Galapagos, ga-lap a-gos, a group of volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean. The name is Spanish, meaning tortoises. The group is situated on the equator, 600 miles from the mainland of Ecuador, to which country the islands belong. The greatest altitude is about 4,000 feet. Area, 2,400 square miles. Population, 400. There are over 2,000 extinct craters in the group. The summits of the islands are clothed with ferns and coarse grasses, nourished by moisture from low-hanging clouds. The coasts are arid, and almost rainless. The bed of the ocean between the group and the mainland is so deep that there appears to have been little communication. It is a little world by itself. Quite a number of plants and animals, Mr. Darwin says the greater number, are not found elsewhere. He collected twenty-five species of land birds that have not been found in any other country. The tortoise of these islands is noted. It reaches a weight commonly of 200 pounds, sometimes twice that. Its flesh is much esteemed for food. It is strong enough to carry a man on its back with ease. The springs are situated in the rainy or elevated portions of the island. Broad paths, well beaten by tortoises, lead from them toward the coast in every direction. There are no palm trees here, something unusual for a tropical region. The climate is cooler than that of any other equatorial land at sea level.