Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 1 (Stockdale).djvu/227

] of the merops, which White has denominated the wattled bee-eater, and of which he has given a very good engraving. It is remarkable for its two large excrecences on each ide of its head.

I was obliged to make great hate in preparing the kins of the birds which I wihed to preerve; for the fleh, when expoed to the air, very oon became full of mall living larvæ, depoited in it by a fly of a reddih brown colour, which is viviparous like that of our country, known by the name of muca carnaria. Thee larvæ accelerate the putrefaction of fleh in a urpriing manner.

As we intended to weigh anchor on the following day, I wihed to make the bet ue of the lat moments of our tay in this place, and went on hore at the eaterly coat nearet to our veels.

I viited, in company with the gardener, the pot where he had own different kinds of European grains. It was a plot of ground of twenty-even feet by twenty-one, divided into four beds. The oil was rather too full of clay to inure the ucces of the eed.

When we had entered the woods, a quadruped of the ize of a large dog prang from a buh quite near to one of our company. This animal, which was of a white colour potted with black, had the appearance of a beat of prey. There can be little doubt that thee countries will at ome future