374 GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. [CHAP, xvir. 



The little birds are aware how harmless these creatures are : I 

 have seen one of the thick-billed finches picking at one end of 

 a piece of cactus (which is much relished by all the animals of the 

 lower region), whilst a lizard was eating at the other end; and 

 afterwards the little bird with the utmost indifference hopped on 

 the back of the reptile. 



I opened the stomachs of several, and found them full of vege- 

 table fibres and leaves of different trees, especially of an acacia. 

 In the upper region they live chiefly on the acid and astringent 

 berries of the guayavita, under which trees I have seen these 

 lizards and the huge tortoises feeding together. To obtain the 

 acacia-leaves they crawl up the low stunted trees ; and it is not 

 uncommon to see a pair quietly browsing, whilst seated on a 

 branch several feet above the ground. These lizards, when cooked, 

 yield a white meat, which is liked by those whose stomachs soar 

 above all prejudices. Humboldt has remarked that in intertropical 

 South America, all lizards which inhabit dry regions are esteemed 

 delicacies for the table. The inhabitants state that those which 

 inhabit the upper damp parts drink water, but that the others 

 do not, like the tortoises, travel up for it from the lower sterile 

 country. At the time of our visit, the females had within their 

 bodies numerous, large, elongated eggs, which they lay in their 

 burrows : the inhabitants seek them for food. 



These two species of Amblyrhynchus agree, as I have already 

 stated, in their general structure, and in many of their habits. 

 Neither have that rapid movement, so characteristic of the genera 

 Lacerta and Iguana. They are both herbivorous, although the 

 kind of vegetation on which they feed is so very different. Mr. 

 Bell has given the name to the genus from the shortness of the 

 snout: indeed, the form of the mouth may almost be compared 

 to that of the tortoise : one is led to suppose that this is an adapta- 

 tion to their herbivorous appetites. It is very interesting thus to 

 find a well-characterized genus, having its marine and terrestial 

 species, belonging to so confined a portion of the world. The 

 aquatic species is by far the most remarkable, because it is the 

 only existing lizard which lives on marine vegetable productions. 

 As I at first observed, these islands are not so remarkable for the 

 number of the species of reptiles, as for that of the individuals ; 

 when we remember the well-beaten paths made by the thousands 

 of huge tortoises the many turtles the great warrens of the 



