282 PATAGONIAN EXPEDITIONS: GEOGRAPHY. 



where consists of a very pure quality of lignite. It is sufficiently good to 

 answer for all domestic purposes, but will never be found serviceable for 

 sea-going vessels on account of its low calorific properties. It is doubt- 

 ful if a better quality will ever be found, although not impossible. The 

 output, which at present is almost nothing, should increase until it, at least, 

 supplies the home consumption. It will never be possible to export it 

 profitably. No very great future is in store for this industry, therefore. 



In the interior, along the base of the Andes, there are considerable de- 

 posits of mineral paints of most excellent quality and in almost unlimited 

 quantities. The remoteness of these deposits from shipping points will, 

 for a long time at least, preclude their utilization. The salt lakes of the 

 interior will always furnish an abundant supply of salt for domestic use 

 and export, should the latter ever become profitable, as is quite doubtful. 

 Attempts have been made, both at Santa Cruz and at San Julian, to ex- 

 port salt, but both proved failures. 



The above are, at present, the only known mineral resources of Pata- 

 gonia, although future explorations may develop other and more impor- 

 tant ones. In such an extremely mountainous and little-known region as 

 western Patagonia, any estimate of its mineral resources must, of necessity, 

 be entirely conjectural and of little practical value. 



Lumbering. — The lumbering industry of this region, although at pres- 

 ent considerable, is destined, as the other resources of the country are de- 

 veloped, to become of much greater importance. With the opening up 

 and settlement of the fertile region along the base of the Andes and 

 especially about Lakes Argentino, Viedma and San Martin, and the val- 

 ley of the Rio Chico and its tributaries, the Andean forests of this region 

 will become of almost inestimable value in the development of the country. 



Pastoral Pursuits. — This, at present, is the one industry of paramount 

 importance to southern Patagonia. It will doubtless always remain the 

 chief industry of the region. At present it may be said to be entirely 

 confined to sheep raising, the rearing of cattle and horses being almost 

 entirely limited to the domestic requirements. A few horses are, however, 

 annually exported to the Falkland Islands. 



Although sheep growing is at present of considerable importance in this 

 region, it can as yet be said to be only in its infancy. Many of the ranges 

 are still but partially stocked, while along the base of the Andes and river 

 valleys to the northward, are thousands of square miles of excellent graz- 



