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History of Galapagos
 During
the four and a half centuries since their discovery, the
Galapagos Islands
have had a rich and varied history. Buccaneers, whalers, fur seal hunters,
scientists, the military, convicts, fishermen, farmers and homesteaders have
all left their mark on the islands and their biota.
This chapter provides a
brief outline of human involvement with the Galapagos Islands up to their
declaration as a national park in 1959. For further information on the
history of the Galapagos, I highly recommend John Hickman's
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The Enchanted Islands: The Galapagos Discovered. The
Galapagos Islands were officially discovered in 1535 when the then
Bishop of Panama, FrayTomas de Berlanga, and his ship were becalmed and
carried out to the islands by the ocean currents while on a journey from
Panama to what is now Peru. His: account of the islands, written to his
emperor, Carlos V of Spain, included the first descriptions of the
giant tortoises
and iguanas. He
also commented on the extraordinary tameness of the birds. The Bishop
and his crew were without water when they arrived in the islands and had
trouble finding it.
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 Two men and ten horses died and the crew were reduced to
chewing cactus pads. There is a legend that the islands were visited earlier by
pre-Columbian voyagers (Heyerdahl 1963), but the evidence for this is
tenuous. It was in about 1570 that the islands first appeared on a map. Two
maps appeared at this time, one was drawn by Abraham Ortelius and one was by
Mercator. The islands were called "Insulae de los Galopegos" (Islands of the
Tortoises). They were also called the "Encantadas" (Bewitched Islands)
because of the way in which the strong and variable currents made navigation
difficult.
Pirates, Whalers and other Early Visitors
 The first use of the islands was by pirates. From the
late 1500s to the early 1700s, these pirates used the Galapagos as a refuge
and base for their raids on the Spanish colonial ports. They stocked up with
water and tortoise meat in the islands. The most unusual loot brought to the
islands was a cargo of eight tons of quince marmalade in pottery jars. It is
possible that hidden caches of gold and silver remain to be discovered.
Several large tapered clay jars have been found by divers in James Bay,
Santiago Island and it is thought that these were discarded by visiting
pirates.
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