FALKLAND ISLANDS. 



FALSTER. 



991 



lime, bricks, flour, sugar, coffee, and British manufactured goods ; the 

 exports consist of hides, tallow, salted beef, seal-skins, and a few barrels 

 of fish-oiL Governor Rennie estimated the total imports in 1851 at 

 17,000?., and the total exports at SOOOJ. The fisheries have been of 

 late attracting the attention of the colonists. Guano is expected to 

 form a small article of export. It is obtained in considerable quan- 

 tities on West Falkland Island. 



Government. The chief objects of the British government in main- 

 taining an establishment on the Falkland Islands are the advantages 

 which they offer in affording water, fresh meat, and refreshment to 

 the crews of vessels passing and repassing them in their voyages round 

 Cape Horn ; but though the number of vessels passing annually is 

 about 1000, and there are no harbour-dues or any other similar charges, 

 yet in 1849 only 12, and in 1850 only 23 English merchant vessels 

 availed themselves of the opportunity. The number appears however 

 to be on the increase. The aggregate tonnage of vessels resorting to 

 the settlement in 1849 was 9200 ; in 1850 it was 13,672 ; it 1S51 it 

 was 17,533 ; in 1852 it amounted to 22,024 tons. Vessels frequently 

 call for repairs and refitting. The government establishment consists 

 of a governor, two clerks, a surveyor, surgeon, harbour-master, 

 stipendiary magistrate, and chaplain. The entire annual expense of 

 the establishment is about 1775. The total expenditure, including 

 buildings, &c., has hitherto been about SOOOl ; the sum voted by the 

 House of Commons for the year 1851-2 was 5000?. The fixed revenue 

 of the settlement, which was l&il. 10s. in 1849, had increased to 

 442t 14*. 2d. in 1850, and has probably increased in amount since 

 that time. 



Hillary and Settlement. With respect to the discovery of the Falk- 

 land Inlands, all that is known with certainty is that they were seen 

 in 1592 by Dr. John Davis, who accompanied Cavendish in his second 

 voyage; and Hawkins, who sailed along them in 1594, called them 

 Hawkins's Maiden Land. In 1690 Strong sailed through the channel 

 which separates East and West Falkland, and called it Falkland Sound, 

 whence the islands were afterwards named the Falkland Islands. 

 Several vessels from St. Malo passed near the islands between 1706 

 and 1714, and from these they were named by the French Les lies 

 Malouines. In 1764 the French established a colony on one of the 

 harbours of Berkeley Sound on East Falkland, and called it St.-Louis ; 

 and two years later the British formed a settlement on West Falkland, 

 on the inlet called Port Egmont. Soon afterwards the French, in 1767, 

 ced.d their settlement to the Spaniards, who in 1770 attacked the 

 English colony and took it. After some negotiations Port Egmont 

 wiw restored to the English. The British afterwards abandoned the 

 colony, but did not give up the rights of possession. The Spaniards 

 also withdrew their garrison from Port Louis. 



In the beginning of the present century the whale fishery in the 

 Southern Atlantic began to be prosecuted on an extensive scale by 

 some European nations and the North Americans. Many of the whaling 

 vessels visited the Falkland Islands, especially to kill wild cattle and 

 refresh their crews. It was also discovered that the islands were 

 visited by a great number of seals, and these animals attracted 

 numerous other adventurers. Thus Berkeley Sound was seldom 

 without the presence of some visitors. This induced the government 

 of the newly-established republic of Buenos Ayres to take possession 

 of East Falkland in 1820, and in 1823 they formed a settlement at 

 Port Louia. England protested against these proceedings in 1829, 

 and in 1833 the colony was given up to the English. For some years 

 only a lieutenant of the navy with a boat's crew resided at Port 

 Louis, but the British government resolved in 1840 to colonise the 

 islands, and to send there a governor and a small establishment. 

 They settled at Port Louis; but on examining the country in its 

 vicinity, it was found that Port William, south of Berkeley Sound, 

 offered greater advantages as a naval station and port of refuge, and 

 in 1^44 Governor Moody laid out a town on the southern shores of 

 .Stanley Harbour, a land-locked inlet, sheltered from every wind. The 

 population of the colony in March 1847 was 270, including 106 in the 

 employment of Mr. Lafone, a wealthy merchant of Monte Video, to 

 whom the British government, in consideration of a payment of 

 G0,000. by instalment), granted an extensive tract of land and the 

 possession of all the wild cattle and other wild stock for six years, 

 dating from January 1st, 1848. Mr. Lafone's interests were recently 

 purchased by a joint-stock company, possessed of a large capital. 

 The company has obtained extensive privileges from government in 

 respect of property in land and cattle, and is carrying out its opera- 

 tions on a comprehensive plan. From a despatch of Governor Rennie, 

 dated January 8th, 1853, it appears that the general trade of thecolony 

 wa then in a healthy state, and that its prospects were favourable. 

 Unskilled labourers were receiving from 3s. to 5s. a day, and skilled 

 labourers 6*. to 10s. A few garden allotments of one acre each, which 

 had been put up for sale, realised 12J. an acre, being six times the 

 usual government price, and double the amount realised in 1849. 

 Several enrolled pensioners who had been settled in the colony had 

 manifested gome dissatisfaction with the manner in which they had 

 been treated, but the secretary-at-war having intimated to them that 

 they were at liberty to return to England if they preferred doing so, 

 none of them had accepted the permission. The opening of the ship 

 canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, if accomplished, 

 would of course do away with the necessity for vessels calling at the 



OKOO. niv. VOL. ii. 



Falkland Islands for refit or refreshment : and this being their chief 

 use, the settlement might probably be abandoned. 



(Weddell, Voyage towards the South Pole; Fitz-Roy and Darwin, 

 Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle j 

 Parliamentary Papers.) 



FALMOUTH, Cornwall, a municipal and parliamentary borough 



The population of the municipal borough in 1851 was 4953. The 

 borough is governed by 4 aldermen and 12 councillors, of whom one 

 is mayor ; and conjointly with Penryn returns two members to the 

 Imperial Parliament. The population of the parliamentary borough 

 of Penryn and Falmouth was 13,656 in 1851. The living ia a rectory 

 in the archdeaconry of Cornwall and diocese of Exeter. Falmouth 

 Poor-Law Union contains 10 parishes and townships, with an area of 

 25,850 acres, and a population in 1851 of 21,049. 



The port of Falmouth is first spoken of in the reign of Henry IV., 

 when the duchess dowager of Bretagne landed here, in progress to 

 celebrate her nuptials with that king. Until 1613 the site of the 

 present town was occupied merely by the huts of fishermen. Shortly 

 after this period Sir John Killegrew, having obtained permission from 

 James I., constructed a new quay and laid the foundation of the 

 present town. The subsequent establishment, about 1688, of the 

 post-office packets to the West Indies, Lisbon, &c., contributed much 

 to the prosperity of the place. 



The town consists chiefly of one narrow street, which extends along 

 the south-western shore of the harbour for about a mile. The public 

 buildings are the town-hall, the market-house, the jail, the Public 

 Rooms, a handsome building situated in the centre of the town, and 

 the Polytechnic hall. In the Polytechnic hall are held the meetings 

 of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society. This society, which was 

 founded in 1833, on a plan somewhat similar to that of the Society of 

 Arts, London, has been very successful ; the society publishes its 

 transactions. Falmouth is a neat and tolerably well-built town. It 

 is lighted with gas, and is abundantly supplied with water. The 

 suburbs are adorned with terraces and villas, which, with the harbour, 

 when seen from the surrounding hills, present a very beautiful appear- 

 ance. The parish church, dedicated to Charles the Martyr, was built 

 in the time of Charles II. The Baptists, Wesleyau Methodists, 

 Quakers, Roman Catholics, Jews, and Unitarians have places of 

 worship in Falmouth. There are National, British, and Infant schools; 

 a public library ; two church libraries ; an athenamni and mechanics 

 institute ; a savings bank, a dispensary, and coal and clothing societies. 

 A county court is held in Falmouth. The market-days are Tuesday, 

 Thursday, and Saturday ; fairs are held on August 7th and October 

 10th. 



The quay is convenient, and there is sufficient depth of water to 

 allow vessels of considerable burden to discharge their cargoes on the 

 wharf. The harbour is extensive, conveniently situated, and well 

 protected. It is defended on the west by Pendennis Castle, and on 

 the east by St. Mawes Castle. These castles were built by Henry VIII., 

 and subsequently improved an4 strengthened by Queen Elizabeth. 

 Pendenuis long resisted the attacks of Oliver Cromwell, whose lines 

 of encampment may yet be seen. It now contains commodious 

 barracks, storehouses, and magazines. A lighthouse has been erected 

 at St. Anthony's Point, at the east side of the harbour. The Trinity 

 Board have erected an obelisk ou the height of the Black Rock, 

 between Pendennis and St. Mawes, for the assistance of mariners in 

 making Falmouth harbour. There is an extensive fishery of pilchards 

 on the coast. 



The number of vessels registered as belonging to the port of Fal- 

 mouth on December 31st, 1853, was as follows: Under 50 tons, 50, 

 tonnage 1393; above 50 tons, 73, tonnage 7364 ; one steam vessel, 

 14 tons. The number of vessels entered and cleared at the port 

 during 1853 was as follows: Coasting trade, inwards, sailing vessels, 

 710, toi'uage 40,271 ; steam vessels, 141, tonnage 29, 447; outwards, 

 sailing vessels, 215, tonnage 9195; steam vessels, 75, tonnage 7151. 

 Colonial and foreign trade : sailing vessels, inwards, 161, tonnage 

 13,379 : outwards, 147, tonnage 17,934. The exports from Falmouth 

 consist chiefly of the produce of the tin and copper mines : there is 

 a considerable trade with the island of Jersey in fruit and cider. 



Borlase, in his ' Antiquities of the County of Cornwall,' mentions 

 the finding of a large quantity of Roman coins on a branch of Fal- 

 mouth harbour, nearly the whole of which were of the coinage of the 

 emperors Gallienus, Cariuus, and Numerian, who reigned A.D. 259-2S4. 

 At the western extremity of the town stands Arwiunick House, the 

 ancient seat of the Killegrew family. 



(Borlase, Antiquities of Cornwall; Carew, Survey of Cornwall ; 

 Handbook of Cornwall and Devon; Parliamentary Papers; Com- 

 munication from Falmouth.) 



FALMOUTH. [ANTIGUA; JAMAICA.] 



FALSTER, a Danish island in the Baltic, due south of Seeland, 

 and east of Laaland, between 54 30' and 54 58' N. lat., 11 45' and 

 12 11' E. long. The strait called the Gaabeusesund separates it from 

 Seelaud, and the Giddborgsund from Laalaud ; on the north-east the 

 Grousund divides it from the Island of Moeu. Its greatest length 

 from north to south is about 25 miles, from east to west about 



3 s 



