A New Voyage Round the World, in the years 1823, 24, 25, and 26 Volume Ii Part 11

During a calm, by which we were detained two days on the Portuguese coast, _Janthina fragilis_ and _exigua_, _Rhizophysa filiformis_, and another species, were brought up. Many specimens of the _Janthina exigua_ were found, the bladder-like ma.s.s of which was stretched out to a great length, and bent into the form of a hook at the end. On the outer side was observed a fleshy streak, bordered by a close row of small paunches: these paunches, which were externally open, contained a great quant.i.ty of brown atoms, apparently sp.a.w.n, and evidently in motion. With respect to the _Rhizophysae_, it has been discovered that they are of the same genus as the _Physsophora_, the hard part being torn away in the act of catching them; upon this occasion also, several of these separated parts, still in motion, and bearing some resemblance to salpas, were brought up, and accurately examined.

Off the Cape de Verd Islands, in addition to the _Exocoetus volitans_, which abounds there, various specimens of the much larger _Exocoetus exsiliens_ of Cuvier alighted on board our vessel. The latter species is distinguished by the long black fins of the belly, and by its remarkably large eyes, differing greatly from the species described by Gmelin under the same denomination.

The calms near the Equator afford an abundant harvest to the zoologist, the tranquil water presenting an immense variety of marine animals to his view, and allowing him to take them with little trouble in a net.

The open woollen stuff used for flags offers the most convenient material for making these nets, as it allows the water to run through very quickly, and does not stick together. A short, wide bag should be made of this stuff, which may be stretched upon the hoop of a cask, and the whole fastened to a long, light pole. From the height on which we stand above the water, it is impossible to perceive the smaller animals; the best way therefore to catch these is, to hold the net half in the water, as if to skim off the bubbles of foam from the surface; then, after a few minutes, if the net is drawn out, and the interior rinsed in a gla.s.s of fresh sea-water, one may frequently have the pleasure of seeing little animals of strange forms swimming in the gla.s.s. In the course of ten days, I obtained, in this way, thirty-one different species of animals, among which was a small _Diodon_, eight small crustacea of forms almost wholly unknown; a sea-bug (_Halobates micans_); three species of Pteropodes, closely allied to the _Cliodora_; a small and remarkable Hyaloea; two new _Janthinae_; _Firola hyalina_, _Pyrosoma atlantic.u.m_, _Salpa coerulescens_, and another unknown; _Porpita glandifera_, and a new species of globular form; a _Velella_; two new species of Acalephes, of the same family as the _Diphyes_; and further _Pelagia panopyra_, and two other very small species. When the sea was a little agitated on the Brazilian coast, we frequently saw the large sea-bladder floating on the surface; here we also caught with our net a new species of small _Hyaloea_, and of the fin-footed _Steira_, which approaches the nearest to the _Limacina_.

Brazil has lately been visited by eminent naturalists, who have spent years in the country, and have travelled through it in every direction; we are therefore bound to suppress the few detached observations we were able to make during the short s.p.a.ce of four weeks.

Captain Von Kotzebue having frequently sent his people to fish in the Bay of Boto Fogo, we enriched our collection by thirty-two kinds of fish, the greater part of which were very similar to those already described as tenants of the Atlantic, but still differing from them in some respects.

How abundant the insects of Brazil are is generally known, particularly in the warm and moist lands along the coast, in the vicinity of Rio Janeiro. Few of them crawl on the ground; the greater part of them live on the leaves and fruits, or under the bark of trees, in flowers, and in the spongy excrescences of the trees. Among the coleoptera, the _Stachylinus_ is a rarity: the white-winged _Cicindela nivea_ of Kirby is to be found in great abundance on the sand of the beach, which is of the same colour as itself; the _Cic. nodicornis_ and _angusticollis Dej._ on the other hand, frequent the paths in the forests. _Cosnania_, which supplies the place of our _Elaphrus_, is found among the gra.s.s by the side of brooks. The little animals of the _Plochionus_ and _Coptodera_ species climb, by means of their indented claws, along the moss on the trunks of the trees: their numbers, in these extensive forests, must be immense. Of the _Cantharis_, the number is small; the strongest of which is the _Cantharis flavipes_ F. the descriptions of which vary, so that it may still be doubted whether we have a correct account of it. To show the proportion of the numerous subdivisions which we observed in the different genera, it will be sufficient to give the numbers of those which we were able to collect during the short period of our stay:--these were, _Elater_, 37; _Lampyris_, 17; _Ateuchus_, 14 (including the _Deltachilum_ and _Eurysternus_); _Pa.s.salus_, 13; _Anoplognathidae_, 14; _Helops_, (including _Stenochia_ and _Statira_) 17; _Curculionidae_, 108; _Cerambycidae_, 101; _Ca.s.sida_, 24; _Haltica_, 26; _Doryphora_, 12; _Colaspis_, 15; and _Erotylus_, 12. The _Phanaeus_, according to MacLeay, distinguished by the total absence of claws from the feet, is peculiar to the warmer parts of America: _Onthophagus_ is not met with along the sh.o.r.e, but is found in the interior. Such large _Copris_ as are seen in the old world, (_Isidis_, _Hamadrias_, _Bucephalus_,) have not been discovered here: their place is supplied by the large _Phanaei_, _Faunus_, _bellicosus_, _lancifer_, &c. A golden-green _Copris_ is a great rarity. _Onitis_ seems to be quite wanting in America: all the specimens, in this part of the world, that have been placed in that cla.s.s, belong partly to the _Phanaeus_, and partly to the _Eurysternus_ Dalm. a remarkable species of the genus Ateuchus.

The _Ateuchi_ are not less numerous in South America than in Africa; and here is found what may be looked upon as the intermediate link between _Copris_ and _Onitis_. No part of the world is so rich in _Rutelides_ as trophical America; and according to the narrow limits within which Mac Leay confines this family, it would seem to be exclusively restricted to this continent. The greater part have not the head divided from the head-s.h.i.+eld by a line, and the breast is lengthened in front into a spine: this extensive division is peculiar to America. In the second division, the head-s.h.i.+eld of which is bounded by a strongly marked line, those which are provided with a breast-bone are American. South America possesses also the intermediate genus between the _Rutelides_ and _Scarabaei_, in the genus _Cyclocephala_, _Anoplognathidae_ were hitherto known to us from New Holland, Asia, South Africa, and South America, and are characterised by the drooping form of the upper-lip, falling lowest in the middle, and by the inequality of their claws; the under-lip, at the same time, has either a projection in the centre, or consists of two parts lapping over one another. In the same way that the _Anoplognathidae_ of New Holland have the appearance of _Rutelides_ proper, are the South American _Anoplognathidae_ distinguished by their resemblance to _Melolonthidae_: those of Brazil have no breast-bone, and at least one claw to each foot is cloven, which distinguishes them from those of Asia. _Chelonarium_ and _Atractocerus_ fly about in the evening, and are attracted by a light. The Brazilian jumping beetles differ, almost all of them, in their form, from those of Europe. Among the _Heteromerides_, in the neighbourhood of Rio Janeiro, owing to the dampness of the soil, no unwinged beetle is to be met with; a few varieties of the species _Scotinus_ have been found upon the Organ mountains only.

Owing to the excessive roughness of the weather, our pa.s.sage from Rio Janeiro to the Bay of Conception afforded us but few opportunities to add to our collections. A snipe blown out to sea from the Rio de la Plata, a specimen of _Diomedea Albatros_ at Terra del Fuego, a large _Salpa_, and a _Lepas_, were all we were able to obtain. The Bay of Conception presents a rich field to the ornithologist. A kind of parrot, with a long tail, and naked round the eyes, flies about in swarms; and a smaller kind from the interior, is to be found tame in the houses; our guns frequently brought down two small kinds of doves. Of _Ambulatores_ we met some, of the genera _Ca.s.sicus_, _Motacilla_, _Muscicapa_, _Pyrgita_, _Saxicola_, _Cotile_; of birds of prey, _Percnopterus Jota Mol._, and two buzzards; of _Grallatores_, two kinds of _Haematopus_, both with white legs, the one with a black body, as _H. niger_ is described by Quoy and Gaimard, the other more similar to the European; a _Vanellus_ with spurs to the wings, _Numenius_, _Scolopax_, _Phalaropus_, _Ardea Nycticorax_; and lastly a small bird with remarkably short legs, digitated, and with a short thick bill, frequenting the sea-sh.o.r.e, and feeding on seeds of _Rumex_ and _Polygonum_, and const.i.tuting a new species, which may be called _Thinocorus_. Of aquatic birds, there were two kinds of _Sterna_ and _Larus_; many thousands of _Rynchops nigra_, which were so numerous as to appear like clouds when they rose into the air; a _Procellaria_ of the variety _Nectris_; two kinds of _Podiceps_, and an _Aptenodytes_ of the variety _Spheniscus_. The upper part of the latter was of a lead colour, and the lower part white, with a line of dullish grey running from the bill to the belly, and forming a boundary between the two colours; the bill and legs quite black. The animal was alive when brought to us. When resting, it lay upon its belly and stretched out its head. In the water it appeared unable to maintain itself afloat except by incessant paddling, the whole of the body being meanwhile under water.

Of amphibia, only five kinds can be distinctly named; a brown _Coluber_, two small lizards of the family of _Scincoidea_, a small _Rana_, with a spot like an eye on the belly, and a small _Bufo_. Of fishes, the most remarkable was a _Torpedo_, with the back of a reddish brown, and smooth; and a _Callorhynchus antarcticus_: the latter may very well remain in the cla.s.s of _Chimaera_. Of crustaceae, we collected three _Canceres_, a _Portunus_, a _Porcellana_, a _Sphaeroma_, and a _Ligia_.

The dry land along the coast is extremely poor in insects. The number of beetles collected in 1816, together with those taken on the present occasion, amounted only to sixty seven, but they are altogether peculiar to the country. The most remarkable are a _Carabus_ of the beautiful colours of the _hispa.n.u.s_, but with narrow striped cases to the wings, and a large _Prionus_: the joints of the feet, in this latter, are short and cylindrical, const.i.tuting a distinction from the whole family of the _Cerambycinae_; in every other respect it is unquestionably a _Prionus_, and may be called _Pr. Mercurius_, on account of two wing-shaped appendages, attached to the neck-corselet. Sixteen Carabicides were found belonging to the _Calosoma_, _Paecilus_, _Harpalus_, _Trechus_, _Dromius_, and _Peryphus_. We were surprised at finding so few dung-beetles. We met with only two large ones, namely, the _Megathopa villosa_ of _Esch_. Entomography, forming a species of the _Ateuchus_, and a _Copris torulosa_, described in the same work; this, however, is owing to the very little moisture in the atmosphere, which dries the dung almost immediately. It is curious, that all the seventeen kinds of _Copris_ of South America known to us, have but seven stripes upon each wing-case; whereas those of the Old World have eight: the larger kinds, _Hamadrias_, _Bucephalus_, and _Isidis_,[4] alone agree with the South American in the number of stripes. Of the Americans, the _C. Hesperus Oliv._ is the only one with a border to the seventh stripe, and the _C.

Actaeon Klug_ of Mexico is the only one that has eight stripes.

Various kinds of beetles in Chili seek a shelter from the rays of the sun in the dry cow-dung: almost all the Heteromerides with wings grown together, the greater part of the beetles armed with trunks, and several Carabides, were found there. The ten kinds of Heteromerides, with distorted wings, found here, belong to five new cla.s.ses: the other Heteromerides consist of a _Helops_ and a black _Lytta_ with red thighs.

Of beetles furnished with a proboscis, we met with four kinds of _Listroderes_, two remarkable _Cryptorhynchi_, and a few others of the shape of a _Rhigus_. Lastly are to be noticed, a _Luca.n.u.s_ of the form of the _femoratus_, a large _Stenopterus_, and a large black _Psoa_. We found very few other species of insects, but several kinds of _Pompilus_, one two inches long, and a curious _Castnia_, were the most remarkable.

Of marine animals there remain to be noticed--a small _Octopus_, a _Loligo_, two _Chiton_, _Patella_, _Crepidula_, _Pilcopsis_, _Fissurella_, _Calyptraea_; of _Concholepas_, only empty sh.e.l.ls; a large _Mytilus_, a small _Modiola_, _Turritella_, _Turbo_, _Bala.n.u.s_; and a Holothuria of the variety _Psolus_.

In the vast sea between the coast of Chili and the Low Islands or the dangerous Archipelago, very few animals appear to live near the surface, at least we saw none; a quant.i.ty of flying-fish were seen, resembling the _Exocoetus volitans_, but having the rays of the breast-fins parted towards the end. During the short s.p.a.ce of ten days that we stayed at O Tahaiti, the inhabitants, who for a trifling remuneration brought us all sorts of marine animals, enabled us to make acquaintance with all the natural productions of this much praised country. Birds are scarce in the lowlands along the coast. The little blue _Psittacus Taitia.n.u.s_ frequents the top of the cocoa-palm; the _Ardea sacra_ walks along the coral reefs; but it is seldom that a tropical bird is seen on the wing. A _Gecko_ of the species _Hemidactylus_ lives about old houses; a small lizard of the family of _Scincoidea_, with a copper-coloured body and a blue tail, and a striped _Ablepharus_, are met with frequently among the rocks. Of fishes, the variety is great, many of them of splendid colours, particularly the small ones, which feed upon the coral, and seek shelter among its branches. The same place of refuge is chosen by numbers of variegated crabs, more particularly the _Grapsus_, _Portunus_, and _Galathea_. Three kinds of _Canceres_ already known were brought us, the _maculatus_, _corallinus_, and _floridus_; the two former move but little, and their sh.e.l.ls are as hard as stones. A small _Gelasimus_ burrows under the ground, and makes himself a subterranean pa.s.sage from the water to the dry land. The female has very small claws, but the male has always one very large pink claw, which is sometimes the right and sometimes the left.

A large brownish _Gecarcinus_ lives entirely on the land, in holes of his own making; his gills accordingly are not open combs, but consist of rows of bags closely pressed together, and somewhat resembling bladders.

_Hippa adactyla_ F. is very frequent here, and keeps itself concealed under the sands on the sea-sh.o.r.e. It was from these that Fabricius, who has given a wrong description of their legs, formed his species _Hippa_; Latreille mentions them by the name of _Remipes testudinarius_. Six kinds of _Pagurus_. Of Crustacea already described, _Palaemon longima.n.u.s_, _Alphaeus marmoratus_, and _Squilla chiragra_; the legs of the last are red, and formed like a club; it uses them as weapons of offence or defence, and inflicts wounds in striking them out by a mechanism peculiar to itself. The number of insects collected on the low land was very small; among them the _Staphylinus erytrocephalus_, also a native of New Holland; an _Aphodius_, scarcely to be distinguished from the _limbatus Wiedem._ of the Cape of Good Hope; an _Elater_ of the species _Monocrepis_; of _Oedemera_, three varieties of the species _Dytilus_, to which belong the _Dryops livida_ and _lineata_ F.; two small varieties of _Apate_; _Anthribus_, _Cossonnus_, _Lamia_, _Sphinx pungens_, and a large _Phasma_.

No place could be more convenient for the observation of the Mollusca and Radiata than Cape Venus. At a few hundred paces from the sh.o.r.e is a coral reef, which at low water is completely dry. In the shoal water, between the reef and the sh.o.r.e, is found the greatest variety of the more brittle kinds of coral, and among their sometimes thick bushes, mollusca and echinodermes lie concealed. The rapid movements of a small _Strombus_, which, when taken, beat about it with its sh.e.l.l, formed like a thin plate of horn, and armed with sharp teeth, were very curious. On breaking the stone which is formed by fragments of coral, a _Sternaspis_ was found burrowing in the interior. Seven cla.s.ses of Holothuria were examined; three belonged to the species of _Holothuria_, called by Lamarck _Fistularia_, but which name had already been given by Linnaeus to the tobacco-pipe fish; the fourth was a species newly discovered, and to which we appropriated the name of _Odontopyga_, because the fundament is armed with five calcareous teeth; the belly is furnished with small tubes, and the back covered with b.u.mps. Two more belong to the species _Thyone_; and the seventh kind of Holothuria ought, properly speaking, to form a cla.s.s apart, not having tubular feet, but adhering, by means of their sharp skin, to extraneous objects, on which account they might be called _Sinapta_; their feelers are fringed and they live concealed among stones. We found five small kinds of sea-leeches; and among three kinds of star-fish, the _Asterias Echinites_, the large radii of which easily inflict a severe wound; another had the form of the _Asterias Luna_, was eight inches in diameter, without radii, and had more the appearance of a round loaf of bread somewhat flattened. Of corals, the variety was very great, as may be judged from the circ.u.mstance of our having collected twenty-four kinds within so short a s.p.a.ce of time.

_Fungia_ is quite at home here; for, independently of _F.

agariciformis_, _scutaria_, and _limacina_, a long kind was also found, having, like the two former, only one central cavity; they are found in shallow water among other corals. Of tabular corals already known, there remain to be mentioned, _Pavonia boletiformis_, _Madrepora prolifera abrotanoides_, _corymbosa_, _plantaginea_, and _pocillifera_.

The inhabitants of the Navigator Isles brought us the little _Psittacus australis_, _Columba australis_, and another very prettily marked dove, having green plumage, ornamented with a dark violet line across the breast, and the feet and head of a reddish purple. It climbed about the sides and roof of its cage, did not leave its perch when it wanted to drink, but stooped down so low as merely to hang by its legs; it would not eat seed, but lived princ.i.p.ally on fruit, particularly bananas, all which closely agreed with the habits of parrots.

During our pa.s.sage to the equator, _Sterna solida_ and _Dysporus Sula_ alighted frequently on our vessel, and allowed themselves to be taken.

The latter, when old, has a blue beak and red feet; when young, a red bill and flesh-coloured legs. The exterior nostrils are entirely wanting; but in every part are air-cells between the skin and the muscles.

Besides these animals, six varieties of _Pteropodes_ were caught; also a _Glaucus_, differing from that of the Atlantic _Janthina penicephala Per._, a _Planaria_, _Salpa vivipara Per._, a _Pyrosoma_, resembling that of the Atlantic, and a _Lepas_, attached to the sh.e.l.l of the _Janthina_. Our collection of Acalephi was extremely rich; of fourteen kinds taken, only one, _Physalia Lamartinieri_, was known to us.

Our eight days' stay at the coral island Otdia, afforded us an opportunity to observe or collect about one hundred different kinds of marine animals. It has already been mentioned elsewhere, that the only kind of mammalia found upon this island is a middling-sized cat, which feeds on the fruit of the panda.n.u.s tree, and makes its nest in the dead branches, which it easily hollows out. Several lizards have also been found in these islands, such as the striped _Ablepharus_ of O Tahaiti, and a small _Gecko_; a large coal-black lizard was several times seen, but always escaped among the dry panda.n.u.s leaves. The fishes are remarkable for the singularity of their form, and the beauty of their colours; those brought to us by the inhabitants belonged to the _Holocentrus_, _Scarus_, _Mullus_, _Chaetodon_, _Heniochus_, _Amphacanthus_, _Theutis_, and _Fistularia_.

Of Crustacea we saw twenty different kinds; among them a _Gonoplax_ of the middling size, and as white as the coral-sand, among which it lives, on the sh.o.r.e. The _Hippopus_ found here differs from the _maculatus_ already known by the much greater elevation of its sh.e.l.l. The large _Tridachna_ is the _Tr. squamosa Lam._ It is very unusual to meet with an animal belonging to the family of Lepades in tubular holes made in the coral rocks, as is the case with the _Lithonaetta N._ Among the twenty kinds of tabular coral here observed, there was not one of those collected at O Tahaiti; there were three new _Distichoporae_, _Seriatipora_, six kinds of _Madrepora_, two _Porites_, four _Astrea_, _Pocillopora caerulea_, and another kind, forming broad, yellow, leafy ma.s.ses, the slime of which stings like a nettle; _Cariophyllaea glabrescens Cham._, and _Tubipora_, with red animalculae.

A calm of several days, between eighteen and twenty degrees of north lat.i.tude, during our pa.s.sage to Kamtschatka, afforded opportunities for the observation of several remarkable animals. A small animal of Lamarck's family of Heteropodes, with two rows of separate fins, received the name _Tomopteris_. Secondly, a _Salpa_, of the cla.s.s which lives apart and has fine long fibres projecting from the hinder part of the body. Thirdly, a small animal, nearly allied to the _Diphyes_, the soft part of the body, which contains the tube for receiving nourishment, having no air-bladder. Fourthly, a small _Beroe_, having the power of drawing in its fins. Fifthly, a very small _Porpita_. The sixth animal was a very remarkable crab, the triangular sh.e.l.l on the back, only two lines in length, provided with a spike from eight to ten lines long, (_Lonchophorus anceps_,) projecting both before and behind.

Professor Germar has given to a species of beetle the name _Lonchophorus_, but the same had already been described by Mac Leay, under the name of _Phanaeus_. Seventhly, an animal belonging to the cla.s.s _Arthrodiae_, (_Arthronema N._) the exterior consisting of stiff tubes, in the interior of which is afterwards found a skin, which eventually divides into separate parts. Eighthly, a _Clio_, about a line in length, with a projection from the globular part of the body. Ninthly, a second variety of _Appendicularia_, described by my friend and companion, on board the Rurik, A. von Chamisso, in the tenth volume of the _N. Acta Acad. Leop. Car._, which proved to be a species of Mollusca belonging to the Heteropodes of Lamarck. Tenthly, a _Pelagia_, scarcely, if at all, to be distinguished from the _Panopyra Per._ Lastly, a new kind of _Cestum_, _C. Najadis N._

In the thirty-fourth degree of lat.i.tude, renewed calms again enabled us to add to our collection, firstly, a new species of Physsophorides (_Agalma N._); secondly, a new _Diphyes_; thirdly, a new _Pelagia_, with a yellow skin on the belly, attached to which was a small Cirrhipede of the cla.s.s _Cineras_; fourthly, a Medusa, with broad belly-bags, and four strong fins; fifthly, a Medusa of the same species, with five and six fins; sixthly, a very small Entomostracea of a flat form, and distinguished by its blue glossy colour, similar to that of the _Hoplia farinosa_; seventhly, a _Loligo_, probably _cardioptera Per._, remarkable on account of the largeness of its eyes; eighthly, a second species of _Phyllirhoe_, placed by Lamarck among the Heteropodes, to which cla.s.s it does not, however, belong. The species found in the South Sea has no eyes, and plain feelers; on which account it was formerly considered by us as forming a distinct cla.s.s, and called _Eurydice_.

But, although the _Phyllirhoe_ is found to vary so remarkably in its formation, owing to the want of feet, still I consider it as nearly allied to the _Eolidia_. Ninthly, a new _Glaucus_, of a remarkably slim body, with short fins, and of a blackish-blue colour. Tenthly, a _Eucharis N._ In addition to these, no less than eight Crustacea were taken in the net. In the vicinity of Kamtschatka, the vessel sailed daily through red ma.s.ses floating on the surface; on drawing up some of the water, the pail was found full of red _Cala.n.u.s_, a line and a half long, with rough feelers of the same length as the body.

In Kamtschatka we found the Bay of Awatscha poor in Mollusca and radiated animals, owing probably to the inconsiderable ebb and flood.

The objects most frequently met with, were an ugly little _Turbo_, the empty sh.e.l.l of which was tenanted by a black _Pagurus_ and a _Bala.n.u.s_.

A large _Cyanea_ differs from the European _C. ciliata_, in the form of the stomach. Another Medusa, const.i.tuting a new kind of _Sthenonia N._, was observed; its digestive organs resemble those of the Aurelia; and about the edge, eight bunches of very long fibres project, provided, like those of the Physaliae, with two rows of suckers.

The environs of St. Peter and St. Paul, lying under fifty-three degrees of north lat.i.tude, possess an insect Fauna, such as is in Europe only found in sixty and seventy degrees of lat.i.tude; as for instance, in Lapland and Finland. A great number of species are exactly similar in both regions; others of the Kamtschatkan insects have been met with nowhere else, except in Siberia, and a small number is quite peculiar to the former country. All have not yet been subjected to a diligent examination, and only the following can be with certainty mentioned.

Firstly, in the North of Europe also, are found: _Pteroloma Forstroemii Gyllh._, _Nebria arctica Dej._ (_hyperborea Schoenh._), _Blethisa multipunctata_, _Pelophila borealis_, _Elaphrus lapponicus_ and _riparius_, _Notiophilus aquaticus_, _Loricera pilicornis_, _Poecilus lepidus_, _Dyticus circ.u.mcinctus_, _Staphylinus maxillosus_, _Buprestis appendiculata_, _Elater holosericeus_, _Ptilinus pectinicornis_, _Necrophorus mortuorum_; _Silpha thoracica_, _lapponica_, _opaca_, and _atrata_; _Strongylus colon_, _Byrrhus albo-punctatus_, _dorsalis_, _varius_ and _aeneus_; _Hydrophilus scarabaeoides_ and _melanocephalus_; _Cercyon aquatic.u.m_, _Hister carbonarius_, _Psammodius sabuleti_, _Trichus fasciatus_, _Oedemera virescens_, _Apoderus Coryli_, _Leptura trifasciata_, _atra_ and _sanguinosa_, _Lema brunnea_, _Ca.s.sida rubiginosa_, _Chrysomela staphylaea_, _lapponica_, _aenea_, _viminalis_, _armoracea_ and _vitellinae_; _Eumolpus obscurus_, _Cryptocephalus variegatus_, _Coccinella_ 7 _punctata_, 13 _punctata_, _mutabilis_, and 16 _guttata_. Secondly, such as have been hitherto found only in Siberia, though their number is but small: _Cantharis annulata Fisch._, _Dermestes domesticus Gebl._, _Aphodius ursinus N._, and _A. maurus Gebl._, and _Leptura sibirica_.

Among the beetles which have as yet been met with nowhere else, and are therefore considered peculiar to the country, may be named: a _Cicindela_, between _hybrida_ and _maritima_; a _Carabus_ of the form of the _cancellatus Illig._, with black feelers and legs; _C. Clerkii N._, and another, green, with gold border, of the form of the _catenulatus_, caught near the line of perpetual snow on the volcano Awatscha: _C. Hoffmanni N._, _Nebria nitidula_, which is the same as the _Carabus nitidulus Fabr._, as appears by that preserved in Banks's Museum, hitherto the only specimen in Europe; great numbers of these are found in the valleys: a second black sort was caught on the volcano.

Further, a small bright yellow _Pteroloma_, an _Elaphrus_, _Bembidia_ six kinds, _Agonum_ four kinds, an _Omaseus_, an _Amara_, _Elater scabricollis Esch. Entomogr._; an _Elater_, like _undulatus_ P., three kinds, which like _Bructeri_, live among stones; a wingless kind which is found buried in the sea-sand, and a perfectly black _Campylus_.

Besides these, a beetle forming a peculiar species between _Atopa_ and _Cyphon_; _Cantharis cembricola Esch._, and one resembling the _testacea_; a _Hylecoetus_, scarcely differing from _dermestoides_; _Catops_; a _Heterocerus_, broad and covered with whitish scales; an _Elophorus_; two _Phaleriae_ with a black ground; two kinds of _Stenotrachelis_, both larger than the European, which has. .h.i.therto borne the name of _Dryops aenea_; and in fact, the beetle in Banks's Museum, so called by Fabricius, is either the same, or a species very nearly resembling it, and it may therefore be conjectured that some mistake has accidentally occurred in the designation of its native country in that Museum. There still remain to be mentioned a Chrysomela, like the _pyritosa_, and a _Coccinella_ with five very large spots upon both wing-covers, found on the line of perpetual snow on the volcano. It is also probable that the valley of the Kamtschatka river, although lying farther north than the environs of the Awatscha, yet possesses a richer in sect Fauna, as the climate there is much milder, and adapted to agriculture.

From Kamtschatka our course lay mostly eastward. At first the sea was strongly luminous every night; but when in the midst of this immense ocean, it one night happened, that while the s.h.i.+p was as usual surrounded by brilliant waves, a dark precipice seemed to open before it. On reaching this part of the water, it appeared that all the luminous matters, such as Zoophytes and Mollusca with their sp.a.w.n, were entirely wanting, and from this point to the American coast the sea remained dark.

We remarked generally of this great ocean, that on the Asiatic coast, even at a considerable distance from land, (as much as thirty degrees west from j.a.pan,) the water is always muddy; it is made so, partly by the great numbers of small Crustacea, Zoophytes, and Mollusca, partly by the impurities of the whales and dolphins, which latter especially, as well as many other kinds of fish, are very numerous here from the abundance of food to be found. On the contrary, the sea in the neighbourhood of the north-west coast of America is clear and transparent, and nothing is found in it except here and there a single Medusa.

In the princ.i.p.al settlement of the Russian-American Trading Company on the island of Sitcha, in Norfolk Sound, we had better opportunities of becoming acquainted with natural productions than elsewhere, as, during our stay there, in the year 1825, from March to the middle of August, we had an almost uninterrupted continuation of fine weather: we were in this respect peculiarly favoured, as in most years this island does not enjoy above one fine day to fourteen cloudy or wet ones. We ourselves experienced this sort of weather in 1824, when we pa.s.sed the latter part of August and the beginning of September there.

Of the Fauna of this island, about two hundred and sixty species came under our notice: from its immediate vicinity to the continent, it is not wonderful that several large _mammalia_ are to be found. Among these is the _Ursus America.n.u.s_, of the black race; a fox; a stag, which perhaps does not differ from the _Cervus virginia.n.u.s_, and the common beaver, which feeds on the large leaves of a _Pothos_, said by the inhabitants to be injurious to man. Besides these are observed a small _Vespertilio_ with short ears, a _Mustela_, and a _Phoca_.

Of birds we remarked: the _Aquila leucocephala_, _Astur_, _Corvus Corone_ and _Stelleri_, and some varieties of the species _t.u.r.dus_, _Sylvia_, _Troglodytes_, _Parus_, _Alcedo_, _Picus_, _Ardea_, _Haematopus_, _Scolopax_, _Charadrius_, _Anas_, and _Colymbus_.

_Trochilus rufus_ is not only often found here, but also under sixty degrees of lat.i.tude. A small shoal of _Procellaria furcata_ was once driven into the Bay by stormy weather. Of Amphibia, only a small kind of toad is met with. There is no great variety in the kinds of fish, but the individuals are numerous, especially a well-flavoured sort of salmon, and herrings; a _Pleuronectes_ several feet long, and a reddish yellow _Perca_ two feet long and very thick, are extremely abundant.

The number of accurately examined _Annulides_ amounts to sixteen, among which are found some of very fine and unknown forms. Most of them belong to the well-known species _Cirrhatulus_, _Arenicola_, _Aceronereis_, _Nereis_, _Aphrodita_, _Serpula_, _Amphitrite_. A _Nereis_ was found swimming on the surface of the water in the middle of the bay, which measured two feet in length, and one inch in thickness; the appendages at its sides resemble round leaves. An _Aphrodita_ several inches long, and very narrow, was not rare. An animal resembling the Amphitrite kind is found enveloped in a transparent ma.s.s like jelly.

Of Mollusca we observed, a _Limacina_; two _Eolidiae_, some of which have very beautiful colours; a _Laniogerus_; a _Polycera_; four kinds of _Doris_; a _Scyllaea_; an animal which deserves the name of _Planaria_, it was three inches long, two broad, and only half a line thick; on the upper surface, half an inch from the edge, are two projecting eyes; and in the same part, on the surface beneath, the mouth may be perceived; in the middle of this under surface is another aperture, from which the animal, when in a tranquil state, frequently strecthes out four small folds of skin; this creature, like the _Planariae_, crawls very nimbly.

Besides these, a small _Onichidium_, and a new kind of sh.e.l.led snail.

In the mossy woods live a large, yellowish, black-spotted _Limax_, and two Helices of middling size. In the bay itself are found a few of the gilled snails with spiral sh.e.l.ls; and a considerable number on the outward coast, which is washed by the ocean. Here are several species of the genera _Murex_, _Fusus_, _Buccinum_, _Mitra_, _Trochus_, and _Turbo_. Further, there are found here a large _Fissurella_, and six species of a genus which, from its simple, unwound sh.e.l.l, would be immediately taken for a _Patella_; the creature, however, closely resembles the _Fissurella_, with the difference that only one gill is visible in the fissure over the neck. It is remarkable, that on the whole north-west coast of America down to California, no _Patella_, only animals of the genus _Acmaea_, were to be met with. Of the _Chiton_ genus, six species were observed; in one, the side skin covers the edges of the sh.e.l.l so far as to leave only a narrow strip of it visible down the back; in others, the sh.e.l.l is entirely concealed under the external skin. It is worthy of remark, that these latter, as well as one similarly formed, found in California, attain the considerable length of eight inches. A third kind, to be reckoned among this subdivision, Pallas obtained from the Kurile Islands, and has described it as _Chiton amiculatus_.

Among the Acephala are to be named a large _Cardium_, also found on the Californian coast; _Modiolus_, two species; _Mytilus_; _Mya_, two species; and _Teredo palmulatus_: the latter, which is brought here by the s.h.i.+ps, is very mischievous in the harbour, and attains to the length of two feet. In this species are comprehended three _Ascidiae_, of different forms; one _Anomia_, one _Terebratula_ attached to a _Fusus_, two _Lepas_, and a _Bala.n.u.s_. Six _Holothuria_, belonging to three different species, were observed: a large _Thala.s.sema_ gave us a long-wished for opportunity of observing, that this species belongs to the Holothuria, and not to the Annulides. Eight species of star-fish are found here, partly on the rocks, and partly at the bottom of the sea: among them, four are furnished with five _radii_, and the rest with six, ten, eleven, and eighteen: the latter sort, which is the largest, lives at the bottom of the sea, and the number of its _radii_ varies from eighteen to twenty-one. Only one _Ophiura_ was seen. Several kinds of very large _Actinia_ inhabit the rocks: all that we examined belonged to the species which is externally provided with rows of teats. A _Velella_ also was caught in the open bay: this is the first which has been observed in so high a lat.i.tude.

Of _Zoophytes_, some presented themselves of the genera _Antipathes_, _Millepora_; _Cellaria_, _Fl.u.s.tra_ two species, _Melobesia_, _Retepora_, _Acamarchis_, _Lafoea_, _Aglaophenia_, _Dynamena_ fives species, _Clytia_ four species, and _Folliculina_, two species. The _Antipathes_ consists of a simple stem resembling wood, which grows to the length of ten feet: it grows at a great depth in the open bay, and is often accidentally drawn up in fis.h.i.+ng.

Although of all insects of this island the beetle is the most numerous, yet during the whole spring and summer, in almost daily excursions, with constant fine weather, only one hundred and six kinds were found.

On the whole, it may be observed, that none among them belong to any of the species which have been hitherto considered as peculiar to America; yet there are some of them which form entirely distinct cla.s.ses, and must therefore be natives of the north-west coast of America. The result of close examination was, that none of those found here are to be met with either in the north of Asia or in Europe, and only seven species are to be found even in Unalashka.

The Fauna is adapted to the climate and the soil; _Nebria_, _Patrobus_ and other Carabides, find a cool abode among the stones on the banks of the ice-cold brooks which fall from the snowy summits of the mountains; in the fir-woods, live several kinds of _Xylophagi_ and some _Cerambycides_; the old mossy trunks of fallen trees afford hiding-places for several kinds of Carabides, as two _Cychrus_, _Leistus_, _Platysma_; and for _Nitidula_, _Scaphidium_, _Agyrtes_, and _Boros_. On the skirts of the woods, shrubs and tall plants nourish some insects belonging to various families; as two _Homalisus_, _Omalium_, and _Anthophagus_, _Anaspis_, _Cantharis_, and _Silis_; besides _Elater_ of eight kinds, and a ninth living under stones.

The small standing waters, formed by single cavities, are proportionably rich in water-beetles, among which is found a _Dyticus_ of the form of the _sulcatus_, seven _Colymbetes_, _Hydroporus_ two species, and a _Gyrinus_. The Carabides are: _Cychrus angusticollis_ and _marginatus_, _Nebria metallica_ and three new species, _Leistus_, _Poecilus_ two, _Patrobus_, _Omaseus adstrictus_, _Platysma_ two, _Loricera_ plainly distinguished from the _pilicornis_, _Amara_, _Trechus_ three, _Bembidium_ two, and _Leja_ three species. Thirteen species of _Brachelytra_ have been found; of carrion-beetles, a _Necrophorus_, a _Silpha_, quite of the figure of the _subterranea_, and a _Catops_. Of Pentamerides are still to be mentioned the _Scydmaenus_, _Cryptophagus_, _Byrrhus_, _Cercyon_, _Psammodius_, and _Aphodius_. The number of Heteromerides amounts only to four; namely, one _Boros_ of the arched form of the _elongatus_, a small _Phaleria_, a pale yellow _Anaspis_, and a small black, flat beetle with overgrown wing-cases of a new form, which must be reckoned among the family of the Blapides. Of beetles with probosces only six were found, of Xylophagi seven, of the species _Hylurgus_ two, _Bostrichus_ three, one _Rhyzophagus_, and a larger quite red _Cucujus_. The three stag-beetles were a _Sphondylis_, a _Lamia_ with excrescences upon the sharply pointed cases of its wings, and a beetle of the flat form of a _Callidium_. Of the large cla.s.s of Chrysomelides, only five varieties were to be met with; namely, two sorts of _Donacia_, a beetle of the form of a _Lema_, and two varieties, of the form of Eumolpes. Lastly, three Trimerides were discovered, namely, two _Latridii_ and a _Pselaphus_.

Our stay in the Bay of St. Francisco, in California, during the months of October and November, was unfavourable to the observations of a naturalist. A perfect drought prevails during those months; vegetation appears completely dead; and all birds of pa.s.sage abandon the country.

The landscape along the coast is alternately formed of naked hills, of a rocky or clayey soil, and low sandy levels, covered with stunted bushes.

Further inland, the soil is more fertile, but still deficient in wood.

The background every where presents lofty mountains; we visited only those to the north, at the foot of which the Russian settlement Ross is situated. Here a fine forest of lofty pines, mingled with oak and horse chesnut-trees, charms the eye. Of the mammalia of this. .h.i.therto unexplored country, only a few can be cited. The light grey American bear, with a small head, abounds in unfrequented districts, but brown bears are also occasionally killed. We nearly ascertained the existence of two sorts of polecats, and succeeded in getting a skin of one; its fur is brown below, and black above: from the forehead a white stripe runs to the middle of the back, and then divides into two, which extend to the extremity of the tail. The feet of the animal show that it treads upon its entire sole, and lives in holes like a badger. The second sort is said to have three white stripes: our sailors caught one, but it got away again. The mole here is larger than in Europe; the upper part of the body is of a greyish brown, the lower part an ash grey; the legs are covered with a white fur, and the taper tail is one-fifth of the length of the body. A shrew-mouse also was caught. Two or three kinds of large cats are said to have been seen; a _mustela_, something of the nature of the _Lutreola_, was shot near the Rio Sacramento. The sea-otter still abounds here, but its hair is brownish, and not black. The _Cervus Wapiti_ is found in great numbers in hilly districts; and there are deer in all unfrequented places. The back and sides of the latter are of a reddish brown in summer, in winter of a blackish brown; the belly, breast, and inside of the legs are white; the mouth, forehead, and the exterior of the ears are black. The antlers (of the male) divide into a fork, with round smooth branches. The animal grows to the height of two feet and a half. Near the Rio Sacramento, and in the vicinity of the Russian settlement, we saw herds of animals of the shape of goats, with long hair hanging from their legs, and short straight horns; we were unfortunately unable to obtain a specimen; we saw the animal only through a telescope, and judged it to be the _Capra Columbiana_, or _Rupicapra Americana Blainville_, so often spoken of. Lastly, we have to mention a small kind of hare, not so large as a rabbit, found in great abundance among the bushes, and a dormouse seen in the southern plains.