166 FUNAFUTI ATOLL. 



most part no scientific description of the animal is attempted, 

 nor is reference made to previous records in other islands. 

 Although the rat is frequently mentioned, it has not in all cases 

 been thought of sufficient interest to be indexed, and therefore 

 many possible records are not apparent. The geographical dis- 

 tribution of the Pacific rat is so wide, and therefore of such 

 interest, that I have thought it wise to include all definite 

 localities met with during casual reading, to form a basis on 

 which to build. 



Before doing so, however, some notice of its identity is 



IDENTITY. 



Apart from the Maori rat, the only technical notice appears 

 to be that by Peale, 18 * who named (and figured) rats obtained 

 from widely separated islands as Mus exulans. In this con- 

 nection it may be mentioned that the Editor of the second 

 edition of the work cited, remarks that he is not without 

 suspicion that the animal is either Mus pencillatus, Gould, f or 

 Mus jacobice, Waterh. J There is, however, small likelihood of 

 the Pacific rat being identical with either of these species, and 

 indeed Thomas, 22 by adopting Peale's name, has practically 

 decided that it is distinct. His interesting note reads as 

 follows : 



"The Rats from Sunday Island, Kermadec group, apparently 

 belong to a species widely spread over the Pacific, the earliest 

 name of which seems to be Mus exulans, Peale, based on Fijian 

 examples. It is possible that examples from the different groups 

 of islands may hereafter show certain differences from each other, 

 but, so far as we can see at present, all should be united under 

 one heading. Indeed the fine Maori Rat of New Zealand (Mus 

 maorium, Hutton) seems to be very doubtfully separable from 

 the same form, which has probably travelled from island to 

 island in native canoes, or on floating logs &c., long before 

 European ships began to bring over the ubiquitous Grey and 

 Black Rats, which now threaten to exterminate the native 

 species throughout the world." 



It will be remarked that Fiji is not included in the localities 

 enumerated by Peale at which Mus exulans was obtained : for 

 rats from this group that writer proposed another name Mus 

 vitiensis ; there can be little doubt, however, that notwith- 

 standing the slight differences mentioned, the two forms are not 

 specifically distinct. 



* A List of Works referred to will be found on p. 177. 



t Gould Proc. Zool. Soc., 1842, p. 12. 



J Waterhouse Voy. " Beagle," Mam., 1840, p. 34. 



