound in which one may sink to the waist in the mire. On this moist land everything grows with wonderful rapidity that does not require a great amount of sunshine. Moss, yards in length, and of great delicacy and beauty, hangs from the branches, while ferns and polypodia scramble up the trunks. Beautifully scalloped lichens, in brown and gold and lavender, decorate the fallen trees wherever they can take hold, and fungi covers the larger trees. Tough-fibred climbers of great length also decorate the trees. They are oftentimes employed to tie up the fences instead of nails, and are also used in weaving some of the beautiful baskets made by the natives. Brooms made of it are likewise exported. This dense growth abounds everywhere, with the exception of barren pampas which sometimes stretch for a quarter of a mile or so. Cattle will sometimes wander into these thick meshes, and no one but an Indian accustomed to the tangle can penetrate with anything like facility in their efforts to find the recalcitrant animals.

Several thousand Indians dwell on this large island. They have been semi-civilized for two or three centuries. They seem to have been less warlike than the Araucanians on the mainland. Their clothing is modelled somewhat after that of the rotos, for nearly all sport a white cotton or linen shirt, which is oftentimes worn under the gaily-coloured indigo-dyed poncho. The shoes are generally simply made of a piece of raw oxhide fastened to the feet with thongs of leather. Their houses are the very simplest of contrivances. The family that starves does so only through indifference. Land is cheap and nature productive. Most of them live near the seacoast or rivers, where fish are very abundant, and edible wild-fowl of many kinds, including ducks, geese and pigeons, are easy to capture. The forests yield a number of wild fruits and vegetables. Among the wild fruits may be mentioned strawberries of a delicious flavour, and a species of myrtle which bears a palatable berry. The fruit of the luma, or kow-chow, is very abundant, and is used in making a fermented liquor much used by the natives. They have remained as poor as when the Spaniards came, and the population has actually decreased in the last century. This island, as well as others, was a feudal holding and the tyranny of the proprietors and abuses of the merchants account for that. Justice and humanity were frequently unknown terms. Churches are not wanting, for at one place nineteen can be counted on islands and mainland when the weather is clear. The church is always an important and conspicuous building in every community. A few colonists, German, French and British, have located on this island, and have succeeded in carving a home out of the wilderness if sufficiently industrious. Nevertheless many of them have endured great hardships. The Chilean government brought them over but had neglected to provide the necessary roads.

Chiloé is the name of a province composed entirely of islands. In addition to the large island just described, it includes the archipelagoes of Chonos and Guaytecas, and embraces altogether no less than a thousand islands. Many of them contain only a few inhabitants, although the natural characteristics are similar to Chiloé itself. There are several towns on Chiloé. One of them is Chacao, which, for two hundred years, was the principal port. It was founded in 1567, but was practically abandoned three hundred years later. Castro was the capital until it was transferred to Ancud in 1834. These towns were plundered by Dutch freebooters and also destroyed by earthquakes. Ancud is situated pleasantly, but the bay seems to be filling up so that large vessels have to anchor several miles out at sea. Lord Cochrane once attacked this town and wrested it from the Spaniards. Living in this town is very cheap, for the necessities of life can be purchased in the ample market at very low prices. South of Ancud there is only one town of importance, Mellinca, on the Guaytecas archipelago. With the exception of Punta Arenas it is the most southerly settlement of any size in Chile. To-day it is much less important than formerly, although still somewhat of a village with probably less than a thousand population. The first establishment in these towns is usually a distillery of aguardiente (brandy), and its product is not a good friend of either native or settler.

The life both in air and water is very abundant. The sea is most lavish in life of all kinds, and can furnish an almost exhaustless supply of food for those living farther north. The robalo is a Chilean fish of fine flavour. The corbina, which is as large as a good-sized cod, is another good species. The pege-ruge is a sort of smelt, and the herrings abound in countless numbers. Oyster beds too are numerous. They are all natural beds, however, but systematic farming might make them as good as those along our own Atlantic coast. Other mussels and edible crabs of several species abound.

With such an abundance of sea life it is only natural that birds of the fishing tribe should be plentiful. Huge pelicans, those dirty, unwieldy birds, are attracted here by this abounding life. Cormorants are equally numerous, as they are all along this coast. Penguins are also found here. The grube, whose skin is in such demand, is also quite common. The Antarctic goose is abundant, and the white gander on guard is a rather beautiful black and white bird. He always occupies some prominent rocky point, keeping watch and guard over his mate intent upon domestic duties. Insect life is also very busy, and a red bee almost as large as some humming-birds is especially characteristic of this region. It flies rapidly and hovers around among the flowers almost like the humming-bird.

Opposite Chiloé, on the mainland, is the Palena River, the largest river in Chile. The excessive rains and melting snows from the lofty peaks, which are plainly visible when the mists have cleared away, keep the banks filled with water. Every cloud that sweeps in from the Pacific comes down in rain as soon as it encounters the mountains. The slopes are dotted with wood clear up to the snow-line. The woods here, as well as elsewhere, are seemingly impenetrable. There are many flowering trees which add their beauty to the scene. A tall cane from which the Indians used to make spears grows in great confusion almost everywhere. It grows in great stools like giant bunches of rushes. The genii of vegetation takes possession of the riches of the ground. The beautiful green of the Chilean pine predominates. The mouth of the river is a stretch of delta. Of course it cannot compare with the streams on the Atlantic coast, but it is a striking river. Dancing mountain streams join it here and there—sometimes with a leap from the hills, thus forming numerous cascades. These white streaks of the cascades are visible on the mountain slopes in many places. The mists keep shifting and shimmering around the various peaks,—now revealing and again hiding the silent glens or gullies. The abundance of wooding oftentimes almost overcomes the beholder with the helplessness of humanity in such a region. The north winds which bring the rains are usually warm, while the south winds which blow up from the Antarctic regions are dry and cold. These and the west winds, which have such a stretch of sea to blow over, bring the worst storms, for they are not impeded for thousands of miles.

These facts lead one to speculate on the possibilities of timber development in Chile. This republic probably contains almost as great a proportion of wooded land as any country in the world. From the Straits to Valdivia it is almost an unbroken forest. The trees are sometimes almost covered with parasites. In places they are almost matted together with the climbing bamboo, and at others they are covered with soft cushions of the graceful liverworts and green mosses. In the extreme southern part of the republic the trees become more stunted and gnarled, and are not large enough to be of commercial value for lumber purposes. This primeval forest probably extended along the coast as far as Valparaiso, since that place was originally selected as a seaport because the rich woods near at hand afforded material for shipbuilding. Those forests have entirely disappeared. In the southern part of the central valley they are being ruthlessly destroyed. It is simply cut down and burned, while the republic as a whole imports hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of timber products from other countries. It is quite probable that an important lumber industry is still awaiting development in Southern Chile. Much of it will certainly be valuable for wood pulp if for nothing else, so that of the making of books and periodicals there may still be no end. The dangerous nature of the coast may make navigation perilous. The Pacific Ocean down there is not always so pacific and peaceful as farther north. The change is felt soon after leaving Valparaiso on the journey southward bound.

Chilean Patagonia, which stretches along the Pacific coast for five hundred miles, is little known, but it is a region of wild beauty. It is a perfect labyrinth of channels and islands, to which there is an entrance at each end, and one near the centre through the Gulf of Trinidad. These entrances are through narrow channels which are difficult to find, as they are so similar to other channels which lead into cul-de-sacs. Powerful currents and cross-currents rush through these contracted channels, so that vessels have to make them at full speed or run the risk of being dashed helplessly upon the rocky barriers. Once within the enclosure, however, the waters are calm even when the most violent storms rage outside. Terrific rains which are veritable deluges frequently fall, and impenetrable mists at times enshroud everything. The barometer moves up and down by leaps and bounds. Suddenly a rift will appear in the clouds, denoting the breaking of the storm, and the blue sky and bright sun will be revealed. Then the scenery becomes glorious in its radiant beauty—an amphitheatre of overhanging mountains with glittering snow-dad crests against a sky of dazzling blue. Then all about will be seen little islets, covered with trees and bushes of brilliant green and flowers of many hues.

In spite of the snow-clad mountains the temperature is usually not extreme. The jungles will rival the Amazonian jungles. It is a perfect compress of hollys, ferns, beeches, orchids, vines and countless thorny bushes. It is indeed

The surface is a spongy mass, and a foothold less than knee deep is rare. This exuberant vegetation is caused by the excessive moisture which is here precipitated. Flower-bearing bushes are numerous, and genuine field daisies are as plentiful in places as on a New England meadow. Cataracts are everywhere in sight and mark the mountain sides like long white streaks. At times when the boat is near the shore their roar can be heard. An occasional wreck may be sighted, but more of them lie unseen, buried beneath countless fathoms of water, for the shore descends down in an almost perpendicular line to fathomless depths. Few vessels thread these narrows, but it is a sight never to be forgotten by one who has had the privilege of making the trip.

The future of this great undeveloped region remains to be seen. At present there are no inhabitants, except occasionally a stray settlement of Indians. Exploring itself is no child’s play, and there are still tracts of untrodden forest, although the government has had numerous surveying parties in the field. The boundary commission has done a great deal in making this territory better understood. It differs widely from the broad reaches of pampa of Argentine Patagonia, where rain is scant and desert stretches are not uncommon. When development has taken place it may far exceed in fertility and wealth the eastern slopes, and the broad leagues of rich plain between the Andes and the Atlantic Ocean.

CHAPTER VI
THE LAND OF THE FIRE

“Tierra del Fuego,” meaning the land of the fire, exclaimed the followers of Magellan, as they saw the wreaths of smoke ascending through the frosty air. It was merely the signal fires of the Indians dwelling on one of the islands of that remote southern archipelago, when they beheld the strange white-winged vessels of Magellan sailing through the Straits, since named after him. The name has clung to the group of islands during the succeeding centuries, although thousands of white people have since placed foot on them and the name is known to be a misnomer, for no volcanic fires exist there.

Beginning in Alaska, a chain of gigantic granite vertebrae extends clear to Cape Horn. It clings close to the Pacific coast throughout the entire distance, and ends in grandeur near the Antarctic Circle. Some say that the lower end of this backbone of the American continents was shattered by a convulsion, in which mighty masses of rock were thrown off into the ocean, thus forming the numberless islands which lie at the southern extremity of South America. The better theory, however, is that they were formed by the submerging of the lower end of the Andes Mountains. When the land sank the stormy water beat through the valleys and chiselled the shores into incongruous shapes and labyrinths.

Between the islands and the mainland are the Straits of Magellan. Some of the finest scenery in the world is found in this intricate waterway, especially in what is known as Smyth’s Channel, which separates Southern Chile from the group of islands. Smyth’s Channel is very narrow, so that most vessels take the broader Straits. The depth has never been fathomed. There is a grandeur in the serrated peaks, and cliffs, snowy crests, cascades and the glaciers under a brilliant sun and deep blue sky that is simply overwhelming. Numerous mountain peaks reveal themselves, of which Mt. Sarmiento is the noblest, and lifts its snowy head to a height of over seven thousand feet. Its beauty is enhanced by numerous blue-tinted glaciers, which descend to the waters of the sea like a multitude of frozen Niagaras. Floating glaciers are common in the Straits, and vessels, unequipped with ice-making machinery, often tie up to one while the crew chop enough ice to fill the refrigerators.

Few places on the earth’s surface within easy reach can compare with the Straits of Magellan. This channel has become the great trade route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Few boats, except sailing vessels, now take the longer route around Cape Horn, because of the storms that lash the Antarctic seas into fury. For several hundred miles the Straits furnish a succession of beautiful scenes; green shores alternating with the eternal glaciers of the mountain peaks, blue waters contrasting with the shimmering crystal of the floating icebergs. These masses of ice are as imperishable as the glaciers of Greenland, and they add a feature to the scenery that is not to be found elsewhere within the ordinary course of steamers. It is a region of marvellous sunsets as well as rugged scenery, when the weather is clear, but mist, snow or rain often dim the view.

The eastern entrance to the Straits lies between Cape Virgenes, on the mainland, and Cape Espiritu, on the island, a distance of about fourteen miles. For some distance the channel is wide, with the mainland gently undulating and covered with grass. Then come the first narrows, and afterwards the second narrows. These narrows are about two miles in width, and there is generally a strong current through them. In the spring the tides are thrown up to a height of fifty feet, and this is the reason sailing vessels prefer the open waters around Cape Horn, even though the seas are more tempestuous. When nearing Punta Arenas the mountains become higher, and at times the way seems blocked by them. Stunted bush and underbrush appear. After leaving Punta Arenas the shores grow bolder and more picturesque. The snow-covered mountains and glaciers resemble the Alaska coast or that of Northern Norway. The islands are as numerous as in the St. Lawrence or Georgian Bay.

Nodales Peak and Mt. Victoria lift their hoary heads on the mainland, while Mt. Buckland and Mt. Sarmiento rise to a still greater height on the islands. The latter beautiful and majestic peak is the noblest of them all. Its snowy head rises to a height of seven thousand three hundred feet, with a broad base and two distinct peaks. It is generally more or less hidden by vapour. The three Evangelistas keep their lonely vigil where straits and ocean join on the north. Cape Pillar, the western end of the Straits, is two hundred and forty-five miles from Cape Virgenes, but the steamer route is almost half as long again. Old voyagers were wont to take eighty days in this passage when the weather was a little unfavourable. The western end is the stormiest, and the pilot books give it a very bad reputation. South of them the Antarctic seas are seldom free from the storm king. The weather is nearly always bad, and oftentimes worse. In one recent year it is said that eighty-two sailing vessels and thirty-nine steamers were lost—a fearful toll claimed by old Neptune.

Fernando de Magelhaens, although of Portuguese birth, had entered the Spanish service. In charge of a fleet of five small ships, the largest of only one hundred and thirty tons, boarded and manned by a crew of sixty-two men, he sailed from Seville on the 10th of August, 1519. The voyage was an arduous one, and was beset not only with terrific storms at sea but mutinies among the sailors that were scarcely less terrifying. Only two of his vessels remained faithful, but he conquered the mutiny with the loss of only one vessel. On the 21st of October, 1520, he entered the eastern entrance of the channel, and it was a month later, after almost unheard-of difficulties, that he emerged into the broad Pacific. Of the subsequent expeditions that attempted this route the experiences were most unfortunate. In nearly every instance almost one out of every three vessels was wrecked, some in one channel and some in another, for there is a perfect labyrinth of channels around and between the many islands. Some of the names indicate the experiences or impressions of these early navigators. Fatal Bay, Port Famine, Famine Reach, Escape Beach, Last Wreck Point, Dislocation Harbour, Thieves Island, Useless Bay, Fury Islands, Breakneck Peninsula, Desolation Harbour, Preservation Cove, and last, Hope Inlet, are a few of the names that may be located on the map. In 1578, Sir Francis Drake, an English explorer as well as freebooter, by accident found the route by the way of Cape Horn. This great discovery stimulated navigation around South America, for the Spaniards guarded the Straits route to the best of their ability. The Spaniards described Drake as “a man of low condition, but a skilful seaman and a valiant pirate.”

The Fuegian Archipelago covers a goodly territory. The islands contain as much land as Nebraska, and are several hundred miles long from east to west. A perfect labyrinth of tortuous, wind-swept waterways separate the hundreds of islands which form this group. They are not all a desolate mass of ice and snow, however, but contain plains which are covered with succulent grasses, and slopes which are thickly wooded. The Chilean portion of these islands, and the mainland along the coast beyond the fiftieth parallel of latitude, is included in the territory of Magellanes, the largest territorial division in the republic. The largest island, called Tierra del Fuego, land of the fire, is half as large as Illinois. It is divided longitudinally between Chile and Argentina, by far the largest portion belonging to the former nation, and the best part of it too.

Thirty years ago this entire island was roamed and hunted over by the aborigines. The fact that the northern part consisted of open country, with few ranges of hills, caused the white man to look upon it with envious eyes, as it promised good pasturage for sheep. Then began a warfare against the Indians which almost resulted in their extermination. Thousands of sheep now quietly graze in the rich valleys and on the verdant plains, and thrive very well indeed. Very little of the land is cultivated, although probably susceptible of cultivation, but the marketing of the products would be a difficult feature at the present time, and the season is short. Its latitude is about that of Southern Greenland, but the climate is probably milder, and its longitude is approximately that of Eastern Massachusetts. In the summer the grass is green, but in the winter the chilly winds change it to a rich brown. The ground rats are a terrible nuisance to the farmer, as they burrow in the fields so much that they destroy half the usefulness of a good meadow. The mountain slopes are covered with a thick growth of trees, ferns and mosses up to a height of a thousand feet or more, due to the great amount of rainfall, but above that distance the growth is very stunted. It seems strange to see green trees and green grasses amid snows and glaciers, but such is the contrast offered by this “land of the fire.” The trees are mostly evergreen, not very high, but very close together. A deep bed of moss, into which a man may sink knee-deep, generally surrounds them, and large ferns with leaves a yard long grow in places otherwise bare. Even bright flowers make the sombre landscape seem almost gay when the sun shines on a summer day.

Desolation Island, on the Chilean side, is a bleak and barren island well indicated by its name, while other names are Clarence, St. Inas, and Navarin. There are many others, from islands twenty miles in length to some so small that a good baseball pitcher could toss a stone clear over them. Cape Horn is a monster rock which thrusts its jagged outline into the Antarctic seas. It is a couple of hundred miles south of the Straits of Magellan, and more than a thousand miles nearer the undiscovered South Pole than the Cape of Good Hope. It is surrounded by waters that are tossed by terrific storms which mariners fear. The hulks of wrecked vessels can be seen on every hand as reminders of the terrible tribute which has been here levied. Glaciers are always in sight, and masses of ice hundreds of feet high are frequently seen, seeming to threaten the venturesome mariner for invading those beautiful waters.

A number of years ago a steamer was wrecked on these shores, but the crew managed to save sufficient provisions to sustain all those rescued for some time. While sinking shallow wells they discovered a strata of black sand that sparkled with particles of gold. Their reports led to great excitement over the discovery of gold on Tierra del Fuego. Although adventurers had sailed through the Straits for centuries, looking for the wealth that they might obtain either honestly or dishonestly, yet the gold deposits remained undiscovered until 1867. Their covetous eyes had gazed upon the gold-bearing shores, and they had even filled their water-casks in the gold-bearing rivulets without seeing the wealth. In the few years following a number of Argentine explorers visited that region, and found the source of some of the gold. The gold was almost exclusively found in free particles in a layer of black sand, which was found under the surface sand. As soon as the report of their find reached the settlements, a number of expeditions were fitted out and sent to that region. The best payings were found right on the beach, which was washed by the waves of the sea at a high tide and during storms. It was also found that the tides brought in fresh gold-bearing sands from the seas. The miners used to sit down and smoke their pipes until the storms passed, and then dig up the black sand with the gold in it after the surf had gone down.

It all seemed to be pockets, so that where the gold would be found in considerable quantities for a while, it would soon become so scarce that mining it under the crude conditions prevailing became unprofitable. The prospectors sailed in and out of the stormy and dangerous bays, and many of them lost their lives. The hidden reefs and whirling tornadoes form combinations that made navigation in the small catboats that were used extremely perilous. Many, who were wrecked, were obliged to live upon whatever wild food they could find for weeks, and others were killed by the hostile Indians. The original stories said that nuggets as big as kernels of corn were plentiful, but they were not true to fact. No gold quartz veins were ever discovered, but in all the finds it was simply particles mixed up with the black sand. Gold mining to-day is not prosecuted in that region as much as it was a couple of decades ago, although some gold is washed each year. If the whole story was known, it would probably be found that there were more skeletons of dead miners left on those inhospitable shores than records of wealth acquired in Tierra del Fuego. Most of those who did find wealth got no farther than Punta Arenas with it, for that city was to that region what San Francisco was in the early days of California, and mining prospectors are the same the world over.

The first attempt to establish a settlement on the Straits of Magellan was in the latter part of the sixteenth century. Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa was placed in command of this expedition. His instructions were as follows: “For the honour and glory of God and of the Virgin Mary, His Mother and Our Lady, whom you, Captain Pedro Sarmiento, are to take for Advocate and Patron of the ships and crews under your orders for this discovery and enterprise in the Straits of Magellan.” After several narrow escapes from shipwreck the expedition landed, and established a settlement not far from the present city of Punta Arenas. From the very first misfortune seemed to follow the colonists, and the Indians soon became hostile. At the end of the second winter the three hundred or more colonists had dwindled to eighteen, who were finally rescued. They had been obliged to live on berries, shell-fish, oysters, and such other ocean life that they were able to catch. The Indians had driven the guanaco and other wild game into the interior where the colonists could not reach them.

The continent of South America extends much farther south than Africa. The southernmost point is Cape Frowards, which is a dark mass of rock five hundred feet high joined by a low neck of land to snow-clad mountains. At almost the southernmost point of the mainland lies the little city of Punta Arenas (Sandy Point). It is situated on the Straits of Magellan, which is sheltered from the worst storms by the many islands that lie between it and the Antarctic seas. Punta Arenas is the southernmost city in the world, eight hundred miles farther south than Cape Town. There is plenty of building space left in this city still, but a few years ago, when the boom was on, the people had visions of a southern Chicago. Fabulous prices were asked for building lots, and real estate agents were almost as plentiful as the Indians. That time has passed, and the town has dwindled in population. Its latitude is about that of Labrador, but it is much more equable than that country and the weather is not so severe as many imagine. It is so named because built on a sandy beach that runs out into the Straits. It is now a city of twelve thousand people, and they seem to be contented. It is a very mixed population. You can hear Spanish, English, German, Italian, Russian and even the Chinese mingled with the guttural tongues of the Indians. The Scotch are probably the most thrifty of the inhabitants, and many of them have lived there two or three generations.

There are many rough characters in Punta Arenas, some even who have drifted from the mining camps of our western states. It is said to be bad policy to ask a man where he came from, or what his name was before his arrival, as it might be an embarrassing subject. The loafing places are the bars, where many brawls occur during the long winters. There are probably as many saloons to the number of inhabitants as in any other place on the globe, for nearly every other door seems to bear such a sign. Much gambling is also done at these and in the clubs. There are clubs, where the well-to-do gather and have their games just as they do the world over. The principal club is the Cuerpo de Bomberos, which means the Society of Firemen, and was organized as a volunteer fire department. Most of the buildings are cheap one-story affairs, frequently being built of the corrugated iron so common in this land. Punta Arenas is a free port, and this fact has aided in its prosperity. All the vessels passing through the Straits call there for supplies and coal, and this business, together with the trade in whaling products, wool and furs, furnish the inhabitants with employment. It is one of the great wool-exporting ports of the world, having shipped more than sixteen million pounds of that commodity in a single season, and four hundred thousand pelts. The trade in furs is very large. One of the prettiest things sold here is an ostrich robe made of the breasts of the young birds.