﻿6 6 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



natives that tliey had never seen any. lie obtained one specimen at Pitt's 

 Island, and saw several more. He is informed that these reptiles ai-e numeroiis 

 on the Star Keys, a small rocky islet some few miles from Pitt Island, 

 which he hopes to be able to visit. He mentions, too, the probable existence 

 of a native rat, mentioned by the Morioris, but has not yet seen any specimen. 

 From the tenour of his letters I believe that his collections will add greatly to 

 our knowledge of the fauna and flora of the islands, and may probably help in 

 determining the period at which they were cut off from land communication 

 with New Zealand. 



Art. TV. — Moas and Moa Hunters. Address to the FhilosopJiical Institute of 

 Ganterhury. By Julius Haast, Ph.D., F.R.S. 



\Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 1st March, 1871.] 



Gentlemen, — When I had the honour to deliver to you last year the usual 

 anniversary address, I earnestly hoped that you would elect for the next 

 session another of your members as your President, but although I repeatedly 

 acquainted you with my wishes in this respect, I had to give way to your 

 urgent request to keep for this year the honourable position assigned me, for 

 which, no doubt, many of the members of our Institute are, in many respects, 

 much better qualified than I am. 



In my address of last year, I pointed out how very desirable it would be 

 to have scientific and technical education introduced among us to fvirther the 

 sound advancement of the Province ; and the members of the Philosophical 

 Institute, by j^etitioning the G-eneral Assembly, and by several other means, 

 have shown their anxiety for the same object. Hitherto, however, no further 

 steps have been taken by the authorities of the Province, with the exception 

 of the opening of the Canterbury Museum in a building of its own ; but I 

 have no doubt that the desire for the progress of the colony, and the wise 

 liberality of tlie Provincial Council will, in due course of time, bring about 

 the desirable imjjrovement and addition to our educational machinery. 



In a country like ours, with its resources only partly developed, with a 

 great variety of fine and useful raw material, with a large and daily increasing 

 agricultural population, and with magnificent and never failing water power in 

 every direction, every step tending to teach its inhabitants to make better use 

 of their dormant resources is in the right direction, and New Zealand can only 

 become great and truly independent when its growing population will have the 

 means to obtain all those advantages which older coimtries now ofier to their 

 youth. Not that I wish for a moment to assert that scientific and technical 

 education would offer a panacea for all shortcomings we have to contend with. 



