277 



CHAPTER XII. 



NEW ZEALAND. THE FRIENDLY ISLANDS. 

 MATUKU ISLAND. 



Wellington, New Zealand. The Eata Tree. Kingfisher with Littoral 

 Habits. Peripatus. Egg Capsules of Land Planarians. The Vege- 

 tation of the Kermadec Islands. Red coloured Muscles of the Shark. 

 Island of Eua. General appearance of the Island of Tongatabu. 

 Tongan Natives. Mode of Hairdressing. Facial expression of the 

 Natives. A Pea Jacket a Badge of Distinction. Town of Nukua- 

 lofa. Dress of Tongan Women. Getting Fire by Friction. Deserted 

 Plantations. Fruit -bats Feeding on Flowers. Herons, Tree-swifts, 

 and other Birds. Parasitic Algae in Foraminifera. Matuku Island 

 Fiji Group. The Island an Ancient Crater. Its Vegetation. En- 

 circling Reef. Flocks of Lories. Periophthalmus, a Fish Living on 

 Land. Living Pearly Nautilus. Its Mode of Swimming. Account 

 of the Nautilus, by Runxphius. 



Wellington, June 28th to July 9 th, 1S94. — We encountered 

 constant gales on the voyage from Sydney to Wellington in 

 New Zealand. The voyage lasted 14 days, and we arrived at 

 Wellington on June 28th. The ship had to be anchored for two 

 nights under the lee of D'Urville Island, on the south side of the 

 entrance to Cook's Straits, until the weather moderated sufficiently 

 to allow of the ship's passing up the straits to Wellington. 



We found deep water, 2,600 fathoms; between the Australian 

 coast and New Zealand, as might have been confidently predicted 

 from the vast difference of the New Zealand from the Australian 

 fauna and flora. Around New Zealand itself, there is a con- 

 siderable extent of shallow sea with very uneven bottom, and 

 from this shallow a stretch of comparatively raised bottom is 

 extended to Northern Australia, including on its surface Norfolk 

 Island and Lord Howe Island. 



The stay at Wellington was very short, and as I was not 

 in good health I saw very little of the country. The town 



