Oct. 1835. TERRESTRIAL AMBLYRHYNCUS. 469 



manner in which this species is propagated ; — a fact^ consi- 

 dering how common an animal this Hzard is, not a little 

 extraordinary. 



We will now turn to the terrestrial species {Amb. sub- 

 aistatus of Gray).* This species, differently from the last, 

 is confined to the central islands of the Archipelago, namely 

 to Albemarle, James, Barrington, and Indefatigable. To 

 the southward, in Charles, Hood, and Chatham islands, and 

 to the northward, in Towers, Bindloes, and Abington, I 

 neither saw nor heard of any. It would appear as if this 

 species had been created in the centre of the Archipelago, 

 and thence had been dispersed only to a certain distance. 



In the central islands they inhabit both the higher and 

 damp, as well as the lower and sterile parts ; but in the latter 

 they are much the most numerous. I cannot give a more 

 forcible proof of their numbers, than by stating, that when we 

 were left at James Island, we could not for some time find a 

 spot free from their burrows, on which to pitch our tent. 

 These lizards, like their brothers the sea-kind, are ugly 

 animals ; and from their low facial angle have a singularly 

 stupid appearance. In size perhaps they are a httle inferior 

 to the latter, but several of them weighed between ten and 

 fifteen pounds each. The colour of their belly, front legs, 

 and head (excepting the crown which is nearly white), is a 

 dirty yellowish-orange : the back is a brownish-red, which 

 in the younger specimens is darker. In their movements 

 they are lazy and half torpid. When not frightened, they 

 slowly crawl along with their tails and bellies dragging on the 

 ground. They often stop, and doze for a minute with closed 

 eyes, and hind legs spread out on the parched soil. 



* Briefly characterized by Mr. Gray in die Zoological Miscellany, from 

 a specimen badly stuffed ;' from which cause one of its most important 

 characters (the rounded tail, compared to the flattened one of the aquatic 

 kind) was overlooked. Captain FitzRoy has presented some fine specimens 

 of both species to the British Museum. I cannot omit here returning my 

 tlianks to Mr. Gray, for the kind manner in which he has afforded mc 

 every facility £is often as I have visited the British Museum. 



