1847.] J^'otes on JYatural History. 249 



space for so frail an animal to be carried by the wind. It is also 

 a little singular that about two years after, when H. B. M. sur- 

 veying ship Beagle was in a position fifty miles nearer to this 

 Cape, a similar grasshopper, and in all probability the same spe- 

 cies, came on board and was caught, as is stated by Mr. Darwin, 

 the naturalist belonging to that ship. The insect I obtained is at 

 present preserved in the collection of the Albany Institute. 



After the storm had subsided, we w^ere some days in regaining 

 the land, at a point much farther to the south, immediately where 

 the Rio Negro disembogues itself into the sea, on the northeastern 

 coast of Patagonia. We continued leisurely sailing along the 

 coast, crossing the Bay of St. Matthias to the peninsula of St. 

 Joseph, situated in latitude forty three-degrees south. The shore 

 as we passed along, presented the appearance of a series of pre- 

 cipitous cliffs, stratified in nearly a horizontal position, and seem- 

 ed to be composed of a yellowish colored clay, with numerous 

 slides, or " tumble downs" as they are emphatically termed by 

 the sailors, with occasional small ravines, worn by the drainage 

 waters from the plains, in their passage to the sea. In pulling in 

 for the land, we w^ere continually surrounded by the Spheniscus 

 demersa, called the jackass penguin, from the circumstance of the 

 singular habit it possesses when on shore, of throwing back the 

 head, and producing a sound very similar to the braying of that 

 animal. We were likewise accompanied by several seals, who 

 raised their dark heads above the w'ave and apparently gazed 

 with silent wonder and astonishment at our appearance as we 

 proceeded along, following in the wake of our boat, but a few 

 feet astern, until we fairly reached the land. These animals are 

 the Plafy rhincus jubata of Forster, or hair seal of mariners. 

 Several of the males, or sea lions, as they have not unaptly been 

 named, were quietly reposing on the beach, and obstinately re- 

 fused to relinquish their comfortable position, until compelled to 

 do so by the close approximation of some of the crew. These 

 sea-lions are provided with a hoarse roaring voice, and have their 

 necks clothed with a long, curling mane, so that during their qui- 

 et enjoyment on the shore, and also when disturbed, present a 

 very striking resemblance to their more formidable prototype in 

 name, upon the land, and it was with no small difficulty, that the 

 inexperienced observer could be persuaded into the belief of their 

 perfect non-identity. 



The men were leisurely straggling along the beach, amusing 

 themselves by pelting the ^eals as they arose tumbling amid the 

 surf, whilst we ascended a small ravine to the plain above. A 

 condor — the first we had seen, was lazily basking in the sunlight 

 upon a projecting headland, with drooping wings, so characteris- 

 tic of the tribe to which it belongs, when digesting their food. 



