FOSSILS 



93 



of course he was inside. Imagine my surprise when, 

 on looking round, I beheld him running at full speed, 

 and waving his hat in the most fran- 

 tic manner. As he came up, I could 

 not suppress a laugh at his chagrined 

 appearance. 



We reached Wanganui late that 

 night, where we remained till the 

 middle of June. We used every 

 day to go out across the river to 

 some clay cliffs, and get out the fos- 

 sils that there abounded. When 

 practicable, the specimens were taken 

 out half enclosed in a square piece 

 of clay, which greatly improved their 

 appearance. We made a short jour- 

 ney to the seashore to collect, where 

 the cliffs were as full of the remains 

 of marine life as a generous pudding 

 of plums. 



Father said it was the finest local- 

 ity for fossils that he had ever seen 

 in all his travels. There was one 

 stratum near the bottom of the cliff 

 in which we found the loveliest pearl muscles, with the 

 nacre as bright as the colors of the peacock. It was a 

 very delicate piece of work whittling round them, but 

 once out, they were, beyond all comparison, the most 



MAORI IDOL. 



