SANTIAGO (James Island) SanSalvador is the fourth largest island, 3 centuries ago it served as a pirate hideout. Puerto Egas or James Bay: lava shoreline with caves and small inlets, old salt mine, marine iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs, herons, fur seals, moray eels, octopuses, hawks and lava lizards. Buccaneer Cove: beautiful cliffs with nesting seabirds. Sullivan Bay: marine tortoises, sea lions, 100 hundred year old lava flow field with grotesques formations. SANTA CRUZ (Indefatigable) is the second largest island and the most populated with Puerto Ayora, the major tourist town in the islands, lying on the southern tip. From the town you can arrange boat trips or take day trips on fishing boats or to the interior highlands. Charles Darwin Station with its research facility, National Park Information center and tortoise breeding program is a 20 minute walk outside the town. The Highlands with typical high area low vegetation, Miconia and Scalesia trees, extinct volcanic cones and Vermillion flycatchers. Tortuga Bay (Turtle Bay) is a 45 min. walk from town with white sand beach, Opuntia cactus, rays, small sharks, marine iguanas, occasional flamingos and pelicans. Caleta Tortuga Negra (Black Turtle Cove) is reached by boat, and offers mangroves, lava herons, pelicans, black sea tortoise, golden mustard rays and white-tipped sharks. Cerro Dragon has small lagoons with flamingos, Palo Santo trees, Opuntia cactus. Las Bachas: great beach for swimming and sunbathing Conway Bay: lagoon with flamingos CHatham - San Cristobal The Beagle was moved into St Stephen's harbor. We found there an American Whaler & we previously had seen two at Hoods Island. The Bay swarmed with animals; Fish, Shark & Turtles were popping their heads up in all parts. Fishing lines were soon put overboard & great numbers of fine fish 2 & even 3 feet long were caught. This sport makes all hands very merry; loud laughter & the heavy flapping of the fish are heard on every side. After dinner a party went on shore to try to catch Tortoises, but were unsuccessful. These islands appear paradises for the whole family of Reptiles. Besides three kinds of Turtles, the Tortoise is so abundant that [a] single Ship's company here caught 500-800 in a short time. The black Lava rocks on the beach are frequented by large (2-3 ft.) most disgusting, clumsy Lizards. Thay are as black as the porous rocks over which they crawl & seek their prey from the Sea. Somebody calls them “imps of darkness.”* They assuredly well become the land they inhabit. When on shore I proceeded to botanize & obtained 10 different flowers; but such insignificant, ugly little flowers, as would better become an Arctic than a Tropical country. The birds are Strangers to Man & think him as innocent as their countrymen the huge Tortoises. Little birds, within 3 or four feet, quietly hopped about the Bushes & were not frightened by stones thrown at them. Mr King killed one with his hat & I pushed off a branch with the end of my gun a large Hawk. My servant & self were landed a few miles to the N.E. in order that I might examine the district mentioned above as resembling chimney[s]. The comparison would have been more exact if I had said the iron furnaces near Wolverhampton. From one point of view I counted 60 of these truncated hillocks, which are only from 50 to 100 ft. above the plain of Lava. The age of the various streams is distinctly marked by the presence & absence of Vegetation; in the latter & more modern nothing can be imagined more rough or horrid. Such a surface has been aptly compared to a sea petrified in its most boisterous moments. No sea, however, presents such irregular undulations, nor such deep & long chasms. The craters are all entirely inert; consisting indeed of nothing more than a ring of cinders. There are large circular pits, from 30 to 80 ft. deep, which might be mistaken for Craters, but are in reality formed by the subsidence of the roofs of great caverns, which probably were produced by a volume of gas at the time when the Lava was liquid. The scene was to me novel & full of interest; it is always delightful to behold anything which has been long familiar, but only by description. In my walk I met two very large Tortoises (circumference of shell about 7 ft.). One was eating a Cactus & then quietly walked away. The other gave a deep & loud hiss & then drew back his head. They were so heavy, I could scarcely lift them off the ground. Surrounded by the black Lava, the leafless shrubs & large Cacti, they appeared most old-fashioned antediluvian animals or rather inhabitants of some other planet. We slept on the sandbeach, & in the morning (22nd) after having collected many new plants, birds & shells & insects, we returned in the evening on board. This day was glowing hot, & was the first when our closeness to the Equator was very sensible. Came to in Stephens Bay. Mr. Chaffers returned in the whale boat, bringing on board David Walton who had been left on Hoods Island (without water or provisions) from the American whaler Hydaspe of New Bedford. 21 September noon at Anchor in Stephen's Bay. 22 September noon at Anchor in Stephen's Bay. 23 September 6:30 am Weighed ... standing out of Stephens Bay (8th.) At last we reached Jame's [sic] Island, the rendezvous of Mr Sulivan. Myself, Mr. Bynoe & three men were landed with provisions, there to wait till the ship returned from watering at Chatham Island. We found on the Isd a party of men sent by Mr Lawson from Charles Isd to salt fish & Tortoise meat (& procure oil from the latter). Near to our Bivouacing place, there was a miserable little Spring of Water. We employed these men to bring us sufficient for our daily consumption. We pitched out tents in a small valley a little way from the Beach. The little Bay was formed by two old Craters:* in this island, as in all the others, the mouths from which the Lavas have flowed are thickly studded over the country. * Freshwater Cove of the Buccaniers. [C.D.] October 9th. Taking with us a guide we proceeded into the interior & higher parts of the Island, where there was a small party employed in hunting the Tortoise. Our walk was a long one. At about six miles distance & an elevation of perhaps 2000 ft. the country begins to show a green color. Here there are a couple of hovels where the men reside. Lower down the land is like that of Chatham Isd,—very dry & the trees nearly leafless. I noticed, however, that those of the same species attained a much greater size here than in any other part. The vegetation here deserved the title of a Wood: the trees were, however, far from tall & their branches low & crooked.† About two miles from the Hovels & probably at an additional 1000 ft. elevation, the Springs are situated. They are very trifling ones, but the water good & deliciously cold. They afford the only watering places as yet discovered in the interior. During the greater part of each day clouds hang over this highest land: the vapour condensed by the trees drips down like rain. Hence we have a brightly green & damp vegetation & muddy soil. The contrast to the sight & sensation of the body is very delightful after the glaring dry country beneath. The case is exactly similar to that described in Charles Isd. So great a change, with so small a one of elevation, cannot fail to be striking. On the 12th [sic, 10th] I paid a second visit to the houses, bringing with me a blanket bag to sleep in. I thus enjoyed two days collecting in the fertile region. Here were many plants, especially Ferns; the tree Fern however is not present. ‡ The tropical character of the Vegetation is stamped by the commonest tree being covered with compound flowers of the order of Syngynesia. The tortoise when it can procure it, drinks great quantities of water. Hence these animals swarm in the neighbourhead [sic] of the Springs. The average size of the full-grown ones is nearly a yard long in its back shell: they are so strong as easily to carry me, & too heavy to lift from the ground. In the pathway many are travelling to the water & others returning, having drunk their fill. The effect is very comical in seeing these huge creatures with outstretched neck so deliberately pacing onwards. I think they march at the rate of 360 yards in an hour; perhaps four miles in the 24. When they arrive at the Spring, they bury their heads above the eyes in the muddy water & greedily suck in great mouthfuls, quite regardless of lookers on. Wherever there is water, broard & well beaten roads lead from all sides to it, these extend for distances of miles. It is by this means that these watering places have been discovered by the fishermen. In the low dry region there are but few Tortoises: they are replaced by infinite numbers of the large yellow herbivorous Lizard, mentioned at Albemarle Isd. The burrows of this animal are so very numerous that we had difficulty in finding a spot to pitch the tents. These lizards live entirely on vegetable productions; berries, leaves, for which latter they frequently crawl up the trees, especially a Mimosa; never drinking water, they like much the succulent Cactus, & for a piece of it they will, like dogs, struggle [and] seize it from another. Their congeners the “imps of darkness” in like manner live entirely on sea weed. I suspect such habits are nearly unique in the Saurian race. † I saw some having circumference of 8 feet, & several of 6 feet. [C.D.] ‡ Cactus—Not any Palm. [C.D.] In all these islands the dry parts reminded me of Fernando Noronha; perhaps the affinity is only in the similar circumstances of an arid Volcanic soil, a flowering leafless Vegetation in an Intertropical region, but without the beauty which generally accompanies such a positiion. During our residence of two days at the Hovels, we lived on the meat of the Tortoise fried in the transparent Oil, which is procured from the fat. The Breast-plate with the meat attached to it, is roasted as the Gauchos do the “Carne con cuero”. It is then very good. Young Tortoises make capital soup; otherwise the meat is but—to my taste—indifferent food. October 11th. The Mayór-domo took us in his boat to the Salina, which is situated about 6 miles down the coast. We crossed a bare & apparently recent stream of Lava which had flowed round an ancient but very perfect Crater. At the bottom of this Crater is a Lake, which is only 3 or 4 inches deep & lies on layers of pure & beautifully Crystallized Salt. The Lake is quite circular & fringed with bright green succulent plants; the sides of [the] Crater are steep & wooded, so that the whole has rather a pretty appearance. A few years since in this quiet spot the crew of a Sealing vessel murdered their Captain. We saw the skull lying in the bushes. In rocky parts there were great numbers of a peculiar Cactus, whose large oval leaves connected together, formed branches rising from a cylindrical trunk. In places also a Mimosa was common; the shade from its foliage was very refreshing, after being exposed in the open wood to the burning Sun. October 12th-16th [sic,15th?]. We all were busily employed during these days in collecting all sorts of Specimens. The little well from which our water was procured was very close to the Beach: a long Swell from the Northward having set in, the surf broke over & spoiled the fresh water. We should have been distressed if an American Whaler had not very kindly given us three casks of water (& made us a present of a bucket on Onions). Several times during the Voyage Americans have showed themselves at least as obliging, if not more so, than any of our Countrymen would have been. Their liberality moreover has always been offered in the most hearty manner. If their prejudices against the English are as strong as ours against the Americans, they forget & smother them in an admirable manner. [47] 47. In the small diaries we find: “Whaler gave us water—extraordinary kindness of Yankeys.” 16th. The weather during nearly all the time has been cloudless & the sun very powerful; if by chance the trade wind fails for an hour the heat is very oppressive. During the two last days, the Thermometer within the Tents has stood for some hours at 93°. In the open air, in the wind & sun, only [at] 85°. The sand was intensely hot, the Thermometer placed in a brown kind immediately rose to 137°; & how much higher it would have done I do not know: for it was not graduated above this. The black sand felt far hotter, so that in thick boots it was very disagreeable to pass over it. the tortoises could readily be transformed from animal to edible, as Vialles (1994) says, by simply turning them on their backs. Melville: "These mystic creatures, suddenly translated by night from unutterable solitudes to our peopled deck, affected me in a manner not easy to unfold. They seemed newly crawled forth from beneath the foundations of the world. Yea, they seemed the identical tortoises whereupon the Hindu plants his total sphere [...] The great feeling inspired by these creatures was that of age:datelessness, indefinite endurance. And in fact that any other creature can live and breathe as long as the tortoise of the Encantadas, I will not readily believe. Not to hint of their known capacity of sustaining life while going without food for an entire year, consider that impregnable armor of their living mail. What other bodily being posessess such a citadel wherein to resist the assaults of Time? [...] With them I lost myself in volcanic mazes, brushed away endless boughs of rotting thicket, till finally in a dream I found myself sitting cross-legged upon the foremost, a Brahmin similarly mounted upon either side, forming a tripod of foreheads which upheld the universal cope. Such was the wild nightmare begot by my first impression of the Encantadas tortoise. But next evening, strange to say, I sat down with my shipmates and made a merry repast from tortoise steaks and tortoise stews" (Melville 1967 [1854]). Vialles "From Animal to Edible"