Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.1): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

290 SHELL-FISH. muscles, of which there are two sorts : the Choro {Mytilus Chorcis, Molina), and Cholgua (Mytilus Magellanicus, La- marck^, Picos {Balanus psittactis nob. Lepas psittacus Mo- lina, 1, p. 223J, a large barnacle,* and the oyster (0. Edulis), which is exceedingly well-flavoured. Besides which there are several kinds of shell-fish of less value, but equally abundant, such as Navajuelas (Solen sp.) ; Caracoles (Turbo) ; Cornes {Pholas Chiloensis, Molina) ; Campana {Calyptrcea) ; Lapas (^Crepidula) ; Tacas (Chama Thaca, Molina); Locos (Con- cholepas Peruviana, Murex Loco of Molina) ; Quilmagues Piures (Pyura sp. Molina) ; and others. The apparently inexhaustible abundance of shell-fish with which nature has provided the inhabitants of these islands, the facility with which they are obtained, and their consequent cheapness, is the principal cause of that want of industry which is so remarkable in the Chilotes. Of the above-mentioned shell-fish, those deserving more par- ticular notice are the large muscle, the oyster, and the pico. Molina has described the choro of Concepcion, which is not at all different from that of Childe. It is often found seven or eight inches long. The fish is as large as a goose's egg, and of a very rich flavour: there are two kinds, one of a dark brown, and the other of a yellow colour ; but the last is most esteemed. There is also another sort, much larger than the choro, yet equally delicate and good, the fish of which is as large as a swan's egg: it is called cholgua; but as the shells seem to be of the same species, I think the distinction can only be owing to size. In Febres's Dictionary of the Chileno language, the word constitutes a new genus. Marinula, nob. in Zool. Journal, vol. v. p. 343. It was found on the wooden piles which support the mole in the bay of San Carlos, below the wash of the high water. The mole stands out into the sea, and there is no fresh water near it, save a very little rill, which discharges its tiny stream more than fifty yards off. This shell was named Marinula Pepita, Zool. Journal, 1. c. No. 43, The following is its generic character: — 'Testa ovato-producta, sub-solida; apertura ovata, Integra; columella bidentata et basin versus uniplicata; dentibus magnis sub- reraotis conniventibus, superior! maximo ; operculum nullum.' * Zool. Journal, vol. v. p. 333.