A GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE JUAN FERNANDEZ ISLANDS I 87 



rents or amortizations. On the other hand, Guzman continues, the factors render- 

 ing agriculture difficult are also conspicuous. The men working for the companies 



— there are three of them, but the Recart y Doniez Co. was taken over "en 

 estado ruinoso" by Cia Santa Sofia — earn much more money than the farm hands, 

 with the result that everybody prefers to be a fisherman. The schooners cannot 

 accommodate the export of fruit or vegetables. Good soil is rare and shallow, 

 because the islands are too young (!). The zarzamora is taking possession of the 

 best agricultural soil and is becoming a serious problem. The strong winds are 

 another inconvenience, to be overcome by planting hedges. 



The most serious obstacle is the very limited extension of arable land, referred 

 to above p. 171; 300 hectares, in 9 different localities, including Masafuera and 

 Santa Clara, might be utilized, with an annual output of cereals amounting to 

 2300 quintales. If 800 are reserved for local consumption and 300 for seed-corn, 

 1200 remain for export (I.e. p. 160) to compete on the market with millions of 

 quintales produced on the mainland, and having to carry the cost of freight! It 

 it disgusting to find that such imaginary hopes have been carried from genera- 

 tion to generation. How much of the land is level? Almost nothing. And what 

 would happen if the slopes, where the inclination rarely falls below 15 to 20°, 

 and the soil is very thin, are plowed? The badly eroded areas seen everywhere 

 give the answer. When Guzman recommends the declivities for tree-planting he 

 gets on safer ground. And he believes that reforestation, large olive plantations 

 and the creation of orchards and artificial meadows would transform Masatierra 

 into an "alegre huerto isleno, deleite de los turistas" (I.e. p. 164). 



Masatierra is already blessed with sheep, cattle, goats and rabbits, all in excess 



— will it also be necessary to add a host of tourists? Guzman holds a very high 

 opinion of the attractions of Juan Fernandez. He quotes "el celebre viajero Carlos 

 Rowsel" (I regret never having heard his name before) who once said that if 

 Masatierra were situated 60 instead of 360 miles from Valparaiso it would be "la 

 Reina de los Balnearios" in the Pacific — and this in spite of the fact that there 

 is not the slightest trace of a bathing beach on the island. And when Guzman 

 compares Juan Fernandez to Hawaii and finds that the one is just as marvellous 

 as the other, he has lost all contact with reality. I should add that I happen to 

 be very well acquainted with both, and that nobody could appreciate the beauties of 

 Juan Fernandez more than I do. Call it a miniature Hawaii if you like, but deprived 

 of the tropical luxuriance, the colourful Royal history of the natives, the white, 

 palm-shadowed beaches of coral sand, the gigantic mountains and active volcanoes, 

 not to mention the comfort and luxury offered by the busy cities, the large hotels, 

 beautiful camp sites, excellent motor roads and easy and rapid communications 

 by sea and air with the outside world! The nature of the indigenous living 

 world is, in principle, of the same type in the two cases, but incomparably richer 

 and more varied in Hawaii — there is room for half Masatierra in the caldera of 

 Haleakala. To the average tourist Masatierra remains Robinson Crusoe's island 



— this is its main attraction. I have no doubt that the traffic will grow and the 

 tourists become a moderate source of income which nobody will envy the kind and 

 hospitable colonists, but I am afraid that Guzman is too optimistic when he thinks 



