MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 61 
that rains do not usually extend uniformly to so low a level even dur- 
ing the rainy season,’ being limited to the higher levels above 500 or 
600 feet, and to the higher plateaus, where even during the dry season, 
the fall and early winter, there are frequent falls of mist. 
Arriving as we did at the Galapagos at the beginning of a remarkably 
early rainy season, I could not help contrasting the green appearance of 
the slopes of the islands, covered as they were by a comparatively thick 
growth of bushes, shrubs, and trees, with the description given of them 
by Darwin, who represents them in the height of the dry season as the 
supreme expression of desolation and barrenness.? Of course, here and 
there were extensive tracts on the sea-shore where there was nothing to 
be seen but blocks of volcanic ashes, with an occasional cactus standing 
in bold relief, or a series of mud volcanoes, or a huge black field of vol- 
canic rocks, an ancient flow from some crater to the sea; but as a rule 
the larger islands presented wide areas of rich, fertile soil, suitable for 
cultivation. The experiments at Charles Island, where there is a de- 
serted plantation, and at Chatham Island, where Mr. Cobos has under 
successful cultivation a large plantation, producing sugar, coffee, and all 
the tropical fruits, as well as extensive tracts on which his herds of cat- 
tle, sheep, and donkeys roam towards the higher central parts of the 
island, show the fertility of these islands. They are indeed as favorably 
situated for cultivation as the Sandwich Islands or Mauritius, and there 
is no reason why plantations, if properly managed, should not in the near 
future yield to their owners as large returns as they do on those islands. 
From the very shere, after passing the coral sand beach (Plate XV.), 
the road leading from Wreck Bay,* Chatham Isiand, to the hacienda of 
1 Yet the experience of Captain Tanner, in 1888, would seem to indicate that 
even at the level of the sea heavy rains may occur. He says: “ The weather was 
partly overcast when we left our anchorage at Albemarle, but we thought little of 
it, supposing it to be one of the short passing squalls so frequent during the rainy 
season. When we reached the vicinity of Cape Berkeley, however, the rain poured 
down in torrents for several hours, and it became so thick that we were obliged to 
stop the engines until the weight of it passed, when we continued our course, anchor- 
ing in James Bay at 1.30 p.m. in six fathoms, white sand.” 
2 Darwin says of his first landing on Chatham Island: “ Nothing could be less 
inviting than the first appearance. A broken field of black basaltic lava is every- 
where covered by a stunted brusliwood, which shows little signs of life.’ And 
speaking of the plants, he says: “I succeeded in getting only ten kinds; and such 
wretched-looking little weeds would have better become an arctic than an equa- 
torial flora.” 
8 With the consent of the Commissioner of Fisheries, I have added to my own 
account of the Galapagos extracts from the excellent reports of Captain Tanner 
