Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.2): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

250 ^OXES SIM SON. It has been said, that there are two varieties of this ' wolf- fox,' as it has been called,* one being rather the smaller, and of a redder brown ; but the fact is, that no other difference exists between the two apparent varieties, and as the darker coloured larger animal is found on the East Falkland, while the other is confined to the western island, the darker colour and rather thicker furry coat may be attributed to the influence of a some- what colder climate. The fox of West Falkland approaches nearer the large fox of Patagonia, both in colour and size, than its companion of East Falkland does; but allowing that there is one shade of difference between the foxes of East and West Falkland, there are but two, or at most three shades between the animal of West Falkland and the large fox of Port Famine. In Strong's voyage (1690), Simson describes these foxes as being twice as large as an Englisli fox, but he does not say upon which island.-f- • " Le loup-renard, ainsi nomine parce qu'il se creuse un terrier, et que sa queue est plus longue et plus fournie de poil que celle du loup, habite dans les dunes sur le bord de la mer. II suit le gibier et se fait des routes avec intelligence, toujours par le plus court cliemin d'une bale a I'autre ; a notre premiere descente a terre, nous ne doutames point que ce ne fussent des sentiers d'habitans. II y a apparence que cet animal je(ine une partie de I'annee, tant il est maigre et rare. II est de lataille d'un chien ordinaire dont il a aussi I'aboiement, mais foible. Comment a-t-il ete transporte sur les ties?" — Voyage de Bougainville, seconde edition, tome i. p. 113. t "They saw foxes on this land, which, Simson says, ' were twice as big; as those in England. Having brought greyhounds with us, we caught a young fox alive, which we kept on board some months, but on the first firing our great guns in the South Sea, he was frighted overboard, as were also some St. Jago monkies. As to the antiquity of these foxes, as they cannot fly, and it is not likely they should swim so far as from America, nor again is it probable that any would be at the pains of bringing a breed of foxes so far as Hawkins' Island is from any other land, it will follow that there have either been two distinct creations, or that America and this land have been formerly the same continent.' There are means more within the common course of nature than those which occurred to Simson, by which foxes may have become inhabitants of this land. Islands of ice are met at sea in much lower southern lati- tudes,