Stewart—Botanical Conditions pn the Galapagos Islands. 287 
large number of trees of Hippomane Mancinella. Other com¬ 
mon trees are those of Bursera graveolens and Opuntia myria- 
cantha. The country adjacent to the coast, just east of this 
place, is covered with dense thickets of Cryptocarpus pyriformi& 
apparently to the exclusion of all other vegetation of any size. 
West of here, in the vicinity of Cape Rose, there are extensive de¬ 
posits of volcanic cinders on which the vegetation is very open, 
probably due to the fact that the lava has disintegrated but lit¬ 
tle. What few plants that do occur here are for the most part, 
the ones that are commonly found in the dry regions of these is¬ 
lands. 
All of the country which lies between the mountain at Iguana 
Cove, and the one northwest of Villamil is low, probably in no< 
place exceeding an elevation of 200 ft. 
Vilamil. 
Villamil is on the south side of the island about seven miles 
northwest of Brattle Island. A settlement of about one hundred 
and fifty people was established here some years ago, by Mr. An¬ 
tonio Gil of Guayaquil, Ecuador. A considerable industry in 
hides, molasses, and sulphur is carried on, the products of which: 
are sent to Guayaquil by means of a small vessel which makes 
periodic trips to the mainland. A part of the settlement is lo¬ 
cated near the shore, but the most of it is about twelve miles in¬ 
land, at an elevation of 1,300 ft., where there are plantations of 
sugarcane, bananas, and other tropical fruits and vegetables. 
Villamil Bay is surrounded by low beds of basaltic lava, but 
west of the settlement on the open coast, there are extensive sand 
beaches. These are continuous with a broad sand-flat just back 
of them, which extends back for about half a mile. The country 
for several miles inland is flat and is covered with beds of basaltie 
lava and volcanic cinders which usually lie almost horizontally. 
There are numerous crevices in the lava, in some of which there 
are pools and springs of nearly fresh water. Owing to the low 
elevation of this part of the island, these springs usually occur 
only a few feet below the level of the ground. There is a consid¬ 
erable amount of precipitation on the upper part of this island, 
in the form of fog and rain. There is not sufficient soil to retain 
this water, however, so it percolates through the lava and comes 
out again near sea level. On this account the water is usually" 
slightly brackish even at a considerable distance inland. 
