with those of America, though separated from that continent by an open ocean between 500
and 600 miles in width. The archipelago is a little world within itself, or rather a satellite
attached to America, whence it has derived a few stray colonists and received the general
character of its indigenous productions.
Darwin also noted the unusual tameness of the creatures on the islands, as if they had
not yet developed any fear of man and he wrote, ‘A gun here is almost superfluous, for
with the muzzle of one I pushed a hawk off the branch of a tree’. On another occasion
a mockingbird landed on top of a water pitcher he was holding and proceeded to drink
from it. He describes how he tried and very nearly succeeded in catching birds by their
legs. There were also both marine and land based iguanas on the island. The species
are quite distinct in appearance and the marine iguana is remarkable because it is only
found on the Galapagos Islands and is the only known lizard which lives on marine
vegetation. Another significant feature of the Galapagos Islands is the giant tortoise
that can be found in large numbers on all the islands:
I have not yet noted the most remarkable feature in the natural history of the archipelago
by far: it is that the different islands to a considerable extent are inhabited by a different
set of beings. My attention was first drawn to this fact by the Vice-Governor, Mr Lawson,
declaring that the tortoises differed from the different islands, and that he could with certainty
tell from which island any one was brought.Darwin also observed how the mockingbirds seemed different from island to island
and were also different from those of continental South America. Unfortunately, he
was in a hurry to collect as many bird specimens as possible and did not take the time
to label each island location exactly. However, the mysteries of the Galapagos Islands
were to remain on Darwin’s mind and he wrote in his diary:
Considering the small size of the islands, we feel the more astonished at the number of their
aboriginal beings, and at their confined range. Seeing every height crowned with its crater,
and the boundaries of most of the lava streams still distinct, we are led to believe that within
a period of geologically recent time the unbroken ocean was here spread out. Hence, both in
space and time, we seem to be brought somewhere near to that great fact – that mystery of
mysteries – the first appearance of new beings on this earth.80 Where Australia Collides with Asia
http://www.ebook3000.com