AND OTHER BIRDS 31 



CHAPTER IV. 

 FOVEAUX STRAIT. 



'HE nights of October 23rd and 24th 

 were spent on another Mutton Bird 

 island, or rather islet, for Piko-ma- 

 maku-iti cannot be more than a few 

 acres in extent. It lies nearly midway 

 between Stewart Island and the Bluff; and had 

 been chosen partly on account of our desire to 

 learn more of the nesting habits of the Mutton 

 Bird, and partly because we hoped that on a 

 speck of land so fully in the open sea some 

 species of Petrel as yet unknown to us, might 

 breed. 



Owing to the nature of the coast-line with its 

 apron of reef and rock our gear had to be landed 

 at some distance from the hut we meant to 

 occupy. Several portages were required to get 

 it under cover, and no sooner had it been stowed 

 than rain set in very determinedly, and again 

 most of our goods and chattels had to be moved 

 on account of the drip inside the hut. 



Firewood was then gathered and the place 

 swept out with an improvised broom, and 

 during this operation in the straw of the single 

 bunk much evidence of rat traffic was observ- 

 able. Of (me of these brutes a rat of the black 



