White. — On the Rats of Neiv Zealand. 243 



Norway rat. The natives never eat the latter. It is a 

 favourite theme with them to speculate on their own ex- 

 termination by the Europeans in the same manner as the 

 English rat has exterminated their indigenous rat. 

 The common mouse of Europe has also been introduced." 



Mr. John Edward Gray, F.R.S., keeper of the zoological 

 collections in the British Museum, who worked up the 

 account of the fauna of New Zealand which supplements 

 Dieffenbach's work, adds, " Called ' kiore ' by the natives. Said 

 to have been introduced at an early period by European 

 vessels." Polack sa\s, " It would be interesting to see whether 

 it is the European, the Indian, or the New Holland rat that 

 has been introduced, or if there may not be more than one 

 kind" (vol. ii., p. 185). 



On describing his first attempt to ascend Mount Egmont, 

 Dieffenbach says, " At sunset we arrived at the cleared sum- 

 mit of a hill, where we found several houses for provisions, 

 which are always built on posts to guard against the rats, and 

 also two other houses. A thick forest surrounded this place 

 on all sides. We had taken up our abode in an old house, 

 where the rats ran over us the whole night." 



On a second attempt he reaches the top of Mount Egmont, 

 and " On the summit of the mountain I found the entire 

 skeleton of a rat, carried there, no doubt, by a hawk " (vol. i., 

 p. 144). 



So far as I can see, Dieffenbach never himself mentions 

 seeing the Norway rat in New Zealand, nor did he seem at 

 that time to be aware that M. decumanus w ? as to destroy 

 M. rattus in England, and, so far as I know, throughout 

 Europe, as at the present time. Yet we have evidence that 

 the Norway rat was well known to the Rev. Mr. Chapman 

 and himself by the comparison as to size between the " kiore 

 maori " and the Norway rat, and, to my judgment, I would 

 suppose an implied resemblance in colour between the two, 

 but that the Norway rat was considerably larger than " kiore 

 maori." This, in the main, would be fairly correct. On the 

 other hand, I do not understand that M. rattus would in 

 numbers scamper over the resting traveller the whole night. 

 Rather, I would say, these must have been M. decumanus. 

 But neither Dieffenbach nor Maori, as reported in this work, 

 speak of other than two rats — one the imported or stranger's 

 rat (M. rattus), and another the indigenous rat, " kiore maori." 

 Who shall decide this point ? I for one greatly doubt the 

 black rat having the boldness to come near a sleeping man. 

 I have never known them other than in the open field or 

 forest. 



On closer consideration of what Dieffenbach says I am 

 inclined to the conclusion that he did find the Norway rat in 



