SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, 1 927 47 



It is a pleasure to acknowledge the cordial rece])tion accorded me 

 at the National Museum of Chile in Santiago by Dr. Eduardo Moore, 

 the Director of that Institution ; Dr. Juan Briiggen of the University 

 of Chile; and Dr. Carlos E. Porter, the indefatigable Chilean zoolo- 

 gist. Dr. Porter is to be highly commended for his personal financial 

 supjiort of the Revista Chilena Historia Natural, the only periodical 

 of its kind published in Chile. 



In Santiago I visited Dr. Ernesto Maldonado, Director of the 

 Chilean Forest, Fish and Game Commission, as well as the very 

 excellent small museum maintained by this department. In consulta- 

 tion with Dr. Maldonado and Dr. Augusto Opazo of the Fisheries 

 Service, plans were outlined by which the Smithsonian Institution 

 would undertake to prepare a repcn't on the Crustacea of the coasts 

 of Chile, based u\H)n material to be collected and shipped to Wash- 

 ington for the ])urpose. To the American iXmljassador to Chile, 

 Mr. Collier, are due thanks tor his kindness in lending a member of 

 his statT to this preliminary discussion. 



The Museum of the I'niversity of Concepcion, although small, is 

 growing and covers a wide range of activities. It is the best museum 

 of its kind that it was my ])leasure to visit on the west coast of South 

 America. That it is an institution of great promise is due almost 

 entirely to the energy and enthusiasm of its Director, Dr. Carlos 

 Oliver Schneider. 



From Talcahuano, Castro on the Island of Chiloe was reached 

 five days later, after short stops en route, permitting some shore col- 

 lecting at Lota, and at Corral. Southward through Chonos Archi- 

 pelago and the canals of southern Chile to the Straits of Magellan, 

 the scenery in many respects compares favorably with that of the 

 Inland Passage to Alaska. This vast stretch of coast from Castro 

 south, over i,ooo miles in a straight line, is still a " terra incognita," 

 with little more known of its resources and scientific potentialities than 

 when Darwin first visited the region 84 years ago. Collections of 

 animals were made at Punta Arenas, Chile, before visiting the Falk- 

 land Islands. In Punta Arenas is a wonderful little museum main- 

 tained by the Salesian Brotherhood. It is a treasure house of things 

 and rarities Fuegian, and is well worth a visit by ethnologists interested 

 in this fast disappearing race of Indians. 



Port Stanley, Falklands, was reached after what I considered a 

 rather tempestuous passage, during which the galley of the small 

 schooner in which the journey was made was flooded, the potatoes 

 and other vegetables washed over-l)oard, and the motor-room hatch 



