430 ALEXANDER AGASSIZ 



kidnapped by the Peruvians, must have been about three 

 thousand. Since then the inhabitants have been afflicted 

 with that mysterious blight which settles on all Pacific 

 Islanders at the slightest contact with civilization. Ten 

 years later the population was reduced to nine hundred ; 

 and at the time of his visit there were less than one 

 hundred and fifty inhabitants. 



The largest indigenous animal on the island proved 

 to be a small lizard, but this did not dampen the ardor 

 of the collectors, who greedily gathered whatever they 

 could lay their hands on in the way of flies, lizards, 

 earthworms, and cockroaches, much to the amusement 

 of the simple-minded natives. Doubtless they would 

 have appreciated the comment of a stage-driver in the 

 White Mountains, who remarked of the elder Agassiz 

 and a party of his assistants, — "They said they was 

 ' naturals,' and I should think they was ! " 



On leaving Easter Island the ship ran into a two days' 

 blow, the first gale of the trip, and although the Alba- 

 tross was tossed about in the liveliest way, Agassiz was 

 pleasantly surprised to find that on this occasion he was 

 not seasick. Any one who has experienced the distress- 

 ing effects of even a short period of seasickness will real- 

 ize his enthusiasm for his explorations by the fact that 

 he persisted so ardently in this work in the face of his 

 great susceptibility to this malady. 



Until they again ran into the Humboldt Current 

 in about 12° S. latitude, the barren condition of the 

 ocean continued ; north of this they once more found 

 the same richness of life as in other portions of the 

 current. This lasted till they reached Chatham Island 

 in the Galapagos. Here they found the schooner with 

 their coal waiting for them in Wreck Bay, which she 



