At the Society Islands, the natives dry and press the ripe fruit of the Banana, which forms in that state an excellent sweetmeat, and might be probably a profitable export to Sydney, (N. S. Wales,) where it is now occasionally seen when sent as a present to some resident at that town. It is related in Cook’s First Voyage, whilst in Endeavour River, that a “party returned about noon, with a few palm cabbages, and a bunch or two of wild plantains; the plantains were the smallest I had ever seen, and the pulp, although it was well-tasted, was full of small stones.”[147] Captain King stated to me that he attempted to find this tree during his stay at Endeavour River, when he surveyed the Australian coasts, but his researches were unsuccessful. In another part of the same volume,[148] it is stated of the Bananas, at Batavia—“There is one which deserves the particular notice of the botanist, because, contrary to the nature of its tribe, it is full of seeds, and is therefore called _Pisang batu_, or _Pisang bidgie_; it has, however, no excellence to recommend it to the taste, but the Malays use it as a remedy for the flux.” Where grass or hay cannot be procured, voyagers will find the succulent stem and leaves of this plant, as well as the leaves of the _Dracæna terminalis_, an excellent substitute, for feeding goats and other animals. THE INHABITANT OF THE NAUTILUS POMPILIUS. (_See_ page 399, vol. i.) It was on the 24th of August, 1829, (calm and fine weather, thermometer at noon 79°,) in the evening, when the ship Sophia was lying at anchor in _Marakini Bay_, on the south-west side of the island of Erromanga, one of the New Hebrides Group, Southern Pacific Ocean, that something was seen floating on the surface of the water, at some distance from the ship; to many it appeared like a small dead tortoiseshell cat, which would have been such an unusual object to be seen in this part of the world, that the boat which was alongside the ship at the time, was sent for the purpose of ascertaining the nature of the floating object. On approaching near, it was observed to be the shell-fish, commonly known by the name of the Pearly Nautilus; (_Nautilus pompilius_;) it was captured and brought on board, but the shell was shattered from having been struck with the boat-hook in capturing it, as the animal was sinking, when the boat approached, and had it not been so damaged would have escaped. I extracted the fish in a perfect state, which was firmly attached to each side of the upper cavity of the shell. On being brought on board, I observed it retract the tentacula still closer than before, and this was the only sensation of vitality it gave after being caught; I preserved the soft parts immediately in spirits, after making a rude pen and ink sketch of its form. On breaking the lower part of the shell, the chambers, or cavities, were found filled with water.