Beebe: 19iia8s Gatapagos Expedition


    However, with three other's I made an attempt upon a bit of
low pebbly beach with a mass of green back of it. I leaped over-
board and let the roller wash me up on the piled pebbles, and there,
immediately behind, was a broad stream of pure water rushing
down into the sea, We rigged up the long rubber deck hose, one
end being in a lifeboat a hundred feet from shore, and the other on
top of the pebbly beach. This end I held as high as possible in the
air, while the rest poured buckets of water into a funnel. In an hour
we had four tons of sweet water in the life-boat, and we towed this
off to the yacht. There we found that, unable to anchor, we were
consuming coal at a rate which would still further curtail our stay.
So we had to give up our hard-earned plan of filling the tanks on
the next morning.
    After landing "Johnson of London" who had given us
so little
in return for the enormous quantities of food and cocktails which
he had consumed, we steamed back to Conway Hay for a last
clean-up of the specimens which we needed. Then on to Panama
which we reached on the last ton of coal in the bunkers and the last
gallon of fresh water.
    At Panama we added to our party Prof. William MortonWheeler
of the Bussey Institution, Harvard, who had been with me at Kartabo
in British Guiana, and whose philosophical grasp of evolution and
life on the earth makes his presence on any expedition a tremen-
dous asset and pleasure. We coaled again, covering the lower decks
with great sacks and besides laid in quantities of bottled water.
    When we again sighted the Galapagos it was decided to try
another anchorage near Indefatigable, farther to the east, in the
shelter formed by the two Seymour Islands. During the first day
ashore two attempts were made to penetrate to the crater, but both
were defeated by the terrific going. We realized that two or three
camps must be established to accomplish this feat, and in the limited
time which we had, it seemed infinitely wiser to concentrate on the
vast mass of material ready to hand along the shore, rather than
give up precious (lays to the mere performing of a stunt.
    Here we again found the small islands in the vicinity to be
far more interesting than the large one. South Seymour, to the
east, was geographically quite unlike any other island, as back from
the shore it consisted of open veldt-like country. This was covered
with grass and (lotted sparsely with cactus and fair-sized trees,
where moving flocks of spiral-horned goats took the place of ante-


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