250 



FOXES SIMSON. 



It has been said, that there are two varieties of this ' wolf- 

 fox,' as it has been called,^ one being rather the smaller, and of 

 a redder brown ; but the fact is, that no other difference exists 

 between the two apparent varieties, and as the darker coloured 

 larger animal is found on the East Falkland, while the other 

 is confined to the western island, the darker colour and rather 

 thicker furry coat may be attributed to the influence of a some- 

 what colder climate. The fox of West Falkland approaches 

 nearer the large fox of Patagonia, both in colour and size, 

 than its companion of East Falkland does ; but allowing that 

 there is one shade of difference between the foxes of East 

 and West Falkland, there are but two, or at most three shades 

 between the animal of West Falkland and the large fox of 

 Port Famine. In Strong's voyage (1690), Simson describes 

 these foxes as being twice as large as an English fox, but he 

 does not say upon which island. 



* " Le loup-renard, ainsi nomme parce qu'il se creuse un terrier, et que 

 sa queue est plus longue et plus fournie de poil que celle du loup, 

 habite dans les dunes sur le bord de la mer. II suit le gibier et se fait 

 des routes avec intelligence, toujours par le plus court chemin d'une bale 

 a I'autre ; a notre premiere descente a terre, nous ne doutames point que 

 ce ne fussent des sentiers d'habitans. II y a appurence que cet animal 

 jeiine une partie de I'annee, tant il est maigre et rare. II est de la taille 

 d'un chien ordinaire dont il a aussi I'aboiement, mais foible. Comment 

 a-t-il ete transporte sur les fles?" — Voyage de Bougainville, seconde 

 edition, tome i. p. 113. 



t " They saw foxes on this land, which, Simson says, * were twice as big 

 as those in England. Having brought greyhounds with us, we caught 

 a young fox alive, which we kept on board some months, but on the first 

 firing our great guns in the South Sea, he was frighted overboard, as 

 were also some St. Jago monkies. As to the antiquity of these foxes, as 

 they cannot fly, and it is not likely they should swim so far as from 

 America, nor again is it probable that any would be at the pains of 

 bringing a breed of foxes so far as Hawkins' Island is from any other 

 land, it will follow that there have either been two distinct creations, or 

 that America and this land have been formerly the same continent.' 

 There are means more within the common course of nature than those 

 which occurred to Simson, by which foxes may have become inhabitants 

 of this land. Islands of ice are met at sea io much lower southern lati- 

 tudes, 



