The _hood_ has been stated by Dr. Shaw (Lectures, vol. ii. p. 165) “as being of a pale reddish purple colour, with deeper spots and variegations;” the colour, however, as it appeared in this recent specimen, was of a dark reddish brown, in fact, resembling the colour produced by the _Koka_ on the stained cloth of the Tongatabu natives, intermingled with white. We had fine weather—light winds and calms, a day or two previous to this animal being caught. The representations of the animal in Dr. Shaw’s works are not at all correct; that by _Rumphius_ is correct, as far as regards the description of the external parts of the animal. This species of Nautilus is stated to be called _Kika, lapia_, and _Krang modang_, by the natives of Amboyna; and _Bia papeda_, _Bia cojin_, by the Malays. This animal has, for a number of years, been a _desideratum_ of science; but some doubt existed whether it might not have been captured with the shell; and the collectors, not valuing the animal, or being unaware of the value attached to it by naturalists, may have extracted and thrown it away. The two following accounts confirm this supposition; I place dependence upon the statements, because at the time both persons were ignorant of the form of the fish, and were also unaware of its value: they knew it more from the beautiful colours of its shell, than from any other part connected with it. An officer of his Majesty’s ship Ariadne informed me that he caught the shell with the animal within it, on a reef at the _island of Pemba_, near _Zanzibar_, on the _eastern coast of Africa_, at the time himself and several others, belonging to the ship, were seeking for shells. (This occurred in the year 1824.) The animal was not floating upon the water, but was in a hole on the reef; he does not recollect which part of the shell was uppermost. The mantle of the fish, like a thin membrane, covered the shell, which was drawn in as soon as it was touched, and the elegant shell was then displayed. “I and others,” observed my informant, “when it was first seen, did not notice it, regarding the animal, as the membrane enveloped the shell, merely as a piece of blubber; but having touched it by accident, the membranous covering was drawn in, and we soon secured our beautiful prize.” “The fish,” he further observed, “was a large mass attached to the shell, which we soon extracted and threw away, as we only wanted to _collect shells_.” The mantle was compared to what he had subsequently seen covering the shells of the _Harps_ and _Cowries_. These animals were not numerous, for this was the only one collected during the time they remained there, or on subsequent visits. A section of the shell was afterwards made on board, but none of the appearances, or whether air or water was contained within, could be recollected.