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The European
discovery of the Galápagos Islands occurred
when Dominican Fray Tomás de Berlanga,
the fourth Bishop of Panama, sailed to Peru to
settle a dispute between Francisco Pizarro and
his lieutenants. De Berlanga's vessel drifted
off course when the winds diminished, and his
party reached the islands on March 10, 1535. According
to a 1956 study by Thor Heyerdahl and Arne Skjølsvold,
remains of potsherds and other artifacts from
several sites on the islands suggest visitation
by South American peoples prior to the arrival
of the Spanish.
The islands
first appeared on maps in about 1570 in those
drawn by Abraham Ortelius and Mercator. The islands
were called "Insulae de los Galopegos"
(Islands of the Tortoises).
The first
English captain to visit the Galápagos
Islands was Richard Hawkins, in 1593. Until the
early 19th century, the archipelago was often
used as a hideout by mostly English pirates who
pilfered Spanish galleons carrying gold and silver
from South America to Spain.
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