Jiis Voyage to South America. 4AS 



sterility ; but, owing to the prevalence of heavy rains, which 

 had shortly before taken place, it was much greener than usual 

 at the time of our visit ; and I was surprised by the variety of 

 plants I met with. I devoted one afternoon to marine re- 

 searches, and I met with a considerable number of Mollusca 

 and a few Crustacea (principally crabs). I also got a species 

 of HiiJjJa or Remijpes, which burrows in the sand, and is, I was 

 informed, employed as bait for fish. We took our departure 

 early in the evening of the 13th for Rio. In the course of the 

 voyage I employed the towing-net whenever practicable, and 

 with tolerable success, obtaining specimens of lanthince,^ va- 

 rious Pteropods, Porpitce^ VeleUce, &c. I saw some beautiful 

 Physalia;., but did not captm-e any. On the 16tli I got a large 

 suctorial crustacean off the gills of a flyingfish which flew on 

 board ; and Iwas nearly forgetting to mention that on the 14tli I 

 got'a specimen of Altma liyalimi [Appendix, I.] in the towing- 

 net. We entered the magnificent harbour of Eio de Janeiro late 

 on the evening of the 2nd of Nov^ember, and we stayed till the 

 afternoon of the 18th. On the stones in shallow water in the 

 harbour an Isopod allied to our British Ligia [App., II.] was 

 abundant. We encountered two gales between Rio and Monte 

 Video, where we arrived on the 23rd. During our stay of 

 nearly a fortnight I saw as much as I could of the neigh- 

 bourhood. The country is very monotonous, consisting for the 

 most part of gently undulating pampas covered with tall thistles. 

 Some parts of these plains, however, are rendered beautiful 

 by the beds of purple and scarlet Verbenas. The marine life 

 except the fish, which are numerous, is barrenness itself. 

 One day when I took a long walk along the beach outside the 

 town, and diligently searched for marine animals in the rock- 

 pools, the only living thing that I could find was a small 

 dusky-coloured shore-crab, which existed in numbers. I for- 

 got to say that between Rio and Monte Video I one day pro- 

 cured three specimens of an Idotea [App., III. ; Plate XXI. 

 fig. 1], or some closely allied form, in the towing-net, 200 

 miles off land. They were at first of a brilliant blue tint, 

 but have faded in the spirit in which they were put. We left 

 Monte Video on the 6th December, and, after spending a day 

 at Maldanado, shaped our course for the Strait, which we 

 entered on the 21st. On the afternoon of the 22nd we an- 

 chored off the Chilian settlement of Puntas Menas, better 

 known to us as Sandy Point ; and shortly after, I landed for 

 the first time in Patagonia. It is a truly delightful sensation 

 to land for the first time in a new and wild country, and I 

 greatly enjoyed my walk that day. Pursuing my way along 

 the beach, the first Crustacean I met with was Seroh's Fabrtcn, 



31* 



