1 20 Transactions. — Miscellaneoiis. 



travellers on the narrow j^aths not often traversed; and they might still remain 

 for lonsr were it not for the destructive animals that have come with the 

 Europeans. Rats have committed great havoc, amongst those especially 

 which lay their eggs upon the ground, and wild cats have found their way 

 into the very depths of the forests. 



It is difficult — almost hopeless now — to obtain any remains of the Solitaire, 

 still more so of the Dodo, birds a century or two ago plentiful enough to be 

 caught for food by sailors frequenting the islands they inhabited. So it will 

 soon be with the Aj^teryx in the South Island, and, as Mr. BuUer says, the last 

 Apteryx oweni may go into a "gold-digger's pie." There are persons who 

 earn a livelihood yet by catching " Maori hens," as they call them, and destroy 

 hundreds for the purpose of providing these luxuries. There may be some 

 excuse for the hungry miner, but none for the epicures of our towns who 

 encourage the destruction of the beautiful tui, hung up in numbers for sale in 

 the open light of day. 



The New Zealand Institute, under the able superintendence of its accom- 

 plished and energetic Director, Dr. Hector, F.R.S., has done much ; its 

 *' Transactions " have made New Zealand known more in foreign lands than it 

 otherwise would have been, and have gone far to redeem the colonists from the 

 character attributed to them by more than one writer, of being a community 

 entirely absorbed in the pursuit of gain. Now is the time, when peace 

 prevails, and interest in things of the past is not totally lost amongst the 

 Maori themselves, for all its members, who have the oi')portunity, to exert 

 themselves in this direction. 



Much might be done, possibly many old memorials which might throw light 

 upon the past might be rescued from oblivion, were the agents now employed in 

 all parts of this island instructed to avail themselves of the oj^portunity afforded 

 by their intimate communication with the elders of the different tribes, whilst 

 carrying out negotiations for the purchase of their ancestral domains, to obtain 

 all the information practicable regarding subjects of interest to the world at 

 large. The memory of such useful labours' will secure the gi'atitude of future 

 generations to this when all its other doings are utterly forgotten. 



