The Zoologist— July, 1873. 3593 



an instant, much quicker than a boat could be propelled. I expect 

 that it had been picked up dead on the shore. 



I inclose a paper which one of the showmen handed to me, the 

 translation of which I have given above. It has an illustration of 

 the " kraken," which gives a verj' good idea of its shape. They 

 said this was a full-sized one, and that they had never seen one 

 larger, and also that it was very rare, which was corroborated by 

 several of my Japanese friends, who have seen these huge things 

 before, but none so large as the present specimen. 



H. Peyer. 



Yokohama, March 24:, 1873. 



[There is little doubt that the Japanese figure is intended to represent 

 a true squid, but of unusual magnitude: those which occur in European 

 seas are generally less than a foot in length. We are very much in want of 

 exact admeasurements such as Mr. Pryer has so kindly supplied ; they 

 correct not only the exaggerated accounts of enormous cuttles, but equally 

 exhibit the folly of discrediting them altogether. — E. Newman.] 



A Visit to Corsica. By the Rev. F. A. Walker, M.A., F.L.S. 



(Concluded from Zool. S. S. 3556). 



October 29. A large rust-coloured hawk was wheeling iu 

 circles above the glen that forms the bed of this stream, whose 

 waters are now conveyed to the capital by means of an aqueduct 

 of many arches, a work involving considerable time and expense. 

 For some distance before reaching the town, which is approached 

 through an avenue of trees, the bay of Ajaccio is dotted with 

 straggling dwellings around its beautiful shores, and Capo Muro 

 stretches away in a long projecting point to its south-west ex- 

 tremity. An amphitheatre of hills overlooks this extensive bay, 

 which appears from some points of view like a land-locked lake. 

 The first stroll I took at Ajaccio on my arrival on the afternoon of 

 the 29lh was to leave the Cours Grandval by what are called the 

 "Four Cottages" in the new English quarter, and so past the 

 soldiers' exercising-ground, as far as the Grotto of Napoleon, com- 

 posed of four or five gigantic boulders embowered in olives and 

 Cacti, and duly scribbled over. It was here that the young cadet 

 is reputed to have spent his leisure time in meditation, and a 

 prettier, more retired spot could scarcely be chosen, even on these 



