The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-11-06

TERRA del Fuego proper; Desolation
island, which lies near the western en-
trance to the strait, and along which
coaSted for miles on my way here;
the Isle of st, Ives, Clarence island
and Dawson island, a little farther to
the eastward, and the large Islands of
Hoste and Nayarino on the south Cape
Horn itself Is on one of the little ISL
ands at the bottom of the archipelago.
The chief island is TERRA del Fuego
proper. 1t is half as big as Ohio and
it now supports hundreds Of thousands
of sheep. The best lands of the Chilean
part Of 1t have been taken up within
the past few years under lease from
the Chilean government. The Argen-
tine portion is not so we'll settled ow-
ing to the difficulty of access and the
uncertainty as to boundary.
THE PLAINS AND PAMPAS.
Still from what 1 can learn the Ar
gentines have some of the best lands.
Nearly all of the southern and eastern
portions Of the Island are plains, wide
stretches of moorland much like Scot
land, covered with grass, which in
summer is green, but now in winter is
turned to reddish brown. The other
parts are made up of mountains, val
leys and plains. Around the west and
south coasts there is a. rim of noun
tains, many of which rise almost pre-
clpitously from the water, and which
probably gave Darwin the ground for
his statement that there was not a
level acre of ground upon the whole
island. The plains are generally in
the interior. Running midway between
the north and south across the coun-
try there Is an elevated tableland and
beyond this to the north a second plain
The grasses of the plains are rich, but
they are so largely eaten up by ground
rats that 1T takes from three to FIVE
acres to support one sheep. These rats
burrow In the earth, filing It with
hcles like a prairie-dog town. They
make 1t impossible to drive over the
plains with a wagon, and horseback
r1o1ng has to be at a slow pace Cat
tie are the only things that will drive
The rats away, and they are often used
TO tramp the ground for this purpose.
THE DENSE VEGETATION.
Tt seems queer to think of dense
vegetation In TERRA del Fuego. One
might almost as soon believe that grass
could be raised on an iceberg. The
truth is that the winter climate of
TERRA del Fuego is milder than that
OF Canada. The lowlands are seldom
covered with snow for more than
day or SO at a time, though you are
IN sight Of snow and glaciers on the
mountains all the year around. The
climate varies in different parts, but
1t is generally cool, cloudy and windy
The worst feature is the wind, which
at times blows for days at q stretch
and sends the chilly air through your
bones in corkscrew curves. TERRA del
Fuego is in the latitude of Labrador
hI1t 80 icy 10, ~.
Holland, and 1 imagine that barring
these winds, "Tierra DEL" as they have
nickramed the island, has winters
more like those OF Northern Europe
than Labrador. The vegetation is
rather like that of the temperate than
the frigid zone. The mountain slopes
up to about LOCO feet are walled with a
growth Of trees, ferns and moss so
thick that 1t is almost impossible to
get through 1T. Upon the sides Of the
sleeper mountains sthe trees, instead
Of going straight up, crawl upon the
earth, so that tree with a trunk as
thick as your waist is not more than
three feet high, but spreads over a
large tract of ground This is prob
ably due to the mountain snow, which
presses the trees down to the ground
and still keeps them warm enough not
to impede their growth.
And what kinds of trees do they have
down here at the tail-end Of creation?
The most common is the beech. There
are vast forests of antarctic beeches In
Chilean '"Tierra del,'' the trees of
which are eighty feet tall and six feel
thick. They make excellent lumber.
and am told some are now being cut
down and shipped to Buenos Ayres
One Of the beech tree species is of our
evergreen variety, and another Is tina
common beech, much like those of our
central states. There are also trees Of
the magnolia species. There are TWEEN
ty-fve different varieties Of shrubs and
bushes In TERRA del Fuego, and wild
Strawberries Of great size and delicious
flavor are found in their season, and
there are also wild grapes and wild
celery. Ferns are to be seen almost
everywhere, and one man says that the
tree fern is indigenous to certain parts
of the country. The sheep farmers
raise caIbbages. potatoes, turnips and
peas in the gardens connected with
their stations, and they tell me that
IN the spring and summer the ground
Is spotted with wild flowers.
KLONDIKE OF THE SOUTH.
TERRA del Fuego has been called the
Klondike of South America. So far,
however, there is no justification Of the
term. There Is plenty of gold, but up
to now no large quantities have been
discovered and that found Is difficult
to mine. The gold is all placer gold.
Some Of it Is in the shape of nuggets
as large as marrowfat peas, but the
greater part of it is in leaflets or
| scales. The most of the mines are in
the southern part Of TERRA del Fuego
proper and the islands adjacent. The
gold is found on the shore, the clay
containing 1T running down under the
water and being exposed only at low
tide. The gold is covered with single
and sand, which must be removed
| before bed rock is reached. At the
Slogget bay diggings, for instance,
| there is six feet of sand and gravel
above the bed rock This has to be
shoveled off, and when the tide comes
| in the gold bearing clay is again COW
| cred. Almost similar conditions exist
| at the washings on the island of Ma
| varino and elsewhere. From what I
can learn here there are only a few
! places where gold has been found In
any quantity, and these are nothing
in comparison with the great gold de-
| posts of our Western states. There are
| two or three companies who work
| sluice boxes with machinery pumping
the water from the sea and gathering
| the gold dust with machinery on copper
| plates. The most OF the mining, how
| ever, is spasmodic and uncertain. The
| territory is extremely difficult to reach
and the prospecting is coupled with
| such hardships and expenses in the
way of getting supplies that I would
advise the American miner to stay at
home. Frank G. Carpenter.
Fifty per cent discount on all our stoves
and ranges The Palace Furniture and Car
pet Company, 400 and All jackson street.
/