70 CHARMING WJETUAITS. 



painted, tho other described. In their work they 

 had but one soul, and neither wished to exalt him- 

 self at the expense of the other." At the end of 

 five months they reached the Isle of France, where 

 they completed the.ir stores for the Antarctic seas ; 

 and some of the naturalists, being dissatisfied with 

 the treatment they received and the general arrange- 

 ments, declined to proceed ; but Peron considered 

 himself bound by his engagements. Arrived on 

 the western shores of New Holland, the expedition 

 skirted along the coast, surveying many harbours, 

 and anchored for refreshment at the island of 

 Timor. It is chiefly to Peron's stay in this place, 

 so little known to naturalists, that we are indebted 

 to his labours on the mollusca and zoophytes. The 

 sea is shallow, and the excessive heat seems to 

 multiply prodigiously these singular animals, and 

 to adorn them with the most brilliant hues. 

 Nothing can exceed the rapturous descriptions 

 given of them by our enthusiast. He waxes elo- 

 quent as he paints their beauties, and the reader 

 is disposed to share his admiration while he studies 

 his charming portraits. " What shall I say," he 

 exclaims, " of these various species of zoophytes 

 which, by the singularity of their form, their extra- 

 ordinary organisation, the beauty of their hues, and 

 the variety of their habitudes, so richly merit the 

 attention of the enlightened part of the commu- 



