190 THE HAUNTS OF LIFE 



There is another reason why it is not easy to 

 think of land animals beginning on the dry 

 land ; the conditions of life are too difficult for 

 beginners or apprentices. This will become 

 clearer later on, but it may be noticed that 

 breathing and moving, and the disposal of the 

 eggs or young, are much more difficult on land 

 than in the water. As it is much more difficult 

 to escape from enemies when movement is all 

 in one plane, we cannot wonder that many land 

 animals have become burrowers, and others 

 climbers, and others fliers, that others have 

 become camouflaged, and that others have taken 

 to coming out at night only. But we shall 

 return to this subject later on. 



ORIGIN OF LAND PLANTS 



When we consider the sand-dunes, the rocky 

 islands, the deserts, the mountain-tops, and so 

 on we feel at once that there are many parts 

 of the dry land which cannot be called very 

 hospitable to living creatures. The dry land is 

 a haunt very much more difficult than the sea 

 or the lake. The fact is that no great colonisa- 

 tion by animals was possible until plants had 

 prepared the way. They provided food, shelter, 



