Ecuador (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1914 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XVIII THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS The archipelago of the Galapagos, or Galapagos Island, is a territory of considerable interest, although relatively little known and unfrequented. It is possible that these islands may play a more important part in the future, due to the circumstance that they lie almost in the direct path of. vessels on the route across the Pacific from Australia and New Zealand to the Panama Canal. These islands, which belong to the republic of Ecuador, lie in part exactly under the Equator, 580 miles west of the mainland. The archipelago consists of five larger and two smaller islands, with a total area estimated at about 2,870 square miles. The name is derived from the galdpago, the giant tortoise, which abounds in the islands. The archipelago was discovered by the Spaniards in the sixteenth century, but as they were uninhabited little importance was attached to them. They formed at times a convenient stopping-place for whalers and pirates, but until the year 1832 no attempt at colonization was made. All the principal islands bear English names, which were probably given to them by buccaneers--viz., Albemarle, Indefatigable, Narborough, James, and Chatham, the largest extending from the Equator to one degree south; three small ones, of Abingdon, Bindloe, and Tower, lying north of the Equator, and of Charles, or Floreana, and Hood, south of the first degree. There are generally enumerated thirteen islands, including those of Barrington, Duncan, and Jervis. In addition, there are numerous islets surrounding the larger, two of which, Wienman and Culpepper, lie twentyseven leagues north-west of Abingdon. The total length of the archipelago, from Chatham to Narborough, is fifty-three leagues, and the breadth, from...