THROUGH EUROPE AND TO THE ISLANDS OF THE ATLANTIC. 149 
Let us consider briefly what are Wallace’s views as expounded 
in his important, aud largely accepted, work, Island Life. He 
lays down certain propositions which may be accepted by 
everyone, as, for instance, when he says (p. 71) 
“ Land mammals cannot pass over very wide oceans.” 
Again — 
“ Some animals, as pigs and deer, are very good swimmers, but 
never voluntarily venture out of sight of land. Small animals, such 
as squirrels and mice, might be carried on floating trees or ‘ floating 
islands/ but it would require a pair of the same species to he 
prolific — a rare occurrence, and we cannot suppose that such causes 
have been effective in the dispersal of mammalia as a whole ; and 
whenever we find that a considerable number of the mammals of 
two countries exhibit distinct marks of relationship we may be sure 
that an actual land connection, or at all events one within a few 
miles, has at a former time existed.”* 
It might be supposed from the above quotations that 
Wallace believed in the recent connection of the Azores and 
of Madeira with the mainland, by which the animals I have 
named above (goats, rabbits, etc.) were introduced; but such is 
not the case ! That these animals have not been introduced 
by human agency, Seharff has adduced very interesting 
evidence of an historical kind, derived from the original names 
given to the islands by their early Genoese discoverers. On 
Solari’s map of the Azores, which dates back to 1385, the 
names of the islands are indicated as follows : — 
Capraria = Goat Island (now St. Michael). 
Columbis = Pigeon Island (now Pico). 
Li Conigi = Iiabbit Island (now Flores). 
Corvi marini = Island of sea-crows (Spear-waters ? ) 
now Corvo. 
And he adds : “ The result of these historical enquiries appears 
to justify the presumption that mammals, such as the goat and 
rabbit, are truly indigenous species on the Azores. f This is a 
view which Wallace does not accept. Pie considers it 
improbable that these islands have ever been connected with 
the mainland, while their wholly volcanic origin is opposed to 
the view that they formed part of an “Atlantis” including 
Madeira and the Canaries, though admitting that deposits of 
* Island Life , p. 72. 
t European Animals, p. 104. 
