To visit the mines there is a drop in an electric car of nearly ¼ of a mile. There are streets, shops, offices, restaurants, stalls for horses, black-smiths’ shop, etc., down below; and the workings go far under the deep sea where ships are sailing above. There is good rock and no drip. The Company owns copper mines, smelting works, pottery and brick works, glass and bottle factories, etc., with a fleet of steamers and sailing vessels. Five thousand workmen are employed here, for whom houses are supplied, free schools, church, medical attendance, free coal, asylum for aged, etc.
The Señora spent money lavishly at home and in Paris, where she was well known. Lota Park was laid out by the most skillful landscape gardeners with artistic design and picturesque effects. Stately trees, flower beds, all plants of temperate climes here flourished in a state of the highest cultivation. On a bluff above the town, it has wonderful sylvan beauty; with grottoes, bridges, fountains, cascades, etc., marble and bronze monuments, deer and other animals in the woods, an aviary with birds; near the center of the park, a fine marble statue by the noted artist Caupolican. A palace fit for royalty, not quite completed, it is falling to decay. Superb wainscoting, gold and white frescoing, exquisite parquetry, carved mantels and sideboards, priceless curios and paintings, treasures of all kinds were brought from Europe, many never unpacked. The Park at times is open by courtesy to strangers, a spectacle of great beauty, though perhaps of melancholy. The Company owning 200,000 acres of farming land has many sheep and cattle and has planted more than 10,000,000 trees.
Valdivia. Still farther south in a picturesque site on the Calle-Calle River is the town of Valdivia (pop. 12,000), the fifth city founded by Pedro de Valdivia, in 1552. It was too far from his base for that period, and much slaughter followed in fierce battles with the natives. Near its port, Corral, at the mouth of the river 15 miles away, in 1820 occurred the victory of Lord Cochrane’s fleet over the Spanish. For several years the railroad halted at Osorno a little farther on. Its recent extension to Puerto Montt on the north shore of the Gulf of Reloncavi, about 100 miles beyond, will greatly enhance the prosperity of a rich and beautiful section already sprinkled with thriving German colonists. One of the lakes near by, Llanquihue, with an area of nearly 300 square miles is served with steam navigation.
The boats of the P.S.N. Company running from Callao to Liverpool reach Lota or Coronel the day after leaving Valparaiso. Five days later they arrive at Punta Arenas; in five or six more at Montevideo.
Sailing towards the South Pole, the coldest region on earth, the winds naturally become more chill, especially if it is their winter season. By a natural perversity of fate, it is said that the finest scenery is usually passed at night, also it is often foggy or it snows, so little may be seen. After several days with no land in view, the sight of Cape Pillar, rising 1395 feet above the sea, the western extremity of Desolation Island, and on the south side, the western outpost of the Straits, gives a thrill of pleasure. On the northwest side of this entrance from the Pacific are the three Evangelists and the Sugar Loaf, columnar rock, more impressive than many mountains. From Cape Pillar to Cape Virgenes at the eastern entrance of the Straits it is 240 miles as the crow flies but between 300 and 400 by the channel which must be followed. As the prevailing winds are west, sailing ships between October and March sometimes go through from the Pacific, a fair passage occupying 80 days, but they more generally prefer the passing around Cape Horn, 100 miles south, where jagged boulders rise to a height of 1391 feet in the midst of a turbulent sea; for despite the 500 additional miles of open water it is open with less danger from fogs, cross currents, etc., and time is usually saved. Storms are frequent in this region, but if the weather favors, the fine scenery including glacier-covered mountains, deep bays, grim cliffs, gray moss, and sparse vegetation, picturesque icebergs, the multitude of penguins, sea-gulls, an occasional albatross, seals and whales, the tints of sea and glaciers, of clouds and crags, forms a picture which some persons think is unequaled in Norway or Alaska.
Tourists sailing on a special cruise may have the pleasure of a detour to the south to obtain a finer view of the splendid mountain Sarmiento; not so high as many others, but with its 7330 feet of altitude in this latitude presenting an imposing spectacle, at the base dusky woods for one-eighth of the height, then 6000 feet of snow and glaciers, two of the latter indeed reaching down to the sea.
TIERRA DEL FUEGO
ENTRANCE TO ANDINE TUNNEL, CHILIAN SIDE