1835.] TERRESTRIAL AMBLYRHYNCHUS. 387° 
to have any notion of biting; but when much frightened they 
squirt a drop of fluid from each nostril. I threw one several 
times as far as I could, into a deep pool left by the retiring tide ; 
but it invariably returned in a direct line to the spot where I 
stood. It swam near the bottom, with a very graceful and 
rapid movement, and occasionally aided itself over the uneven 
ground with its feet. Assoon as it arrived near the edge, but 
still being under water, it tried to conceal itself in the tufts 
of sea-weed, or it entered some crevice. As soon as it thought 
the danger was past, it crawled out on the dry rocks, and 
shuffled away as quickly as it could. I several times caught 
this same lizard, by driving it down to a point, and though pos- 
sessed of such perfect powers of diving and swimming, nothing 
would induce it to enter the water; and as often as I threw it 
in, it returned in the manner above described. Perhaps this 
singular piece of apparent stupidity may be accounted for by 
the circumstance, that this reptile has no enemy whatever on 
shore, whereas at sea it must often fall a prey to the numerous 
sharks. Hence, probably, urged by a fixed and hereditary in- 
stinct that the shore is its place of safety, whatever the emer- 
gency may be, it there takes refuge. 
During our visit (in October), I saw extremely few small 
individuals of this species, and none I should think under a year 
old. From this cireumstance it seems probable that the breeding 
season had not then commenced. I asked several of the inha- 
bitants if they knew where it laid its eggs: they said that 
they knew nothing of its propagation, although well acquainted 
with the eggs of the land kind—a fact, considering .how very 
common this lizard is, not a little extraordinary. 
We will now turn to the terrestrial species (A. Demarlii), 
with.a round tail, and toes without webs. This lizard, instead of 
being found like the other on all the islands, is confined to the cen- 
tral part of the archipelago, namely to Albemarle, James, Bar- 
rington, and Indefatigable islands. To the southward, in Charles, 
Hood, and Chatham islands, and to the northward, in Towers, 
Bindloes, and Abingdon, I neither saw nor heard of any. It 
would appear as if it had been created in the centre of the archi- 
pelago, and thence had been dispersed only to a certain distance. 
Some of these lizards inhabit the high and damp parts of the 
