United States Exploring Expedition. 



405 



The following is the number of zoological drawings made du- 

 ring the cruise, in the departments of science here enumerated : 

 Reptiles, . . . . 75 species. 



Fish, 260 " 



Mollusca, (shells with the animals,) 500 " 

 Zoophytes, (exclusive of corals,) 350 " 



Corals, 140 " 



Crustacea, . . . . . 500 " 

 The variety and beauty of marine animals in the coral seas 

 of the Pacific are beyond description. Like birds in our for- 

 ests, fish of brilliant colors sport among the coral groves, and 

 various mollusca cover the bottom with living flowers. A new 

 world of beings is here opened to an inhabitant of our cold cli- 

 mate ; and many of these productions are so unlike the ordinary 

 forms of life, that it is difficult without seeing them, to believe 

 in their existence. Those that have looked over the beautiful 

 colored drawings by the artists of the expedition, are aware that 

 this description falls short of the truth. 



A large number of new species yet remain to be drawn. While 

 there were so many things requiring immediate attention, it was 

 impossible to sketch all, and those were selected for sketching on 

 the spot, whose forms and colors were most liable to change. 



Ten thousand species of plants, and upwards of fifty thousand 

 specimens, constitute the herbarium of the expedition. The fol- 

 lowing catalogue gives the number of species collected at the 

 several places visited : — 

 Madeira, . . 300 



Cape Yerds, . . 60 



Brazil, . . . 980 

 Rio Negro (Patagonia), 150 

 Tierra del Fuego, . 220 

 Chili, ... 442 

 Peru, . . . 820 

 Tahiti, ... 288 

 Samoa (Navigator Ids.), 457 

 New South Wales, 787 



New Zealand, . 398 

 Auckland Islands, . 50 



Tongatabu, . . 236 



9646 



