CH-'UITIXG THE "ENCHANTED ISLES" 101 



chart by Samuel Dunn printed in 1787 by Laurie and Whittle of Lon- 

 don. A chart with no more identifying data than the name "Nueva y 

 Correcta Carta Del Mar Pacifico 6 del Sur," dated 1744, shows some 

 twelve islands and uses the old Spanish names, such as Isla de Esperanza, 

 San Clemente, Isabel, Carenero, and IVIaria del Aguado. With the ex- 

 ception of Isabel [Albemarle] it is impossible to identify them by com- 

 paring them with a modern map. The survey made in 1793 by Captain 

 Alonzo de Torres of the Royal Spanish Armada under orders of the 

 Viceroy of Peru was useless as a navigational chart but added some new 

 names to individual islands, though it is not possible in most cases to 

 attach them correctly. The only ones of which we can be reasonably cer- 

 tain are Isla de Guerra [Culpepper], Isla de Nunez Gaona [Wen- 

 man], and Santa Gertrudis [Albemarle]. 



In 1793-1794, Captain James Colnett made a chart in which the 

 islands are placed fairly correctly in their relative positions, the first 

 chart that could be considered workable. Arrowsmith of London printed 

 a chart in 1798 based on Colnett's but not nearly so complete, as coast- 

 lines were omitted and Indefatigable, which is called Norfolk, is repre- 

 sented as a mere islet. Also he omitted much useful information con- 

 tained in the original chart, such as places to water, careen ships and 

 gather wood. It is noteworthy that the famous Galapagos "post office" 

 is marked on the original chart though no mention is made of it in 

 Colnett's log. 



In the early 1800's, three other charts of the Galapagos were made, 

 apparently the work of Captain Colnett though none was as complete 

 as his first one. All have the same error in the coastline of Albemarle, 

 each one showing a large bight in the southeast corner of the island (the 

 worst feature in Colnett's chart) which, of course, is an error and was 

 corrected in the survey of H. M. S. Beagle in 1835. The charts in ques- 

 tion are those of Captain Porter of the U. S. Frigate Essex, Captain 

 P. Pipon, R. N., of H. M. S. Tagus, and Captain John Fyffe of H. M. 

 S. Indefatigable. None of them can be said to equal the original chart 

 of Captain Colnett. 



It was not until 1835 that a real survey was undertaken by H. M. S. 

 Beagle under the command of Captain Robert Fitzroy, R. N. This dis- 

 tinguished officer made a complete survey of the archipelago and produced 

 a good navigational chart that was published by the Hj^drographic Of- 

 fice of the Admiralty and used by all countries from the date of the 

 survey until the year 1942, when another survey was made by the U. S. 

 S. Bowditch. During the cruise of the Beagle, many detailed anchorages 



