STATEN LANT

Travel Diary of Jacob Le Maire and Schouten Wilhem, January 1616:

"Very early in the morning we saw land to the right at a mile distance, going southeast. We sounded and had 40 fathoms, with southwind along the coast of this mountainous land covered with snow. After noon, we saw land to the east which was a mountainous and broken land.These lands would be far about 8 miles one from the other.

Around noon the currents were large. We were in 54 degrees, 46 minutes. After noon, we found northwind that carried us to the strait. The wind dropped in the afternoon and this evening we were taken by the current and saw many penguins and whales.We were now close to the land recently discovered on the East. High and broken, apparently running southeastwards. We gave it the name "Statelant", in our language "Land of the States..."

With this vision of a rugged land elongated dutch sailors became the first men to discover the location of the island. Its initial name was due to the mistaken belief that it was a peninsula of Terra Australis. The Staten word referred to the 7 provinces of the Netherlands, which at that time were fighting for their independence. Years later, in 1643, Hendrick Brouwer circumnavigated Statenlant, noting that it was in fact an island and not a part of the continent. Thus, The Staten Island, a small bastion of rock of 65 miles long and a max. width of 16 kms., battered by waves and Antartic winds appeared in the future maritime cartography, separated from the island of Tierra del Fuego by the Strait of Le Maire.

George anson, a British commander, wrote in 1790: "It`s a horror territory, with peaks of prodigious height and terrifying precipices, it is difficult to imagine anything more savage and gloomy."

The dramatic description of Anson is due in large part to the rugged geography of the island. Its 530 square miles(including isla Año Nuevo(New Year Island) and Dampier and Menzies Islands, are comprised of twp mountain ranges that cross the island from end to end, with deep valleys, bogs, lakes, fjords, bays and cliffs that fall to the sea. Walking on the island is difficult.Everything around seems to be made of solid rock and the wild vegetation and the tall silhouettes of the mountains seem to close on the observer as walls.

These conditions and the isolation of its location, made this island a perfect fortness at sea among the mist. And indeed, over time, that was exactly what became





7 abr 2010

THE LIGHTHOUSE AT THE END OF THE WORLD



The Light House at the End of the World is a novel by French writer Jules Verne, but corrected by his son Michel Verne and published in the Magasin d´Education et de Recreation, Aug 15 (vol22, number 256) to December (vol 22, number 264) of 1905 and a full volume on July 29, 1905, year of Jules´death.
It was written around 1901, since the writer had several works in progress on the delivery order of their publications. It is considered one of the best novels of Verne´s literary stage.
The original version of Jules Verne Stanko was published in Montreal in 1999.

Summary of this piece:
In an uninhabited island in Patagonia where the Atlantic and Pacific oceans collide,there was a band of pirates led bt the Terrible Kongre. These are devoted to attacking ships that passed by the region.Their way of life is seriously threatened when the Argentine Government sent three marines to build and operate a lighthouse. The pirates killed two of them leaving the leader alive, Vazquez, because he managed to hide.
Brave Vazquez will then seek to survive in this remote place while looking for ways to end the wrongdoing of criminals. Later a U.S. sailor John Davis, joined Vazquez in his fight against the pirates...



The Faro del Fin del Mundo(officially known as San Juan de Salvamento Lighthouse) is in the northeast of the Staten Island, south of Argentina. It has only a height of 6 meters, but is 60m. above sea level.
It is the oldest lighthouse and the first to be built in southern waters; its construction dates back to 1884. Its equipment was the same type of light used later in Rio Negro lighthouse.The light was provided by 8 oil lamps. It was taken out of service on October 1, 1902, the day the Año Nuevo (New Year) lighthouse was lit on Observatorio Island.
The lighthouse inspired Jules Verne to write his novel The Lighthouse at the End of the World, published posthumously in 1905.
The original lighthouse remained in ruins for decades, but was recently restored respecting the original design, which is an octagonal flat house located on a rocky promontory with the lantern on its roof.

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