72 



C. SKOTTSBERG 



maqui not less abundant; it is not clear whether or not he regarded them as a 

 source of wealth. 



As a more promising industry than forestry Vie! recommends raising cattle. 

 The island could easily maintain looo, during the Spanish time there had been 

 800, and now the number of domesticated animals was 98 cows and 50 horses, 

 but many had run wild. The 3000 wild goats ought to be protected by a closed 

 season; 800 skins had been exported recently. Apparently the fur seals did not, 

 in his opinion, need })rotection: "the output was mediocre, a consequence of the 

 settlers not being sufficiently intelligent and industrious"^ — he forgot that the 

 j)oor result of sealing was a consequence of ruthless persecution during a cent- 

 ury. The average number of seals killed per annum was 700 — one would call 

 this a fair number considering the small size of the islands. Fishing was neg- 

 lected, onl\' very little salted or dried fish had been exported. There was plenty 

 "langosta", and it ought to be made into preserves. Viel concludes his report 

 with the following words: "El estado actual es bien lamentable." Had the Govern- 

 ment listened to his recommendations the situation would have become much 

 more lamentable. 



Of this official report to the Minister of Finance and to the Governor of 

 \'alparaiso Fkllexberg published a translation, but he protests against Viel's belief 

 that the disappearance of the forest would not harm the water supply. As an appen- 

 dix he published 3 letters from the new tenant, addressed to his relatives in Bern. 



Ai.KRKi) vox Root, of Swiss descent, an ex-officer in the Austrian army 

 and a well-educated gentleman, settled on contract on Masatierra as tenant of 

 the islands, h'.ncouraged by the many favorable reports on their resources, he ex- 

 pected to make his fortune, and he had some money to invest in the enterprise. 

 His first letter, written shortly after his arrival and dated June 5, 1877, contains 

 dates on the size and |)osition of the place; he tells that there were 7000 wild 

 goats and [)asture for 1000 head of cattle and that he intended to start "verschie- 

 dene Industrien '. I'A'idently he went to work without delay; on March 13, 1878, 

 he writes that he had timber worth 3000 Dollars ready to be shipped to the coast. 

 He reported from Masafuera 17.6. 1878 that this island was considerably larger 

 than Masatierra (!) and that there were large forests and the most beautiful grass- 

 lands where it would be easy to feed 20000 sheep. He had killed more than 

 700 fur seals. 



I he castle in the air vanished, von Rodt never founded any new industries 

 on Masatierra, there never was a sheep-farm on Masafuera. He lost his money, 

 but he remained true to his beloved Masatierra, where it is easy enough to make 

 a living, but perhaps not a fortune. The von Rodt dynasty was still going strong 

 when we \ isitcd the islands; the sons of Alfred made their living as lobster ^ fish- 



^ 'I'ranslated from .Spanish. 



2 i'rofrssor Kari. I..\N(;, head of the Dept. of Evcrtebratcs in the Nat. Hist. Museum, Stock- 

 hohii, on my ro(|ucst kindly made a dihgent search for an English equivalent to the Spanish 

 word langosta as name of the large Decapod Jasus Lalatidci (formerly known as Palinurtis 

 ln>n/a/is , which from a scientific viewpoint is no real lobster. He reports that Palinurus vul- 

 i^uiris and related forms are called "rock lobster"; "spiny lobster" is another name. Yox the sake 

 of brevity "lobster" or langosta" will be used here. 



