182/ 



PACIFIC AND BEERINGS STRAIT. ^'Ao 



frequently saw tbeiu flying:; but they were more fond chap 

 of elinil)Ini»- about the trees, and haneinir bv their hind 

 claw, which appears to be their natural position when June 

 feeding'. Some were observed with their young at 

 their breast, concealed by the wide membrane of their 

 wing-. The tongue of this animal is unusually large, 

 and furnished with fleshy papillee on the upper sur- 

 face. Here we also found another species of vesper- 

 tilio. 



Of birds we saw some handsome brown herons with 

 white crests ; plovers, rails, snipes, wood-pigeons, and 

 the common black crow; a small bird resembling a 

 canary, and a grossbeak. They were very tame, and 

 until alarmed at the noise of a gun suffered themselves 

 to be approached. 



The sea abounded in fish, some of which were very 

 beautiful in colour. We noticed the green fish men- 

 tioned at Gauibier Island, and a gold-coloured fish of 

 the same genus, both extremely splendid in their ap- 

 pearance. A dentex resembling our carp, a small 

 rayfish, and some large eels, one of which weighed 

 twenty pounds, were caught in the fresh water. We 

 took forty-four turtles on board for sea stock, besides 

 consuming two a day while we remained in port, 

 weighing each about three hundred-weight. 



The weather during our stay was fine, but oppres- 

 sively warm ; and though we had no rain, the atmo- 

 sphere was generally saturated with moisture. There 

 was a thick fog to windward of the islands almost the 

 whole of the time ; but it dispersed on its passage 

 over the land, and the lee side was generally clear. 



While our operations at the port were in progress, 

 Lieutenant Belcher circumnavigated Peel's Island in 

 the cutter, and discovercdpft large bay at the south- 



