The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan

) When it is used, the name Charles Island is still applied following Colnett's misplacement rather than Cowley's original intention.ĭue to its relatively flat surface, supply of fresh water as well as plants and animals, Floreana was a favorite stop for whalers and other visitors to the Galápagos. (He similarly named Santiago after James II. The English pirate William Ambrosia Cowley did not apparently chart or name this island in his 17th-century accounts of the Galápagos but the British captain James Colnett misunderstood some of Cowley's maps and in 1793 gave Floreana the name King Charles and Charles Island, which Cowley had given to Española Island in honor of King Charles II of England. Pinta Island similarly remembers another one of his ships. It was also known as Santa Maria, after the Virgin Mary and the Santa María, one of Christopher Columbus's ships during his initial voyage. The island was previously known in Spanish as Mercedes Island ( Isla Mercedes), sometimes corrupted to Mascarenas, in honor of Flores's wife Mercedes Jijón. It was during Flores's presidency that Ecuador took possession of the archipelago. The island has a population of about 100.įloreana, sometimes written as Floriana, is named in honor of Juan José Flores, the first president of Ecuador. The island's highest point is Cerro Pajas at 640 m (2,100 ft), which is also the highest point of the volcano like most of the smaller islands of Galápagos. The island has an area of 173 km 2 (67 sq mi). Claimed by: France (French city of Barcus) įloreana Island ( Spanish: Isla Floreana) is a southern island in Ecuador's Galápagos Archipelago.

The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan