1835. 



FLOURISHING SETTLEMENT. 



491 



spring might be conveyed to shipping by means of leaden 

 pipes, without much difficulty, but it is not of very good 

 quality. Having ascended gradually during another half- 

 hour's walk, we reached the ridge of that height which limited 

 our view from the sea ; when surprisingly sudden and agreeable 

 was the change. Heated and tired by a dusty uphill walk, 

 through sun dried trees and over rugged lava stones, our bodies 

 were here refreshed by a cool breeze, while our eyes enjoyed 

 the view of an extensive, fertile and cultivated plain. Sur- 

 rounded by tropical vegetation, by bananas, sugar canes, 

 Indian corn, and sweet potatoes, all luxuriantly flourishing, it 

 was hard to believe that any extent of sterile and apparently 

 useless country could be close to land so fertile, and yet 

 wear the most opposite appearance. Our eyes having been 

 accustomed to the desert shores of Peru and northern Chile, 

 during many months, were completely dazzled by a sight so 

 new and unforeseen. 



It appears that rain falls very frequently on these higher 

 grounds, and is absorbed by rich black mould of a nature 

 sufficiently clayey to enable it to retain moisture. During 

 the wet season this plain becomes quite muddy, while the 

 little rain that falls on the lower ground is so quickly absorbed, 

 or finds its way so soon through the loose lava stones that its 

 effects are not there visible. 



Most of the houses are in this fertile space, but it appears 

 that a house on the dry ground, and plantations in the moist 

 valley, would answer better : for at Mr. Lawson^s house salt 

 cannot be kept dry, books and paper become mouldy, and iron 

 rusts very quickly. At his table we found the welcome of a 

 countryman, and a variety of food quite unexpected in the 

 Galapagos Islands, but fully proving their productiveness. At 

 the foot of a hill we saw water dropping plentifully, and from 

 this spring, called the " Governor's Dripstone," the inhabi- 

 tants obtain a certain supply throughout the year. 



Although most of the settlers were sent here against their 

 wish, there are many who do not desire to return to the con- 

 tinent. Some are married and have children on the island. 



