The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-05-19

Mainly Populated by "fOunger SOns''
 Who are sheep-Farming on Large
 Scale.
 Special Correspondence of the Journal
 and Courier)
 Port Stanley, East Falkland April 9.
 A few generations ago these islands were more talked about than perhaps any other portion of the earth's surface. But since the Dutch, English. Spanish. South American and United States goy- ernments have, one by one, resigned all claim to them and Great Britain now holds them in peaceable possession, the world has so far forgotten the subject that to-day many otherwise well posted person would be puzzled to tell you, at moments notice, on which side of the globe the archipelago is located.
 The Falkland group, which includes more than two hundred islands, lies about three hundred miles due east from the Atlantic entrance to the Straits of Magellan; but in order to reach them from the Straits, or from Cape Horn way, one must vayage a hundred miles farther, around the southern extremity of the outer islands, because the one place of consequence in the archipelago and the seat of colonial government is Port Stanley, on the eastern shore of the central island. There are two large islands, named re- spectively East Falkland and West Falkland-the former ninety miles long by forty broad, and the latter about eighty by twenty-eight miles. They are separated from one another by sound, also named Falkland which varies in width from three to eighteen miles. The other islands are of all sizes, from sixteen miles long by eight or ten miles wide, to mere dots in the ocean. The entire group is remarkable for it's innumerable bays, harbors and inlets. East Falkland, for example, is so deep ly indented by a sound on each side as to almost make two islands of it. the in- tervening isthmus being less than two miles across. So low and barren are the Falklands, resembling in color told oceans gray and melancholy waste" that they are not visible at a little dis tance. Approached from the southwest, the first to be seen of them are the snowy tops of range of hills, the high est in the archipelago, though scarcely attaining two thousand feet, that cross the largest island. Running close to the shore, we see no trees nor shrubs, not even under r-brush-nothing but gray sand and brownish grass; and feel a sharp, cutting, tconstant land-breeze like that experienced in the north on clustering March days, only infinitely colder and more goose-pimpling and wrinkle-producing Passengers who have been in these parts before, fall to telling one another amazing yarns about the Falkland winds, most of which may be taken with grains of allowance tall 'Briton, determined not to be out done, asserts that he has actually seen sheep, whole .droves of them, picked up bodily by gentle Falkland zephyr and transported to another island; and hints that he refrains from telling more mar vicious truths because of the looks of in credulity which he sdiscerns upon our faces. Another Falklander resents with indignation somebody's statement re- garding the barrenness of the islands, and boastfully declares that there is a tree in tanley (the only one in the arch ipelago), and an apple tree at that, which last year bore five apples nearly as large as walnuts!
 Stanley Harbor is one of the most completely "land-locked" in the world, having an opening hardly six hundred feet across To get into it you must round Cape Pembroke-a flat, arid pe- ninsula, whose outlying sand-bars have wrecked many a good vessel, notwith- standing it's lofty lighthouse, steer past Wolf Rock, against which furious surf dashes fifty feetin the air; and traverse a long, narrow bay filled with tiny grass covered islands. Suddenly you turn to the left between two sharp headlands and steam through straight and narrow ford into Stanley Harbor, which is three or four miles long by half mile wide and extremely deep. So far the view is not prepossessing. No trace of verdure is in sight, and the main land, heaped with drift-sand, looks life less as the deserts of Peru. In the foreground are several ships stuck fast on the sand bars, dismantled and slowly decaying. Two or three English and German vessels are taking on wool, tal- low and sheep-skins, the cargoes being brought alongside in huge, old-fash- toned freight hulks Craft of various sorts at anchor in the harbor show French, Argentine and Chilian flags; but, search as you may, no Stars and Stripes can be seen, for Uncle Sam's banner is almost unknown in this local ity. A few "tenders" are fussing about, and the little brig owned by the sheep farmers of the various islands and used by them to bring their produce to Stan ley, whence it is shipped to Europe, is departing on it's usual errand The southern side of the harbor is outlined by a range of low hills covered with peat and brown grass, and in front is Stanley, seated on another slope almost too low to be called a hill, it's grayish houses hardly discernable against background of gray rock and sand. Unfortunately for cheerfulness, the most conspicuous object in the land scape is a cemetery disproportionately large compared to the little town-lying directly opposite the landing and filled with forest of black and white wood- en crosses.
 The town, which contains about eight hundred inhabitants, consists principal ly of two macadamized streets, each a mile long, running parallel with the har- dressed stone, mostly of one story and