CHAPTER XII. 



NEW ZEALAND. THE FRIENDLY ISLANDS. 

 MATUKU ISLAND. 



Wellington, New Zealand. The Rata 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 Rumphius. 



Wellington, June 28th to July 7th, 1874.— A\'e 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 considerable e.xtent 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 

 necessarily contrasts unfavourably in appearance with Sydney. 

 The buildings are all of wood, even Government House. 

 There is one long principal street following the shore, and the 

 remainder is more or less scattered. Tattooed Maories were 



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