376 GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. [chap. xvn. 



pot in which it has been boiled, or have burst forth from smaller 

 orifices on the flanks ; in their descent they have spread over 

 miles of the sea-coast. On both of these islands, eruptions are 

 known to have taken place ; and in Albemarle, we saw a small 

 jet of smoke curling from the summit of one of the great craters. 

 In the evening we anchored in Bank's Cove, in Albemarle 

 Island. The next morning I went out walking. To the south 

 of the broken tuff- crater, in which the Beagle was anchored, 

 there was another beautifully symmetrical one of an elliptic form ; 

 its longer axis was a little less than a mile, and its depth about 

 500 feet. At its bottom there was a shallow lake, in the middle 

 of which a tiny crater formed an islet. The day was overpower- 

 ingly hot, and the lake looked clear and blue : I hurried down 

 the cindery slope, and choked with dust eagerly tasted the water 

 but, to my sorrow, I found it salt as brine. 



The rocks on the coast abounded with great black lizards, be- 

 tween three and four feet long; and on the hills, an ugly 

 yellowish-brown species was equally common. We saw many of 

 this latter kind, some clumsily running out of our way, and 

 others shuffling into their burrows. I shall presently describe in 

 more detail the habits of both these reptiles. The whole of this 

 northern part of Albemarle Island is miserably sterile. 



October 8th. We arrived at James Island: this island, as 

 well as Charles Island, were long since thus named after our 

 kings of the Stuart line. Mr. Bynoe, myself, and our servants 

 were left here for a week, with provisions and a tent, whilst the 

 Beagle went for water. We found here a party of Spaniards, who 

 had been sent from Charles Island to dry fish, and to salt tortoise- 

 meat. About six miles inland, and at the height of nearly 2000 

 feet, a hovel had been built in which two men lived, who were 

 employed in catching tortoises, whilst the others were fishing 

 on the coast. I paid this party two visits, and slept there one 

 night. As in the other islands, the lower region was covered by 

 nearly leafless bushes, but the trees were here of a larger growth 

 than elsewhere, several being two feet and some even two feet 

 nine inches in diameter. The upper region being kept damp by 

 the clouds, supports a green and flourishing vegetation. So damp 

 was the ground, that there were large beds of a coarse cyperus, 

 in which great numbers of a very small water-rail lived and bred. 



