Galapagos, a group of islands lying in the Pacific ocean, under the equator, about 600 m. from the coast of Ecuador, to winch politically they belong. They were discovered by the Spaniards, who named the group from the numerous land tortoises, called galapagos in Spanish; but the single islands have received English names. In the latter part of the 17th century they became a great rendezvous of the buccaneers, who resorted to them for refreshments and to fit out expeditions against the Spaniards. The group consists of six principal islands, nine smaller ones, and many islets, some being mere rocks. Its northern and southern limits (including Culpepper and Wenman islands) are lat. 1° 40' X. and 1° 27' S., and it lies between Ion. 89° 30' and 92° 5' W. The largest island, Albemarle, is about 60 m. long and about 15 broad; it is also the most elevated, reaching a height of 4,700 ft. The next in size is Indefatigable island, after which come Nar-borough, James, Chatham, and Charles. All the islands are volcanic, and with the exception of a few ejected fragments of fused granite, found by Darwin, every part consists of lava, volcanic tuff, basalt, and other eruptive rocks.

The general shape of the islands is that of the majority of oceanic volcanoes, a large dome, surmounted by a wide and shallow crater, and the sides furrowed by numerous lava streams. Small cones of eruption are occasionally seen on the flanks, but are particularly numerous near the foot; Darwin estimates that there are 2,000 of them in the group. The S. W. point of Albemarle island is studded with them. Volcanic activity seems to be nearly extinct at present. On Narborough island two craters were seen in action by H. M. S. Tagus in 1814, and a terrific eruption is described in Morrel's voyage in 1825. Darwin saw in 1835 a small jet of smoke issuing from one of the great craters of Albemarle island. It is certain that on these two islands the lava streams look much fresher than on the others, and the vegetation is much more scanty. As a rule, the volcanoes of the eastern islands appear to have been extinct for a much longer time than those of the western. The climate is remarkably temperate, considering the position directly under the equator.

This is due to the low temperature of the Peruvian current, which coming from the antarctic regions strikes here to the westward after having followed closely up the coast of South America. This current meets here a part of the equatorial current starting from the bay of Panama, so that the curious phenomenon was observed by H. M. S. Beagle of the water being 60° on the southern side of Albemarle island and 80° on the northern. The lower parts of the islands are remarkably arid and destitute of water; but the summits, which are generally covered by clouds, receive from them sufficient moisture to sustain an abundant vegetation and to be susceptible of cultivation. The rainy season is from November to March, but cannot be compared to the continental rainy season. Severe droughts occur occasionally; in 1872, previous to the visit of the United States steamer Hassler, more than 2,000 head of cattle had perished from that cause on Charles island. The Galapagos had no permanent inhabitants till 1832, when a party of exiles were brought over from Ecuador by Don Jose Vilamil. The largest settlement is on Charles island, and is called Floriana, at one time containing from 200 to 300 inhabitants.

At the time of the Hassler's visit the whole settlement had dwindled down to a so-called governor and about a dozen peons, who were very destitute, owing to the abandonment of the islands as a place of call for whalers and other vessels, which can no longer procure the supplies of turtles for which the islands were once famous. Besides Charles island, the only other inhabited island is Chatham. - The zoology and botany of these islands possess a peculiar interest, first revealed by the researches of Darwin. Not only is there a large number of animal and vegetable forms not found in any other part of the world, but some of them are confined to single islands of the group, and, what is still more extraordinary, strongly marked varieties, if not different species, of the same genus replace one another in islands not far apart. Considering the evidently recent formation of the islands, the problem of the origin of organic life presents itself here in a most striking manner. Both the fauna and the flora have a most undoubted western American character. Of mammalia there are no indigenous terrestrial representatives; a rat and a mouse found on some of the islands were probably introduced. Seals, however, are very plentiful.

Cattle, pigs, and goats have been introduced on Charles and Chatham islands. About 26 species of birds are known to inhabit this group. Most of the water birds and a few of the land birds are American. The extreme tameness of these birds has always been a wonder to visitors. The reptiles are of great interest. It has been mentioned that the islands were named from the land tortoises, testudo nigra, formerly so abundant that single ships are said to have taken away as many as 700. They were found weighing several hundred pounds, but at present they have greatly diminished in number, and large ones are seldom seen. Of lizards there are three or four species, one or two small and belonging to a South American genus, and two large ones belonging to the genus amblyrhynchus, confined altogether to these islands. Of these, one {A. cristatus) is the only marine saurian of our epoch. It inhabits the shores of all the islands, swimming out to sea and feeding on seaweed. The other species (A. Demarlii) is terrestrial and herbivorous, inhabiting burrows or crevices in the lava; it is confined to the central islands of the group. Both attain a size of 3 or 4 ft., but the terrestrial is somewhat the smaller. A small snake of a South American species is abundant. Sea turtles are also very numerous.

The fishes are mostly of South American types, but are not yet sufficiently known. Insects are scarce and small. One half of the shells, according to Mr. Cuming, are peculiar to the islands, the other half partly South American, partly common to the central parts of the Pacific. Coral reefs do not exist here; but pieces of coral of two species, found also in Panama, were picked up on the beaches by the Hassler expedition. The scanty vegetation is so small-leaved in general in the lower parts as to present scarcely any appearance of verdure. Two large cactuses, a cereus and an opuntia, are arborescent and give a strange character to the landscape. Near the tops of the mountains the vegetation is more luxuriant, and grasses and ferns abound, but there are none of the palms or tree ferns, so characteristic of the tropics.