Nothing
could be less inviting than the first appearance. A broken field of
black basaltic lava, thrown into the most rugged waves, and crossed
by great fissures, is everywhere covered by stunted, sunburnt
brushwood, which shows little signs of life. The dry and parched
surface, being heated by the noonday sun, gave to the air a close
and sultry feeling, like that from a stove: we fancied even that
the bushes smelt unpleasantly. Although I diligently tried to
collect as many plants as possible, I succeeded in getting very
few; and such wretched-looking little weeds would have better
become an arctic than an equatorial Flora. The brushwood appears,
from a short distance, as leafless as our trees during winter; and
it was some time before I discovered that not only almost every
plant was now in full leaf, but that the greater number were in
flower. The commonest bush is one of the Euphorbiaceae: an acacia
and a great odd-looking cactus are the only trees which afford any
shade. After the season of heavy rains, the islands are said to
appear for a short time partially green. The volcanic island of
Fernando Noronha, placed in many respects under nearly similar
conditions, is the only other country where I have seen a
vegetation at all like this of the Galapagos Islands.
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