SANDY POINT. 93 



moment later he suggested bleeding as the initial treatment, I was not 

 long in deciding that I would be my own physician and surgeon, well 

 knowing that since the first night on the pampa after my accident I had 

 been in no way suffering from an excess of blood. From an apothecary 

 I procured some quinine, carbolized vaseline, absorbent cotton, bandages, 

 and a few other simple remedies and returned to my hotel. 



The day following my arrival in Sandy Point, having learned that our 

 boxes were stored in a hulk in the harbor, if the open roadstead at this 

 place can be called a harbor, I procured a boat and rowed out to see in 

 what condition they had arrived thus far on their journey. What was my 

 surprise and consternation, on reaching the deck of the hulk, to see the 

 boxes lying about quite unprotected from the almost constant rains. The 

 excuse given was that as they were to be forwarded by the first steamer 

 for New York, it had not been thought worth while to lower them into the 

 hold. I immediately had them all piled together and securely covered 

 over with tarpaulins, of which there were several lying about the deck. 



In spite of every care my wound healed slowly, and for a few days 

 my cold, far from improving, seemed to grow worse, so that I was for a 

 time confined to my room. As my condition improved later and I was 

 able to get about the town, or make short excursions beyond its limits, I 

 had ample opportunity for seeing the sights of this truly cosmopolitan 

 place. At the time of my first visit, Sandy Point claimed a population of 

 from ten to twelve thousand and actually had perhaps four or five thou- 

 sand. It is built at the southwestern end of a small valley at the mouth of 

 the River of the Mines mentioned above. For the most part, the buildings 

 consist of small wooden or galvanized-iron structures, although there is 

 a small and constantly increasing number of substantial houses built of 

 brick and stone. It derives its chief importance from being the seat of 

 government of the Chilian territory of Magellanes, a port of call for all 

 steamers passing through the Straits of Magellan bound for New Zealand, 

 or the west coast of America, and the principal distributing and shipping 

 point for goods received from and destined to Europe, for the already not 

 inconsiderable and rapidly increasing wool-growing industry of Patagonia 

 and Tierra del Fuego. Lumbering, in a small way, is carried on in the 

 adjacent forests. This industry could be increased many fold. The town 

 itself is well laid out, but very indifferently kept Sidewalks are rare and 

 street-crossings, where there are any at all, consist of logs laid end to 



