The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-03-31

Both history and tradition nave IalSe- 1 Iy reported them as a race of giants and attributed to them traits of fierce ness and courage which they never possessed. Probably that arch-roman- ! cer, Pigusetta. who accompanied Ma gelhaens (ang1icized Msgellan), the great navigator who discovered the passage or Strait that bears his name, was responsible for most of those absurd tales. The two were the first
 white men to interview these Indians,
 iii 1520, as well as the first to enter the Pacific ocean. Pigusetta told marvellous yarns for the worlds edifieation, which had about as much foundation in fact
 as those of the warrior women that gave their name to the Amazon, and other sixteenth century fables. For ex- ample, he gravely asserted that the i Patagonians were of that bigness that our meme of meane stature could reach
 up to their waysts, and they had bigg voyces, so that their talks seemed lyke
 unto the roar of a beaste" Later nav igators felt in duty bound to see and de-
 scribe as amazing things as their pre-
 decessors had witnessed, and even went { further in their laudable efforts to keep i up European interest in the new world.
 and so the fables crept into history, and
 many of them still find credence.
 Therefore though we speak of explor- 1 ing Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego
 when going into those regions of TO-
 nance, in reality we shall remain with
 in the new boundaries of Chili for some
 weeks to come. It would be hard to find more dangerous voyaging in any part of the world than off the south western coast of South America, where two boundless oceans come together in their sweep around the hemisphere, and the vessel is exceptionally lucky that
 can enter the Strait. or round the Horn, without being caught in gale.
 Looking on map you will observe that the Andes break suddenly near the tip end of the continent, leaving the deep and narrow ravine that Magal- haens discovered, and that innumerable
 small islands are scattered all along the coast, separated from the main land and from one another by slender threads of ocean. Most of these islands
 are mountains, some of them rising out of the sea to a height of several thou-
 sand feet, and all are of picturesque outlines. The winding ford between them, known as Smyth's channel, was
 scooped out. so geologists say, by the
 action of ice during the glacial period and is so narrow in places that two steamers could not possibly pass one another between the rocks and cliffs that crowd to the waters edge. Being thus protected from all the winds that rage outside upon the open ocean, the
 passage is perfectly smooth; yet it is avoided by navigators because of the powerful current and the frequency of blinding snow storms that prevail here at all times of the year. The few ves-
 sells that take this course are com
 pelled to anchor every night, and also
 to "tie lip" whenever snow is falling,
 because of the great danger of collision
 with icebergs in some of the circuitous
 turns. Sailors prefer to take their
 chances on the open sea, where there is plenty of room and they can keep going by night as well as by day, rather than finger in region where the sun sets at three o'clock in the afternoon. Winter is eternal so far south of the equator, and though not usually excessively cold,
 water freezes every night in the year
 and the line of perpetual snow begins
 at an elevation of only two thousand fleet.
 Of course no other than the channel
 route would satisfy us, especially after
 reading Vineents description. He
 writes: "We had in continual view a
 range of magnificent snow-covered mountains belonging to the same great chain of Andes that extends almost un-
 broken from the Isthmus of Panama to Cape Horn. The Chilian mountains are
 of the most fantastic description. Their
 contour Is infinite. They are peaked,
 jagged, dome and pyramid shaped, and
 the amount of snow that adheres to
 their almost perpendicular sides is as- tonishing. There are scores of glaciers, too, as splendid as any in Switzerland.
 How can give you an idea of the vary ing colors, the weirdness and the utter
 savageness of this Antarctic scenery
 An artist would rave a poet would
 rhyme. At first I thought of Norway,
 then of Switzerland, then of Bolivia, and then of India; but the unobstructed
 view of these mountains on clear day "a very unusual thing in these parts is much grander than anything in Nor
 way, quite equal to anything in Swift
 zerland, and only surpassed by the ranges of Bolivia and India Glaciers
 so numerous and vast, snow-fields SC measureless I have never seen in any other part of the globe. And to think that all these beautiful and majestic
 scenes are altogether unknown to the
 general tourist, and all but unknown
 to even worldwide travelers." There are no American steamers in the South ern Pacific, and those of the French and English lines pass only around the Horn, or through the Straits of Magel- Ian; so we chose the eKosnlosp line (German), which alone sends vessels regularly through Smyth's channel on : their way between Hamburg and the western ports of South America. These neat little German boats, all rejoicing under Egyptian names Ca fleet of if teen), are remarkably long and slender built on the narrow-gauge plan, so tc speak, for passage of the fiords. About Twenty-Five f1rst-class passengers just comfortably fill the tables and all the cabins of each. As usual thing the : diversity of languages spoken on board is olmost as great as that which con- tIr laY-s1 S~P1 1on1N 1o