Everything about Puerto Hambre totally explained
Puerto Hambre, also known as
Puerto del Hambre and at one time as
Port Famine, is a historic settlement site at
Buena Bay on the west side of the
Strait of Magellan approximately 58 km (36 miles) south of
Punta Arenas in the
Región de Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena,
Patagonia,
Chile.
History
The
Spanish settlement was founded in March
1584 by
Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa as the city of
Rey Don Felipe with around 300 settlers, but conditions were harsh and local vegetation was sparse. This attempt to colonise the shores of the Strait ended tragically when the settlers starved or froze to death, and when the
English navigator, Sir
Thomas Cavendish landed at the site in 1587 he found only ruins of the settlement. He renamed the place
Port Famine, and under this name it later became a base used by the
British Royal Navy. The name was subsequently translated into Spanish as
Puerto Hambre or
Puerto del Hambre, and these names are still in use.
The Royal Navy
hydrographic survey ship
HMS Beagle under Captain Pringle Stokes was surveying Patagonia and
Tierra del Fuego when he fell into a deep depression, and at
Port Famine in August 1828 he locked himself in his cabin and shot himself. He was buried in the
cementerio inglés and his grave is still marked on nautical charts. Temporary command of HMS
Beagle was given to the Executive Officer of the Beagle, Lieutenant W.G. Skyring, then taken over by Flag Lieutenant
Robert FitzRoy. FitzRoy became captain of the
Beagle for its second survey expedition, and as a companion on the voyage he took the young naturalist
Charles Darwin. They visited
Port Famine a number of times between 1832 and 1834 during
the Voyage of the Beagle.
On
2 May 1843 the first twenty
German immigrants reached the port of
Puerto Hambre. In February 1968 the ruins of Puerto del Hambre were made a National Monument.
In 1843
Juan Williams Rebolledo built
Fuerte Bulnes approximately 2 km (1 mile) further south at the Peninsula called
Punta Santa Ana (Santa Ana Point) as a fort to take possession of the Strait and the Patagonian lands for Chile. A reconstruction of the original fort has been built complete with the church, chaplain's quarters, jail, powder magazine, post office and stables.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Puerto Hambre'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://puerto_hambre.totallyexplained.com">Puerto Hambre Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
