THF. VEGETATION OF THE JUAN FERNANDEZ ISLANDS 959 



Additions. 



The last sheets of this paper were going through the press when my Chilean friend, 

 Mr. G. Looser, sent me a recently published book by Jorge (Ilzman Parada, "Cum- 

 bres oceanicas", Santiago (no date). It deals with the geography and history of our 

 islands and is based on the author's visits and on extensive studies of the literature. 

 I shall tjuote some of his statements. 



September 1574, seems to be the exact date of discovery. Of special interest to 

 us are the recent events influencing the state of things with regard to nature protection. 

 Rubus ulmifoUus, the zarzamora of the Chileans, was introduced to Masatierra on pur- 

 pose by Mr. Desiderio Charpentier, to be used as living fences. The author tells 

 (p. 160) that it has taken possession of good agricultural soil and constitutes a serious 

 problem. Experts have calculated with 300 hectares of arable soil on the islands, and 

 still there are persons who dream of an intensification of agriculture and cattle- and 

 sheep-breeding. The precious chonta palm is said to be on the verge of extinction 

 (p. 214 — 215); it was still plentiful in some places in 1917. At that time there were 

 no sheep on the islands, but lately Masatierra has been converted into a sheep-farm 

 with 5000 sheep (194S) running wild all over the place (p. 178). Unfortunately, pasture 

 runs low in March and April, but the author is confident that l)y introducing new 

 kinds of grasses this ditficulty will be overcome quite easily. As destroyers of native 

 floras sheep enjoy very high reputation. The human population of Masatierra has been 

 trebled since 19 17 and counted about 650 in 1944 (p. 37). On Santa Clara are about 

 600 wild goats and 500 sheep, but no settlement. 



On Masafuera, the penal settlement was in operation from 1909 to 1913, and again 

 from 1927 to 1930. At present about 70 free colonists live on this islands. 



Viewed against the fact that the archipelago was made a national park on Jan. 16, 

 1935, these news are very strange and alarming. The law expressly prohibits the erection 

 of human habitations on Masafuera, and not even collecting of specimens of the flora 

 and fauna is permitted, unless with special license and for scientific use only. The author 

 declares himself a staunch friend of the protection of the living world, but nevertheless 

 seems to regard with satisfaction the plan to intensify the tourist traffic, to build hotels, 

 etc. From what he tells us in his interesting book we can arrive at no other conclusion 

 than that the islands are doomed, an irreparable loss to the entire scientific world. 



