ZOOLOGY OF MEYO. 375 



tation on its blackened, scoriaceous surface. The light 

 porous rock, that composes the principal part of the 

 island, is raised in heaps of jagged points and pinnacles, 

 and has, altogether a most unpromising appearance to the 

 naturalist ; and yet, even on such a barren spot as this, 

 nature holds out some objects for our entertainment. 



As the boat approached the abrupt and barren shore, 

 a young Whale bared its back, and spouted close along- 

 side of us ; and a little nearer the island, two Turtles, of 

 the right sort, came floating by, with lazy, flapping fins, 

 and narrowly escaped being turned into soup by the boat's 

 crew. Close in shore, myriads of banded Ch&todons and 

 party-coloured Scari glided through the calm water 

 among the rocks ; and, as we landed, a large black 

 Lizard, a species of Hydrosaurm, upwards of four feet 

 long, scaled the rocks immediately above us. On the 

 right, heavy rollers came tumbling in from seaward, 

 between huge perpendicular rocks, rushing impetuously 

 through a wide, time-worn chasm, and receding as violently 

 as they entered, forming a perfect "Maelstrom," and 

 looking like the interior of some enormous caldron, in 

 a state of ebullition. In another part, the sea recedes, 

 and leaves exposed a long, flat, stony beach, with shallow 

 pools, dug in the rock, abounding with small fish and 

 molluscous animals of various descriptions. The large 

 and showy Cyprcea tigris was here seen crawling about 

 by hundreds, generally in the shade of the steep banks of 

 the ponds, or hiding away in crevices. Troc/ti and Tur- 

 bines, Cones, and Turbinellce were equally numerous, and 

 offered, as may be readily supposed, a rich treat to the 

 conchologist, who walking among them as they gemmed 



