94 Rev. W. Colenso on some enormous Fossil Bones 



Note C, page 82. 

 Whoever has read the marvellous ' Thousand-and-one Nights ' 

 must be vi'ell acquainted with the monstrous stories related of this 

 extraordinary bird ; its celebrity, however, is not confined to that 

 work. "Rukh," says the author of the Arabic Dictionary, " is the 

 name of a monstrous bird which is said to have powers sufficient to 

 carry off a live i-hinoceros." To this animal Marco Polo also refers, 

 in his relation of the story of the ambassadors : — " The rwM is said, 

 by persons who have seen it, to measure sixteen paces across the 

 wings from tip to tip, the feathers of which are eight paces in length, 

 and thick in proportion. A feather of the rukh was brought by those 

 messengers who w'ere sent by the Grand Khan for the purjjose of 

 making inquiries respecting it, which feather is positively affirmed 

 to have measured ninety spans, and the quill part to have been two 

 palms in circumference." The existence of this immense bird seems 

 to have obtained universal credence throughout all the eastern na- 

 tions ; and while ancient historians make mention of certain enor- 

 mous and peculiar animals as common to the Orientals, scientific 

 men of modern times have wisely omitted such relations from their 

 nomenclature. 



Note D., page 89. 



The only quadrupeds indigenous to New Zealand are a dog, a 

 small rat, a few Saurians, a bat, and on the coast, one or two species 

 of seal. The dog (Kuri*) is a small animal (somewhat resembling 

 the variety known as the jn~ic/(ed-ear shepherd's cur) with erect ears 

 and flowing tail ; its cry is a peculiar kind of whining howl, which, 

 w^hen in a state of domestication, it utters in concert at a signal 

 given by its master, and is most unpleasant. Of the skins of these 

 animals the New Zealanders make a durable garment, which when 

 composed of alternate strips of black and white fur has a handsome 

 appearance. Its flesh was formerly eaten. This variety of dog has 

 however become very scarce in consequence of the continued intro- 

 duction of other and larger varieties. 



The rat (Kiore) is a small field species of Arvicola, Cuv., now 

 seldom met with. Its place unfortunately is more than supplied 

 with the common species of Mus {M. musculus, M. rattiis, and M. 

 decumanvs\), which everywhere abound, to the infinite annoyance of 



* The natives have several names for the dog in addition to that of kuri, 

 sucli as moirnoi, kirehe, peropero, and the general appellative of kararehe. M. 

 Balbi, ' Introd. a TAUas,' p. Ixix, mentions ^ero, the New Zealand term for 

 dog, as being derived from the Spanish perro, and as affording a proof that 

 the animal was originally of foreign introduction, nnd obtained in com- 

 paratively recent times; the natives however invariably assert their always 

 having had this animal among them. 



f These species are severally distinguished by the natives : the indigenous 

 animal is termed kiore maori (i. e. native rat) ; M. musculus, kiore iti (i. e. 

 little rat) ; M. ratlus, kiore mangu (i. e. black rat), or kiore pakcha (i. e. 

 foreign rat) ; and M. decumanus, maunga rua (i. e. barn abider.) 



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