468 Proceedings. 



(d.) The election shall be made by the Board of Governors at the annual meeting 



from the persons selected by the Fellows, 

 (e.) The methods of selection in subclause (6) and of election in subclause (d) 



shall be determined by the Board of Governors. 

 8. The official abbreviation of the title " Fellow of the New Zealand Institute "' 

 shall be " F.N.Z.Tnst." 



Dr. J. A. Thomson moved, Mr. Eliott seconded, and it was carried, 

 That Dr. L. Cockayne, Professor T. H. Easterfield, Professor C. Chilton, 

 and the Hon. G. M. Thomson, be a committee, with power to act, to 

 determine the method of election of the remaining Original Fellows and 

 to carry out the election. 



On the motion of Mr. Eliott, seconded by Professor Thomas, it was 

 resolved, That the matter of bringing into operation the sections in clause 7 

 as adopted by the Board be left in the hands of the Standing Committee. 



Report on Kapiti Island. — Professor Kirk read the joint report of Mr. 

 Bendall and himself on Kapiti Island, which had been received by the 

 Hon. Secretary too late to circulate. He rejjorted that the work had been 

 done by himself and Mr. Bendall, a member of the Council of the Manawatu 

 Philosophical Society, instead of Mr. Eliott, who was unable to visit the 

 island. On the motion of Mr. Eliott, seconded by Mr. Hill, it was resolved, 

 That the report of Professor Kirk and Mr. W. E. Bendall be adopted, and 

 printed in the Transactions and Proceedings, and that the authors be 

 thanked for their services in the matter. 



Report on Kapiti Island as a Plant and Animal Sanctuary. 



This report takes as a starting-i^oint Dr. Cockayne's " Report on a Botanical Survey 

 of Kapiti Island," presented to Parliament in 1907 by the late Hon. Dr. McNab, Minister 

 of Lands, and it deals especially with the extent to which the recommendations of tliat 

 report have been given effect to or have ajiparently been ignored. 



Wild Sheep. — By far the most important and far-reacliing of the recommendations 

 referred to is that the whole island should be acquired by the Government, that being 

 the only means bj^ which it can bo hoped effectively to put a stop to the damage being 

 done by sheep belonging to Native owners. We do not find in Dr. Cockayne's report 

 a statement of the extent of the Native holdings in 1907. At present the Natives hold 

 about 644 acres. But they have far more sheep than their own holdings could support, 

 and the greater number of these are running wild over the island. It is safe to say 

 that not less than eight Jiundred of these sheep are running on the lands of the Crown. 

 It does not, jjerhaps, concern the Institute more than it does the community at large 

 that no rent is charged for this privilege, but so far as we can learn that is the fact. 

 Although the Natives have the right to muster over the whole island, the ilifficulties 

 of mustering on Kai^iti are so great that very many of these sheep have never been 

 docked or dagged, and it may be taken for granted that they have never been dipped. 

 Nearly all are carrying long, filthy dags ; very many have the wool torn more or less 

 completely from the back by the bushes. It would be hard to find anywhere else in 

 New Zealand sheep that present the marks of neglect more obviously. The point that 

 especially concerns the Institute is that these sheep, with the wild goats, arc setting 

 a limit to the life of the forest. Not only do they prevent to a very large extent the 

 growth of young trees, but they open up the forest to the sweep of the wind. They 

 prepare it for invasion by grass, tauhinu, manuka, and other hardy plants. Although 

 the manuka is one of the least objectionable of these invaders, yet in dry situations, 

 such as some of the spurs, where it harbours no moss or liverworts, very little humus 

 is formed, and that little is quickly washed away by rain. On some spurs — for example, 

 on one just south of Waterfall — where manuka has replaced the forest, much soil has 

 been removed, and in no great time the manuka itself will be miable to retain its footing. 

 Jn such cases the manuka marks a phase in the passage to utter barrenness. 



Wild Goats. — As already intimated, wild goats share with the sheep the work of 

 destroying the original plant-covering. The caretaker, J\Ir. Bennett, has shot great 

 numbers of them, and their remains are to be found all over the Crown lands. The 

 thoroughness with which this work is being done impressed us very much. The 



