The life of Mr. Mauricio Braun is so closely linked with the history of the economic and industrial development of Patagonia, that it is utterly impossible to omit that gentleman's name, in attempting, as in our case, to make a study of any one of the territories which form the region so-called. His personality stands out in such unmistakable lines, it may be stated without any exaggeration that from Río Negro to the Magellan Straits there is not a single inhabitant who does not know Mr. Mauricio Braun and who does not appreciate at their true value his sterling qualities as an untiring worker, clever organizer, and conscientious and careful manager.

His activities have been many-sided, seeing that there was no enterprise which implied progress of any kind for Patagonia with which his name was not linked. As a ship-owner, banker, merchant, farmer, manufacturer, he did everything, and what is more, did all things well, for he put into all his undertaking the immense fund of energy which constitutes the outstanding feature of his personality.

Mr. Mauricio Braun has assisted from the beginning at the evolution which took place in Patagonia in late years, and, with Mr. José Menéndez and the other pioneers of the zone, has been a decisive factor in the transformation which he hastened and encouraged, by placing under contribution, to that effect, all the moral and material resources at his disposal, for hew as a seer of the future and convinced that in the course of time, the southern lands would give a great return an all that in capital and energy was given to them.

That he was in the right is proven by this book and the reports that have been sent in by intelligent travellers and commented on by the responsible press throughout the country. We are not trying to give a biography of Mr. Braun in this short sketch; it is sufficient for our purpose to place on record that Sandy Point and the Magellan territory owe to him a great part of their progress, and that Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego will ever remember his name, for, he was, and is still at the present time, one of the most efficient contributors to their evolution during the last five lustrums.