The Sun.
London, England, 1815-12-18 00:00:00

THE St.IN - ItEVIE.:',I7.

(No cN.I.)

“ Join-wit of a Craize made o the Pacific Ocean TT raptain
DAvrr, PoitTEß.,its the United States Frigate ESFrX, ill the
Years 1812, lul3, and 1811, containing Mescriptions of the
rape de Vei-diss.ands, Coasts of Brazil, P‘atagonia, Chili,
and Peru, and of the Gallapagos Islands. Also, a full Ac-
count of thelVashington C;•oup of Islands; the. Manners,
t:nstotns, Drees of the Inhabitants, &c. 4:c.” Illustrated
with l+rFAJgravings._ In 2 vols. Bvo. 440.
Ilia. IEIS.

[Cootioned fr(nu our Paver of Saturtlay.l

"We find nuthiug, remarkable in the crtlizer
Yuen iten.cf to the northward, excepting that,'near
the Islands. Lobus, `the sea was covered 'with
licans, Mel otier apatie birds, feedine; on the,
st•haais of 11 fish.' which were also purseed by
I,olierefs' bartconters,' seals and rirp'oises;
end it is statedl 'for the thousandth thin:, though
-.;eevcr le:iore:, perhaps, in sue!! etei,,,ant terms, that
teiter, jumped out Of the water were stein-
pet" up lay the innumerable swarms of birds that
were '-hc;C-(.',:iee over them. Captain Porter next
sis;ts thie.G.-ii,pl-I:;)Slfilantis, where Aml-tortoists,
we are r c to he obtained, as indeed we
shquld cue Bede heaae.their name, ` the liiii!ids of
Tortoises ,' bet we were not aware flea they
-reached the weight of four hereired 'point its each ;
or tioe , etter li-tiog yearwithout food or water,
'they could he ` found greietly int pPoved iii fatties;;
and flavour.' 'They have grown, no deeibt, since
hottest Dampitr's time, who thought he should
loudly obtain credit in static; .‘ one of the largc-st
"of thrseereatures to weigh one hundred or two'
hoods:el pountls, andsome•of them to measure two
feet; or two feersix inches over the challaree or
befiy." • Disagreeable and clumsy as: Captain
Porter thoueet• them, we cannot resist .the temp-
tation of convevieg to oar turtle-loving friends of
`Candlewick and Portsoken-wards, the glowing.
desrription ,‘ ieh he has given of •these luscious
monsters:
" `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-
sendrlance to the animal to whicleli.have
,tikened
them ; their neck is from eighteen inches to two
feet in length, and very slender ; their head is pro-
portioned to it, and strongly resembles that of a
serpent ; • but hideous and disgusting as .is their
appearance', no animal can posibly afford a more
*holsesoine, luscious, and delicat e (odd than they
do; the finest green. turtle is no more to be come
pared to them in point
.of excellence, than the
eoarseSt beef *is to the finest veal ; and aft:: - once
testing the Gallapagos tortoises, every other ani-
Mal food fell greatly in our estimation.'
" And have we then remained thus long its ut-
ter -ignorance of the GAll'arigos tortoises, and
lavishing our praises, -and smacking our lips on
the vulgar chaliapash end challapee Of the green
turtle, when every whaler, for .the last thirty
years, Might have supplied. us with such Amid
-
once of an ;wide so superior iu every resPect
Bat Gtptnin Porter proceeds : •
" animals are sip fat as to require nei-
Veer butter. nor lard to- covk -t!iera, and this fat
does net possess that cloying common to
that of !nest other animals and when tried otit,
it• furnishes an oil superior to that of the olive.—
, Heratc • .. • lis of •
m this animal tie easiest oigestion;
and a quantity of it, exeeedine that cif Anv other
fOrid, can be eaten without exaerieticing the
slightest •inconveniteece. But what seems the
&nst extraordinary iu this autimill, is the 'length
Of time that it can exist without food.; for I have
been well assured, that they have been piled awaii
tuhiong the casks in the hold of a ship, where
they have been kept eighteen mouths ; and, when
Villerf at the expiration ,of that time, were tound
to have suffered no diminution in fatness or ex-;

• • "'there are Other circumstances no -less sin-
gOlar 41 the natural history oftilis alystetnious ani-
mal.

" 'They carry with them a constant suply_of
water, in a bag at the: toot of the neck, which
contains about two gallons; anti on tasting that
f?untl. in those killed on
,board, it proved perfectly•
fresh an:l sweet. They are very restless when ex-
poscd• tothe light and heat of the sun, but will
lie in the. dull trout one year's end to the other
withont moving ; in the day-time, they appear re-
inarkably quick-sighted and timid, drawing their.
head into their shell on the slightest-mation.of.
any object; but they are entirely it: Ktitute of
hearing; as the loudest noise, even the firing,of a
gnu, does not seem to alarm them in the slightest
degree ; and at night, or in the dark, they appear
• pe:feetly
• " Captain Porter was so well convinced of;the
good qualities of these tortoises, whiclt his pen-
p;c: called_ Gallapagos mutton, that he laid in
about fourteen tons weight of them; which was as
much ashe could conveniently stow..
" 'They were pile& up on the quarter-deck for
a few days, in order that they might bare time to
discharge the contents of their S'matachs, which is
cOnsiderable ; after which they were stowed away
below, as you would stow any other:provisions,
awl used as occasion required.' `No description
of stock,' he adds, is So convenient for ships to
take to sea with them as the tortoises of these
hiands ; they require 'no provisions nor ''water for
a year, nor is any further attention to them re=
cessary than that their- shells should be preserved
unbroken.' •

We have &telt thus long on these•interesf-
ing • creatures, so like elephants,' for lack of
better matter, iloongli the (4allapagos supplied
otLer objects of which a skilful traveller would
have mailed hi.nt.sell for the instroction and amnse-
/nem of his readers : they • arc, for instance, ail
I,,leanic, and in a state of activity ; and these
vt!leartos are apparently fed by a fonstant in-.
th'ituy;bc of the sea towards the group-of islands;
they ahotoul too with a.great variety of plants and.
a:liorlt, and though their situation is directly un-
der the equator, the climate is so moderate as tsa
reseuible that of the temperate rather than chat of
he torrid zone : but matters of this kind are be-
neitit the observation of Mr. Porter. lie tell's us,
lowever, that the temperature of the air of the
(;,!lhipagos Lianas variya fival 72 des. to 75 deg..;