XXV 



Sliming, the author would here take the freedom of 

 hinting to the critic, that it is necessary to read a 

 little in order to be able to detect either mistakes or 

 misrepresentations in the writings of others. " Ho- 

 nest Dampier" is not exclusive authority, even for 

 the magnitude of a turtle. Colnet says, Several 

 of these land tortoises were seen within land, as 

 well as on the seacoast, which, had they been in 

 flesh, would have weighed three hundred weight, 

 but were now scarcely one-third of their full size." 

 Speaking of these islands, he observes, " The 

 woods abound with tortoises, doves, and guanas." 

 *' There is great plenty of every kind of fish that 

 inhabit the tropical latitudes; mullett, devil fish, 

 and green turtle were in great abundance. But 

 all the luxuries of the sea yielded to that which the 

 Island afforded us in the land tortoise, which, in 

 whatever way it was dressed, was considered by 

 all of us, as the most delicious food we had ever 

 tasted. The fat of these animals, when melted 

 down, was equal to fresh butter; those which 

 weighed from thirty to forty pounds were the best, 

 and yielded two quarts of fat ; some of the largest, 

 when standing on their feet, measured near a yard 

 from the lower part of the neck."^ 



But let us pass on to the next charge, insinua- 

 tion, or whatever the reader may choose to call the 

 following passage of the Review : 



" We have dwelt thus long on these interesting crea- 

 tures, so ' like elephants,' for lack of better matter, though 

 the Gallapagos supplied other objects of which a skilful 

 traveller would have availed himself for the instruction 

 and amusement of his readers : they are, for instance, all 

 volcanic, and in a state of activity/ ; and these volcanoes 

 are apparently fed by a constant indraught of the sea to- 

 wards the group of islands ; they abound too with a great 



* Colnel's Voyage, pp, 53, 157. 

 VOL. I. 4 



