242 Transactions. 



local Natives, which is found up to about | in. in diameter. I will not 

 annoy the guileless reader with a list of the above names. 



The fresh-water shell-fish of this district are not numerous. The kalcahi, 

 or fresh-water mussel, is plentiful in Wai-kare Moana, and is also found in 

 i^onds at Te Papuni, Ruatoki, &c., but is not numerous elsewhere. These 

 formed an article of food formerly, but are very insipid. Unio zelebori, 

 from a pond at Te Papuni, has a very thick, heavy shell, that district con- 

 taining limestone, which is not seen west of Maunga-pohatu. Unio menziesi 

 (Gray), from a lagoon at Ruatoki, has a thin, fragile shell. Specimens 

 obtained at Wai-kare Moana do not seem to be the same as Unio waikarense, 

 described by Colenso. The latter are light-yellow, and larger than those 

 collected at the lake by Mr. Lucas and myself. 



The koura, or small fresh-water crayfish, is not found in the Tuhoe 

 district, so far as I am aware, save at Te Houhi. 



The fish found in the rivers and streams of the district are eels, kokopu. 

 marearea (syn. inanga), titarakura, papanoko, and the upokororo. The 

 last-mentioned has now disappeared. Duplicate names of some of these 

 species, as also names of varieties (from a Native point of view), will be 

 found in a previous article on " Food Products of Tuhoeland " in this journal. 



The Kiore, or Native Rat. 



The kiore maori, or native rat, is said in Maori tradition to have been 

 imported into these isles from Polynesia by the early migrants who settled 

 on these shores, and was not an indigenous animal. These small creatures 

 furnished a considerable amount of food to the forest-dwelling Native tribes 

 in former times, their flesh being highly esteemed. The kiore maori is said 

 to have been a clean and even fastidious eater — unlike the introduced rats — 

 and henc6 its flesh may well have been very good eating. 



Many persons stoutly maintain that the old Maori rat is still with us. 

 has not yet died out ; but it seems probable that they mistake the black 

 introduced rat for the old-time kiore. A writer in the Canterbury Times 

 newspaper states that enormous numbers of Maori rats appeared in the 

 northern part of the South Island in December, 1884. These creatures 

 cannot have been the kiore maori, but must have been the black rat alluded 

 to above, or some other introduced species. I have never heard that the 

 native rat ever appeared in such migrant swarms. 



The above writer refers to his native rat as Mus exulans, and says, " The 

 kiore is smaller than either of the two rats introduced into the colony by 

 Europeans, and the female is somewhat smaller than the male. Their 

 average weight is about 2 oz. The fur on the upper portions of the head 

 and body is brown finely mottled with dark-grey. The sides of the body 

 are lighter, and all the under parts, including the chin and the feet, are 

 dirty-white. The species is found throughout Polynesia. In New Zealand 

 it is sometimes called the ' bush-rat.' The proper name is Mus exulans.'' 

 This article seems to have been taken from a paper by John Meeson, B.A., 

 published in vol. xvii of the " Transactions of the New Zealand Institute." 

 He states that the following species of rat are now (1884) found in New 

 Zealand : (1) Mus decumanus (Norwegian rat), which has driven away the 

 kiore maori into remote districts, if it has not exterminated it altogether : 

 (2) a species of Mus rattus ; (3) a smaller species (Professor Mutton's Mus 

 maorium). The writer believes that the migrant swarm of 1884 consisted 

 of the third species {Mus maorium), and that this was the old-time kior( 



