CHARTING THE "ENCHANTED ISLES" 



By 



Joseph R. Slevin 

 California Academy of Sciences 



There can be little doubt that the Galapagos Archipelago or the 

 "Enchanted Isles," as they were called by the Spaniards, is one of the 

 most remarkable spots, speaking from a zoological standpoint, that can 

 be found in this world of ours. For those who are not familiar with 

 the position of this "zoological paradise" made famous by Charles Dar- 

 win, who visited it in 1835 as a naturalist with His Britannic Majesty's 

 Ship Beagle on its cruise to South America, it can easily be placed by 

 picturing one's self on the coast of Ecuador and then following the 

 equator some 500 miles out to sea. Mount Pitt on Chatham Island, 

 the easternmost one of the group, is 502.5 miles northwest of Marlin- 

 spike Rock, Cape San LxDrenzo, Ecuador. 



The Archipelago consists of some fifteen islands and numerous islets 

 and rocks extending from Latitude 1° 40' N to 1° 26' S and from 

 Longitude 89° 16' 58" to 92° 1' W. Albemarle, shaped somewhat like 

 a boot, is the largest of the group, being approximately seventy miles in 

 length and forty five in breadth at the southern end, the widest part. 

 Narborough, James, Indefatigable, Chatham, Charles, Bindloe, Abing- 

 don, Tower and Hood, respectively, are next in size and importance, 

 while the remainder range from islets of a mile or less to mere rocks. 



The position of the Galapagos Archipelago was fairly well known 

 to the early navigators. Bishop Tomas de Berlanga, carried there by 

 strong currents while on a voyage from Panama to Peru in 1535, took 

 the latitude and placed the islands between half a degree and a degree 



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