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they could no longer overcome the physical obstacle to their ascent of the 

 river, presented by the line of rapids referred to. I am the more inclined to 

 adopt this opinion, because thei-e is no obstacle to the passage of Eels from the 

 Clarence or the Maruia into the upper waters of the Waiau. Maling's Pass is 

 a low bog-saddle between the Clarence and the Waiau, from which water flows 

 to each of these rivers. The Maruia, in like manner, is separated from the 

 Ada (a large tribiitary of the Upper Waiau) by a similar bog-saddle, on which 

 there are numerous ponds in direct communication with the waters of the two 

 rivers ; but, no doubt, any Eels which may find their way across these 

 saddles into the Upper Waiau would run down the river at the spawning 

 season. 



It is interesting to observe that the valleys of the Waiati and Ada were on 

 the direct line of route of the East Coast natives during their excursions to the 

 West Coast in search of greenstone, or for man-hunting, and the Gorge of the 

 Maruia, through which they passed before striking the head waters of the 

 Grey, is known to this day by the name of the Kopi o kai tangata, or 

 Cannibals' Gorge. During these excursions tlie natives evidently camped 

 near Lake Guyon, for I have there obtained stone implements, fragments of 

 the shell of the mutton fish, and other articles, and in a cave not f\ir from the 

 lake, the skeleton of a man, some fragments of matting, and a portion of an 

 eel-basket, were found. 



I do not conclude from the latter circumstance that Eels were to be fovind 

 in the lake, or in the upper parts of the Waiavi or its tributaries, at the time 

 when the excursions referred to took place, but rather that it was intended for 

 vise either in the lakes on the western side of the Spencer Range, or in those at 

 Tarndale on the route to the Kaikoura, which have long been celebi'ated 

 amongst the natives of the latter place for the abundance and quality of their 

 Eels. 



On the whole I am disposed to atti'ibute the absence of these fish from the 

 district in question to the necessity for migration to the sea or to warmer 

 parts of the river during the spawning season, and the inability of the fry, or 

 even of the adult fish, to re-ascend the river beyond the line of rapids before 

 referi'ed to. 



