evan’s Reviews > On the Backs of Tortoises: Darwin, the Galapagos, and the Fate of an Evolutionary Eden > Status Update

"nature is not a god-given resource for human consumption" (18)
"communicating with nature on a level we'd never experienced before (27) see: romanticization of The Wilderness with indifference toward local populace
"tortoises...were reincarnated forms of cruel ship captains" (27) per melville

further research
- eco tourism
- hunting practices in pre colonial pacific
- enlightenment imperialism
- melville trav narr

pg ix-x "Sometimes a chagrined look crosses their faces, and they say something about how it is a shame that so many people now live in this place that really ought to be protected...Yet I am often dismayed by the assumption that the presence of towns must be detrimental and that people do not belong in this place that is often called Darwin's natural laboratory of evolution.