. The earth and its inhabitants ... ds which belong politically to Chili have but a scant popula-tion, and some are even quite uninhabited. Such are San Felix and San Anibrosio,where nothing is found except a few shrubs and some guano beds deposited by the TOPOGEAPHY OF CHILI. 4G7 seals. Even Mas a Tierra and Mas a Fnera were at first inhabited only by thegoats left loose by Juan Fernandez, and by wild cats descended from those whichhad escaped from passing vessels. But towards the end of the seventeenth centurythese islands became the resort of buccaneers, who here obtained supplies of freshm
. The earth and its inhabitants ... ds which belong politically to Chili have but a scant popula-tion, and some are even quite uninhabited. Such are San Felix and San Anibrosio,where nothing is found except a few shrubs and some guano beds deposited by the TOPOGEAPHY OF CHILI. 4G7 seals. Even Mas a Tierra and Mas a Fnera were at first inhabited only by thegoats left loose by Juan Fernandez, and by wild cats descended from those whichhad escaped from passing vessels. But towards the end of the seventeenth centurythese islands became the resort of buccaneers, who here obtained supplies of freshmeat and water, and from that time they frequently received temporary visitors. Nevertheless Mas a Tierra, which had been most visited, was found to beunoccupied in 1704, when an English skipper here abandoned Alexander Selkirk,one of his crew, whose history, combined with that of another castaway on TobagoIsland, supplied Defoe with the materials for his immortal romance of Robinson Fi^. 179.—Mount Selkirk, Juan Fernandez Crusoe. Near the most frequented anchorage is shown a cave on the north sidewhere dwelt the unfortunate derelict. Here the officers of an English frigate haveplaced a marble tablet with an inscription recording the adventures of Mas a Tierra was utilised by Spain, and afterwards by Chili, as a place ofdetention for criminals. Now both islands have been granted to a rich stock-breeder,and in 1878 Mas a Tierra had a small permanent population of 54 persons. :Easfer Island, which the Chilian Government has made a penal settlement,is also engaged chiefly in stock-breeding, and carries on a little trade withTahiti. In 1874, when it was occupied by Chili, the Frenchman who hadinstalled himself in the island was governing it through a queen. This 4G8 SOUTH AMERICA—THE ANDES EEGIONS. potentate teld a council of women every evening, and on tLeir advice issuedher edicts regulating the conduct of the men, their husbands. The high priest acquire
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectgeography, bookyear18
