600 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



ants were found, but there were dogs, which had no fear of 

 man — in fact, they seem, owing to curiosity alone, to have fol- 

 lowed the sailors so closely that the latter, from fear, ran into 

 the sea. How can we account for these dogs being there ? 

 and have any signs of previous inhabitants been found on the 

 islands, such as stone implements, &c. ? At a later period 

 cattle had been left there, and had become feral. Darwin re- 

 marks on them in one of his works. The climate was said to 

 be continually wet, and the land mostly peat-swamps. Now 

 I notice that wool and frozen mutton is exported from this 

 place to the European markets. Some may say, What has all 

 this to do with the dog of Polynesia ? To which I reply that 

 a careful observer should, in doubtful cases, collect all informa- 

 tion possible, which may, or may not, ultimately have a 

 bearing on the case under consideration. The dog is one of 

 the few landmarks which we may connect with Polynesian 

 history, and, as such, should attract the attention of those who 

 wish to study the whence of the Maori people. 



A gentleman w^hom I quoted in my former paper under 

 the nom de plume of J. B., owing to not receiving written per- 

 mission to use his name previous to my sending in the paper, 

 is Mr. James Bennett, of Lovell's Flat, Otago. Eeferring to 

 remarks which were made on this former paper, I may say 

 that it is not good policy to speak of our helpers as " second 

 hand," or as " men of to-day." Every man, old or young, 

 "gentle or simple," has a right to hold his own opinion on 

 any given subject. 



Art. LXXI. — Spiders as Engineers. 



By Coleman Phillips. 



[Read before the Wellington Pliilosopliical Society, 20th September, 



1S93.2 



On the 6th and 7th July of the present year there fell din. of 

 rain, and we had a flood in the Wairarapa slightly higher than 

 the flood on the 10th March last, when I believe the heaviest 

 rainfall occurred that has been recorded for many years in 

 New Zealand. 



On the 8th July I rode round the run to see how the drains 

 were acting. Most of the swamp-paddocks were under water, 

 but the small drains on the higher ground in the bush were 

 running swiftly. The sun had risen about half an hour, and 

 the fog was lifting. I could not therefore help noticing the 

 numerous geometric spiders' webs all around me, and the little 

 bridges the animals had made across one of the drains, either 



