when we consider the habits of life of these animals and the extreme slowness with which it is likely they can migrate into new areas, we can hardly arrive at any other conclusion than that this species once had an almost world-wide range, and that in the process of dying out it has been left stranded, as it were, in these three remote portions of the globe. The extreme stability and long persistence of specific form which this implies is extraordinary, but not unprecedented, among the lower vertebrates. The crocodiles of the Eocene period differ but slightly from those of the present day, while a small freshwater turtle from the Pliocene deposits of the Siwalik Hills is absolutely identical with a still living Indian species, Emys tectus. The mud-fish of Australia, Ceratodus forsteri is a very ancient type, and may well have remained specifically unchanged since early Tertiary times. It is not, therefore, incredible that this Seychelles Cæcilia may be the oldest land vertebrate now living on the globe; dating back to the early part of the Tertiary period, when the warm climate of the northern hemisphere in high latitudes and the union of the Asiatic and American continents allowed of the migration of such types over the whole northern hemisphere, from which they subsequently passed into the southern hemisphere, maintaining themselves only in certain limited areas, where the physical conditions were especially favourable, or where they were saved from the attacks of enemies or the competition of higher forms.
Fresh-water Fishes.—The only other vertebrates in the Seychelles are two fresh-water fishes abounding in the streams and rivulets. One, Haplochilus playfairii is peculiar to the islands, but there are allied species in Madagascar. It is a pretty little fish about four inches long, of an olive colour, with rows of red spots, and is very abundant in some of the mountain streams. The fishes of this genus, as I am informed by Dr. Günther, often inhabit both sea and fresh water, so that their migration from
Madagascar to the Seychelles and subsequent modification, offers no difficulty. The other species is Fundulus orthonotus, found also on the east coast of Africa; and as both belong to the same family—Cyprinodontidæ—this may possibly have migrated in a similar manner.
Land-shells.—The only other group of animals inhabiting the Seychelles which we know with any approach to completeness, are the land and fresh-water mollusca, but they do not furnish any facts of special interest. About forty species are known, and Mr. Geoffrey Nevill, who has studied them, thinks their meagre number is chiefly owing to the destruction of so much of the forests which once covered the islands. Seven of the species—and among them one of the most conspicuous, Achatina fulica—have almost certainly been introduced; and the remainder show a mixture of Madagascar and Indian forms, with a preponderance of the latter. Five genera—Streptaxis, Cyathoponea, Onchidium, Helicina and Paludomus, are mentioned as being especially Indian, while only two—Tropidophora and Gibbus, are found in Madagascar but not in India.[[160]] About two-thirds of the species appear to be peculiar to the islands.
Mauritius, Bourbon and Rodriguez.—These three islands are somewhat out of place in this chapter, because they really belong to the oceanic group, being of volcanic formation, surrounded by deep sea, and possessing no indigenous mammals or amphibia. Yet their productions are so closely related to those of Madagascar, to which they may be considered as attendant satellites, that it is absolutely necessary to associate them together if we wish to comprehend and explain their many interesting features.
Mauritius and Bourbon are lofty volcanic islands, evidently of great antiquity. They are about 100 miles apart, and the sea between them is less than 1,000 fathoms deep, while on each side it sinks rapidly to depths of 2,400 and 2,600 fathoms. We have therefore no reason to believe that they have ever been connected with
Madagascar, and this view is strongly supported by the character of their indigenous fauna. Of this, however, we have not a very complete or accurate knowledge, for though both islands have long been occupied by Europeans, the study of their natural products was for a long time greatly neglected, and owing to the rapid spread of sugar cultivation, the virgin forests, and with them no doubt many native animals, have been almost wholly destroyed. There is, however, no good evidence of there ever having been any indigenous mammals or amphibia, though both are now found and are often recorded among the native animals.[[161]]
The smaller and more remote island, Rodriguez, is also volcanic; but it has, besides a good deal of coralline rock, an indication of partial submergence helping to account for the poverty of its fauna and flora. It stands on a 100-fathom bank of considerable extent, but beyond this the
sea rapidly deepens to more than 2,000 fathoms, so that it is truly oceanic like its larger sister isles.
Birds.—The living birds of these islands are few in number and consist mainly of peculiar species of Mascarene types, together with two peculiar genera—Oxynotus belonging to the Campephagidæ or caterpillar-catchers, a family abundant in the old-world tropics; and a dove, Trocazza, forming a peculiar sub-genus. The origin of these birds offers no difficulty, looking at the position of the islands and of the surrounding shoals and islets.