i6o 



vessels, and also by vessels the property of Chilians on the 

 West Coast, and by some the property of citizens of the 

 Argentine Republic and the Banda Oriental. 



The principal station for the sealers is the small settle- 

 ment of Punta Arenas, or Sandy Point, in the Straits of 

 Magellan. This place was formerly used by the Chilian 

 Government as a convict station, to which military convicts 

 were transported ; but a few years since a mutiny broke 

 out amongst the convicts, and their guards, a small detach-' 

 ment of Chilian troops, having fraternised with them, the 

 little settlement was in a state of anarchy, which lasted 

 until all the intoxicants in the place had been consumed (a 

 period of about three days), when, after setting fire to the 

 town, the mutineers started off towards the Argentine 

 Republic, which, however, very few of them reached, in 

 consequence of quarrels having broken out amongst them- 

 selves, and also on account of the hostility of some Pata- 

 gonian Indians, through whose camps they had to pass. 

 Six or seven of the mutineers, who had escaped in a boat, 

 were captured and brought back to the settlement, and 

 were tried by Court Martial and shot in the Plaza. Since 

 this occurrence Sandy Point has ceased to be used as a 

 penal settlement, and it has become the headquarters of 

 the sealers. Twice during the year the little town is a 

 scene of unwonted activity : once during the time the sealing 

 fleet is fitting out and preparing to proceed to the Rookeries, 

 and again upon the return of the sealers. Occasionally it 

 happens that a sealer makes an exceptionally good haul at 

 the commencement of the season, and fills up before the 

 usual time, in which case she runs down to the settlement, 

 and either sells the skins to the merchants there, or tran- 

 ships them to the first Pacific mail boat or German steamer 

 which calls at Punta Arenas, homeward bound, returning to 



