THE ETHIOPIAN REGION 87 



There do not appear to be any indigenous terrestrial 

 Mammals in the Seychelles, except two Bats, which have 

 been recorded as occurring there. The Land-birds are most 

 of them peculiar, though belonging to genera found in 

 Madagascar or Africa; the reptiles and amphibians are 

 fairly numerous for islands such as these, and several of 

 the species are not found elsewhere. It is difficult to say 

 whether these islands have ever had a land-connection 

 with Madagascar, but probably, if such were ever the case, 

 it was at a remote time, geologically speaking. 



The Comoros are a group of several islands lying about 

 midway between the most northerly point of Madagascar 

 and the mainland of Africa. They are separated from 

 Africa by the Mozambique channel, more than 1000 

 fathoms in depth, while the depression between them and 

 Madagascar is considerably less. Inhabiting these islands 

 there are three Bats. Two of these are of the Q- e nus 

 Pteropus, which is entirely absent from the mainland of 

 Africa, but is found in Madagascar and many islands of 

 the Indian Ocean. There is also a peculiar species of 

 Lemur {Lemur mayottensis) and the Indian Civet ( Viver- 

 ricula), which last is also found in Madagascar and Socotra, 

 and has in all probability been introduced by human 

 agency. A fair proportion of the Land- birds of the 

 Comoros, though in some instances peculiar, belong to 

 Madagascar forms, and everything goes to show tnat the 

 relation of this group of islands is with Madagascar rather 

 than with the mainland. 



The islands of Reunion, Mauritius, and Rodriguez are 

 distant from Madagascar in an easterly direction 450, 550, 

 and 800 miles respectively. They are all of volcanic 

 origin, and separated from Madagascar by water of more 



