A STEAMER ENTERING THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN.
The navigation of the strait is easy enough for a steamer, but very difficult for a sailing-ship. The water is deep, and there is no danger of being left on sand-bars, but the tides make strong currents in various parts of the strait; several of the passages are tortuous, and require a quick change of helm even for a steamer; and the openings between the cliffs are liable to gusts of wind that make it dangerous for a vessel relying on her sails alone. The narrowest place is about one mile across, and is in "Crooked Reach." This point is the great terror of sailing captains, as a strong wind generally blows there, and changes its direction at frequent intervals.
"This strait bears the name of its discoverer," wrote Fred in his note-book, "or, at any rate, it is near enough to identify him. On the 21st of October, 1520, Fernando Magalhaens, a Portuguese navigator, entered the strait from the Atlantic, and on the 28th of November of the same year he emerged into the broad and peaceful ocean which he named 'Pacifico.' Thus the Strait of Magellan and the Pacific Ocean were first navigated by one and the same individual. He may also be called the first circumnavigator of the globe. He sailed over the Pacific Ocean to the Philippine Islands, where he was killed in a fight with the natives; on a previous voyage he had been eastward to the longitude of the Philippines, and thus had been completely around the world, though not in a continuous journey."
A hundred miles from the Atlantic Ocean the steamer came in sight of Punta Arenas, or Sandy Point; it is best known to English-speaking people by the latter name, which is a translation of the former. The steamer was to remain here several hours, and our friends embraced the opportunity to go on shore.
Sandy Point was originally a convict settlement of the government of Chili, and was officially called "La Colonia de Magellanes." It was founded in 1851, and for some years contained only the convicts and the garrison that watched over them; when steamers began to navigate the strait the government, seeing that the place was destined to be of commercial importance, determined to establish a free colony there. Grants of land were given to German and Swiss settlers; several hundreds were brought there from the Old World; but the character of the country is unfavorable, and the colony has never prospered.
From Cape Froward to and beyond the neighborhood of Sandy Point there are forests of beeches and other foliferous trees, and the hills and level ground back of them are covered with grass. Agriculture is limited, and the colonists who went to the Strait of Magellan to make homes and become rich have been sorely disappointed.
The steamer anchored in front of the little town, and hardly had her anchor touched the bottom of the bay when a steam tender came alongside, bringing the captain of the port and the agent of the steamship company. Dr. Bronson and his nephew were invited to go ashore in the tender; they had made a bargain with a boatman, but, as the waves were dancing merrily in consequence of the brisk wind blowing down the strait, they accepted the invitation, and paid the owner of the boat for doing nothing. In a quarter of an hour they were landed at a little wooden pier, and had leisure to study the most southerly town of the western world.
CHILIAN SETTLEMENT AT SANDY POINT.