196 Transacticns. — Zoology. 



the rats may have induced this particulai- grass to grow and 

 estabhsh itself. 



I did not at that time consider these rats as anything out 

 of the way, being fully prepared to find things upside down at 

 the Antipodes. From recollection, they were reddish-brown,. 

 and perhaps white underneath, of a fau* size, and not unlike 

 the Norway Eat {jIus dccumanus). Still I feel certain they 

 could not be the Norway rat, but a distinct species of a more 

 social disposition, for full-grown ones hved together to the 

 nitmber of eight to fourteen, and were not a family of young 

 rats. The tradition at that time among the Canterbmy 

 settlers was that the Maori rat was of a red colour. I never 

 remember any one noticing these rat-warrens or speaking of 

 then' occupants as the Maori rat. To show how little likely 

 unscientific persons cire to notice small peculiarities in rats, I 

 may say that as a boy I was constantly killing rats in Eng- 

 land adjoining a large piece of water, and never found out that 

 the water-rat was in any way different from the other ; yet I 

 understand naturalists class them separately, though their 

 colom's must be similar. 



While U^^ng at the Warren there was not a mouse to be 

 seen for a whole twelvemonth or more. Then some one re- 

 ported seeing a mouse among the tussocks ; in a few days more 

 were noticed ; then numbers all about, in the grass and in 

 every corner of the house. 



After this I had nearly a year's experience at gold-digging 

 on oin- first goldfields near Collingwood, Nelson. Here in the 

 camps were both rats and mice, although the countrj^ was 

 mostly covered by the %-irgin forest. On my retui'n to Canter- 

 bury Pro\'ince I found my way to the back of the first range 

 of westward mountains previously mentioned, and started a 

 small sheep-run, bounded by the rivers Waimakariri, Poulter, 

 and Esk, there being other large mountains still to the 

 westward, in fact all around. Here the rats acted differently, 

 though I had no suspicion they were a different kind. These 

 came in crowds around the dwelhng, so much so that, ha\'ing 

 stored the flom'— which was very precious owing to the diffi- 

 culty of packing it in — on beams overhead, I made myself a 

 lance by lashing a large packing-needle to a long stick, and, 

 when lying in bed, having the hght burning, would spear the 

 rats as they frohcked about, scattering the flour-dust over me. 

 One starlight night I went outside and was standing near a 

 small native-birch tree. On looking towards the clear frosty 

 sky the boughs of the tree were well defined ; but the whole 

 tree was thickly covered with apples. I rubbed my eyes and 

 looked again : they still were there — quite a plentiful supply of 

 fruit. I got a long pole wliich was near by and gently touched 

 one of the apples, wlien it gave a squeak, and all the fruit 



