164 GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. 



fore, in this quarter of the world, three great con- 

 chological sea-provinces, quite distinct, though sur- 

 prisingly near each other, being separated by long 

 north and south spaces either of land or of open 

 sea. 



I took great pains in collecting the insects, but, 

 excepting Tiena del Fuego, I never saw^ in this 

 respect so poor a country. Even in the upper and 

 damp region 1 procured very few, excepting some 

 minute Diptera and Hymenoptera, mostly of com- 

 mon mundane forms. As before remarked, the in- 

 sects, for a tropical region, are of very small size 

 and dull colours. Of beetles I collected twenty- 

 five species (excluding a Dermestes and Corynetes 

 imported, wherever a ship touches) ; of these, two 

 belong to the Harpalidae, two to the Hydrophilidae, 

 nine to three families of the Heteromera, and the 

 remaining twelve to as many different families. 

 This circumstance of insects (and I may add plants), 

 where few in number, belonging to many different 

 families, is, I believe, very general. Mr. Water- 

 house, who has published* an account of the insects 

 of this archipelago, and to whom I am indebted 

 for the above details, informs me that there are 

 several new genera ; and that of the genera not 

 new, one or two are American, and the rest of 

 mundane distribution. With the exception of a 

 wood-feeding Apate, and of one or probably two 

 water-beetles from the American continent, all the 

 species appear to be new. 



The botany of this group is fully as interesting 

 as the zoology. Dr. J. Hooker will soon publish 

 in the " Linnean Transactions" a full account of 

 the Flora, and I am much indebted to him for the 

 following details. Of flowering plants there are, 

 as far as at present is known, 185 species, and 40 

 * Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. xvi., p. 19. 



