Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/79

73 JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO N. W. AMERICA. 73 capacious & quite membranous. These creatures live en- tirely on fruit & leaves & burrow very far into the ground. They are exceedingly abundant & easily killed. They are harmless & timid creatures & always run from their assail- ant except when wounded, when in that predicament they sometimes turn on their pursuer. We found them to be excellent eating, & much superior to the green turtle. An aquatic species of smaller size and less frequent occurrence was also procured & I succeeded in preserving an example of it. The shore abounded in a large species of Lacerta. It is probably one of the largest species of the genus. Snakes are said to be frequent on these islands, & to be of large size. During the three days we were on the island not a single serpent was seen by any individual of our party. The sea in the vicinity of these islands abounded in fish of different kinds, the most abundant was a species of Gadus. It was our practice when returning to the ship to spend half an hour in fishing & in that time we procured more than we would consume in two days. Shells & molluscous animals were by no means abundant. The articulate were more abundant. The shore abounded in an endless variety of crabs many of them of considerable size and remarkable beauty. The woods contained plenty of fine insects, & the most beautifull one was a species Gryllus with fine purple elytra. Radiata were very limited in number & of very little interest. No species of Asterias or Echinus was seen, & only individuals belonging to the Echinodermata one a species of Holothuria. To one whose knowledge of rocks & of geological phe- nomena had been confined to the primitive & transition districts of Scotland, James Island presents a new series of geological phenomena of the utmost interest to those who cultivate that science. The appearance of the island varies in different places; in some parts the coast rises into perpendicular ragged