400 
GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO 
CHAP. 
was not more than from fifty to a hundred feet: none had 
been very lately active. The entire surface of this part of 
the island seems to have been permeated, like a sieve, by the 
subterranean vapours: here and there the lava, whilst soft, 
has been blown into great bubbles ; and in other parts, the 
tops of caverns similarly formed have fallen in, leaving circular 
pits with steep sides. From the regular form of the many 
craters, they gave to the country an artificial appearance, which 
vividly reminded me of those parts of Staffordshire where the 
great iron-foundries are most numerous. The day was glowing 
hot, and the scrambling over the rough surface and through 
the intricate thickets was very fatiguing; but I was well 
repaid by the strange Cyclopean scene. As I was walking 
along I met two large tortoises, each of which must have 
weighed at least two hundred pounds : one was eating a piece 
of cactus, and as I approached, it stared at me and slowly 
stalked away; the other gave a deep hiss, and drew in its 
head. These huge reptiles, surrounded by the black lava, the 
leafless shrubs, and large cacti, seemed to my fancy like some 
antediluvian animals. The few dull-coloured birds cared no 
more for me than they did for the great tortoises. 
23 rd .—The Beagle proceeded to Charles Island. This 
archipelago has long been frequented, first by the Bucaniers, 
and latterly by whalers, but it is only within the last six years 
that a small colony has been established here. The inhabitants 
are between two and three hundred in number; they are 
nearly all people of colour, who have been banished for 
political crimes from the Republic of the Equator, of which 
Quito is the capital. The settlement is placed about four and 
a half miles inland, and at a height probably of a thousand 
feet. In the first part of the road we passed through leafless 
thickets, as in Chatham Island. Higher up the woods gradually 
became greener ; and as soon as we crossed the ridge of the 
island, we were cooled by a fine southerly breeze, and our 
sight refreshed by a green and thriving vegetation. In this 
upper region coarse grasses and ferns abound ; but there are 
no tree-ferns : I saw nowhere any member of the Palm family, 
which is the more singular, as 360 miles northward, Cocos 
Island takes its name from the number of cocoa-nuts. The 
houses are irregularly scattered over a flat space of ground, 
