General Baldesar, like so many others on Charles Island, came to 

 an untimely end. He was murdered by his peons. Those who sur- 

 vived subsequent privation and hardship eventually were returned 

 to the mainland. The great citrus groves have since been reclaimed 

 by the jungle. It is startHng in the midst of thorny, moss-hung 

 thickets to come upon trees bearing large fruit of brilliant hue and 

 luscious flavor. 



Since 1832 the Galapagos have been a territorial possession of 

 the Republic of Ecuador. In the past century several attempts at 

 colonization have been made. Once the government established a 

 penal colony which was short-lived. A Norwegian colonization 

 project on Charles Island came to an unhappy ending. Cattle rais- 

 ing has had its ups and downs on Albemarle, Chatham, and Charles 

 Islands. Agriculture is taking the place of animal husbandry. 



Probably the most active enterprise in the islands in recent 

 years has been the Rancho El Progreso on Chatham Island, where 

 an early Spanish settler, Manuel Cobos, established an hacienda. 

 Fruit, produce and cattle thrived on the rancho. An old sailing 

 vessel transported the products to the mainland. Since claimed 

 by the government of Ecuador, the old vessel was rechristened the 

 San Cristobal, and it still plies between Wreck Bay and Guayaquil. 

 The rancho, too, is a government subsidy, and settlement of the 

 islands has become a national enterprise. 



For more than a century the Ecuadorian government has made 

 sporadic efforts at colonization but it was not until 1937 that any 

 direct program was undertaken. Military outposts were established 

 at Wreck Bay on Chatham Island and Academy Bay on Inde- 

 fatigable Island. It was apparently the desire of the government to 

 bring erstwhile residents under some semblance of protection and 

 afford new colonists opportunity. 



But distances are so great and the terrain so formidable that 

 control of the island populace is an extremely difficult task for the 

 military police. Ecuadorians usually are loyal. Most trouble arises 

 from the exploits of adventurers and vagabond sailors. The four 

 largest islands are the only ones regularly inhabited. Others remain 

 almost virgin territory which has been explored but little. In the 

 Galapagos one could travel for days, perhaps for weeks and months, 

 without encountering a human being. 194 



