WHERE THE TWO GREAT OCEANS MEET
Perhaps there is no section of the globe about which most well-informed
persons know so little as the southern part of South America. Judged by
the reports of early discoverers and explorers, this region until
recently has been considered a desolate stretch of snow mountains,
barren plains, and extensive morasses, sparsely inhabited by a few
thousand human beings of the lowest type and worthless to civilized man.
Such a picture is but partly true. Many of the highest mountains are
snow-capped throughout the year and are scored by immense glaciers which
are constantly moving down their grooved sides; but there are also
heavily forested slopes flanked by valleys and plains covered with rich
grasses, making most excellent pasturage. The best land, comprising a
large area, is now occupied as grazing grounds principally by sheep
farmers.
In the early part of the sixteenth century it was rumored that a water
passage traversed the southern part of South America. This rumor was
proved true in 1520, when Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese navigator in
the service of Charles V of Spain, sailed through the strait which now
bears his name. He called the passage Todos los Santos--literally, "All
Saints"--but later the name was changed to commemorate the bold captain
who discovered the route.
Magellan was the first not only to sail through the strait, but to cross
the broad Pacific Ocean, which was so named by him on account of the
quietness of its waters. Because he saw the fires built by the natives
blazing on the islands along the south side of the channel, he called
them Tierra del Fuego, meaning "Land of Fire."
The Strait of Magellan varies from three to seventy miles in width. The
scenery along its shores, low and treeless in the eastern part,
elsewhere is mountainous and heavily wooded--mainly with beech. In
various places lofty precipices rise abruptly from the water's edge;
throughout most of its extent the shore line is rock-bound and studded
with islets.
A more picturesque route, and one abounding in the grandest and most
stupendous scenery in the world, is that from the Pacific by way of
Smyth Channel, the entrance to which is four hundred miles north of the
entrance to Magellan Strait. By this route one follows a series of
channels and reaches the strait proper near Desolation Island. On
account of the dangers besetting this course, underwriters refuse to
insure vessels taking it.
[Illustration: Copyright, Underwood & Underwood, New York The Straits of
Magellan. Cape Pilar is the extreme western end]
It remained for a Hollander named Schouten to discover Cape Horn, in
1616, and thus find a safer way for sailing vessels going from the one
great ocean to the other. Schouten named the cape "Hoorn," from his
native city in Holland. Afterward the name was shortened to Horn, which
is applied both to the cape and to the island from which it projects.
Since the western entrance to the strait is subject to rough,
tempestuous weather and strong currents, very few modern sailing vessels
take the shorter course, preferring to double the cape. Though doubling
the cape is the safer route, yet this passage itself is beset by
dangerous storms and tempestuous seas. Fortunate is the sailing master
who rounds the Horn with pleasant weather.
Some of the smaller islands of the archipelago are densely wooded and
practically unexplored. Gold has been found on the beaches of several of
the islands in paying quantities, and these placers have been worked
successfully for several years. On the islands are found wild
strawberries of great size and fine flavor, wild raspberries,
gooseberries, grapes, and celery; in the spring the pastures are covered
with a variety of wild flowers. A profusion of ferns is seen almost
everywhere. Wild geese and swans are found on the lagoons and lakes in
large numbers.
Once upon a time Patagonia, as the southern part of the continent is
popularly called, was regarded as a waste; now it is recognized as a
wonderfully fertile region, and is being rapidly settled. European
colonies have been established there, and they are highly prosperous.
The native Indians are disappearing, hurried to extinction chiefly by
King Alcohol, which, once tasted, seems to conquer them. Traders know
the weakness of these savages, and exploit it for all they are worth.
The articles which the Indians chiefly barter are skins, pelts, and
ostrich feathers.
The Indians are well supplied with horses, the descendants of those
brought to South America by Spanish explorers. They are wonderful riders
and excel in the use of a peculiar lasso called the bolas. It consists
usually of three balls of stone or metal covered with rawhide and
attached to one another by twisted thongs of the same material. In
fighting as well as in capturing wild animals, this instrument is
indispensable. The operator, holding one of the balls, swings the others
over his head and when sufficient momentum has been obtained lets them
go. If well aimed, the connected balls circle around the legs of the
animal to be caught, entangling and throwing it down.
The Indians of the mainland are strong and tall. Unlike most South
American Indians, they go about well clothed. Occasionally they kill
their horses for food, but their chief reliance for both food and
clothing is the guanaco.
Although the Indians have inhabited this part of South America for
centuries, they follow well-beaten trails. They live in a superstitious
dread of evil spirits, who they believe dwell in the densely wooded
mountain slopes of the Cordillera.
[Illustration: Fuegians]
The Indians of Tierra del Fuego archipelago are much inferior to those
of the mainland. They go almost or entirely naked and subsist on fish.
The canoe Indians, as those in the western part are called, build boats
of bark sewn together with sinews. The boats are about fifteen feet
long, and in the centre a quantity of earth is carried, upon which a
fire is built. The canoe Indians have neither chief nor tribal
relations; each family is a law unto itself. They spend most of their
time during the day in rowing among the different channels where fish
may be obtained. At night they generally go on shore to sleep. A hole
scooped out of the ground or a sheltered rock with a few boughs bent
down suffices for a house where all can huddle close together for
warmth. Seldom do they sleep more than one night in a place, fearing
that if they do not move on an evil spirit will catch them.
In the eastern part of Tierra del Fuego and on some of the other larger
islands two tribes of Indians are found whose subsistence consists of
sea food, guanacos, and such sheep as they can steal. These tribes are
continually at enmity with the white settlers and will kill them
whenever possible.
In spite of cloudy weather and cold winds, which are common a part of
the year, the climate of Patagonia is milder than that of places much
farther north, and the sheep require no feeding during the winter
season. In the matter of sheep farms this section rivals Australia,
since there is no fear of drought. The grass continues green the year
around, and the sheep easily fatten upon it.
The drawbacks to successful sheep-growing are many and the business
requires constant vigilance. Vultures, foxes, wild dogs, pumas, and
Indians make serious inroads on the flocks. The wild dogs live in the
surrounding forests and from time to time rush out in packs of from ten
to thirty and attack the sheep. Notwithstanding all these troubles,
however, the profits of sheep-growing are large.
Russians, Germans, French, Australians, English, and Scotch, many of
whom have amassed large fortunes in a few years, are engaged in this
lucrative business. As in all other sheep-raising countries, the collie
is an invaluable aid to the shepherds. Not only are the principal
islands chiefly devoted to sheep-raising, but a considerable part of the
southern mainland is also devoted to this industry. On the island of
Tierra del Fuego alone there are upward of a million sheep.
Most of the land is leased from the government for a long term of years.
Many of the proprietors have enclosed their holdings with wire fences,
thereby lessening the expense of caring for their flocks. Some of the
holdings range from twenty-five thousand to more than two million acres.
Southern Patagonia has immense numbers of guanacos, or wild llamas.
These animals frequent the Andean slopes and the adjacent pampas. During
the winter season they come down to the lowlands to drink in the
unfrozen lakes and feed upon the herbage. During severe winters
sometimes hundreds are found dead from starvation in the valleys near
the frozen lakes.
Thousands of wild cattle are found on the eastern slopes of the Andes,
but they are difficult to capture; they are exceedingly wary and can
scent a man far off. In agility in climbing the steep, rough places they
equal the goat. If one of their number is killed the whole herd deserts
the locality at night. When wounded they are fierce fighters, if forced
into close quarters.
Punta Arenas, or "Sandy Point," is on the north side of the Strait of
Magellan and is Chilean territory. It is a new town cut out of the
woods, and even yet many of the streets are diversified by the stumps of
big beech trees. The place is an important coaling and provision station
and, next to Honolulu, the most important ocean post-office in the
world. It has a population of twelve thousand, and is the capital and
centre of the great wool industry of the Territory of Magellan, which
comprises a majority of the islands south of the mainland, together with
the southern part of Patagonia.
A few years ago, in order to encourage the building up of Punta Arenas,
the government offered a lot free to any one who would erect a building
on it. Many accepted the offer, and to-day some of the lots in the
business part of the town are very valuable. Although most of the
buildings are constructed with regard to economy rather than beauty, yet
some of the business blocks will compare favorably with those of the new
cities in the United States.
Like several Australian cities, Punta Arenas was a convict colony. It
was founded as such in 1843, and so remained until the European
steamships began to thread the strait instead of doubling the Horn. Then
it became a coaling station, a supply store, a half-way town, and an
ocean post-office. All this business was previously carried on at the
Falkland Islands, but the route through the strait settled the business
for both places. The Falkland station was abandoned; Punta Arenas became
a thriving town. A ticket-of-leave was given to each convict who
consented to join the Chilean army.
The town forthwith blossomed into a typical frontier settlement--banks
and gambling dens, churches and saloons, schools and bullfights. Every
race of people and almost every industry is represented there. The
Spanish see to it that the Sunday bullfights are correct; the French
insure the proper social functions; the Germans manage the banks; and
the Americans take the profits of the railways, telegraph lines, and
flour-mills. As to latitude, Punta Arenas is cold and inhospitable; but
for business and social affairs, it is very, very warm, especially in
the matter of social affairs.