ter 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 classes: 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 _Lucanus_ 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 shells; a large
_Mytilus_, a small _Modiola_, _Turritella_, _Turbo_, _Balanus_; 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 quantity of flying-fish were seen, resembling
the _Exocoetus volitans_, but having the rays of the breast-fins
parted towards the end. During the short space 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
Taitianus_ 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 shells are as
hard as stone