Collecting Evolution by Matthew J. James;

Author:Matthew J. James;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press USA
Published: 2017-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

FIGURE 9.9 Upland Collecting Camp. An efficient way to collect giant tortoises was to set off to the highlands of an island for several days, accumulating tortoises, then transporting them back to the shore and then to the schooner. The men had to deal with ticks, noisy rats, and rain, among other discomforts. In this photo, a Galápagos hawk, which kept the men company for several days, is perched on the right. Archives, California Academy of Sciences.

When rain fell during their time on Duncan, the men found it a mixed blessing. When they awoke one night to find a steady rain falling, they quickly spread the canvas tarpaulin over themselves on the ground in order to “sleep as best we could.” As miserable as this unwanted rain left them feeling at dawn, it had the unforeseen benefit of bringing out the tortoises in even greater numbers. Slevin did not seem to mind at all that he had to “take a brisk walk down the valley to try and warm up.” The weather eventually cleared up, and they took off their wet clothes and hung them up to dry.

Previously invisible tortoises came streaming out of the thorny brush to feed on the thick greenery and to drink water from puddles in the lava. They were soon added to the bounty on the schooner. After drinking from the water holes, the tortoises seemed to be filled to capacity with water. “Those that we found after this,” Slevin observed, “were mostly filled with water which seemed to be all through the body and would come out as soon as the plastron was cut into.”177 Thus, in addition to spilling their blood, the tortoises spilled their water.

The tortoise collecting on Duncan Island proved productive and prolific. Nevertheless, after five or six days of camping inland, the men chose to return to the schooner to observe their day of rest. Slevin described their retreat from the highlands to the schooner on December 9, 1905: “In order to take a day of rest and spend Sunday on the schooner,” Slevin recounted, “we all left camp at four o’clock.”178 On the way down to the coast, Beck had three small skinned tortoises in a sack, Nelson carried a medium-sized tortoise alive, Williams a small live one, and Slevin a large skinned one. After an hour and a half they reached the coast, where they all “took a wash for the first time in five days.”179

Despite his heavy load of tortoises, Beck managed to collect numerous doves on the way down for Sunday dinner. With twenty-nine tortoises packed out during the week and twelve more staked out in various places on Duncan Island, they retired to the schooner with “all hands aboard ship keeping the Sabbath” before returning on Monday for another six days of camping inland. After a week ashore they were rewarded with “doves and cocoanut pie for Sunday dinner.” Williams added to the larder by catching twenty fish of various kinds.

Slevin was concerned about the growing backlog of tortoises that had accumulated on the schooner over the past two weeks.

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