A New Voyage Round the World, in the years 1823, 24, 25, and 26 Volume Ii Part 12

In consequence of the lateness of the season, most of the birds that breed here had already left the neighbourhood; we therefore saw only such birds as pa.s.s the winter here, and also a number of aquatic birds that were daily arriving from the north. Of the former we met with five kinds of _Icterus_; one quite black, except the shoulders, which were red; these were extremely numerous, and sleep, like the _Icterus phoenicius_, among rushes. The _Sturnus ludovicia.n.u.s_ and _Picus auratus_ of the United States, are also found in California; the _Percnopterus californicus_, _Corvus mexica.n.u.s_, and _Perdix californica_, are already known. A large grey crane, probably from the north, remained here: upon the whole, the number of birds observed, amounted to forty.

A few Amphibia were found concealed under stones; namely, a large _Tachydromus_, a _Tropydurus_, a _Crotalus_, a _Coluber_, and four _Salamandrides_: among the latter was one with the body covered with warts, and a narrow compressed tail, the glands of the ear wholly wanting; the others had long narrow bodies of about the thickness of a common earth-worm, with short legs, standing far apart, and toes scarcely perceptible to the naked eye.

Nearly two hundred kinds of beetles were collected: with the exception of the _Lampyris corrusca Fabr._, which, according to Banks, is found on the Columbia river, all are as yet undescribed. Upon the dry ground, under stones, many Heteromerides, with distorted wing-cases, were found, and among them six new species. A large _Cychrus_ was also found, and a species closely resembling the _Manticora_, together with many other Carabides, of which we collected, in all, fifty different species.

It was at the Sandwich Isles that the greatest number of fishes and Crustacea were collected: of the former the greatest variety, and the most remarkable, were kept in the fish preserves of the royal family. Of other cla.s.ses of animals, but few are to be met with. Among the dense woods that cover the backs of the mountains, there must be a number of land-birds, but we met only _Melithreptus vestiarius_, and two sorts of the _Dicaeum_; in the fields laid under water were the _Gallinula chloropus_ and a _Fulica_. Of corals there is but little variety; these islands being situated nearly in the highest lat.i.tude in which coral is ever found. In the vicinity of the harbour are two sorts of _Astraea_, two _Porites_, a _Pavonia_, and a _Hornera_. The number of insects is small, as is indeed the case with all land animals; it is therefore creditable to our industry, that we are able to muster twenty sorts of beetles. A small _Platynus_ is the only Carabide; in the water, two _Colymbetes_ and a _Hydrophilus_ were found. The only _Elater_ belongs to a species (_Agrypnus N._) in which we reckon various specimens found only in the Old World, such as _Elater tomentosus_, _fuscipes_, _senegalensis_, &c.; beetles which have two deep furrows in the lower part of the neck-shield, to receive the feelers, and which go in search of their food at night. They resemble many of the European springing beetles covered with scales, and included by Megerle under the name Lepidotus; such are _fasciatus_, _murinus_, _varius_. Two Aphodii were found; one, of the size of the _Psammodius porcatus_, but very flat, lives under the bark of a decayed tree, the wood of which has become soft. Another has the almost p.r.i.c.kly shoulders of the _Aphodius stercorator_ and _asper_; of these we form the species _Stenocnemis_, and include therein four new varieties found in Brazil and Lucon. It may be here observed, that _Psammodius sabuleti_ and _cylindricus N._, must be cla.s.sed with _aegialia_, which, on account of the h.o.r.n.y nature of their jaws, and the projection of the upper lip, enter into the same cla.s.s with _Trox_; the remaining kinds of _Psammodius_, however, do not at all agree with the character given them by Gyllenhal, and ought in their turn to be cla.s.sed with _Aphodius_. Among the remaining beetles, all of which dwell under the bark of trees, a _Parandra_ was the largest.

During our two months' stay in the Bay of Manilla, we could only become acquainted with a small part of the natural productions, in which the large island of Lucon appears extremely rich, because it is difficult to procure them without travelling far into the interior; but the country round Manilla and Cavite being cultivated to the distance of several days' journey, the woods of the mountains alone remain in a state of nature. There dwell the gigantic snakes and crocodiles, of which every one has some tale to relate. A small _Cercopithecus_ is found in great abundance; but we were not able to meet with a good drawing, or even a tolerable description of it. Skins of _Galeopithecus_ were brought us; and we were a.s.sured that the animal allowed itself to be tamed, and would sit like a monkey, and take its food with the fore-feet. Two kinds of flying dogs, one of them apparently a _Pteropus edulis_, were shot and eaten in the neighbourhood. Two other animals, of the bat kind, belonged to the cla.s.ses _Hypexodon_ and _Nycticejus_. A _Chelone_, three feet long, was brought us, remarkable for seven shields on the middle of its back. _Terrapene tricarinata_ is abundant. We obtained also a _Basilicus_, a large _Tupinambis_, and two _Geckos_, which do not as yet appear to have been described. _Achrochordus fasciatus_ lives in the sea, and is frequently brought up in the nets of the fishermen; on land, it is unable to move from the spot on which it is placed.

In November and December, the months we pa.s.sed at Manilla, all the insects had concealed themselves; and it was only by the a.s.sistance of several active Malays, who were all day long hunting them, that we were able to collect upwards of two hundred beetles. Upon the whole, the beetle Fauna agrees with that of Java, of which island many have already been made known. A _Tricondyla_ we had ourselves the pleasure of catching on the trunk of a tree: the inhabitants did not bring them to us, as they suppose them to be large ants, and are apprehensive of being stung by them. We obtained three sorts of _Catascopus_, nineteen aquatic _Scarabaeus_, six _Hydrophilus_, five _Buprestis_, five _Melolontha_, four _Anomala_. _Scarabaeus Gideon_ is found in great abundance in the thick bushes, where it climbs up the branches by means of its long legs and large claws. Of _Oryctes nasicornis_, a Malay one day brought us no less than sixty, taken out of some decayed wood. A green _Cetonia_, of the size and form of the _chinensis_, of a coppery brightness, is rare.

Three small Lucanides, of those called by Mac Leay _Nigidius_ and _Figulus_, are found in the wood of living trees.

Of wingless Heteromerides, we found only one _Tagenia_, and that under the dry bark of a tree. For Pimeliades the soil is unfavourable, there not being, as far as we could learn, in the country round Manilla, either stones, or low, broad-leafed plants, under which these animals can find shelter from the burning rays of the sun: they are found only under dry bark, and about the root of the _Opatrum_, _Uloma_, and similar plants. The Helopides, on the other hand, must be looked for on the dry branches in the tops of trees, but we obtained only six varieties. Of the twenty-six stag-beetles collected here, it is necessary to observe, that they are all essentially different from those found in South America.

Our pa.s.sage through the Chinese Sea was rapid; and as we had constantly stormy weather in the Indian Ocean, we had no opportunities of observing marine animals. In the vicinity of the Cape, we caught some Salpae, Physaliae, and Velellae; but in the Northern Atlantic, after reaching the region of the _Sarga.s.sum natans_, daily opportunities for interesting observations presented themselves. From the point at which the floating sea-weed was first noticed, (eighteen degrees north lat.i.tude, and about thirty degrees of longitude west of Greenwich,) to the coast of England, forty-three kinds of animals were observed, not noticed on our outward voyage. We were able to make a very exact examination of the whole system of the _Beroe punctata_. Three new varieties of Medusa were discovered, and an animal (_Rataria N._) between _Velella_ and _Porpita_: it has the flat form of the latter, but is provided with a sail, which it can draw in at will. We also caught the animal which Le Sueur has called _Stephanomia uvaeformis_. Lastly, we had the good fortune to procure a specimen of an animal which appears to form a link between the _Salpa_ and _Pyrosoma_. This species (called _Anchinia_) consists of a number of animalculae of the Salpa form, which, by means of a stalk, are attached to a common body, all of them being turned to the same side.

In the course of less than three years, 2400 kinds of animals were either examined, or only collected, consisting of the following cla.s.ses:--

Species.

Mammalia 28 Birds 165 Amphibia 33 Fishes 90 Annulides 40 Crustacea 127 Insects 1400 Arachnides 28 Cephalopodes 20 Gasteropodes 162 Acephali 45 Tunicati 28 Cirrhipedes 21 Echinodermates 60 Acalephi 63 Zoophytes 90

FR. ESCHSCHOLTZ.

Dorpat, 7th January, 1828.

THE END.

LONDON: PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY, Dorset Street, Fleet Street.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] A kind of urn in use throughout all Russia, called a Samowar, or self-boiler. It generally stands in the middle of the tea-table, and is furnished with a large kettle for water, and a s.p.a.ce filled with fire to keep it boiling.

[2] The baidars, or canoes of the Aleutians, are generally twelve feet long and twenty inches deep, the same breadth in the middle, and pointed at each end. The smaller are suited only for one man, the larger for two or three. The skeleton and the keel are made of very thin deal planks, fastened together with the sinews of the whale, and covered with the skin of the sea-horse cleared of the hair. It has a kind of deck made of this skin, but leaving an aperture for each person the canoe is intended to carry. These sit in the bottom with their legs stretched out, and their bodies rising through the apertures, which are but just large enough to allow them to move and row conveniently. The s.p.a.ce between their bodies and the deck being so well fitted with bladders, that no drop of water can enter.

These baidars are moved very rapidly by oars, and the Aleutians put to sea with them in all weathers.

[3] This applies only to the lower cla.s.ses; the Yeris are nearly all as large as at Tahaiti.

[4] This kind was known to Fabricius, for _Copris Midas_ is a variety of the male, and _Gigas_ is the female. The former has erroneously been deemed a native of America.