78 Transactions, — Miscellaneous. 



and attached to a stout Hue, composed of the fibres of the Korari (Phor- 



mium tenax), which, after behig cleaned from the parenchymatous parts, are 



twisted together by the hand, is drawn quickly through the water by a 



person paddling a small canoe ; the larger fish, believing this glittering lure 



to be then- prey, eagerly pursue it, and greedily catchmg at the same, are 



taken. In favourable weather a great number of fine fish are soon captured 



by this method. Among the New Zealanders it is a very favourite sport, 



and one that is not a little animating when several canoes are engaged. I 



have seen upwards of twenty small canoes thus employed on a fine summer's 



evening, on the beautiful sheet of water in the Bay of Islands. I may here 



mention that, previous to the introduction of the Gospel among the New 



Zealanders, their hooks were often comx30sed of human bone ; those of 



theh enemies being used for that purpose. Sometimes they formed their 



hooks from the tough stalks and branches of Tauhmu {Fomaderris ericifoUa) 



and Mangemange [Lygodium volubile), hardening them by the aid of fire. 



At present they invariably prefer the hooks which they make from iron 



nails to those of our manufactm'e, the latter, they allege, being much too 



brittle. 



Note C, page 65. 



Whoever has read the marvellous " Thousand-and-One Nights" must 



be well acquainted with the monstrous stories related of this extraordinary 



bh-d; its celebrity, however, is not confined to that work. " Rukh," says 



the author of the Arabic Dictionary, " is the name of a monstrous bird, 



which is said to have powers sufficient to carry off a live rhinoceros." To 



this animal Marco Polo also refers, in his relation of the story of the 



ambassadors : — " The riikh is said, by persons who have seen it, to measure 



sixteen paces across the wings fi-om tip to tip, the feathers of which are 



eight paces in length, and thick in proportion. A feather of the rukh was 



brought by those messengers who were sent by the Grand Khan for the 



pm-pose of making enquh'ies respecting it, which feather is positively 



afiirmed to have measured ninety spans, and the quill part to have been 



two palms in chcumference." The existence of this immense bird seems to 



have obtained universal credence throughout all the Eastern nations ; and 



while ancient historians make mention of certain enormous and pecuHar 



animals as common to the Orientals, scientific men of modern times have 



wisely omitted such relations from their nomenclature. 



Note D, page 72. 



After all, it may very possibly be observed by some, that I act rather 



more precipitately than is consistent with judicious consideration in thus 



rejecting in toto the whole of such evidence. And such persons may also 



recollect the hastily formed conclusion originally arrived at by some of the 



