Waterhouse; one is of a black colour, with fine glossy fur, and
lives on the grassy summit, the other is brown-coloured and less
glossy, with longer hairs, and lives near the settlement on the
coast. Both these varieties are one-third smaller than the common
black rat (M. rattus); and they differ from it both in the colour
and character of their fur, but in no other essential respect. I
can hardly doubt that these rats (like the common mouse, which has
also run wild) have been imported, and, as at the Galapagos, have
varied from the effect of the new conditions to which they have
been exposed: hence the variety on the summit of the island differs
from that on the coast. Of native birds there are none; but the
guinea-fowl, imported from the Cape de Verd Islands, is abundant,
and the common fowl has likewise run wild. Some cats which were
originally turned out to destroy the rats and mice, have increased,
so as to become a great plague. The island is entirely without
trees, in which, and in every other respect, it is very far
inferior to St. Helena.
One of my excursions took me towards the south-west extremity of
the island. The day was clear and hot, and I saw the island, not
smiling with beauty, but staring with naked hideousness.
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