videcl the only brilliant color to be seen along the coast, each sul- 

 plinr-ycllow flower more than an inch across and fifteen or twenty 

 in a cluster. The ovate leaves are rough to the touch and the 

 trunks of large shrubs or trees assume an almost muscular aspect. 

 The most conspicuous objects along the coast were, of course, the 

 enormous cactus trees. One of these giants stood a few yards 

 from the fish house with reddish trunk a foot thick. It reached 

 up to 20 feet, and the drooping pad-like l)ranches, worthy of the 

 name, Opiintia myriacantJia, were things to leave severely alone. 

 Outside of the little semi-cleared area progress could be made only 

 along the trail which had been cut out of a jungle of interlaced 

 cactus trees, Lantana, Cordia, and Croton bushes. The spiny Dis- 

 caria pauciflora, as well as the si^iinescent Acacia bushes, were both 

 as impenetrable as the cactus. The flowering season here must be 

 extraordinarily short. Nearly every shrub was in full bloom when 

 we arrived, but so inconspicuous were the flowers, in general, with 

 the exception of Cordia and an occasional cotton bush, that they 

 added little or nothing to the color of the landscape. Three crosses 

 near the shore, their graves overrun by weeds, were in perfect 

 harmony with the surroundings. Yet the shrubs and insignificant 

 plants covering the ground were of extraordinary interest. The 

 majority of them are confined to the Galapagos Islands, and repre- 

 sent a flora which has had its development parallel to that of the 

 finches, iguanas, and huge tortoises. Each island often has its own 

 clearly marked species. 



Several families of plants arc especially represented, the Boragi- 

 naceae, Verbenaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Amaranthaceae, and Legu- 

 minosae being most conspicuous. Such large families of the tem- 

 perate regions as the Rosaceae, Ranunculaceae, and Ericaceae are 

 entirely lacking. Except for cactus, the coastal terrain has the ap- 

 pearance of burned-over New England brush land. Along the 

 coast fresh water is obtained from roof drippings, and only during 

 the rainy season. A drought may appear even in the usually moist 

 interior. From two survivors of the colony we learned that such 

 a drought happened during the first year (1926) of the Norwegian 

 colonization, during which drinking water had to be carried in kegs 

 from the summit of the mountain. The brackish pool at Academy 

 Bay appeared salt to us, but was used for drinking water by the 

 Norwegian fishermen who said that in the course of time the water 



