Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/167

 PATAGONIA PATCHOULI 157 lusion to the presumed large size of the feet of the natives, judging from footprints seen upon the coast; but this was an unfounded presumption, the people being remarkable for proportionately small feet. The coast was visited by Drake in 1578, by Byron in 1764, and by Cook in 1774. Since that time the- territory has frequently been explored more or less extensively by a number of voyagers : by Darwin in 1834, Musters in 1869, and mem- bers of the American Hassler expedition in 1871. The most accurate descriptions of the Patagonians are from the pens of Bourne, an Englishman, and Guinnard, a Frenchman, de- tained as captives by the natives, the first three months and the second three years (1856-'9). Three vocabularies of the Patagonian language have been compiled : by Pigafetta in the 16th century, by Schmid in 1863, and by Musters in 1870. In earlier days the territory nomi- nally formed part of the viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres. It has since been disputed by the Chilians and Argentines, but the latter have consented to the occupation by the former of the whole of the Pacific coast region. The Chilians established a colony at Port Famine in 1843, but removed it to Sandy Point on the E. shore of Brunswick peninsula in 1850 ; since then it has been comparatively prosper- ous. The population of the colony, which is administered by a governor, was officially giv- en in 1873 at 869 ; and a contract was signed for the introduction of 100 Swiss families, ex- pected to arrive in the following year. The value of the exports (mainly skins) for 1873 was $34,632, and of the imports $48,534, almost exclusively from Valparaiso. In that year 86 steamers, 10 sailing vessels, and 10 war steamers touched at the port. Farm lots of 50 acres each had been given to 117 settlers. The Chilian government has initiated numerous im- provements tending to facilitate steam navi- gation through the straits ; and $25,000 was appropriated in 1873 for a lighthouse to be built on Cape Virgins, at the Atlantic entrance thereto, a step regarded at Buenos Ayres as an audacious infringement upon Argentine sover- eignty. ' At Port Santa Cruz there has been an Argentine colony for several years ; but besides a fish-oil factory in the vicinity, no profitable industry is carried on there. A Welsh colony, founded under Argentine auspices in 1865 on the Rio Chupat, proved unsuccessful, and the settlers removed to the province of Santa Fe shortly afterward. Viedma, who visited Pat- agonia in 1779, and pushed his explorations inland to the foot of the Andes, built several forts along the coast; and these, with the settlements above enumerated, are the only civilized establishments in this dismal region. The Chilian congress in 1864 decreed the con- cession of 75,000 sq. m., embracing both coasts, to a Mr. Tornero, on condition of his introdu- cing 10,000 colonists and keeping four steam tugs in the straits ; but that and several similar schemes have never been carried out. It has been asserted that serious efforts to colonize Patagonia permanently must always fail, and that the territory will be unpopulated for cen- turies to come. PATAPSCO, a river of Maryland, which rises in Carroll co., flows southward and then south- easterly between Baltimore co. and Howard and Anne Arundel counties, and passing Balti- more opens into a broad estuary which en- ters Chesapeake bay 14 m. below the city. Its total length is about 80 in., and it affords valu- able water power. It is navigable for large vessels to Baltimore. PATCHOULI, a perfume, the name of which is said to be from patchey elley, the East In- dian name for the leaves of patchey. About the year 1825 there appeared in commerce the dried and broken leaves of a plant from the East Indies, which had a very powerful odor ; these were recognized as belonging to some labiate plant, but it was not till 1844, when the patchouli plant flowered in France, that its proper genus was known, and it was de- scribed by Pelletier as pogostemon patchouly. The genus pogostemon consists of herbs and somewhat shrubby plants, and is entirely Asi- atic; the plants have the general aspect of coarse labiates, and their flowers are borne in dense axillary and terminal spikes ; the patch- ouli grows in Penang, the Malay peninsula, and Silhet ; it is a shrubby herb about 2 ft. high, with broadly ovate, petioled leaves 4 in. long, slightly lobed and scallop-toothed on the mar- gins ; the flowers are white, tinged with pur- ple. The plant is prepared for commerce by cutting and drying in the sun, taking care not Patchouli (Pogostemon patchouly). to dry it so much as to crumble; the dried tops, which are about a foot long, are packed for exportation in boxes containing 110 Ibs. each. The odor of the leaves is to some per- sons quite insupportable, while others are pas- sionately fond of it; the perfume has long