GIllPIGOS HISIOI! 



Ueologists attach great antiquity to the Galapa- 

 gos Archipelago, but there is no evidence that early man knew 

 anything about the islands. Unlike mainlands of the Americas, the 

 Galapagos fail to provide archaeologists with relics of the handi- 

 work of man from which history might be reconstructed. 



There are legends indicating that adventuresome South Ameri- 

 can Indians may have visited the islands centuries ago, but they were 

 not the sort to voyage afar in crude aboriginal craft, although 

 they ranged afoot over great distances on land. 



Exploration in the Galapagos has been so limited that historical 

 conclusions should not be reached. However, it seems reasonably 

 certain that Spanish explorers of the sixteenth century were the 

 first to view the awesome terrain of this remote land. Surely they 

 were amazed at the flora and fauna encountered. Strange reptiles 

 and birds such as they had not seen before greeted their gaze as they 

 scouted chaparral wastes. Huge tortoises and fearsome iguanas un- 

 known elsewhere in the world must have filled the wanderers with 

 apprehension which vanished only when they found the beasts 

 edible. Meat of the reptiles is often called tasty. 



In desperate straits from hunger, thirst, exposure, and dis- 

 appointments, the roving seamen must have rejoiced upon finding 

 land where there was food and fresh water. There is evidence that 

 some of the explorers, or the later pirates and buccaneers, left parties 

 on shore perhaps for long periods of time. Other early settlers may 

 have been castaways or deserters. At any rate, some of the older 

 plantings on the islands are supposed to date back to swashbuckling 

 days. There are a great many old fruit trees. 



Indefatigable Island boasts a large and long neglected plantation 

 of a species of agave resembling the century plant. Tradition has it 

 that pirates of old intended to use fibre from the plants in the mak- 

 ing of rope. It is possible that early visitors to the islands also may 

 have planted some South American trees found there. 



The earliest effort at serious agricultural enterprise is accredited 

 to one General Baldesar who established himself on a high plain of 

 Charles Island probably a century ago. He planted an extensive 

 grove of citrus and tropical fruit trees; introduced domestic animals 

 which since have reverted to wild types, and probably developed 

 193 gardens on his wilderness hacienda. 



