S7i; GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. I chap, xvn 



pot in wliich it has been boiled, or have burst forth from smaller 

 orifices on the flanks ; in their descent they have spread over 

 miles of the sea-coast. On both of these islands, eruptions are 

 known to have taken place ; and in Albemarle, we saw a small 

 jet of smoke curling from the summit of one of the great craters. 

 In the evening we anchored in Bank's Cove, in Albemarle 

 Island. The next morning I went out walking. To the south 

 of the broken tuff- crater, in which the Beagle was anchored, 

 there was another beautifully symmetrical one of an elliptic form ; 

 its longer axis was a little less than a mile, and its depth about 

 500 feet. At its bottom there was a shallow lake, in the middle 

 of wliich a tiny crater formed an islet. The day was overpower- 

 ingly hot, and the lake looked clear and blue : I hurried down 

 the cindery slope, and choked with dust eagerly tasted the water 

 — but, to my sorrow, I found it salt as brine. 



The rocks on the coast abounded with great black lizards, be- 

 tween three and four feet long ; and on the hills, an ugly 

 yellowish-brown species was equally common. We saw many of 

 this latter kind, some clumsily running out of our way. and 

 others shuffling into their burrows. I shall presently describe in 

 more detail the habits of both these reptiles. The whole of this 

 northern part of Albemarle Island is miserably sterile. 



October 8th. — We arrived at James Island: this island, as 

 well as Charles Island, were long since thus named after our 

 kings of the Stuart line. Mr. Bynoe, myself, and our servants 

 were left here for a week, with provisions and a tent, whilst the 

 Beagle went for water. We found here a party of Spaniards, who 

 had been sent from Charles Island to dry fish, and to salt tortoise- 

 meat. About six miles inland, and at the height of nearly 2000 

 feet, a hovel had been built in which two men lived, who were 

 employed in catching tortoises, whilst the others were fishing 

 on the coast. I paid this party two visits, and slept there one 

 night. As in the other islands, the lower region was covered by 

 nearly leafless bushes, but the trees were here of a larger growth 

 than elsewhere, several being two feet and some even two feet 

 nine inches in diameter. The upper region being kept damp by 

 the clouds, supports a green and flourishing vegetation. So damp 

 was the ground, that there were large beds of a coarse cyperus, 

 \n which great numbers of a very small water-rail lived and bred. 



