JUAN FERNANDEZ. 541 



animals which have taken to deep-sea life have some of them 

 retained their colours, though living in the dark.* 



Selkirk's Monument is placed on the crest of a short sharp 

 ridge in a gap in the mountains at a height of about 1,800 feet 

 above the sea. From this, a steep descent leads down on either 

 side to the shore. Here Selkirk sat and watched the sea on both 

 sides of the island in long-deferred hope of sighting a sail. 



Here we rested for some time, enjoying the view. Juan 

 Fernandez is only ten miles in length, and 20 square miles in 

 area, and from this elevated point nearly the whole extent of the 

 island could be overlooked. Yet this tiny spot of land contains 

 birds, land shells, trees, and ferns which occur nowhere else in 

 the vast expanse of the universe, but here or in the neighbour- 

 ing Mas-afuera. One could almost count the number of trees 

 of the endemic Palm (Ceroxylon Austrcde) and estimate the 

 number of pairs of the endemic Humming-Bird existent, at a 

 bird for every bush. Two of the species of Land-birds, and all 

 the 20 species of Land-shells of the island are endemic. 



The temperature at the monument at 11 A.M. was 65° F. A 

 small Bat, possibly disturbed by the sound of the gun, was seen 

 to fly past. The common Sow-thistle (Sonchus oleraceits), the 

 ubiquitous weed, has climbed up the pass, and grows by the 

 Monument. The endemic Palm has been almost exterminated, 

 excepting in nearly inaccessible places, as on a rock above the 

 monument, where a group of the trees can be seen, but not 

 reached. 



The terminal shoot of the palm, especially when cut just before 

 the tree flowers, is excellent to eat ; the developing leaf mass 

 being quite white, and tasting something like a fresh filbert. It 

 seemed to me more delicate than that of the shoot of the Cocoa- 

 nut. The guide knew where there was a tree remaining in the 

 woods not far above sea-level, and I went with him to it hoping 



* See A. E. Wallace, "Tropical Nature," p. 274. London, 1878. 

 Mr. Darwin, " Origin of Species," 6th edition, p. 349, refers to the 

 similar survival of the hooks of hooked seeds in islands where there are no 

 mammals to the fur or wool of which they could cling. Some hooked 

 seeds may, however, surely also be adapted to hang in the feathers of 

 birds, as those of the Uncinia and Accena of the Southern Islands, 

 possibly, for example, are adapted to those of the Albatross. 



