THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 



«iS 



culiar to the place. The natives Hkewife fometimes brought 'nr- 

 us very fine cray-fifh, equal to our largeft lobflers, and cuttle "'"''' 

 fifli, which they eat themfelves. 



Infeils are very rare. Of thefe, we only faw two forts 

 of dragon-flies, fome butterflies, fmall graflioppers, feveral 

 forts of fpiders, fome fmall black ants, and vaft numbers 

 of fcorpion flies, with whofe chirping the woods refound. 

 The only noxious one is the fand-fly, very numerous here, 

 and almoft as troublcfome as the mufquitoe ; for we found 

 no reptile here, except two or three forts of fmall harmlefs 

 lizards *. 



It is remarkable, that, in this extenfive land, there fhould 

 not even be the traces of any quadruped, only excepting a 

 few rats, and a fort of fox-dog, which is a domeftic animal 

 with the natives. 



Neither is there any mineral worth notice, but a green 

 jafper or ferpent-flone, of which the New Zealanders make 

 their tools and ornaments. This is efteemed a precious ar- 

 ticle by them ; and they have fome fuperflitious notions 

 about the method of its generation, which we could not 

 perfedly underftand. It is plain, however, that wherever 

 it may be found (which, they fay, is in the channel of a large 

 river far to the Southward), it is difpofed in the earth in thin 

 layers, or, perhaps, in detached pieces, like our flints ; for 

 the edges of thofe pieces, which have not been cut, are co- 

 vered with a whitifli crufl: like thefe. A piece of this fort 

 was purchafed, about eighteen inches long, a foot broad, 

 and near two inches thick ; which yet feemed to be only 

 the fragment of a larger piece. 



* In a feparate memorandum-book, Mr. Anderfon mentions the monflrous ani- 

 mal of the lizard kind, defcribcd by the two boys after they left the iiland. 



Vol. I. X The 



