The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1908-05-28
INTERESTING INCIDENTS OF
CRUISE OF FLEET..A CRUSOE


found and near it the cabin where
the seven men had lived for five
months until picked up. In another
place Jeff's camp was found, aud in
still others his footprints we've found
In the volcanic crust, aud I'm his camp
was discovered his razor with '.Jeffs'
scratched into the handle There
were other traces of the man of an
age not to be computed but OF him
there was not trace
Back from this shore which was
searched rise the craters of extinct
volcanoes some $500 TO 1000 feet
above the sea level. Undoubtedly i'm
the wide valleys of these mountains
are valleys where water is found and
where the soil is tillable and posi-.
bly, productive of natural foods. In.
deed there were indications of this
In the wild cattle and goats. which
inhabit the mountains and the valleys
of the inner slopes in herds and the
great flocks of plover. teal and cur.
lew seen everywhere. on some of
the salt marshes these birds swarm.
ed at dusk and the shotgun I'm the
party did excellent work for the lar.
der.
No attempt was made to penetrate
into the valleys because OF the
growth of cactus and thorn through
which no man might make his way
without first cutting his way through
this wilderness of tortures, miles
from water and without instruments
for the work, but there exists the
possibility that he found an unseen
way into the fertile valleys and was
alive there all the time he was be-
ing sought.
The Galapagos islands were discoy-
cred in 1885, and weie at that time
uninhabited, but later on became
fayorite place for buccaneers and
whalers.
The former found in It sheltered
coyes where repairs could be made
unobserved and where water and
sea food were obtainable. the latter
made 1t rendezvous and also "A
point TO obtain fresh water and 20
give their crews run on the shore.
knowing they would not desert. The
old fashioned five year whaling voy-
age was one full of hardships, and a
crew landed in a favorable place
would have thought twice before
returning to the drudgery which
lay before them.
Captain Porter in the frigate Essex
visited the islands in 1913 remaining
In or cruising about them from April
to October and capturing during this
time twelve of the British whalers
then cruising in the Pacific and deal.
ing the British whaling business a
crushing blow.
But perhaps the most noteworthy
visit to the Galapagos was that made
by Darwin in his voyage around
the world in the Beagle. They proved
of the greatest interest to him, and
from his observations there he went
far toward the formation of the Oar.
winian theory Of the origin of species
and of the theory of evolution.
with one exception the land
birds found by Darwin were peculiar
to the group, as were the lizards,
snakes, turtles and the great land
tortoise.
His observations We're that at
some remote time, by volcanic action,
these islands made their appearance
separately, and on account OF tine
greath depth of water between the
four and the mainland they must
have always been isolated. On the
different islands SO separated APP
pear different species of finches, etc
his conclusions being that such iso-
lated forms were modified by natural
selection and adaptation to their en-.
yironments.