At
First I Thought That These Insects Had Been Blown From The
Shore; But Upon Reflecting That Out Of The
Eight species four
were aquatic, and two others partly so in their habits, it
appeared to me most probable that
They were floated into the
sea by a small stream which drains a lake near Cape Corrientes.
On any supposition it is an interesting circumstance
to find live insects swimming in the open ocean seventeen
miles from the nearest point of land. There are several
accounts of insects having been blown off the Patagonian
shore. Captain Cook observed it, as did more lately Captain
King of the Adventure. The cause probably is due to the
want of shelter, both of trees and hills, so that an insect on
the wing with an off-shore breeze, would be very apt to
be blown out to sea. The most remarkable instance I have
known of an insect being caught far from the land, was that
of a large grasshopper (Acrydium), which flew on board,
when the Beagle was to windward of the Cape de Verd
Islands, and when the nearest point of land, not directly
opposed to the trade-wind, was Cape Blanco on the coast of
Africa, 370 miles distant. [6]
On several occasions, when the Beagle has been within
the mouth of the Plata, the rigging has been coated with
the web of the Gossamer Spider. One day (November 1st,
1832) I paid particular attention to this subject. The weather
had been fine and clear, and in the morning the air was full
of patches of the flocculent web, as on an autumnal day in
England.
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