for paradise is paralso. Perhaps the extra "da" became an imperious 

 fetish. The Baroness was a forceful, colorful non-conformist. 

 Whether her claim to the Viennese nobility was well founded, 

 those who knew her best found no occasion to question her. In the 

 eighteen months of her reign she succeeded in focusing the attention 

 of an incredulous world on a tiny dot in the Pacific. 



Just what she really thought and felt and did during that brief 

 but hectic time on Floreana may never be known, for the erstwhile 

 Empress of the Galapagos left no memoirs. Whatever accounts 

 have been written have been colored by jealousy or hate, or based 

 upon misinformation. She arrived at Postoffice Bay with her little 

 entourage on October 15, 1932. The Baroness and Philippson 

 vanished unaccountably about March 28, 1934. Mystery still veils 

 their fate. 



There seems to be no question in the minds of those nearest the 

 picture but what these two were slain. What facts are known 

 could add up to nothing else. But one cannot be too certain of 

 death without being able to produce the corpus delicti. Those who 

 possessed real facts are dead. Lorenz died of starvation and thirst 

 on Marchena Island in flight from Floreana. Dr. Ritter died in 

 agony at Friedo four days after the finding of the bodies of Lorenz 

 and Nuggerood, but at the time he had no knowledge of their fate. 



Cold, silent, relentless, the great Humboldt Current wrote finis 

 to the saga when it swept to his death the only man who knew 

 intimately life as it was lived at the Hacienda Paradaiso. In a little 

 packet beside the body of Lorenz were faded letters and notes, 

 inscribed in German. These were turned over at a later date to the 

 German consular authorities. Whether they contained any secrets 

 has not been divulged. 



In the capitals of South America the Galapagos Islands hold as 

 much of mystery and intrigue as anywhere else in the world. The 

 archipelago straddles the equator far beyond accustomed lanes of 

 shipping. Sometimes excursions to the Galapagos are promoted in 

 Guayaquil, Lima or Panama. Occasionally 'round-the-world liners 

 essay the voyage to satiate the curiosity of passengers. 



Frequent visits of Allan Hancock Expeditions to the archipelago 

 have been devoted to scientific exploration, but even scientists find 

 interest in such amazing human affairs. 



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