( 377 ) 



had been. In '07 I came down from the top of the mountain through this patch 

 of bush, but saw no fresh signs of tortoise except at the top, where two or three 

 fresh trails were seen. With tliis jjiece of brush e.xplored, we h.ad i)rotty well 

 covered all the ground contiguous to Tagas Cove, and were satisfied that no 

 tortoise were within reasonable carrying distance. 



A few days later we were homeward bound, and being l)eealraed near Cape 

 Berkeley, two of ns went ashore for a few hours to visit a patch of vegetation, to see 

 what could be found. After rowing three miles along the shore to find a landing- 

 place, we were put ashore on a point than ran out a few yards farther than the rest 

 of the cliff's, and the water, being deeper, did not break as heavily as elsewhere. 

 Here were seen the largest sea iguanas observed anywhere on the islands. There 

 were not many, but they were nearly all exceptionally large. Soon after leaving 

 the boat it began raining, and for half an hour we exj)erienced a tropical rain, the 

 water coming down the hillsides in little and big streams where a few minutes 

 before was dry rocky soil. The mate left in the boat found it necessary to bale 

 steadily till the rain ceased. We went over the black, broken lava field about 

 half a mile, till we struck the foot of the hill and vegetation. Then up the steep 

 hill for a mile, to a little valley lietween the crater that runs down to the Cape 

 and the high ridge that forms the rim of another crater. The nature of the soil 

 and flora was similar to that of Tagus Cove, but tortoise were scarce. I went up 

 several hundred feet, while Harvey looked around the lower end of the valley. 

 Coming back disgusted, I found a trail where a tortoise had descended to the valley 

 some time liefore. After searching a while I found him snugly ensconced under a 

 bush. "We hastily ojieued him, took out the intestines, and started over craters and 

 cactus downhill toward the boat. We soon found we could not make it before dark, 

 so left him on a ridge and hastened to the point where the boat was waiting. 

 We each picked up a large iguana, and Harvey jumped first, landing safely ; but 

 just as I jumped a sudden swirl caught the boat and swept it past. The iguana 

 landed in the boat, but I, with the gun, dropped into the " raging main." 

 Fortunately the mate shoved his oar out, and as 1 came np minus the gun the oar 

 got in mv wav, and I was soon in the boat. Before we were forty feet away from the 

 rock a heavy swell dashed over tlie point, lireaking strongly enough to have washed 

 ns off had we been there then. 



After this exjierience I was disinclined to try landing tliere again, so we beat 

 urdund the ('a]ie a few miles to the north, and four of us went asliore the next 

 morning. We had to row a mile there to find a jihue smooth enough to jump on to 

 the rocks. It was necessary to walk nearly a mile over the black lava to the foot 

 of a steep hill, which ran uji 2mi) (?) feet on the side where we were. A few little 

 valleys some way up seemed a good jjasture for tortoise, but none were found, and 

 no sure signs of any having been there. Two of the boys went back to the boat 

 and rowed around shore to our landing-jilace of yesterday. The schooner in the 

 meantime had lost the wind, and liail already drifted back j)ast that point. Adams 

 and 1 climbed np and over the ridge, down the other side, through some good 

 tortoise country, but finding none, nor signs ; and on down to the tortoise found 

 yesterday. AVe skinned the legs and neck, after which I took a coujde of hours 

 and went up into the crater which forms Cape Berkeley. This was apparently 

 an excellent place for tortoise, and they could have got into it if they had been 

 plentiful enough to be obliged to seek new pastures. No signs were, however, 

 limnd, and the one tortoise taken was the only one near, evidently. We carried 



