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Show 446 ISLAND LIFE. (PART II. of a rat in some deposit of an age· decidedly anterior to the first arrival of the Maori race in New Zealand. 1 Much more interestinO' is the reported existence in the mountains of the South Isl~nd of a small otter-like animal. Dr. Haast has seen its tracks, resembling those of our European otter, at a height of 3:000 feet above the sea in a region never before trodden by man; and the anim£Ll itself was seen by two gentlemen near Lake Heron, about seventy miles due west of Christchurch. It was described as being dark brown and the size of a large rabbit. On being struck at with a whip, it uttered a shrill yelping sound and disappeared in the water. 2 An animal seen so closely as to be struck at with a whip could hardly have been mistaken for a dog-the only other animal that it could possibly be suppos€d to have been, and a dog would certainly not have "disappeared in the water." This account, as well as the footsteps, point to an aquatic animal; and if it now frequents only the high alpine lakes and streams, this might explain why it has never yet been captured. Hochstetter also states that it has a native name-Waitoteke-a striking evidence of its actual existence, while a gentleman who lived many years in the district assures me that it is universally believed in by residents in that part of New Zealand. The actual capture of this animal and the determination of its characters and affinities could not fail to aid us greatly in our speculations as to the nature and origin of the New Zealand fauna.3 1 See Buller, u On the New Zealand Rat,'' 1'mns. of the N. Z. Institute (1870), Vol. III. p. 1, and Vol. IX. p. 348 ; and Hutton, "Ou the Gcogra. phical Relations of the New Zealand Fauna," Tmns. N. Z. Instit. 1872, p. 229. 2 Hochstatter's New Zealand, p. 161, note. 3 '!'he animal described by Captain Cook as having been seen at Pickersgill Harbour in Dusky Bay (Cook's 2nd Voyage, Vol. I. p. 98) may have been the same creature. He says, "A four-footed animal was seen by three or four of our people, but as no two gave the same description of it, I cannot say what kind it is. All, however, agreed that it was about the size of a cat, with short legs, and of a mouse colour. One of the seamen, and he who had the best view of it, said it had a bushy tail, and was the most like a jackal of any animal he knew." It is suggestive that, so far as the points on which "all agreed ''-the size and the dark colour ........ this description would answer 'vell to the animal so recently seen, while the "short legs'' CHAP. XXI.] 447 . Wingless B~rd~, living and extinct.-Almost equally valuable With man:maha m. affording indications of geographical changes are the wmgless birds for which New Zealand is so remarkable. These consist of four species of Apteryx, called by the natives "kiwis,"-creatures which hardly look like birds owing to the apparent absence (externally) of tail or wings and the dense covering of hair-like feathers. They vary in size from that of a small fowl up to that of a turkey, and have a long slightly curved bill, somewhat resembling that of the snipe or ibis. Two species appear to be confined to the South Island, and one to the North Island, but all are becoming scarce, and they will no doubt gradually become extinct. These birds are generally classed with the Struthiones or ostrich tribe, but they form a distinct family, and in many respects differ greatly from all other known birds. But besides these, a number of other winO'less birds called C') ' " moas," inhabited New Zealand during the period of human occupation, and hUJve only recently become extinct. These were much larger birds than the kiwis, and some of them were even larger than the ostrich, a specimen of Dino·rnis maximus mounted in the British Museum in its natural attitude being eleven feet high. They agreed, however, with the living Apteryx in having four toes, and in the character of the pelvis and some other parts of the skeleton, while in their short bill and in some important structural features they resembled the emu of Australia and the cassowaries of New Guinea. 1 No less than eleven distinct species of these birds have now been discovered ; and their remains exist in such correspond to the otter-like tracks, and the thick tail of an otter-like animal may well have .appeared "bushy" when the fur was dry. It has been suggested that 1t was only one of the nati~e dogs ; but as none of those who saw it took it for a dog, and the points on which they all agreed are not dog-like, we can hardly accept this explanation ; while the actual existence of an unknown animal in New Zealand of correspondinO' size and colour is confirmed by this account of a similar animal having 5 been seen about a century ago. ~ Owe,~, " On the. Genus Dinornis," Trans. Zool. Soc. Vol. X. p. 184. Mtvart, On the A~1al Skeleton of the Struthionidrn," Tmns. Zool, Soc. Vol. X. p. 51. |
