Chap. I. Captain W iliiam D A M PIER. Sj? 
to the Prefident of Panama , intimating, that, having 
notice of fome Enemies lately come into thofe Seas, he 
had immediately fent away thefe three Ships to fupply their 
Wants ; at the fame time, being informed by the Pnfoners, 
that thofe of c l ruxillo were eretiing a Fort near their Har- 
bour of Guanehagno , we refolved to give over our Defign 
of attacking that Place, and fleered with our three Prizes 
to the Ides of Gallapagos , fo called by the Spaniards from 
their fuppofed difappearing. May 31. we got Sight of 
the Hands of Gallapagos , and at Night came to an Anchor 
at the Eaft Side of one of the Eaftermoft Ides, a Mile 
from the Shore, in fixteen Fathom Water, clear, white, 
hard Sand. 
14. The Ides of Gallapagos are a good Number of 
large Idands, fituate under and on both Sides the Line, 
deftitute of Inhabitants ; the Eaftermoft of them being 
1 10 Leagues from the Continent. According to their 
Pofition in the Maps, they are in the Longitude of 181, 
extending to the Weft as far as 176 j according to which, 
the Longitude from England Weft, is 68° •, though, I 
doubt, the hydrographical Charts have not placed them far 
enough to the Weft. The Spaniards who were the firft 
Difcoverers of them, defcribe them to be a great Number 
of ides extending North- weft from the Equator to 5 0 
North. We faw no more than fourteen or fifteen, fome of 
which were feven or eight Leagues in Length, and three 
or four in Breadth, pretty high and flat •, four or five of 
the Eaftermoft we found rocky and barren, without either 
Trees, Herbs, or Grafs, except what was very near the 
Sea-fide. Thefe Idands produce alfo the Dildo-tree, a fort 
of a Shrub of the Bignefs of a Man’s Leg, and ten or 
twelve Feet high, but without either Fruit or Leaves ; 
inftead whereof, it has fharp Prickles from Top to Bot- 
tom. Thefe Idands afford alfo fome Water in Ponds, and 
Cavities of the Rocks. Some of the Ides are low, and 
more fertile, and produce Trees known in Europe. Some 
of the Weftermoft Ides are bigger than the reft, being nine 
or ten Leagues long, and fix or feven broad, and afford many 
Sorts of Trees, especially Mammee-figs •, they have alfo 
fome pretty large frefh-water Rivers, and many Rivulets. 
As the Sea-breezes by Day, and the Night Winds, with- 
out Xntermiffion, refrefh the Air of the Ides Gallapagos , 
fo they are not fo much troubled with exceflive Heats, 
nor fo unwholfome, as moft other Places near the Equator : 
During the rainy Seafons, in November , December , and 
January, they are peftered with moft violent Tempefts, 
Thunder, and Lightning: Before and after thefe Months, 
they have refrefhing Showers ; and their Summer Seafon 
in May, June , July , and Augufi , without any Rains. We 
anchored near feveral of thofe Idands, and found fre- 
quently the Sea Tortoifes funning themfelves at Noon- 
day (a thing not ufual in moft other Places). Of thefe we 
killed as many as we wanted. Captain Davis , at another 
time, came to an Anchor on the Weft Side of thefe Ides, 
where he and his Men fed upon Land Tortoifes for 
three Months, and faved fixty Jars of Oil from them. He 
met alfo on that Side with divers good Chanels, and An- 
chorage betwixt the Ides, feveral frefh-water Rivulets, and 
Store of good Trees and Fuel. Captain Harris (of whom 
hereafter) found alfo in fome of thefe Hands abundance of 
Mammee-trees, and divers large Rivers. The Sea, ad- 
joining to thefe Idands, is well ftored with good and large 
Fifti, especially with Sharks. I took the Height of the 
Sun with an Aftrolabe. At the North-end of the fecond 
He we anchored at 28' North from the Line. 
15. There is no Place in the World fo much ftored 
with Guanoes and Land Tortoifes as thefe Ides. The firft 
are fat, and of an extraordinary Size, and exceeding tame ; 
and the Land Tortoifes fo numerous, that fome hundred 
Men may fubfift on them for a confiderable time, being very 
fat, and as pleafant Food as a Pullet ; and of fuch Bignefs, 
that one of them weighs 1 50 or 200 Pounds ; and are 
from two Feet to two Feet fix Inches over the Belly ; 
whereas, in any other Places, I never met with any above 
thirty Pounds Weight •, though i have heard them fay, 
that at St. Laurence , nr Madagascar, there are alfo very 
large ones. There are three or four Sorts of Land Tor- 
toiies in the W ft Indies : One is called by the Spaniards 
Hackatee , which keep moft in frefh-water Ponds 1 they 
Numb. VII, 1 
have fmall Legs, and long Necks, and flat Feet, and 
commonly weigh betwixt ten and fifteen Pounds. The 
fecond Sort they called Lemper, much lefs than the former, 
and fomething rounder; but, for the reft, not unlike them, 
except that the Shell on their Backs is naturally coloured 
with a curious carved Work. Both Sorts afford very good 
Meat, and thefe laft delight in marfhy and low Places, and 
are in vaft Numbers on the Me of Pines , near Cuba, among 
the Woods. The Tortoifes in the Gallapagos Hands are in 
Shape like the firft, with long Necks, and fmall Heads ; 
only they are much bigger. Thefe Hands have alfo 
fome green Snakes, and great Store of tame Turtle-doves, 
fomething lefs than our Pigeons, but very fweet and fat. 
Betwixt fome of thofe Hands are large Chanels, capable 
of receiving Ships of a moderate Burden. Upon the 
Sholes there grows great Plenty of Turtle-grafs, which 
makes thofe Chanels abound in that Sort of Sea Tortoife 
which is called the Green Turtle, orTortoife : For, you muft 
know, that there are four or five different Sorts of Sea T or- 
toifes ; viz. the Trunk Tortoife, the Loggerhead, the 
Hawksbill, and Green Tortoife : The firft is bigger, and 
has a rounder and an higher Beak than the reft ; but its 
Flefh is neither wholfome, nor well-tafted, any more than 
that of the Loggerhead, which feed on the Mofs of 
Rocks : It borrows its Name from its large Head. The 
Hawksbill (fo called from its long fmall Mouth) is the 
leaft, and that bears the fo much efteemed Shell, of which 
they make Cabinets, Boxes, Combs, Ur. in Europe : Of 
this Shell, each has from three to four Pounds, though 
fome have lefs ; the Flefh is but indifferent, yet fomewhat 
better than that of the Loggerheads ; though thofe taken 
betwixt the Sambellos and Porto-Bello , make thofe that eat 
the Flefh vomit and purge vehemently. The fame is 
obfervable of fome other Filh in the JVeft Indies , of which 
more anon. It is further remarkable, that the Flefh of the 
Hawksbill Tortoife differs according to their Food ; for 
thofe that feed upon Mofs, among the Rocks, have a much 
yellower Fat and Flefh, and not fo well tafted as thofe that 
feed upon Grafs ; befides that their Shells are not fo 
tranfparent. Thefe Hakwsbill Tortoifes are in divers Parts 
of the W eft Indies, and have their peculiar Ifles, where they 
lay their Eggs, and feldom intermix with any other Kind 
of Tortoifes. However, thefe, as well as other Sorts of 
Tortoifes, lay their Eggs in the Sand, and after the fame 
manner : Their Laying-time is about May, June , and 
July, a little fooner or later ; and they lay three times 
every Seafon, eighty or ninety Eggs each time, which are 
round, and are of the Bignefs of an Hen’s Egg, but covered 
only with a white thin Skin. In fome of the Bays on the 
North Side of Jamaica, the Hawksbills lay their Eggs, as 
likewife on the Bay of Honduras , and in divers Places on 
the Continent of the Coaft of America , from T rinidado to 
Vera Cruz, up the Bay of New Spain. After a Sea Tor- 
toife gets afhore to lay, fhe is an Hour before fhe returns, 
becaufe fhe always chufes her Place above High-water 
Mark, where ihe makes a large Hole with her Fins in the 
Sand, to lay her Eggs in ; which done, fhe covers them 
up two Feet deep with the fame Sand fiie had raked out 
before : Sometimes they will take a View of the Place 
beforehand, and be fure to return to the fame the next 
Day to lay. They take the Tortoifes in the Night, upon 
the Shore, when they turn them upon their Backs, above 
the High-water Mark, and fo fetch them the next Morn- 
ing ; but a large Green Tortoife will find Work enough to 
two able Fellows to turn her upon her Back. The Hawkf- 
bills are alfo found in the Eaft Indies, and on the Guiney 
Coaft ; but I never met with any of them in the South 
Seas. The Green Tortoife derives its Name from the 
greenifh Colour of its Shell, which is better coloured than 
the Hawksbill, but has a round and fmall Head ; and the 
Body is of fuch a Bulk, as to weigh from 200 to 200 
Pounds ; its Flefh is accounted the beft of all the reft, 
though there is a confiderable Difference, as well In their 
Bulk, as in the Flefh. A t Blanco, in the Weft Indies, are 
larger than any in the North Sea, weighing generally 250 
or 300 Pounds ; their Fat is yellow, the Lean white, and 
both very good. But thofe of Boca loro, to the Weft of 
Porto-Bello , are neither fo large, nor have fo white and. 
well-tafted Flefh : And thofe found in the Bay of Hon - 
z A durat 
