398 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. Chap. XII. 



almost every product of the land and water bears the 

 unmistakeable stamp of the American continent. There 

 are twenty-six land birds, and twenty-five of these are 

 ranked by Mr. Gould as distinct species, supposed to 

 have been created here ; yet the close affinity of most 

 of these birds to American species in every character, 

 in their habits, gestures, and tones of voice, was mani- 

 fest. So it is with the other animals, and with nearly 

 all the plants, as shown by Dr. Hooker in his admirable 

 memoir on the Flora of this archipelago. The natu- 

 ralist, looking at the inhabitants of these volcanic 

 islands in the Pacific, distant several hundred miles 

 from the continent, yet feels that he is standing on 

 American land. Why should this be so? why should 

 the species which are supposed to have been created in 

 the Galapagos Archipelago, and nowhere else, bear so 

 plain a stamp of affinity to those created in America ? 

 There is notlring in the conditions of life, in the geo- 

 logical nature of the islands, in their height or climate, 

 or in the proportions in winch the several classes are 

 associated together, which resembles closely the con- 

 ditions of the South American coast : in fact there is 

 a considerable dissimilarity in all these respects. On 

 the other hand, there is a considerable degree of re- 

 semblance in the volcanic nature of the soil, in climate, 

 height, and size of the islands, between the Galapagos 

 and Cape de Verde Archipelagos : but what an entire 

 and absolute difference in their inhabitants! The in- 

 habitants of the Cape de Verde Islands are related to 

 those of Africa, like those of the Galapagos to America. 

 I believe this grand fact can receive no sort of expla- 

 nation on the ordinary view of independent creation ; 

 whereas on the view here maintained, it is obvious 

 that the Galapagos Islands would be likely to receive 

 colonists, whether by occasional means of transport or 



