20 MUTTON BIRDS 



floor very earthy and damp with oozings from 

 the bank above, and along and over which birds 

 ran all night. 



Our dog, " Ban jo," who had already accom- 

 panied us in other expeditions and whom I had 

 again been able to borrow was, until a better 

 place could be found, fastened to one of the 

 piles; but even thus restricted, and away from 

 my restraining eye, he immediately dug out a 

 couple of poor little Kuaka. 



Upon unfastening the door we found that even 

 since our last visit many more Petrels had 

 contrived to imprison themselves in the hut. 



This was the most comfortable of all our 

 camps ; the room was large, the roof quite rain- 

 proof ; whilst beneath the lean-to was collected 

 an ample supply of dry firewood, permission to 

 use which had been granted by the proprietor. 

 On either side of the open fireplace there was a 

 bunk, and light was admitted by a window at the 

 side and another at the end of the whare. A 

 short form and several cases served for seats; 

 and during the past mutton bird season children 

 must have accompanied the elders of the party, 

 for on sheets of foolscap there were long lists of 

 words for use in dictation. There was a tattered 

 old "Royal Reader" too, in which I was pleased 

 once more to read the story of the ill-tempered 

 tailor who pricked with his needle the trunk of 

 the elephant, of the officer whose pet tiger licked 

 his hand, and other old friends in prose and 

 verse. 



Evidences of bird oil were everywhere, the 

 table, bunks, and floor stained with its dark 

 markings; the whole island indeed was per- 

 meated with the taste and smell of birds. The 



