GOLD REGIONS OF STRAIT OF MAGELLAN 687 



produced in quantities sufficient to attract general attention only in 

 the last twenty to twenty-five years. The gold in the gravels of Rio 

 de las Minas, near Punta Arenas, was one of the earliest discoveries, 

 and a number of miners soon began to work there. Another early 

 discovery was the gold in the beach sands near Cape Virgins, at the 

 eastern entrance of the Strait of Magellan, which was first discovered 

 about 1876, but not actively worked until 1884. Then considerable 

 excitement followed and prospecting parties overran a large part 

 of southern Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. An Austrian named 

 Mr. Julius Popper was among the most active operators at that time, 

 especially on the east coast of the main island of Tierra del Fuego. 

 The search continued for several years with more or less activity. 



Fig, 2. — A view in the Strait of Magellan. 



sometimes the excitement subsiding, and sometimes breaking forth 

 again when an especially rich discovery was made. 



During this time, gold was found and actively worked in many 

 places on both side& of the Strait of Magellan, but the principal 

 localities were the following: the gravels in the Rio de las Minas 

 near Punta Arenas; the beaches at Cape Virgins and from there 

 southwestward along the shore to Point Dungeness; the gravels on 

 several small streams to the eastward of where Porvenir now stands, 

 across the strait from Punta Arenas; the beach at Paramo northeast 

 of San Sebastian Bay, on the east coast of the main island of Tierra 

 del Fuego; Navarin Island, Lennox Island, New Island, and Sloggett 

 Bay in the extreme southern part of the archipelago near Cape 

 Horn; New Year Island which lies north of Staten Island, at the 

 eastern end of the archipelago; and several localities in the western 

 islands of the archipelago. In fact, gold has been found to be very 

 generally distributed almost all through the Magellan region, though 



