THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 245 



The 21st was a very damp, cloudy day, and I found 

 many specimens of Bidimus auris muris crawling about. 

 Heavy rain came on in the afternoon, and in the evening 

 there was a wonderful display of thunder and lightning, the 

 whole sky being sometimes in a perfect blaze of light. I 

 returned to Eio on the following day, and found that one of 

 the officers had in my absence found a specimen of a curious 

 reptile the Cephalopeltis scutigera, allied to an Amphishcena, 

 and resembling it in its cylindrical worm-like body, and the 

 ringed folds of the investing skin. Some days later, a 

 gurnard-like fish, the Frionotus punctatus, was taken swim- 

 ming at the surface of the water, close alongside the flag- 

 ship, H.M.S. " Narcissus," and sent to me by the kindness of 

 the admiral. 



On the 11th of September I accompanied Captain 

 Mayne and a party on an excursion to the island of Paqueta, 

 two or three miles distant from the head of the harbour. 

 On our way thither we were much struck with the 

 beauty of various of the small islands which we passed, 

 which were clothed with a rich vegetation, presenting 

 an infinite variety of shades of green ; and we also noticed 

 with interest some remarkable rocks sticking out of the 

 water, and clothed up to high-water mark with a small 

 species of oyster, with which the harbour abounds. We 

 landed on a beach of shell-sand, opposite a house command- 

 ing a beautiful prospect of the chain of the Organ moun- 

 tains, and in the vicinity of which a number of fine cocoa- 

 nut palms were growing. Hanging up in the veranda of the 

 house was the dried skin of a fish with large scales, and, on 

 going to examine this, I found that a small bird had built 

 its nest in the interior. We remained on the island till the 

 evening, strolling about very agreeably. Numbers of tama- 

 rind trees were planted in various spots, and their bright 



