Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-07-14


ard very few survive on Albemarie, high
up In the mountains.
Science regards these islands as classical
ground. because Darwin obtained there the
| first ideas which led to the investigations
eliminating in his work on the "Origin of
Species" He visited only a portion of the
archipelago. but his explorations resulted
| in the discovery Of an extraordinary fauna,
| many kinds Of animals being found that
were unknown elsewhere in the world.
Prof. Baur has added largely by his recent
| expedition to the number of peculiar spe-
| cies. He obtained specimens of twenty
one entirely new species of birds; also sew
| eral new species Of lizards. a new sort of
bat and a mouse-like rodent hitherto I'M
familiar to science.
In all about one hundred new species
| Of birds, mammals and reptiles have been
| discovered on the islands. The latter are
uninhabited and have been visited by few
explorers. The famous expedition of the
Challenger paused there for a short time
and made some scientific observations The
isles are crowned by lofty mountains and
even their vegetation Is remarkable, con-
sisting Of huge cacti and acacias. The
most extraordinary Of the animals peculiar
to the archipelago were the huge black
land tortoises. From them is derived the
in the sixteenth century. Some of these
turtles attained a. weight Of nearly LOO
pounds. Unfortunately for them, it was
soon discovered that they were particularly
good to eat, and whaling and other vessels
acquired a habit Of stopping at the islands
for supplies Of fresh meat in this shape.
The creatures served admirably for the
purpose, inasmuch as ethey would live on
shipbOard for many months and could be
killed when wanted for the table, In this
way 600 turtles were taken from Charles
Island alone In one year 1t has been
reckoned that no fewer than ten millions of
the animals have been carried away by
ships from the archipelago since it's dis
coveIy. On the whols,it is rather surpris-
ing that any of them are left. DR.. Baur
explored Duncan Island thoroughly and
found twenty tortoises. OF these ne took
eight sparing the rest Four of them he
sent to Chicago. where they are now alive
at Lincoln Park: the others died Duncan
Island rises to a height of l,2DO feet above
the sea- Albemarie Island reaches 4,!O0
feet above the sea level. At an elevation
of $500 feet DR.. Baur got his biggest turtle.
which was four feet long. three and a half
feet high and weighed 5Do pounds. 1t was
strong enough to walk about with three
mer riding on its back.
They Are Vegetable Feeders.
The archipelago consists of fifteen small
islands, The line of the equator runs di-
rectly through 1t. 1t lies due west from the
coast Of Ecuador, $50 miles. The SUPPOSE
islands formed part of continuous land
mass; but a subsistence of the latter be-
meath the sea left above water only the
highest peaks of the mountains by which
1t was crowned. These peaks are the
islands of today. Originally. 1t is imagined
the tortOises were all of one species, bu:
the isolation of colonies thus left to sur
vive in localities between which there could
be no communication resulted in the de-
velopment of different characters.
discovery O
archipelago each of the islands bad it's own
peculiar kind Of tortoise One reason why
the animals are so interesting Is that they
are very ancient, being survivors of the
tertiary period. They are vegetable feed
ers. browsing On the young shoots of cacti
and grasses. In former times they visited
the sea periodically. but the few survivors
have abandoned the custom. Being very
fond Of fresh water. they have had the
habit of making long pilgrimages to reach
springs high up on the mountains. To get
to them they would travel day and night
at the rate Of three or four miles an hour
Thus in the course of centuries regular
roads were made by them to and from the
watering places. and 1t was by following
these well-traveled paths from the coast
that the Spaniards first came across the
springs.
Capt. POrter's Account.
Capt. David Porter visited the Galapagos
Islands several times between 1912 and
1914. on the United States frgate Essex.
He was the first one who noticed the differ
ence Of the tortoises on the different
islands. He likewise published the first
picture of one of the land turtles. His ship
took on board large numbers of them. The
meat was called by the sailors Galapagos
mutton" -Four British vessels captured in
that neighborhood by Porter were found
stocked with quantities of the turtles. At
one time the Essex laid in a supply of four
teen tons weight of the animals. They
below
provisions. and used as occasion required.
The males" Porter says, ARE easily
known by their great size and from the
length Of their tails, which are much longer
than those of the females. AS the females
were found In low, sandy bottoms, and all
without exception were full OF eggs. or
which generally from ten to fourteen were
hard, it Is presumable that they came down
from the mountains for the express pur-
poses of laying. This opinion seems
strengthened by the circumstance of there
few males we founad having been taken a
considerable distanceI up the mountain"
Porter adds: "Hideoss and disgusting as
is their esa POSSIBLY
delicate food thanh THEY do. The finest
green turtle is no nhadre to be compared
to them In point Of excellence than the
coarsest beef is to the4finest veal. 1 have
been assured that Ithey have been piled
away among the casks in the hold of
ship where they haveibeen kept eighteen
months, ana, Wnen kaildu at the expiration
of that time, were found to have suffered
no dimnutOn in fairness or excellence.
They carry with them a constant supply Of
water in bag at the root of the neck,
which contains about two gallons. and. on
testing that found in those killed on board,
it proved perfectly fresh and sweet. They
are very restless when exposed to the light
and heat of the sun. but will lie In the
dark from one years end to another with
out moving. The eggs are far from being a
delicacy when cooked as they are dry and
tasteless, and the yolk is little better than
sawdust in the mouth"
Some Giant Specimens.
In 1929 the government of Ecuador es-
tablished a penal colony on one of the
islands, which relied principally upon the
tortoises for fresh meat. Later a factory
was set up for the purpose of obtaining
their oil, of which a big and fat specimen
would yield five six gallons Dogs, too,
introduced by the colonists and by ships
have destroyed myriads of the young
turtles. waiting for them to hatch and then
devouring than. The animals are known
to live to a great age, probably not less
than 300 years. They are thought to be en-
tirely deaf taking no notice even of the
report of a gun close by.
Formerly there were tortoises as big as
l~-o0 - ~1- Tale