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The unsealed RCj is one of the two most interesting branch roads on the island, offering spectacular views of the Beagle Channel and the chance to visit Patagonia's most historic estancia, Harberton. The turn-off for the RCj is 40km south of Ushuaia on the RN3. Twenty-five kilometres from the turn-off, you emerge from the forested route by a delightful lagoon fringed by the skeletons of Nothofagus beeches, and can look right across the Beagle Channel to the Chilean naval town of Puerto Williams. A few hundred metres beyond here, the road splits: take the left-hand fork heading eastwards across rolling open country and past a famous clump of banner trees , swept back in exaggerated quiffs by the unremitting wind. Ten kilometres beyond the turn-off and 85km east of Ushuaia, is Estancia Harberton itself, an ordered assortment of whitewashed buildings on the shores of a sheltered bay (10am-4pm; tel 02901/422742, fax 422743). Though Harberton is assuredly scenic, it's the historical resonance of the place that fleshes out any visit: this farmstead - or more particularly the family that settled here - played a role out of all proportion to its size in the region's history. Apart from being a place where scientists and shipwrecked sailors would be assured assistance, Harberton developed into a place of voluntary refuge for groups of Yamana, Selk'nam and Mannekenk - somewhere where even the warlike Selk'nam would refrain from hostilities. It was built by the Reverend Thomas Bridges, the man who authored one of the two seminal Fuegian texts, the Yamana-English dictionary, and was the inspiration for Lucas Bridges' classic text, Uttermost Part of the Earth . Today, the estancia is owned by Tommy Goodall, a great-grandson of Thomas Bridges, and his wife, Natalie, a renowned biologist who is currently trying to raise funds for a Marine Mammal Museum. Entrance to Harberton is by guided tour only (45min-1hr 30min; mid-Oct to mid-April 10am-7pm; last tour 5.30pm; $7). You will be shown the copse on the hill, where you learn about the properties of the island's plantlife, as well as see authentic reconstructions of indigenous Yamana dwellings, the family cemetery, and the old shearing shed. The Manacatush tearoom is the only part of the main estancia building open to the public: here you can enjoy afternoon tea ($9), with large helpings of cake and delicious home-made jams, or - if you book two days in advance - a generous three-course lunch ($20). If at all possible, spend a night at one of the estancia's three campsites : all are free, but you must first register at the tearoom and obtain a permit. Choose between Rio Varela , the closest site, 4km to the east, Rio Cambaceres , 6km further east, and the beautiful Rio Lasifashaj , 7km west of the estancia. All sites have abundant fresh water, but no other facilities. Beyond Harberton, the RCj runs for forty spectacular kilometres to Estancia Moat , past the famous islands that guard the eastern mouth of the Beagle Channel: Picton, Nueva and Lennox . These rather barren-looking, uninhabited islands, have a controversial past, since both Chile and Argentina long claimed sovereignty over them. Simmering tension threatened to boil over between 1977 and 1979, when manoeuvresby the military regimes of both powers brought the two to the brink of war. Arbitration was left in the hands of the United Kingdom's Queen Elizabeth II, harking back to the days at the beginning of the century when the British Crown mediated a settlement along the countries' Andean frontier. This time, the Crown ruled in favour of Chile. Argentina refused to accept the judgement, but was eventually forced to cede sovereignty after a ruling by the Vatican in 1984. The track ends at a naval outpost. Beyond, the Peninsula Mitre stretches to the far tip of Tierra del Fuego at Cabo San Diego.
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