In the vast sea between the coast of Chili and the Low Islands or the dangerous Archipelago, very few animals appear to live near the surface, at least we saw none; a quantity of flying-fish were seen, resembling the _Exocoetus volitans_, but having the rays of the breast-fins parted towards the end. During the short space of ten days that we stayed at O Tahaiti, the inhabitants, who for a trifling remuneration brought us all sorts of marine animals, enabled us to make acquaintance with all the natural productions of this much praised country. Birds are scarce in the lowlands along the coast. The little blue _Psittacus Taitianus_ frequents the top of the cocoa-palm; the _Ardea sacra_ walks along the coral reefs; but it is seldom that a tropical bird is seen on the wing. A _Gecko_ of the species _Hemidactylus_ lives about old houses; a small lizard of the family of _Scincoidea_, with a copper-coloured body and a blue tail, and a striped _Ablepharus_, are met with frequently among the rocks. Of fishes, the variety is great, many of them of splendid colours, particularly the small ones, which feed upon the coral, and seek shelter among its branches. The same place of refuge is chosen by numbers of variegated crabs, more particularly the _Grapsus_, _Portunus_, and _Galathea_. Three kinds of _Canceres_ already known were brought us, the _maculatus_, _corallinus_, and _floridus_; the two former move but little, and their shells are as hard as stones. A small _Gelasimus_ burrows under the ground, and makes himself a subterranean passage from the water to the dry land. The female has very small claws, but the male has always one very large pink claw, which is sometimes the right and sometimes the left.