da 
Natural History in Colonisation. 145 
in proportion to its size, the richest gold-field ever discovered or 
worked in any part of the world. The present horizon of the 
colony, therefore, is bright and cloudless. Your land, your flocks 
and herds, are rising rapidly in value. Dunedin is being meta- 
morphosed, at a Victorian rate of progress, from a village into a 
city. The stream of population is at the flood. This population 
brings with it large numbers of the educated classes of society ; 
and these classes, let me hope, will not be long in experiencing the 
want, and demanding the supply, of many, if not all, of the insti- 
tutions, the establishment whereof I have been recommending. 
Conclusion. 
Circumstances have compelled me altogether to omit the sec- 
tions | had originally intended on such subjects as— 
I. Under the head of the Botany of Otago— 
a. The necessity that seems to exist for the careful Con- 
servation of your Forests, and for the establishment of a 
Board of Woods and Forests. 
b, The importance of investigating the nature of the Tutu 
Poison, and of discovering a preventive or remedy therefor. 
c. The importance of a comparative study of the British 
(naturalised) and native Grasses, as fodder for sheep and cattle 
on your ranges and runs. 
d. The desirability of experiment on the Acclimatisation, 
or introduction, of such of the trees or shrubs of Tasmania, 
Australia, or Hurope, as might be found suitable as a pro- 
tection or environment to your dwellings, or as a substitute 
for your Forest trees. 
e. The development of the economical appliances of your 
Flax fibre. 
f. The economical applications of a number of your com- 
monest weeds ; for instance, the Lichens of your rocks, which 
I have proved by experiment here are capable of yielding 
good dyes. 
If. Under the head of the Zoology* of Otago— 
a. The Acclimatisation of many of our British fish, birds, 
and other animals, viz. :—The introduction of the salmon and 
trout into your streams and rivers; of the grouse, partridge, - 
* Our ignorance at home of New Zealand zoology may be happily illustrated, 
in one of its phases, by the following apostrophe by the author of ‘‘The Plea- 
sures of Hope:”— 
‘‘On Zealand’s hills where tigers steal along, 
And the dread Jndian chants a dismal song,” &e. 
It so happens that the most striking feature of the very meagre fauna of New 
Zealand is the entire absence of animals dangerous to man,—a circumstance that 
goes far to render that country one of the safest of all the British colonies. 
NEW SERIES.—VOL, XVIII. NO. 1.—JuLY 1863. T 
