a musket placed in his hands. He seemed frantic with the reality of his servitude, using his utmost violence to disengage himself from the cartridge-box and musket, declaring again and again that he was no soldier, and in the most affecting manner begging the captain for God's sake to permit him to go on shore. When his tormentors discontinued their persecutions, he jumped over the stern into his canoe, with great activity, and soon joined his anxious friends on the beach, who had assembled there, apprehensive of his captivity, and awaiting the result. On the 2d of September, we sailed from Peyta, and shaped our course for the Gallapagos Islands. The trade wind was moderate, accompanied with fine weather. On the morning of the 6th, we made Hood's Island, and in a few hours afterwards, anchored on the west side, in a small harbour, called Gardner's Bay, the only one it affords. After dinner, the captain took with him twenty or thirty of the crew, and went in pursuit of turtle. The island is high and mountainous, covered everywhere with volcanic cinders, many of which are in huge masses. The men were at first very eager in their search for turtle, and the whole crew, if they had been permitted, would gladly have engaged in it. They expected to have found the turtle near the shore; instead of which they had to scramble over rocks and climb mountains, half the time making their way through brambles, at the expense of scratches and torn clothes. Men were never more disappointed than our crew in the amusement of catching turtle. Sometimes they would wander about for hours before they found one, and then it would probably be a mile or two from the beach, and as much as a man could well lift. By sundown we had collected about thirty, of large size. Black grouper were very abundant close to our anchorage, but the sharks were so numerous that for every fish taken we lost one or two hooks. We got a plentiful supply for the crew, however, in the course of an hour. On the following morning, we joined Captain Meek, of the brig Tamahamah, which vessel had accompanied us hither, and making a large party--went round the island about ten or twelve miles from our anchorage, where we expected to find turtle more abundant. The captain was an old cruiser here, and well calculated to make one of an agreeable party. He stood cook for us, and as the day was very warm, our first essay on landing, was to make a large bower, under which to prepare our dinner. The people then dispersed, to look for turtle, the first of which were served up for our dinner, in a style that might have been relished by less keen appetites than ours, which were sharpened by laborious exercise. At night, we had collected upwards of a hundred, besides ten large green turtle, we were so fortunate as to find on the beach near the place of our landing. When we came to assemble our men to return on board, two of them were