174 



C. SKOTTSHERG 



true, it is a wonder that sealing could be practised with a profit over a period of 

 40 years. The seals have disappeared from Masatierra, the sea elephant is extinct 

 in the waters of juan Fernandez. As I told above, we found a small herd of 

 fur seals at Loberia Vieja. Since 1891 it is protected by law, to what effect I shall 

 not say. 



Hut let us return to l^rmel. l^ven if fishing ranked first, the wealth of the 

 land was b\' no means contemptible: timber and fuel, chonta, sandalo, charcoal, 

 "womit Herr von Rodt in den ersten Jahren seiner Pachtzeit einen lohnenden 

 Anfang gemacht hatte"; all kinds of fruit, probably also grain and wine, and 

 breeding cattle, llamas and vicunas should be tried. He also underlined Masatierra's 

 strategic {position. 



However, nothing happened except that the population continued to dwindle, 

 reaching its lowest figure, 35 (12), in 1893. When Johow revisited the islands in 

 1895 it had grown to 54. In 1891 — 92 Johow headed an official commission and 

 he outlined a program for the future management of the islands. This document 

 was published in his book, pp. 267 — 274. It is not without interest, and a sum- 

 mary will be given here. It begins by stating that the utilization must be based 

 on the principal marine products, the langosta (jfasus Lalandei\ confined to 

 Juan I^'ernandez and the Desventuradas Islands (San Ambrosio and San Felix), and 

 the bacalao {Polyprion prog7tatiis), also absent from the coast of the mainland. Even 

 the latter would become a valuable article of export, the more so because it is 

 one of the w^orst enemies of Jastis. The waters abound in many other kinds of 

 savoury fishes. When, however, the commission recommends to repeal the law of 

 1 89 1, prohibiting the destruction of the fur seals, with the motive that seals are 

 the most dreaded enemies of the fishes, no responsible authority in our days 

 would agree. Poachers can be relied upon to keep the number of seals down. 



Johow states that agriculture will never become profitable, for the simple 

 reason that there is very little arable land and that the soil, once deprived of 

 its natural vegetation cover, will be subject to erosion. Wheat should be imported 

 from the mainland and land utilization limited to cultivation of potatoes and veget- 

 ables for local consumption. Nothing is said of the aspects as grazing land. 

 There were very few animals in Johow's time. After these introductory remarks the 

 commission proceeds to answer a number of questions. 



With regard to the administration, some kind of authority should be estab- 

 lished on Masafuera. A small steamer would become necessary to serve the com- 

 munications between Masatierra and Valparaiso. An "inspector de colonizacion" 

 should be appointed. The question whether it would be necessary to prohibit 

 the cutting of chonta and sandalo is answered in the affirmative. Johow estimated 

 the number of full-grown chontas at 100 to 150, and he had occasion to visit 

 the last living sandalo. They were already under provisional protection and it 

 was recommended "no solo por motivos meramente ideales o sea cientificos, sino 

 tambien por consideraciones de caracter comercial i economico" that the law 

 should remain in force and violation be subject to severe penalty: "No seria, a 

 nuestro juicio, exajerado castigar la destruccion de un solo ejemplar de chonta 

 o de sandalo como delito de robo comun, i prohibir tambien su corta bajo pre- 



