APPENDIX. 3G1 



tree with the muzzle of my gun, and the little birds drank 

 water out of a vessel which I held in my hand. But I have 

 in my " Journal " given details on this subject, and I will 

 here only remark that the tameness is not general, hut spe< rial 

 towards man; for at the Falkland's the geese build on the 

 outlying islands on account of the foxes. These wolf-like 

 foxes were here as fearless of man as were the birds, and the 

 sailors in Byron's voyage, mistaking their curiosity for fierce- 

 ness, ran into the water to avoid them. In all old civilized 

 countries the wariness and fear of even young foxes and 

 wolves are well known.* At the Galapagos Islands the great 

 land lizards (Amblyrkynchtis) were extremely tame, so that I 

 could pull them by the tail; whereas in other parts of the 

 world large lizards aie wary enough. The aquatic lizard of 

 the same genus lives on the coast, is adapted to swim ami 

 dive perfectly, and feeds on submerged algoe : no doubt it 

 must lie exposed to danger from the sharks, and consequently, 

 though quite tame on the land, I could not drive, them into 

 the water, and when I threw them in they always swam 

 directly back to the shore. See what a contrast with all 

 amphibious animals in Europe, which when disturbed by the 

 most dangerous animal, man. instinctively and instantly take 

 to the water. 



The lameness of the birds at the Falklands is particularly 

 interesting, because most of the very same species, more espe- 

 cially the larger birds, are excessively wild in Tierra del 

 Fuego, where lor generations they have been persecuted by 

 the Both at these islands and at the Galapagos it 



irticularly noteworthy, as I have shown in my "Journal" 

 by the comparison of the several accounts up to the time 

 when we visited these islands, that the birds are gradually 

 getting less and Less tame; and it is surprising, considering 

 the degree of persecution which they have occasionally sni- 

 vel ii, p. 21P.) my* that at th<- 0. df Verde Islands tlio pigeons were m I 



wiilj !•• be caught. Theses then, an the only lnr^c groups of islands, 

 with tin- exception "t tin- oceanic (of which I can find no earl] account) 

 which wirr uninhabited when discoTered Thos Herbeii in 1626 in lis 

 ibes the tami ; the birds at Mauritius, and Du 



I; n n i '.' 72 enters into details en this head «itli respect to all the I 

 »' Uourbon. Cap! Moresby lent me a MS account of his lurrei of Si I 

 ami I'ii • u, north of Madagascar, in which In- describes tlio 



••\tr. of the pigeons, Capt. Cannichael has described the tame- 1 



i of tin- birds at Tristan d'Acunha. 

 • 1 I <ttie* Phiioiopk . p Ml. 



