382 GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. [chap. xvii. 



any of the volcanic islands in the great oceans. As far as I can as- 

 certain from various works, this seems to hold good throughout the 

 Pacific, and even in the large islands of the Sandwich archipelago. 

 Mauritius offers an apparent exception, where I saw the Rana 

 Mascariensis in abundance : this frog is said now to inhabit the 

 Seychelles, Madagascar, and Bourbon ; but on the other hand, 

 Du Bois, in his voyage in 1669, states that there were no reptiles 

 in Bourbon except tortoises ; and the Officier du Roi asserts that 

 before 1768 it had been attempted, without success, to introduce 

 frogs into Mauritius I presume, for the purpose of eating: 

 hence it may be well doubted whether this frog is an aboriginal 

 of these islands. The absence of the frog family in the oceanic 

 islands is the more remarkable, when contrasted with the case of 

 lizards, which swarm on most of the smallest islands. May this 

 difference not be caused, by the greater facility with which the 

 eggs of lizards, protected by calcareous shells, might be trans- 

 ported through salt-water, than could the slimy spawn of frogs ? 



I will first describe the habits of the tortoise (Testudo nigra, 

 formerly called Indica), which has been so frequently alluded 

 to. These animals are found, I believe, on all the islands of the 

 Archipelago ; certainly on the greater number. They frequent 

 in preference the high damp parts, but they likewise live in the 

 lower and arid districts. I have already shown, from the num- 

 bers which have been caught in a single day, how very numerous 

 they must be. Some grow to an immense size : Mr. Lawson, an 

 Englishman, and vice-governor of the colony, told us that he 

 had seen several so large, that it required six or eight men to lift 

 them from the ground ; and that some had afforded as much as 

 two hundred pounds of meat. The old males are the largest, 

 the females rarely growing to so great a size : the male can 

 readily be distinguished from the female by the greater length 

 of its tail. The tortoises which live on those islands where 

 there is no water, or in the lower and arid parts of the others, 

 feed chiefly on the succulent cactus. Those which frequent the 

 higher and damp regions, eat the leaves of various trees, a kind 

 of berry (called guayavita) which is acid and austere, and like- 

 wise a pale green filamentous lichen (Usnera plicata), that hangs 

 in tresses from the boughs of the trees. 



The tortoise is very fond of water, drinking large quantities, 



