A GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE JUAN FERNANDEZ ISLANDS 17I 



invaluable as a port." And Sutcliffe (i pp. 442 — 443) cites a letter written to him 

 by one Manuel I)E Salas, Sept. i, 1835, when Sutcliffe had been appointed 

 governor: 



"The clays and soils of various colours brought to my memory the minerals of 

 Golconda and Brazil . . . their (the islands') geographical j)osition places them in a like 

 situation and renders probable the same effects and equal produc tions . . . One occurs 

 to me which might be of great importance; such is the making of bricks, of which 

 immense ([uantities arc brought from England and the United States, and for which 

 you have all the elements in abundance; there are, the firewood, the clays, and, above 

 all, the idle hands." 



Still the tenants, who succeeded each other, did not coin money. Guzman 

 made an estimation of the arable land, iio hectares on level ground, 70 on the 

 lower slopes; in addition there were 20 on Santa Clara and 100 on Masafuera, 

 and, if the forest was cleared, grazing land of much greater size would be obtained. 

 The colonists took no interest in cattle. Lopez argued (1878) that if the tenant 

 were more enterprising, he would go in for cattle and sheep, of which the island 

 could maintain loooo — the expectations had grown! Viel's report (pp. 19 — 22), 

 founded on his observations in 1877 — a few days I presume — reflects the 

 ideas of his time regarding the future of Masatierra. He admits that its fertility 

 was more apparent than real although chonta and sandal-wood grew in the for- 

 ests, both highly appreciated for their valuable wood and a possible source of a 

 small trade — it was 50 years since anybody saw a sandal tree! A road around 

 the island would become a great asset, because various industries could be started 

 in different places . . . Timber was plentiful, but the contract forbade the lessee 

 to use it, because the disappearance of the forest would endanger the water 

 supply. Viel's personal opinion was that this danger did not exist, "the island, 

 situated in mid-ocean, accumulates the clouds and condensation produces the 

 rains which feed the streams and irrigate the land; thus there is no reason why 

 the lack of trees would have a contrary effect".^ He forgot all about erosion. He 

 recommended to His Excellency to authorize the lessee to utilize the forest; be- 

 sides, he wrote, "if dead trees are left lying, the fresh growth will be poor and 

 raquitic (!)"; one cannot help wondering why, after thousands of years, when the 

 fallen logs were left to decay, there was still dense, healthy forest. Unfortunately, 

 "the quality of the native timber was not good, for which reason it should be better 

 gradually to replace the indigenous trees by better ones, which later would become 

 a source of income to the Republic. Pines should be planted at once on a large 

 scale; it would be wise to take advantage of the present tenant who would be 

 glad to look after the plantations, provided that some minor behalves which 

 wouldn't in any way harm the State or render his contract more favourable were 

 conceded him.'^ It was necessary to supply good timber; if not, the whalers would 

 cease to come. Fruit-growing ought to be improved, wheat grew well, potatoes 

 could be exported to northern Chile with great gain. In this connection Viel says 

 that zarzaparilla — here = Acaeua argentea, a noxious weed — was common and 



^ Translated from Spanish. 



