![]() He was certainly resourceful because he apparently grew vegetables and hunted. An Irish sailor named Patrick Watkins was marooned on the island of Floreana from 1807-09. If the first known visitor to the islands was Berlanga then the first known permanent settler was again somebody who arrived by accident. ![]() It is speculated that before Berlanga found the islands the Incas arrived in the islands because traces of Incan relics were found there by Thor Heyerdahl in the 1950s – but doubt has since been cast on that theory as the Incans weren’t seafarers and the Galapagos Islands are a good 600 miles to the west of the South American mainland. The Spanish never laid claim to these islands considered to be on the edge of the world. In fact, his report to the Spanish king was so disparaging, talking of huge tortoises, lava, desert and ‘serpent-like lizards’ that Charles V probably binned it after a first read and that was that …. He and his crew nearly died there, running so low on water they had to drink water stored in cacti and as soon as the winds picked back up they fled as quickly as they could to resume a voyage to mediate a Conquistador dispute in Peru. ![]() Unfortunately, Berlanga discovered the islands unintentionally, his master galleon becalmed in the doldrums and then dragged westwards by the Humboldt Current. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |