What were the enchanted islands?

 

What were the enchanted islands?

Las Islas Encantadas-the enchanted or be witched islands was the name that Spanish sailors gave the Galápagos Islands when they were first discovered in 1535. The Spaniards were mystified by the desolate, volcanic islands, with their strange forms of animal life. They thought that the islands were not real, but only "shadows" of is lands. Although the islands then were uninhabited, evidence later was found of earlier settlement by South American Indians.

The name Galápagos (from the Spanish for "tortoises") was adopted by mapmakers, based on descriptions of the many giant tortoises, or land turtles, found on the islands. The islands' other distinctive animals include rare flightless cormorants (fish-catching sea birds), penguins, land and marine iguanas (large lizards), and numerous species of finches and other birds.

The animals were of special interest to the British naturalist Charles Darwin, who visited the islands in 1835. The many varieties of finches, in particular, provided Darwin with a clue to his theory of evolution.

The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds.  Passerine birds relate to or denote birds of a large order distinguished by feet that are adapted for perching, including all songbirds. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colorful plumage.

Since 1832 the islands have been administered by Ecuador, which first colonised them. They are a province of Ecuador, officially known as the Archipelago de Colón. The dwindling number of animals on the islands are protected by the Ecuadorian Government.