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JUAN FERNANDEZ ISLANDS

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 529 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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JUAN See also:

FERNANDEZ ISLANDS , a small See also:group in the See also:South Pacific Ocean, between 330 and 34° S., 80° W., belonging to See also:Chile and included in the See also:province of See also:Valparaiso. The See also:main See also:island is called Mas-a-Tierra (Span. "more to See also:land") to distinguish it from a smaller island, Mas-a-Fuera (" more to See also:sea "), See also:loo m. farther See also:west. Off the S.W. of Mas-a-Tierra lies the islet of See also:Santa See also:Clara. The aspect of Mas-a-Tierra is beautiful; only 13 M. in length by 4 in width, it consists of a See also:series of precipitous rocks rudely piled into irregular blocks and pinnacles, and strongly contrasting with a See also:rich vegetation. The highest of these, 3225 ft., is called, from its massive See also:form, El Yunque (the See also:anvil). The rocks are volcanic. See also:Cumberland See also:Bay on the See also:north See also:side is the only See also:fair anchorage, and even there, from the See also:great See also:depth of See also:water, there is some See also:risk. A wide valley See also:collecting streams from several of the ravines on the north side of the island opens into Cumberland Bay, and is partially enclosed and cultivated. The inhabitants number only some twenty. The See also:flora and See also:fauna of Juan Fernandez are in most respects Chilean. There are few trees on the island, for most of the valuable indigenous trees have been practically exterminated, such as the See also:sandalwood, which the earlier navigators found one of the most valuable products of the island.

Ferns are prominent among the flora, about one-third of which consists of endemic See also:

species. There are no indigenous land mammals. Pigs and goats, however, with See also:cattle, horses, asses and See also:dogs, have been introduced, have multiplied, and in considerable See also:numbers run See also:wild. Sea-elephants and See also:fur-sealswere formerly plentiful. Of birds, a See also:tyrant and a humming-See also:bird (Eustephanus fernandensis) are See also:peculiar to the group, while another humming bird (E. galerites), a See also:thrush, and some birds of See also:prey also occur in Chile. E. fernandensis has the peculiarity that the male is of a See also:bright See also:cinnamon See also:colour, while the See also:female is See also:green. Both sexes are green in E. galerites. Juan Fernandez was discovered by a See also:Spanish See also:pilot of that name in 1563. Fernandez obtained from the Spanish See also:government a See also:grant of the islands, where he resided for some See also:time, See also:stocking them with goats and pigs. He soon, however, appears to have abandoned his possessions, which were afterwards for many years only visited occasionally by fishermen from the coasts of Chile and See also:Peru. In 1616 See also:Jacob le Maire and Willem Cornelis Schouten called at Juan Fernandez for water and fresh provisions. Pigs and goats were then abundant on.the islands.

In See also:

February 1700 See also:Dampier called at Juan Fernandez and while there See also:Captain Straddling of the " Cinque See also:Porte " See also:galley quarrelled with his men, See also:forty-two of whom deserted but were afterwards taken on See also:board by Dampier; five See also:seamen, however, remained on See also:shore. Other parties had previously colonized the islands but none had remained permanently. In See also:October 1704 the " Cinque Porte " returned and found two of these men, the others having been apparently captured by the See also:French. On this occasion Straddling quarrelled with See also:Alexander See also:Selkirk (q.v.), who, at his own See also:request, became the island's most famous colonist, for his adventures are commonly believed to have inspired See also:Daniel See also:Defoe's See also:Robinson Crusoe. Among later visits, that of See also:Commodore See also:Anson, in the " See also:Centurion " (See also:June 1741) led, on his return See also:home, to a proposal to form an See also:English See also:settlement on Juan Fernandez; but the Spaniards, See also:hearing that the See also:matter had been mooted in See also:England, gave orders to occupy the island, and it was garrisoned accordingly in 1750. See also:Philip See also:Carteret first observed this settlement in May 1767, and on ac-See also:count of the hostility of the Spaniards preferred to put in at Masa-Fuera. After the See also:establishment of the See also:independence of Chile at the beginning of the 19th See also:century, Juan Fernandez passed into the See also:possession of that See also:country. On more than one occasion before 184o Mas-a-Tierra was used as a See also:state See also:prison by the Chilean government.

End of Article: JUAN FERNANDEZ ISLANDS

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