1335.] TERRESTRIAL AMBLYRHYNCHUS. 337 



to have any notion of biting ; but when much frightened they 

 squirt a drop of fluid from each nostril. I threw one several 

 times as far as I could, into a deep pool left by the retiring tide .; 

 but it invariably returned in a direct line to the spot where I 

 stood. It swam near the bottom, with a very graceful awl 

 rapid movement, and occasionally aided itself over the uneven 

 ground with its feet. As soon as it arrived near the edge, but 

 still being under water, it tried to conceal itself in the tufts 

 of sea-weed, or it entered some crevice. As soon as it thought 

 the danger was past, it crawled out on the dry rocks, and 

 shuffled away as quickly as it could. I several times caught 

 this same lizard, by driving it down to a point, and though pos- 

 sessed of such perfect powers of diving and swimming, nothing 

 would induce it to enter the water ; and as often as I threw it 

 in, it returned in the manner above described. Perhaps this 

 singular piece of apparent stupidity may be accounted for by 

 the circumstance, that this reptile has no enemy whatever on 

 shore, whereas at sea it must often fall a prey to the numerous 

 sharks. Hence, probably, urged by a fixed and hereditary in- 

 stinct that the shore is its place of safety, whatever the emer- 

 gency may be, it there takes refuge. 



During our visit (in October), I saw extremely few small 

 individuals of this species, and none I should think under a year 

 old. From this circumstance it seems probable that the breeding 

 season had not then commenced. I asked several of the inha- 

 bitants if they knew where it laid its eggs : they said that 

 they knew nothing of its propagation, although well acquainted 

 with the eggs of the land kind — a fact, considering how very 

 common this lizard ; s, not a little extraordinary. 



We will now turn to the terrestrial species (A. Demarlii), 

 with a round tail, and toes without webs. This lizard, instead of 

 being found like the other on all the islands, is confined to the cen- 

 tral part of the archipelago, namely to Albemarle, James, Bar- 

 rington, and Indefatigable islands. To the southward, in Charles, 

 Hood, and Chatham islands, and to the northward, in Towers, 

 Bindloes, and Abingdon, I neither saw nor heard of any. It 

 would appear as if it had been created in the centre of the archi- 

 pelago, and thence had been dispersed only to a certain distance. 

 Some of these lizards inhabit the high uid damp parts of the 



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