Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/81

FALKLAND ISLANDS peachment of the lord keeper Finch. He dis- tinguished himself in the attacks that were made on ship money, and on the judges who had pro- nounced the levying of it legal, and in those which were directed against the church. But suddenly, without apparent cause, he left the reform party, and he who had said the bishops were stark mad, and therefore should be sent to Bedlam, was soon heard to complain that they who hated the bishops hated them worse than the devil, and they who loved them did not love them so well as their dinners. In the memorable debate on the grand remon- strance, Falkland was the second speaker, fol- lowing Hyde, and against the remonstrance. His course on this occasion, with his earlier opposition to the abolition of the church, led the king to make him the offer of the post of secretary of state, which he accepted. Of the exact part which Falkland had in the gov- ernment scarcely anything is known, but he and his two associates in the administration, Colepeper and Hyde, received marks of hos- tility in the commons. He wrote the royal answer to the parliament's 19 propositions, then joined the king at York, and signed his declaration that he did not mean to make war on the parliament. Shortly afterward Falk- land was removed from the commons, and placed on the list of those whom the parlia- mentary commander was ordered to exclude from mercy. He behaved with gallantry at the battle of Edgehill, and had his advice been taken the king would have won a com- plete victory. In some negotiations that fol- lowed, he labored earnestly for peace. The campaign of 1643 was for a long time favor- able to the king, and Falkland accompanied him to Bristol, and thence to the siege of Gloucester. The advance of the parliamentary army compelled the king to raise the siege. In the first battle of Newbury Falkland placed himself at the head of Sir John Byron's regi- ment. Receiving an order to charge a body of foot, he advanced between hedges lined with musketeers, and received a ball in the stomach, from which he died instantly. The body was found the next day, and buried in Great Tew church. He left a wife and three sons. Among the best works which treat of him is Forster's " Historical and Biographical Essays" (London, 1858). FALKLAND ISLANDS (Fr. Malouines ; Sp. Malvinas), a group in the S. Atlantic, belong- ing to Great Britain, and consisting of about 200 islands, 300 m. E. of the entrance to the strait of Magellan, between lat. 51 and 52 45' S., and Ion. 57 and 62 W. ; area, about 7,600 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 812. All but two are very small. East Falkland is about 90 m. long, 40 m. broad, and 3,000 sq. m. in area ; West Falkland, separated from the former by a channel from 2 to 18 m. wide, called Falk- land sound, is 80 m. long, 25 m. broad, and about 2,300 sq. m. in area. The other princi- pal islands are Great Swan, Saunders, Pebble, Keppel, Eagle, Weddell, and Lively. The coasts are very irregular, in some places rocky and precipitous, in others low. Bays and in- lets are numerous, and East and West Falk- land are nearly divided by several deep inden- tations. There are few rivers, the San Carlos, 30 m. long, which flows into the sea on the N. W. coast of East Falkland, being the largest. There are many fresh- water ponds and brooks. The surface is broken by ridges of bleak hills, the highest of which are in East Falkland, though the average elevation of West Falk- land is the greater. Mt. Usborne, one of the Wickham hills, in the E. island, is 2,300 ft. above the sea; the other summits are from 800 to 2,000 ft. high. The country south of the Wickham hills is a level plain. The whole aspect of the group is dreary and un- inviting. The commonest geological formation is quartz, which in some places is seen cov- ering the bottoms of the valleys, broken into sharp fragments, and disposed in level sheets or streams like rivers of stone. Sandstone and clay slate also occur. The soil of such por- tions as have been explored is mostly peat or sandy clay covered thinly with vegetable mould. The valleys of the streams are exceedingly rich. The climate is like that of England, but more equable. The temperature of sum- mer ranges from 45 to 70 F., and that of winter from 30 to 50 ; mean temperature of the year, 47. Severe and destructive snow storms occasionally occur. There are no trees on the isl ands. The most important production is grass, which grows to a great length and pos- sesses remarkably nutritious properties. Three or four kinds of bushes are found ; the com- mon garden vegetables of England thrive; barley and oats are cultivated, but wheat is raised with difficulty. The only quadruped indigenous to the islands is the warrah or wolf fox, which is peculiar to this archipelago. Other animals have been left here by Euro- peans, and in East Falkland there are many thousand wild cattle sprung from stock thus introduced. Horses, sheep, wild" hogs, rabbits, seals, and wild fowl are found, and many French and American vessels hunt the black whale off the W. coast of West Falkland. In 1871 the value of imports was 23,715, of exports 24,692; the revenue was 6,940 (about half of which is a parliamentary grant), the expen- ditures 6,324. The fisheries and the guano deposits on West Falkland are considerable sources of wealth. A British colony called Stanley, at the head of Port William inlet on the N. E. coast of East Falkland, has an ex- cellent harbor, and is the only settlement in the whole group. Since 1869 the Falkland islands have been the seat of an Anglican bishop. The main object of the British government in keeping up the establishment here is to afford ships a place of call for water and fresh pro- visions. The total tonnage of vessels entered and cleared in 1871 was 59,979 tons. The isl- ands were discovered by John Davis, in August,