EXPLORATION OF THE CHILIAN MAINLAND. 



405 



Marcant, the only French navigator who took part in these explorations, 

 penetrated into Magellan Strait in 1713, in order to reach the west coast of 

 America, but instead of following the Long Reach of the channel, he diverged 

 into a lateral branch, now called Barbara Passage from the name of his vessel. 



Meanwhile, the Jesuit missionaries had traversed Chili in various directions, 

 and had prepared more accurate charts than those of the first navigators. In 1646 

 the missionary Ovalle had already had a map of Chili printed in Rome far superior 

 to those previousl}^ issued. Sanson d' Abbeville had little to add when reproducing 

 it ten years later. 



Other missionaries had crossed the Andes to found stations amid the Patagonians 

 ■of the eastern slopes, as appears from the ruins of ancient missions on the shores 



Fig. 152. — Staten Island. 

 Scale 1 : 1,100,000. 



18 miles. 



•of Lake Nahuel Huapi, discovered by Basil Villarino during his explorations in 

 the Rio Negro basin in 1782. On their expulsion from Chili, the Jesuits brought 

 away some valuable geographical materials. Ignacio Molina, amongst others, 

 published at Bologna several works on Chili, in which is summed up all that was 

 known of that region at the end of the eighteenth century, that is to say, before 

 the period of political and social transformation which was soon to follow. 

 Feuillee, a French priest of the Order of Minims, had approximately determined 

 the longitude of the Chilian seaboard early in the same century. His observations 

 remained uncontrolled till corrected by the mariners of various nations during the 

 course of the present century. 



