374 GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. fh lap. xvin 
a stove: we fancied even that the bushes smelt unpleasantly. 
Although I diligently tried to collect as many plants as possible, 
T succeeded in getting very few ; and such wretched-looking little 
weeds would have better become an arctic than an equatorial 
Flora. The brushwood appears, from a short distance, as leaf: 
less as our trees during winter; and it was some time before I 
discovered that not only almost every plant was now in full leaf, 
but that the greater number were in flower. The commonest 
bush is one of the Euphorbiaceze: an acacia and a great odd- 
looking cactus are the only trees which afford any shade. After 
the season of heavy rains, the islands are said to appear for a 
short time partially green. The volcanic island of Fernando 
Noronha, placed in many respects under nearly similar conditions, 
is the only other country where I have seen a vegetation at all 
like this of the Galapagos islands. 
The Beagle sailed round Chatham Island, and anchored in 
several bays. One night I slept on shore on a part of the 
island, where black truncated cones were extraordinarily nume- 
rous: from one small eminence J counted sixty of them, all sur- 
mounted by craters more or less perfect. The greater number con- 
sisted merely of a ring of red scoriz or slags, cemented together: 
and their height above the plain of lava was not more than from 
fifty to a hundred feet: none had been very lately active. The 
entire surface of this part of the island seems to have been per- 
meated, like a sieve, by the subterranean vapours: here and there 
the lava, whilst soft, has been blown into great bubbles; and in 
other parts, the tops of caverns similarly formed have fallen in, 
leaving circular pits with steep sides. From the regular form 
of the many craters, they gave to the country an artificial appear- 
ance, which vividly reminded me of those parts of Staffordshire, 
where the great iron-foundries are most numerous. The day 
was glowing hot, and the scrambling over the rough surface and 
through the intricate thickets, was very fatiguing; but I was 
well repaid by the strange Cyclopean scene. As I was walking 
along I met two large tortoises, each of which must have weighed. 
at least two hundred pounds: one was eating a piece of cactus, 
and as I approached, it stared at me and slowly stalked away; 
the other gave a deep hiss, and drew in its head. These huge 
. reptiles, surrounded by the black lava, the leafless shrubs, and 
