100 Capt. F. W. Hutton on the Origin of ike 



point is 1600 feet above the sea. According to Mr. H. Arm- 

 strong, a ground-lark and a small bird like a wren (probably 

 Zosterops) are found here, but Dr. Filhol saw no land-birds. 

 It has one endemic land-shell (Helix campbellica) , and two en- 

 demic flowering plants. 



Macquarie Island. — Distant from New Zealand 600 miles. 

 The rocks are said to be greenstone, sometimes veined with 

 quartz, occasionally amygdaloidal, and containing mesotype 

 and analcime*. The land-birds are Platycercus novce zealan- 

 dia'j var. erytlirotis, an endemic rail (Rallus(?) macquariensis) , 

 and a species of Ocydromus (probably O. brachypterus). 



The floras of the southern group of islands — Auckland, 

 Campbell, and Macquarie — are so closely connected that they 

 must be taken together. They have between them 111 species 

 of flowering plants, of which 25 — i. e. 22 per cent. — are en- 

 demic. There is also one endemic genus and seven antarctic 

 species, which are not known from New Zealand. We may 

 therefore conclude that the evidence given by the birds and 

 land-mollusca is decidedly in favour of the Auckland Islands 

 and Macquarie Island having been connected with New Zea- 

 land. Whether Campbell Island formed part of this land, or 

 whether it dates from a still later time, may remain for the 

 present an open question. But the possession of an appa- 

 rently endemic species of land-shell and two endemic species 

 of flowering plants is in favour of the former supposition. 

 It is remarkable that the floras of the Chatham Islands and of 

 the southern group of islands have each become differentiated 

 by about the same amount, and we must infer from this fact 

 that their isolation from New Zealand was pretty nearly con- 

 temporaneous. I mentioned in my last address that the flora 

 of the Kermadec Islands, judging from the very scanty collec- 

 tions that have been made there, contains only 14 per cent, of 

 endemic species, and its isolation may therefore date from 

 about the same time. It appears probable that all were con- 

 nected, or nearly connected, with New Zealand during the 

 Pliocene period ; and, if this be correct, it follows that the 

 differentiation of the flora since then has been about 20 per 

 cent., which is not very different from the rate of change in 

 the marine mollusca. 



We now come to the question, By what route did the 

 antarctic plants reach New Zealand ? As the Auckland 

 Islands, Campbell Island, and Macquarie Island all contain 

 antarctic species which do not occur in New Zealand, it is 

 evident that their floras are not altogether derived from New 

 Zealand, but that the antarctic plants came through them and 

 * Prof. Scott, Trans. N. Z. Inst. xv. p. 487. 



