The Republican journal., 1904-05-05
Mons. Jose Faguano,
,rusrlor de la Mission Patagonia,
Nsrilanal y TERRA del Fuego.

Merfldlldl y ll6TTa u6l u6SO.
............ OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES.
recognized it as that of a we'll
/ t.va Italian Jesuit. belonging to the
,..rut lIernanos de Carload, whose
..a..iy work in this far south land
.ttu more successful than any of
PREDECESSORS, Protestant or Cath
U,Scending to the drawing room,
Il portly, dark-eyed, middle
~ -utIeman in black wooden
r lack broadcloth cloak of circu-
IKE our oldtime waterproof,
audi ne shovel hat tied up on both
site. u-h cords and tassels. The good
-t euld not speak word of Eng
4g his knowledge of the Spanish
.l aLe was almost as circumscribed
.,.ur of the Italian; yet i'll true jour
81, fashion we managed the inter
...a somehow, with the result that |
.-4ae SO interested in the unknown
-rr Ut this remote archipelago as to
.,nl-e an early visit to the Jesuit
Mission. And therefore here we are,
file very center of King Charles
.l Land. where the feet of white
anao probably never came before.
r.e iraa of this main island of the
Terra del Fuego group is about %, 900
}.-t-es and like the rest of the archi-
irago. IS western coast is rocky and
raql famous, much broken by bays
aud uets, while the eastern side
Is leyel as an Illinois prairie and as
.5r,piy wooded as Northern Maine.
Fio!tnstanGing the prevailing aspect
a1d desolation and total unoccu-
te favored sections where the seen
q, equals the best parts of England
-.rI.andS covered with grass so green
tt IT is almost blue, fertile valleys,
s1 '0pped mountains from 5000 to
teet high, fresh water lakes per-
t---4 N blackened with wild fowl.
- wherein nuggets of gold have
--. found, and climate resembling
't (anada up III the Hudson Bay
The heights are all volcanic.
-. -gtryWhere scoriai and lava ap-
The fora of the island includes
.aY strange plants, but only two of
r4genous ones are edible, viz:
lEort and wild celery. Yet the
lT more native inhabitants never
I'm food, though they do not cul-
b.. tue soil and the only domestic an
-.t seen among them are their lean,
ee dogs, which appear to receive
more consideration than is be-
d upon the women and children.
81. iueg0ans resemble Solomon's
'- 4 ]ust one particular-''the toll
either do they spin They sub
amost exclusively upon the shell
a@t abound along the coasts, (eat-
supplemented by a globular
- that breaks out like warts upon
lul Ks of Antarctic beeches, and by
ie a3Etack and sea biscuit they are
H.-',r Logging from vessels passing
Oh the Straits. Mons. Faguano
..> AVS that before he came here the
f- lad never heard of houses, but
r5,TUcted the rudest kind of weather.
lla Of poles and brushwood-alwa
'- nts in a group if huts they could
He sailed, with one fire built in the GEN.
1o ST.
7al showing nearly every day in the
,4ar they wear no clothes whatever,
except occasionally an uncured otter
Nst. whose stencil would be unindur-
a'e 10 anybody but Fuegoan. To this
'sE says the Padre, despite the efforts
hi the missionaries, every one of
.sru will sell his or her last rag for a
i1s II tobacco or few glass beads,
stalk back to the Mission happy
Tough entirely naked. There are now
about 100 Indians in the Jesuit Mis-
>'I Who are being taught to read and
"u-e IN SPANISH and to do various
lls Of manual labor, The brothers
harlty" have built comfortable
@4Nrs for all who will come into the
-4.ioh and abide by its rules, and they
lmsh the Indians food, clothes and
ankets until they are able to provide
3I themselves. But, says Father
'as1ano, it Is impossible to prevail up
'A the most civilized of them, however
.'.l the winds may blow and SHOWS
4's drift, to stay in house which has
+y sort of door in it. The door
"1at be taken off its hinges and put
t"a} ont Of sight before any Indian
W.! enter the much needed shelter. 1t
also extremely difficult to persuade
"r Women to take any care of their
.AIdItn, and the nearest approach to
sewing which they can be induced to
A' always with their own fshbone
"7rd IS, strung up with fiddle strings
nannaco quits to hitch together
irW otter skins to partially cover
jlrG nakedness,
Us may be imagined, life is not par
'"Nlarly pleasant here for these city
Oled Heimanos de Caridab, who are
gentlemen of culture and refinement
80 Isolated from their kind in these
NliH Sontb caoc D,f x,,boo-o.