 An estimated 200 @,@ 000 animals were taken before the 20th century . The relatively immobile and defenceless tortoises were collected and stored live on board ships , where they could survive for at least a year without food or water ( some anecdotal reports suggest individuals surviving two years ) , providing valuable fresh meat , while their diluted urine and the water stored in their neck bags could be used as drinking water . The 17th @-@ century British pirate , explorer , and naturalist William Dampier wrote , " They are so extraordinarily large and fat , and so sweet , that no pullet eats more pleasantly , " while Captain James Colnett of the British Navy wrote of " the land tortoise which in whatever way it was dressed , was considered by all of us as the most delicious food we had ever tasted . " US Navy captain David Porter declared , " after once tasting the Galapagos tortoises , every other animal food fell off greatly in our estimation ... The meat of this animal is the easiest of digestion , and a quantity of it , exceeding that of any other food , can be eaten without experiencing the slightest of inconvenience . " Darwin was less enthusiastic about the meat , writing " the breast @-@ plate roasted ( as the Gauchos do " carne con <unk> " ) , with the flesh on it , is very good ; and the young tortoises make excellent soup ; but otherwise the meat to my taste is indifferent . " 
