SETTLEMENT IN PATAGONIA.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4202, 8 September 1874, Page 3

SETTLEMENT IN PATAGONIA.

Several letters, one of which we have quoted, have appeared in Dunedin contemporaries, on the subject of the settlement of Patagdnia. Another writer in the Daily Times, on the same subject, says ; Twenty years ago, I was residing in the city of Concepcion, and my occupation led me to visit the southern portion of the Chilian Republic, and I was often struck with the magnificent country—l may , say, millions of acres of the finest pastoral country in the known world—lying waste. I left St. Cariof in 1856, and have never been able to return ; but if I could gain such reliable information as to the inducements held out by the Chilian Government to bona fide settlers, and the best and cheapest way of getting there, I would be thankful. I can fully endorse all the remarks of your correspondent relative to climate, &c. ; but there is one thing I should like to correct him in—that is, his comparison to the West Coast of New Zealand. I think, (and my information is gathered from an intimate knowledge, gained from having prospected from Riverton to Hokitika and back, and a thirteen years’ residence about the S.W, and W. side of New Zealand, and an open-boat voyage of seven months on Patagonian and Chilian shores), that the Patagonian shores are less rugged and better grassed than any portion of the West Coast of New Zealand. The harbors are numerous, and the mountains do not rise so precipitously from the shore. Of course, after a twenty years’ absence, one’s ideas of a place get a little confused ; but, in these times of high prices for wool, &0., I often wonder that no speculating capitalist has had the pluck to try Southern Chili or Patagonia as a fresh field for their operations. Sheep appeared to thrive well, but the breed was a small sort of merino, with five horns, and short thin fleece. Cattle do remarkably well, and all kinds of English fruits and seeds come to great perfection there ; and, lastly, the Natives of the coast are a quiet inoffensive race, and much attached to Britishers. I travelled 100 miles into the interior, with nothing more formidable than a tomahawk, billy, and blanket, and met -with nothing but the greatest civility and kindness everywhere, getting a lodging and meal at any place p might chance upon, and in many instances pressed to make our stay longer, and in no instance can I remember being asked payment for our entertainment.