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FALKLAND ISLANDS (Fr. Malouines; Span...

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Originally appearing in Volume V10, Page 153 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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See also:

FALKLAND ISLANDS (Fr. Malouines; Span. Malvinas) , a See also:group of islands in the See also:South See also:Atlantic Ocean, belonging to See also:Britain, and lying about 250 M. E. of the nearest point in the mainland of South See also:America, between 51° and 530 S., and 57° 401 and 61° 25' W. With the uninhabited dependency of South See also:Georgia See also:Island, to the E.S.E., they See also:form the most southerly See also:colony of the See also:British See also:empire. The islands, inclusive of rocks and reefs, exceed too in number and have a See also:total See also:area of 6500 sq. m. ; but only two are of considerable See also:size; the largest of these, See also:East Falkland, is 95 M. in extreme length, with an See also:average width of 40 m., and the smaller, See also:West Falkland, is 8o m. See also:long and about 25 M. wide. The area of East Falkland is about 3000 sq. m., and that of West Falkland 2300. Most of the others are See also:mere islets, the largest 16 m. long by 8 m. wide. The two See also:principal islands are separated by Falkland See also:Sound, a narrow strait from 18 to 22 In. in width, See also:running nearly N.E. and S.W. The See also:general See also:appearance of the islands is not unlike that of one of the See also:outer See also:Hebrides. The general colouring, a faded See also:brown, is somewhat dreary, but the See also:mountain heights and promontories of the west display some grandeur of outline.

The See also:

coast-See also:line of both See also:main islands is deeply indented and many of the bays and inlets form secure and well-protected harbours, some of which, however, are difficult of See also:access to sailing See also:ships. East Falkland is almost bisected by two deep fjords, See also:Choiseul and See also:Brenton Sounds, which leave the See also:northern and See also:southern portions connected only by an See also:isthmus a mile and a See also:half wide. The northern portion is hilly, and is crossed by a rugged range, the Wickham Heights, running east and west, and rising in some places to a height of nearly 2000 ft. The See also:remainder of the island consists chiefly of See also:low undulating ground, a mixture of pasture and morass, with many shallow See also:freshwater tarns, and small streams running in the valleys. Two See also:fine inlets, See also:Berkeley Sound and See also:Port See also:William, run far into the See also:land at the See also:north-eastern extremity of the island. Port See also:Louis, formerly the seat of See also:government, is at the See also:head of Berkeley Sound, but the anchorage there having been found rather too exposed, about the See also:year 1844 a See also:town was laid out, and the necessary public buildings were erected on See also:Stanley See also:Harbour, a sheltered See also:recess within Port William. West Falkland is more hilly near the east island; the principal mountain range, the See also:Hornby Hills, runs north and south parallel with Falkland Sound. See also:Mount See also:Adam, the highest See also:hill in the islands, is 2315 ft. high. The little town of Stanley is built along the south See also:shore of Stanley harbour and stretches a See also:short way up the slope; it has a See also:population of little more than 900. The houses, mostly See also:white with coloured See also:roofs, are generally built of See also:wood and See also:iron, and have glazed porches, See also:gay with fuchsias and pelargoniums. Government See also:House, See also:grey, See also:stone-built and slated, calls to mind a See also:manse in See also:Shetland or See also:Orkney. The government barrack is a rather imposing structure in the See also:middle of the town, as is the See also:cathedral See also:church to the east, built of stone and buttressed with See also:brick.

Next to Stanley the most important See also:

place on East Falkland is See also:Darwin on Choiseul Sound—a See also:village of Scottish shepherds and a station of the Falkland Island See also:Company. The Falkland Islands consist entirely, so far as is known, of the older Palaeozoic rocks, See also:Lower Devonian or Upper See also:Silurian, slightly metamorphosed and a See also:good See also:deal crumpled and distorted, in the low grounds See also:clay See also:slate and soft See also:sandstone, and on the ridges hardened sandstone passing into the conspicuous white quartzites. There do not seem to be any minerals of value, and the rocks are not such as to indicate any See also:probability of their See also:discovery. See also:Galena is found in small quantity, and in some places it contains a large percentage of See also:silver. The dark bituminous layers of clay slate, which occur intercalated among the quartzites, have led, here as elsewhere, to the See also:hope of coming upon a seam of See also:coal, but it is contrary to experience that coal of any value should be found in rocks of that See also:age. Many of the valleys in the Falklands are occupied by See also:pale glistening masses which at a little distance much resemble small glaciers. Examined more closely these are found to be vast accumulations of blocks of See also:quartzite, irregular in form, but having a tendency to a See also:rude See also:diamond shape, from 2 to 20 ft. in length, and half as much in width, and of a thickness corresponding with that of the quartzite ridges on the hills above. The blocks are angular, and See also:rest irregularly one upon another, supported in all positions by the angles and edges of those beneath. , The whole See also:mass looks as if it were, as it is, slowly sliding down the valley to the See also:sea. These " stone runs " are looked upon with See also:great wonder by the shifting population of the Falklands, and they are shown to visitors with many See also:strange speculations as to their mode of formation. Their origin is attributed by some to the See also:moraine formation of former glaciers. Another out of many theories 1 is that the hard beds of quartzite are denuded by the disintegration of the softer layers.

Their support being removed they break away in the direction of natural See also:

joints, and the fragments fall down the slope upon the See also:vegetable See also:soil. This soil is spongy, and, undergoing alternate contraction and expansion from being alternately' comparatively dry and saturated with moisture, allows the heavy blocks to slip down by their own See also:weight into the valley, where they become piled up, the valley stream afterwards removing the soil from among and over them. The Falkland Islands correspond very nearly in See also:latitude in the southern hemisphere with See also:London in the northern, but the See also:climatic influences are very different. The temperature is equable, the average of the two midsummer months being about 47° Fahr., and that of the two midwinter months 370 Fahr. The extreme frosts and heats of the See also:English See also:climate are unknown, but occasional heavy See also:snow-falls occur, and the sea in shallow inlets is covered with a thin coating of See also:ice. The See also:sky is almost constantly overcast, and See also:rain falls, mostly in a drizzle and in frequent showers, on about 250 days in the year. The rainfall is not great, only about 20 in., but the mean humidity for the year is 8o, saturation being too. See also:November is considered the only dry See also:month. The prevalent winds from the west, south-west and south See also:blow continuously, at times approaching the force of a See also:hurricane. " A region more exposed to storms both in summer and See also:winter it would be difficult to. mention " (See also:Fitzroy, Voyages of See also:Adventure " and " Beagle," ii. 228). The fragments of many wrecks emphasize the dangers of See also:navigation, which are increased by the See also:absence of beacons, the only lighthouse being that maintained by the See also:Board of See also:Trade on Cape See also:Pembroke near the principal See also:settlement.

See also:

Kelp is a natural danger-See also:signal, and the sunken See also:rock, " Uranie," is reputed to be the only one not buoyed by the See also:giant seaweed. Of aboriginal human inhabitants there is no trace in the See also:Falk-lands, and the land See also:fauna is very scanty. A small See also:wolf, the loup-See also:renard of de See also:Bougainville, is See also:extinct, the last having been seen about 1875 on the West Falkland. Some herds of See also:cattle and horses run See also:wild; but these were, of course, introduced, as were also the wild hogs, the numerous rabbits and the less See also:common See also:hares. All these have greatly declined in See also:numbers, being profitably replaced by See also:sheep. Land-birds are few in See also:kind, and are mostly strays from South America. They include, however, the See also:snipe and military See also:starling, which on See also:account of its See also:scarlet See also:breast is locally known as the See also:robin. Sea-birds are abundant, and, probably from the islands having been comparatively 'lately peopled, they are singularly tame. Gulls and amphibious birds abound' in large variety; three kinds of See also:penguin have their rookeries and breed here, migrating yearly for some months to the South See also:American mainland. Stray specimens of the great See also:king penguin have been observed, and there are also mollymauks (a kind of See also:albatross), Cape pigeons and many carrion birds. Kelp and upland geese abound, the latter being edible; and their See also:shooting affords some See also:sport. The Falkland Islands form essentially a See also:part of See also:Patagonia, with which they are connected by an elevated submarine See also:plateau, 1 See B Stechele, in llMunarheaer geographische Studien, xx.(1906), and See also:Geographical See also:Journal (See also:December 1907).and their See also:flora is much the same as that of See also:Antarctic South America.

The trees which form dense See also:

forest and scrub in southern Patagonia and in Fuegia are absent, and one of the largest See also:plants on the islands is a gigantic woolly ragweed (Senecio candicans) which attains in some places a height of 3 to 4 ft. A half-shrubby See also:veronica (V. decussata) is found in some parts, and has also received cultivation. The greater part of the " See also:camp " (the open See also:country) is formed of See also:peat, which in some places is of great age and See also:depth, and at the bottom of the See also:bed very dense and bituminous. The peat is different in See also:character from that of northern See also:Europe: cellular plants enter but little into its See also:composition, and it is formed almost entirely of the roots and stems of Empetrum rubrum, a variety of the common See also:crow-See also:berry of the Scottish hills with red berries, called by the Falklanders the " diddle.-See also:dee " berry ; of Myrtus nummularia, a little creeping See also:myrtle whose leaves are used by the shepherds as a substitute for See also:tea; of Caltha See also:appendiculata, a See also:dwarf See also:species of See also:marsh-See also:marigold; and of some sedges and sedge-like plants, such as Astelia pumila, Gaimardia australis and Bostkovia grandiflora. Peat is largely used as See also:fuel, coal being obtained only at a cost of 3 a ton. Two vegetable products, the " See also:balsam See also:bog " (Bolar. glebaria) and the " tussock grass " (Dactylis caespitosa) have been See also:objects of curiosity and See also:interest ever since the first accounts of the islands were given. The first is a huge mass of a See also:bright See also:green See also:colour, living to a great age, and when dead becoming of a grey and stony appearance. When cut open, it displays an infinity of tiny See also:leaf-buds and stems, and at intervals there exudes from it an aromatic See also:resin, which from its astringent properties is used by the shepherds as a vulnerary, but has not been converted to any commercial purpose. The " tussock grass " is a wonderful and most valuable natural See also:production, which, owing to the introduction of stock, has become extinct in the two main islands, but still flourishes elsewhere in the group. It is a See also:reed-like grass, which grows in dense tufts from 6 to ro ft. high from See also:stool-like See also:root-crowns. It forms excellent See also:fodder for cattle, and is regularly gathered for that purpose, It is of beautiful appearance, and the almost tropical profusion of its growth may have led to the See also:early erroneous reports of the densely-wooded nature of these islands. The population slightly exceeds 2000.

The large See also:

majority of the inhabitants live in the East Island, and the predominating See also:element is Scottish—Scottish shepherds having superseded the South American Gauchos. In 1867 there were no settlers on the west island, and the government issued a See also:proclamation offering leases of grazing stations on very moderate terms. In 1868 all the available land was occupied. These lands are fairly healthy, the principal See also:drawback being the virulent form assumed by See also:simple epidemic maladies. The occupation of the inhabitants is almost entirely See also:pastoral, and the principal See also:industry is sheep-farming. See also:Wool forms by far the largest export, and See also:tallow, hides, bones and frozen mutton are also exported. Trade is carried on almost entirely with the See also:United See also:Kingdom; the approximate See also:annual value of exports is 12o,000, and of imports a little more than half that sum. The Falkland Islands Company, having its headquarters at Stanley and an important station in the camp at Darwin, carries on an extensive business in sheep-farming and the dependent See also:industries, and in the general import trade. The development of this undertaking necessitated the See also:establishment of stores and workshops at Stanley, and ships can be repaired and provided in every way ; a See also:matter of importance since not a few vessels, after suffering injury during heavy See also:weather off Cape See also:Horn, See also:call on the Falklands in See also:distress. The See also:maintenance of the requisite plant and the high See also:wages current render such See also:repairs somewhat costly. A former trade in oil and sealskin has decayed, owing to the smaller number of whales and See also:seals remaining about the islands. Communications are maintained on horseback and by See also:water, and there are no roads except at Stanley.

There is a monthly See also:

mail to and from See also:England, the passage occupying about four See also:weeks. The Falkland Islands are a See also:crown colony, with a See also:governor and executive and legislative See also:councils. The legislative See also:council consists of the governor and three See also:official and two unofficial nominated members, and the executive of the same, with the exception that there is only one unofficial member. The colony is self-supporting, the See also:revenue being largely derived from the drink duties, and there is no public See also:debt. The Falklands are the seat of a colonial See also:bishop. See also:Education is compulsory. The government maintains See also:schools and travelling teachers; the Falkland Islands Company also maintains a school at Darwin, and there is one for those of the See also:Roman See also:Catholic faith in Stanley. There is also on See also:Keppel Island a See also:Protestant missionary settlement for the training in See also:agriculture of imported Fuegians. Stanley was for some years a See also:naval station, but ceased to be so in 1904. The Falkland Islands were first seen by See also:Davis in the year 1592," and See also:Sir See also:Richard See also:Hawkins sailed along their north shore in 1594. The claims of Amerigo See also:Vespucci to a previous discovery are doubtful. In 1598 Sebald de Wert, a Dutchman, visited them, and called them the Sebald Islands, a name which they See also:bear on some Dutch maps.

See also:

Captain Strong sailed through between the two principal islands in 1690, landed upon one of them, and called the passage Falkland Sound, and from this the group afterwards took its English name. In 1764 the See also:French explorer De Bougainville took See also:possession of the islands on behalf of his country, and established a colony at Port Louis on Berkeley Sound. But in 1767 See also:France ceded the islands to See also:Spain, De Bougainville being employed as intermediary. Meanwhile in 1765 See also:Commodore See also:Byron had taken possession on the part of England on the ground of See also:prior discovery, and had formed a settlement at Port See also:Egmont on the small island of Saunders. The See also:Spanish and English settlers remained in See also:ignorance, real or assumed, of each other's presence until 1769-1770, when Byron's See also:action was nearly the cause of a See also:war between England and Spain, both countries having armed fleets to 'contest the barren See also:sovereignty. In 1771, however, Spain yielded the islands to Great Britain by See also:convention. As they had not been actually colonized by England, the See also:republic of Buenos Aires claimed the group in 1820, and subsequently entered into a dispute with the United States of America concerning the rights to the products of these islands. On the representations of Great Britain the Buenos Aireans withdrew, and the British See also:flag was once more hoisted at Port Louis in 1833, and since that See also:time the Falkland Islands have been a See also:regular British colony. In 1845 Mr S. Lafone, a wealthy cattle and hide See also:merchant on the See also:river See also:Plate, obtained from government a See also:grant of the southern portion of the island,. a See also:peninsula 600,000 acres in extent, and possession of all the wild cattle on the island for a See also:period of six years, for a See also:payment of £Io,000 down, and £20,000 in ten years from See also:January 1, 1852. In 1851 Mr Lafone's interest in Lafonia, as the peninsula came to be called, was See also:purchased for £30,000 by the Falkland Islands Company, which had been incorporated by See also:charter in the same year. See Pernety, Journal historique dune voyage faite aux £les Malouines en 1763 et 1764 (See also:Berlin, 1767) ; S.

See also:

Johnson, Thoughts on the See also:late Transactions respecting Falkland's Islands (1771); L. A. de Bougainville, Voyage autour du monde (1771); T. Falkner, Description of Patagonia and the Falkland Islands (1774) ; B. Penrose, Account of the last Expedition to Port Egmont in the Falkland Islands (1775); Observations on the Forcible Occupation of Malvinas by the British Government in 1833 (Buenos Ayres, 1833) ; Redamacion ¢el Gobierno de See also:las provincial Unidas de la See also:Plata contra el de S.M. Britanica sobre la soverania y possesion de las Islas Malvinas (Lon-See also:don, 1841); Fitzroy, Narrative of the See also:Surveying Voyage of H.M.S. " Adventure " and " Beagle " (1839) ; Darwin, Voyage of a Naturalist See also:round the See also:World (1845) ; S. B. See also:Sullivan, Description of the Falkland Islands (1849) ; W. Hadfield, See also:Brazil, the Falkland Islands, &c. (1854) ; W. See also:Parker Snow, Two Years' Cruise off the Tierra del Fuego, the Falkland Islands, &c. (1857); Sir C.

Wyville See also:

Thomson, Voyage of the " Challenger" (1877) ; C. P. See also:Lucas, See also:Historical See also:Geography of the British Colonies, vol. ii. " The West Indies " (See also:Oxford, 189o) ; Colonial Reports Annual; MS. See also:Sloane, 3295.

End of Article: FALKLAND ISLANDS (Fr. Malouines; Span. Malvinas)

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