REPORT ON A BOTANICAL EXPLORATION TRIP 

 TO THE GALAPyVGOS ISLANDS 



Dr. C. Stuart Gager, Director, 



Sir: I take pleasure in submitting" herewith my report as botanist 

 of the Astor Expedition to the Galapagos Islands, March 23 to 

 May 2, 1930, and express m}^ gratitude to you and to Mr. Vincent 

 Astor for the privilege of accompanying the expedition. This re- 

 port covers, in general, the itinerary of the expedition from a bo- 

 tanical point of view. It will be followed by a detailed enumera- 

 tion of species collected when the material, now in our herba- 

 rium, is fully studied. The expedition was successful in attaining 

 most of its objectives. Primarily, these were the exploration of 

 the unknown interior of Indefatigable Island, twenty-five miles 

 across and the second largest of the Galapagos group; the capture 

 of specimens of the huge land tortoise {Testudo porteri) known to 

 inhabit Indefatigable Island; and the transportation of living reef 

 fishes from the Pacific Islands to the New York Aquarium. The 

 party on board the N ourinahal during the cruise included Com- 

 modore Astor, Kermit Roosevelt, Suydam Cutting, Robert Llunt- 

 ington, Dr. Eugene Pool of the New York Hospital, Clarence L. 

 Hay of the American Museum of Natural History, James P. 

 Chapin, ornithologist, American Museum of Natural History, Wil- 

 fred S. Bronson, Artist, Dr. Charles H. Townsend, New York 

 Aquarium, who acted as director of the expedition, and Elwin R. 

 Sanborn, photographer, New York Zoological Society (Figs. 1 

 and 2)} A general account of the expedition copiously illustrated 

 has appeared in the Bulletin of the New York Zoological Society. 

 Vol. xxxiii. No. 4, 1930. 



The Astor Expedition to the Galapagos Islands left New York 

 on the morning; of March 23 in a special car for Miami. Spring 

 had not commenced in New York, and the night before our de- 

 parture was decidedly wintry, but as we proceeded southward the 

 vegetation g-radually became green. In Virginia plum trees were 

 in flower. Early morning of the next day found us in a rainstorm 



1 With the exception of Figures 1 and 2, the illustrations are from photo- 

 graphs by the writer. 



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