148 I N A G U A 



shows the island as an unnamed point. Presuming that it is a 

 hundred years old this would give a rough average of approxi- 

 mately only one new permanent resident each quarter of a 

 century. This is probably a very high figure, yet, on this basis 

 each millennium would see only forty additions divided equally 

 between the animals and plants. 



Therefore, I felt exceedingly fortunate in being present at 

 the introduction of two new inhabitants, one of which was 

 animal, the other vegetable, a full half -century's quota! As a 

 matter of fact I was directly responsible, for when I reached 

 in my water-soaked hatband for another dust shot with which 

 to secure a supplement to my series of Anolis I was surprised 

 to see emerge from the wet cloth the gaudy body of a spider. 

 It was a very small spider and it appeared to be damp and be- 

 draggled though it moved quickly on its eight legs. Attached 

 to its body was a spherical sac which contained several dozens 

 of diminutive eggs. Carefully I carried the mite up to the 

 shelter of a fallen palm leaf and deposited it on the dried fibers. 

 It sat quiescent for a few seconds and then retired into a crevice 

 lugging the sac with it. There I am confident a new race of 

 spiders was begun. 



The sixth resident I was not so sure about. Neither was I 

 certain of its identity. In the hope of finding another spider 

 as mate for the first I turned the hatband inside out and ex- 

 amined it carefully. There were no more arthropods but nestled 

 in a fold of the felt was a very small pecuHarly shaped seed. It 

 was formed somewhat like the head of a lance except that the 

 butt end was twisted and curved in the fashion of a lyre. Mi- 

 croscopic engravings were etched over its surface and it was 

 cleft lengthwise with a deep fissure. Several weeks later I ran 

 a net through a number of the grasses thinking I might find a 

 duplicate but nothing I secured even remotely resembled it. 

 Possibly the seed had fallen into my hatband while I slept; 



