PORTER’S JOURNAL. I6J 
The possession of these vessels, besides the great satisfaction 
it produced, was attended by another advantage of no less impor¬ 
tance, as it relieved all our wants except one, to wit, the want of wa¬ 
ter. From them we obtained an abundant supply of cordage, canvas, 
paints, tar, and every other article necessary for the ship, of all of 
which she stood in great need, as our slender stock brought from 
America had now become worn out and useless ; and besides the 
articles necessary for the ship, we became supplied with a stock 
of provisions, of a quality and quantity that removed all apprehen¬ 
sions of our suffering for the want of them for many months, as 
those vessels, when they sailed from England, were provided 
with provisions and stores for upwards of three years, and had not 
yet consumed half their stock ; all were of the best quality ; and, 
were it only for the supplying our immediate wants, the prizes 
were of the greatest importance to us. We found on board of 
them, also, wherewith to furnish our crew with several delicious 
meals. They had been in at James* Island, and had supplied 
themselves abundantly with those extraordinary animals the tor¬ 
toises of the Gallapagos, which properly deserve the name of the 
elephant tortoise. Many of them were of a size to weigh up¬ 
wards of three hundred weight; and nothing, perhaps, can be 
more disagreeable or clumsy than they are in their external ap¬ 
pearance. Their motion resembles strongly that of the elephant; 
their steps slow, regular, and heavy ; they carry their body about 
a foot from the ground, and their legs and feet bear no slight re¬ 
semblance to the animal to which I have likened them ; their 
neck is from 18 inches to 2 feet in length, and very slender; 
their head is proportioned to it, and strongly resembles that of a 
serpent; but, hideous and disgusting as is their appearance, no 
animal can possibly afford a more wholesome, luscious, and de¬ 
licate food than they do ; the finest green turtle is no more to be 
compared to them, in point of excellence, than the coarsest beef 
is to the finest veal; and after once tasting the Gallapagos tor¬ 
toises, every other animal food fell greatly in our estimation. 
These animals are so fat as to require neither butter nor lard to 
cook th^m,and this fat does not possess that cloying quality, com¬ 
mon to that of most other animals ; and when tried out, it fur- 
X 
VOL. I. 
