Introduction Perhaps more so than any other place in the world, the fauna of the Galapagos are unique. Charles Darwin's observations of these unique animals, their remarkable adaption to a hostile environment, and the subtle variations between races of the same species living on different islands led directly to his theory of natural selection. The theory explains how the vast multitude of ...

Benjamin Morell made two visits to the Galapagos, one in 1823 and a second in 1825. On the second trip he was captain of the schooner Tartar, seeking new sealing grounds. On 14 February, while anchored in Banks Bay, between Isabela and Fernandina, he and his crew witnessed, and barely survived, one of the most spectacular eruptions in Galapagos history. On Monday the fourteenth, at two o'clock, ...