Whaling Log Records
Compiled by
Charles Haskins Townsend (1925)
and Robert Langdon (1984)
The tables below are both derived from data in the work of the cited author. The buttons above each row sort the table by that category. Click again to sort in reverse order.
above any button indicates selected sort category.
Townsend Notes
Townsend states (p. 70) that “It would be within safe limits to credit American whalers with taking not less than 100,000 tortoises subsequent to 1830. The whaleships of other countries also visited the Galapagos, although not to the same extent.” The logs he examined recorded a total catch of 10,373 tortoises taken by 67 vessels in 151 visits.
-
Island Visited: Townsend identifies each island by the English (language) name found in each log. Here, each such name is followed by the official (1892) name in parentheses. Note that the official Isla Santa Cruz was identified as either Indefatigable (× 2) or Porters (× 4).
Page: Page number, in Townsend's Galápagos Tortoises …
Count: Number of tortoises taken -
pp. 104-132: Logbook Records of Tortoises Taken from the Galapagos Islands by Certain Whaleships from 1831 to 1868.
When Townsend's records include the catch for two or more islands, each island is given a separate entry in the table presented here. If a ship visited the same island two or more times during the same year, these visits are combined into a single entry. -
pp. 132-135: Record of Vessels Seeking or Obtaining Tortoises, but Numbers Taken not Recorded.
These pages list 30 separate records. The “Tortoises” column in the Table presented here lists the quantity as “unknown.”
Langdon Notes
Langdon's work is the result of a study of ship logs held in more than 40 public and private collections in New England, USA. Microfilm copies of these logs are on file at various museums in Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii, as indicated below. Refer to the “PMB No.” column in the table to identify the desired film.
With a few puzzling exceptions, Langdon gives each island's official name. However, each such name is followed here by the English name (in parentheses) which was more likely in use at the time the logs were written. See the Island Visited list immediately below for additional notes, with even more notes (!) pertaining to Langdon's Culpepper and Wenman Islands at the bottom of this page.
- Island Visited:
- Culpepper: This is actually the English name for the island now known as Isla Darwin. Langdon states in error that Culpepper Island has no other name.
- Darwin: This now-official name appears only once (ship Gay Head, 1853) for the island formerly known as Culpepper. Its appearance here is odd, since the name did not come into use until some time in the mid-twentieth century. It is therefore unlikely (to say the least) that Darwin Island actually appears in the Gay Head log.
- Floreana: This popular name replaces the rarely-seen official name of Santa María.
- San Salvador: This official name is frequently replaced elsewhere by the popular name of Santiago.
- Santa Cruz: Since Langdon does not give the names actually used in the logs, (Indefatigable) is inserted here.
- Wenman: Similar to the first example above, this is actually the English name for the island now known as Isla Wolf.
- Date:
* indicates crew went ashore. Otherwise, island was sighted but not visited. - PMB (Pacific Manuscripts Bureau) No: Microfilm No. in Langdon's Where the Whalers Went. Microfilm locator is in table at bottom of page.
| PMB Number | Country | City | Institution § |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200-400 | Australia | Brisbane | State Library of Queensland |
| Newcastle | University of Newcastle (Library) | ||
| 200-900 | Adelaide | State Library of South Australia | |
| Canberra | Australian National University | ||
| Canberra | National Library of Australia | ||
| Hobart, Tasmania | State Library of Tasmania | ||
| Melbourne | State Library of Victoria | ||
| Perth | Library Board of Western Australia | ||
| Sydney | Mitchell Library (at State Library of New South Wales) | ||
| Sydney | University of Sydney | ||
| New Zealand | Wellington | National Library of New Zealand (Alexander Turnbull Library) | |
| United States | Honolulu, Hawaii | University of Hawaii Library | |
| § Note that each institution holds the indicated microfilms, not the actual logs, which are in various collections (not identified) in New England. | |||
Langdon's Culpepper and Wenman Islands
As noted above, with the exception of Culpepper and Wenman Islands, Langdon gives the official names for all other islands. He incorrectly states that these two islands have no other names, apparently not realizing they are now—and were at the time his work was published—officially known as Islas Darwin and Wolf, respectively. This online version gives the official name followed by the English name (in parentheses). Therefore, if Langdon had followed his own example and given the official names to this pair, a typical entry would have been, say, Darwin (Culpepper), instead of the Culpepper (Culpepper) seen in the table derived from his data.
More understandable is his choice of Isla Floreana Island instead of the official Santa María. The latter name is almost never seen elsewhere, in favor of the far more popular Floreana, which has taken on an official (well, almost) status.