a Land-Rail in the Island of Aldabra. 
165 
I then took the opportunity of directing his attention to some 
zoological points which I thought worth investigating, as far 
as the main object of his mission would permit. Among them 
I mentioned the fauna of Aldabra. 
Commander Wharton visited and surveyed this island, or 
rather group of islands, in July of last year; and thinking that 
he would not have withheld his permission, I insert here the 
following extract from his letter to me, which refers to the 
Tortoises of the island, and to a remarkable form of Land-Rail, 
which I propose to describe in this paper. 
“ H.M.S. ‘Fawn,’ oft’Zanzibar, 
Aug. 16,1878. 
11 .I have just come from Aldabra, and after much 
trouble and search succeeded in getting one tortoise, a female, 
not very large—3 feet 2 inches in length, measuring over the 
arch of the carapace.I wanted to get a male, as 
I know yours died; but this one was the only specimen we 
saw. I think your mind may be at ease as regards any pro¬ 
bability of Aldabra being inhabited : a more uninviting place 
I never saw; the reports about tine timber &c. are pure 
fabrications. . . . Former reporters have been misled by the 
great height the mangrove attains, perfectly useless for any 
purpose, as you know. The surface of the island, which is an 
upheaved atoll, is coral rock, jagged and rough to a degree 
that makes it most laborious to get about, even were it not 
for a most stubborn and tangled brushwood which covers it 
and tears one’s clothes and person to pieces. There is not a 
tree in the island except the mangrove and a few casuarinas. 
The reptiles are now very scarce ; we saw no traces of them, 
except where we captured our one trophy. There is no soil, 
no sand even for planting cocoanuts, no water except in the 
cavities of the coral. Mosquitoes are intolerable ; and this is 
the best season of the year for them. Fishing-parties from the 
Seychelles are the enemies of the tortoise : those naked negroes 
know their haunts, and their tough skins do not mind thorns 
or mosquitoes much ; and as they find the tortoises good to eat, 
they have nearly exterminated them. I am sure I am safe in 
saying that Aldabra will never be inhabited regularly, unless 
turtle or fish should become more valuable. We were on the 
look-out for animals of all kinds ; but beyond a land-rail there 
is nothing. This bird never uses its wings, and was easily 
caught where the bush was not too thick. I have two alive, 
and, if you think they are worth any thing, can send them to 
you. I do not see how they could get to the island unless they 
are indigenous: the wings are quite small; and they never 
