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.

Punta Arenas is the business centre of the region extending from Port Desire, on the Patagonian coast to Cape Horn, and from the Falkland Islands on the east to the westernmost limits of Chile. The little settlement that originally was established there was called La Colonia de Magellanes. On the 21st of April, 1843, Chile first planted her tri-coloured banner at a place near here, which was called Port Famine, because of the disastrous end of the Sarmiento settlement, which had been located there a couple of centuries previously.

Chile had a double purpose in establishing this post. One was its desire to hold the territory as a national possession, and the other was to establish a penal colony which would be so far away from the capital that the prisoners, even if they escaped, could not return. Several hundred prisoners were generally confined there, who were kept in subjection by a small company of soldiers. On two occasions the convicts rebelled and took possession of this settlement. On one of these the governor and many of the guards were killed and the mutineers boarded a ship that chanced to be in the harbour, but they were overtaken by a Chilean man-of-war and overcome. The men were hung, and it is said that a man was seen hanging from every yard-arm of the war-ship. After the first revolt a new settlement was established on the present site of Punta Arenas, which was given the old name. The tongue of sand there, however, the English-speaking people called Sandy Point, and thereafter the name Punta Arenas, which means the same in Spanish, was given it; at least it is entirely known by that name now.

In 1877 the last revolt occurred, when the convicts revenged the cruelties to which they had been subjected upon the commander of the garrison and many of the soldiers. When a man-of-war appeared they fled into the interior, where most of them died from starvation and hardships. The establishment of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company was the cause of the abandonment of this place as a penal colony. It proved to be a convenient stopping place for the steamers to take on coal and supplies, and this gave it a new life. Later came the discovery of gold, which brought many to the settlement. Still later a Scotchman brought some sheep from the Falkland Islands, and found that the region around Punta Arenas and on the island opposite was well adapted for sheep raising. Others took advantage of this experience, until the neighbourhood around became noted for its sheep culture. Some day, if a freezing establishment should be established here, Punta Arenas will become a still more important place, and it is undoubtedly only a question of time until such will be done. The town itself makes a poor foreground for the magnificent setting of nature. It is laid out on the usual checkerboard plan, with several streets running from the shores back up the hills. It has a plaza and the streets are unpaved. The beach is sandy and the streets are either filled with loose sand or mud.

Across the Straits the green hills of Tierra del Fuego may be seen rising, and over to the south the snow-capped peaks of Mt. Sarmiento and its neighbours appear above the horizon. To the west are mountains which are ever green and rise boldly up to the western edge, while to the north the hills are generally bare. At one time it was thought that coal had been discovered and the mine was opened up; some track was built and an old locomotive brought down. It proved, however, to be only lignite, and so the mine has been practically abandoned.

A considerable trade has been developed in Indian curios and goods. The Indians from the pampas and islands come here to sell their furs, feathers, bows, hides, etc. Passengers passing through the Straits on the various steamers usually lay in a supply of these goods, some of which are genuine and others are prepared especially for such passengers. One wonders at the number of palms and plants which are seen in this town so far beyond all other settlements, for even wild flowers of certain kinds seem to grow in great profusion, while ferns and lichens everywhere delight the eye.

South of Punta Arenas there is only one settlement of any importance, and that is Ushuaia. This town is situated on the Argentine side of Tierra del Fuego, and, small as it is, it is the capital of that territory. It stands nearer to the South Pole than any other civilized village in the world. The barriers created by nature are almost insurmountable. To the south is the unknown Antarctic, to the north the impassable barrier of snow-clad peaks, and in all other directions are the fathomless channels separating it from the other islands. Established first as a mission settlement, its site was selected as the capital of the territory. The Argentine flag was first unfolded over the first building erected for the use of officials in 1884. Shortly after that work upon prisons was begun, and it became a still more important settlement. Here, in this isolated quarter of the globe, guarded by a few score of armed men, are confined several hundred men, many of whom are the very dregs of humanity sent from Buenos Aires. These unfortunates work on the roads, dress stone for new and stronger walls, or make the garments worn by themselves and their fellow prisoners. Few attempt to escape and fewer still succeed, for the loneliness and desolation alone would keep a prisoner where human companionship may be found.

Small and unimportant as this town is to-day, and wretched as it would seem to many people, yet it has a full complement of officials with their secretaries and servants. There is a complete list of judicial officers and police officials, even though the police have no patrol to beat and the court has no docket. About the only part of the official equipment that has any work to do is the culinary department, for it takes a great deal of cooking and preparation to provide food for every one there. Out of a population of several hundred to-day, made up principally of prisoners and officials, there are only a very few plain common citizens who dwell there.

Most of the buildings in Ushuaia are frame structures, which have been erected near the bay that bears the same name as the town. It is situated on Beagle Channel. The houses consist of plain unpainted wooden walls, with a roof of corrugated iron. The governor’s palace itself is not much better than the other buildings. A few of the buildings have little green patches, enclosed with picket fences, in which they are able to grow a few vegetables. For a location so far south the climate is not so bad as one would expect, as the snowfall is not as great as in the same latitude in northern regions. In the winter time the nights are very long and the days short. The mountains just at the back of the town cut off the sunlight when the sun is low, so that the town only receives about four hours of daylight. It is certainly a cheerless sort of existence that the people lead in this southern capital. There are still one or two missions that are conducted by English missionaries on this coastland, but they have had very little influence upon the natives. One of the missions consists of quite a large ranch, where the minister in charge of the mission lives and employs the natives to do his work.

For several hundred miles north of Punta Arenas lies the formerly unknown land of Patagonia—the land of the Pata-goas, the “big feet,” as they were named by Magellan. One can see in that city almost any day descendants of that race in the Tehuelche tribe of Indians who come there to sell their furs and skins. Out upon the broad pampas away from the town, the traveller will occasionally stumble upon the _toldos_ (huts) of the Tehuelches. These are simply made huts of the skins of the guanaco sewn loosely together at the edges, and supported squarely upon awkward-looking props, or posts, forked at the top to admit the ridge-poles. The skins are fastened to the earth by wooden pegs. The Tehuelches are the native Indians of Patagonia—the so-called giants—and are well built specimens of manhood. These Indians live almost as their ancestors did hundreds of years ago. They are still nomads, and exist entirely by the chase. They do not cultivate anything whatever, but sometimes own a few cattle. In general they still dress in skins, although some of them have purchased store clothes at the settlements. As a rule they are mild mannered, when sober, and do not deserve the name of being bloodthirsty savages. Their numbers have greatly decreased, since the first discovery of Patagonia, through dissipation and disease, and some have estimated that the total number yet remaining will not exceed a few hundred.

Only a few years ago the geographers labelled Patagonia “no man’s land.” To-day millions of sheep graze over its fertile plains. It is as large as several of our western states. It is a land of big distances and enormous holdings. In the pasture section it is often a ride of three or four days from one ranch to another. Most of these ranches are near the coast or along the few rivers. As one travels into the interior a white face becomes more and more rare; empty leagues surround you on every hand. One accustomed to cities only would find it very lonely indeed on these plains. One seems to stand alone with only the wind, the mirages and the limitless distances, and the blue sky above for a canopy. The last land to have been the habitation of the greater beasts of preceding ages, according to geologists, Patagonia is one of the last to receive its proper share of the human population.

There are three races of Indians who inhabit these Fuegian islands, the Yahgans, Alacaloofs and the Onas, all of whom are very low in intelligence. They are commonly known under the general characterization of the Firelanders. None of them are as far advanced as the Esquimaux, who build warm igloos for their habitation. Even though the climate is very cold the greater part of the year these aborigines formerly wore very little clothing, but greased their bodies with fish oil that keeps out the cold. In recent years, however, they have begun to wear warmer garments, when such can be obtained. The Yahgans are very treacherous, and many murders have been traced to them. They will mingle very little with white people, but always hold themselves aloof. Their houses are of the most primitive character, and are frequently little more than a rude construction of thatch on a skeleton of sticks stuck in the ground.

These Yahgans live almost entirely on sea food. They divide their time between these rude huts and canoes, or dugouts made from the trunks of trees, in which they paddle through the tortuous channels from one island to another. Should a storm overtake the boat and it becomes necessary to lighten it, the men show their instinct for self-preservation by throwing the women and children overboard. They are not particular about food, as to whether it is very fresh or not. There is frequently a dearth of food, and then it is that they are driven to eat the flesh of a stranded whale or of an animal found dead. Ground rats and the fishy-flavoured penguin are included on their regular bill-of-fare. Their camping-places can generally be located by the mounds of shells that accumulate. They are as near to primitive savages as it would be possible to find on the Americas. As usual among savage tribes, the women do the most of the work, and assist in the hunting and fishing as well as prepare the meat after it has once been caught. The Yahgans are short and muscular and below medium height. Their lower limbs seem rather stunted, but above the waist they are heavily built. Marriage is a matter of purchase and sale, and wives are sometimes exchanged. The marriage ceremony consists in painting the girl in a peculiar way, and then the husband takes her to his hut or that of his parents.

The Alacaloofs, or Alakalufs, occupy the western islands and are similar in their habits to the Yahgans. Their canoes are made of strips of bark or planks fastened together with vines and caulked with moss. Their huts look like New England haycocks made of boughs and covered with skins or bark strips. They frequently row out to meet passing steamers and beg for food. They are not an attractive people. In colour they strongly resemble the North American red men, but they are not much over five feet in height. The only domesticated animal owned by them is the dog. With this tribe, as well as the Yahgans, everything is held in common and it is no crime to take of your neighbour’s fuel or food.

The Onas are a hunting tribe and they are larger than either of the other tribes. They occupy the prairie lands and open bush of Tierra del Fuego. The men are active and athletic, and they are especially skilful in stalking the guanaco of that island. They are expert in the use of the rude bows and arrows which they make for themselves. The bows are fashioned out of a native wood cut with shell knives, and the arrows are made out of reeds armed with a flint or glass point. Horse meat is a great delicacy with them. The struggle for existence has made these people inexpressive in features and stoical in actions. A good fortune or an ill fortune is met in much the same way. Their homes are generally saucer-shaped hollows that have been scraped out, over which poles and brush are piled and guanaco skins are used as doors. All the family lie down together, and the dogs are included for warmth. They are nomads and wander from one place to another in search of food. Fire is made with bits of iron ore or flints and dry fungus. Some of this tribe are now employed as servants by the white people, but most of them prefer the wild life in the open.

With all the hardships that seem to fall to the lot of these Indians who live so far to the south, they seem to be fairly happy and are contented with their surroundings. This is truly fortunate. People who live in the temperate zones are inclined to think that they are the only truly happy ones. By travel one’s view is broadened, and at last he realizes the truth expressed by Oliver Goldsmith in the following lines:—

“If countries we compare, And estimate the blessings which they share, Though patriots flatter, still shall wisdom find An equal portion dealt to all mankind. The shuddering tenant of the frigid zone Boldly proclaims that happiest spot his own; Extols the treasures of the stormy seas, And his long nights of revelry and ease; The naked negro, panting at the Line, Boasts of his golden sands and palmy wine, Basks in the glare, or strives the tepid wave. And thanks his gods for all the good they gave.”