FAUNA OF NEW ZEALAND. 439 



gum much valued for the preparation of varnish. But it has been recklessly cut 

 down, owing to the excellent quality of its timber as a building material ; whole 

 forests have been cleared in the construction of the new towns, and before measures 

 were iaken to re-plant the clearings, the species itself was in danger of being 

 exterminated. The climate appears to have also contributed to reduce the range 

 of this tree. Along the banks of the Molyneux, in the southern part of South 

 Island, the ground contains large quantities of kauri gum, although at present the 

 .species is confined to the province of Auckland in North Island. The fossil 

 resinous substance collected in the southern regions of New Zealand looks as fresh 

 as that derived from living plants ; yet long ages must have passed since the pines 

 producing it have gradually receded some 600 miles northwards. The old gum, 

 being more compact, is much more highly valued than than obtained from trees 

 still standing, and trading companies have been formed for working the rich 

 deposits in various parts of the country. 



Fauna of New Zealand. 



The indigenous fauna is no less original than the flora, and is supposed by 

 geologists to comprise only a single mammal, a species of otter, whose traces were 

 seen by Von Haast, and which was pursued by other explorers, without, however, 

 being captured. The Maori rat, now utterly exterminated by its European rival, 

 appears, as the natives assert, to have been introduced by themselves, as was also 

 the dog, which was nowhere found in the wild state. There are neither snakes nor 

 tortoises in the archipelago, and even the batrachians are represented only by a 

 single species confined to one locality on the east coast of North Island. Lizards, 

 however, abound, and comprise as many as twelve species occurring in no other 

 part of the world. One of these, the hatteria punctata, numerous in an islet in the 

 Bay of Plenty, is of very peculiar form, somewhat intermediate between the 

 ordinary lizard and the crocodile ; hence, although quite harmless, it was regarded 

 with a certain superstitious awe by the Maori. 



Before the introduction of European species the New Zealand rivers were almost 

 destitute of fish. Some, however, of the native forms are remarkable for the vast 

 extent of their range. Such are an eel found also in China, Europe, and the West 

 Indies, and a trout, which is likewise met in the streams of Tasmania and South 

 America. One of the great .curiosities of the New Zealand biological order is a 

 species of caterpillar {sphœria Rohertsi), which burrows a hole at the foot of a tree, 

 and in which a tall fungus then takes root and grows above the surface of the 

 ground. 



Of the New Zealand fauna the most remarkable class is that of the birds, 

 which is very rich, comprising altogether about 150 species. One-third of these 

 are peculiar to the archipelago, and constitute seventeen or eighteen absolutely 

 distinct genera, some presenting some very curious features. Such is the huia, a 

 kind of starling (Jieterolocha Gouldi), the male and female of which have entirely 

 different beaks, the one straight, the other curved quite round like a sickle. But 

 the essentially characteristic bird is the famous kiici [aptéryx], absolutely wingless 



