I saw a man at Gallegos who had gone there to work as a carpenter. He did not have $10 when he arrived--in fact, he went there in the steerage of one of the Government transports. He had been in Gallegos less than three years, and he had a family to support out of his earnings meantime. Nevertheless, he was the owner of 1000 sheep, of which two thirds were ewes. In the ordinary course, as matters run, he will be a man of independent income in five years. There are three sailors in the country, who, within five years, were wrecked on the coast and landed with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They went to work on sheep ranches, and now have several thousand sheep each. "And how many men have gone into the sheep business and failed?" said I, when Gov. Mayer had told of these things. "Not one." "Have any big companies tried it?" "Yes, down on the Chili territory." "Have any of them failed?" "Not yet. On the contrary, all have paid big dividends, but, of course, a company may be made to fail by its manager. The business in the hands of individuals of moderate means is just now the best in the world. It is better than 100 per cent." "I should think everybody in Buenos Ayres, Valparaiso, London, and every other money centre dealing with this region would be rushing into it, then." "The country is filling up rapidly, but of course capitalists are generally shy of a business that offers such big dividends. Besides, one must learn the sheep business if he would get rich at it, even here." "How much land remains now for the capitalist to buy?" "In Santa Cruz territory there are to be had 2500 square leagues of strictly first-class land. It will carry more than 1000 sheep per league, and it is held by the Government at from $2500 to $3000 gold per league, according to location. You can find about 12,000 square leagues more of fair land that can be had at prices considerably less. It would perhaps prove a better investment in the long run. The territory has about 12,000 leagues of worthless land--lava beds, etc., utterly barren--almost too poor to support a guanaco. "Of course, a very poor man cannot buy even a single league of good land, and he doesn't need to buy. One ought to have some capital with which to buy sheep, but the land can be rented for periods of, say, ten years, subject to purchase at a stated price. If one can raise the money for the sheep, the land need not trouble him. The rental of the best land is but $20 gold, per year for a league." "What is the cost of sheep now to a man who would invest?" "From $2 to $2.50 gold per ewe. Rams cost from L2 each up to any price you want to pay for fancy stock. The ordinary ram at L2 is the one to buy now." "Then, for a fair beginning, how much capital should a man have?" "Five thousand dollars gold." "But how did the sailors, with neither capital nor a knowledge of the business, get on?"