Some Economic Possibilities in the Galapagos Islands.

£2,250 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

An excellent collection of documents concerning Ochsner Gil, a company formed to better exploit the natural resources of Isabela Island in the Galapagos . The volume not only provides valuable information on the island at that time but the fate of the company touches on the ongoing efforts of Ecuador to safeguard their sovereignty over the islands, which were annexed only when news of the impending visit of HMS Beagle reached Ecuador in 1832. The California Academy of Science’s expedition to the Galapagos in 1905-06 had a staff of eight from the departments of Zoology, Entomology, Conchology, Botany, Geology and Palaeontology. They spent a full year on the islands, making a comprehensive biological and scientific survey of the archipelago. While only having the two-masted schooner, Academy , at their disposal, the Expedition was able to bring together a far larger and “more varied assemblage of specimens than was collected perhaps by the sum total of all the previous expedition to these islands” (Williams). It also brought about the friendship of American geologist Washington Henry Ochsner and Ecuadorian entrepreneur, Antonio Gil. Presumably buoyed by the success of the expedition, and Gil’s land holdings on Albermarle [Isabela] Island (which included 8,000 head of cattle), the two men sought to establish a company, Ochsner Gil, which would improve transport between Isabela and the mainland so as to better effect the sale of cattle and well as crops and sulphur . Ochsner was

• Year: 1917

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