146 



The Naturalist. 



pleasant and novel sensation of tugging at a great big mollusc that 

 requires both hands almost to push him off the rock. And you may- 

 have the pleasure of filling a basket with your captures as quickly as 

 you had been accustomed to fill a little box. Chitons are very 

 abundant, both in species and individuals, and are many of them of 

 good size. The sub-genus KatJiarina is a novelty, and a very different 

 object seen alive from what it is in the cabinet. There it is as black 

 as a bit of leather, to which indeed it is not unlike. Living, it is a 

 beautiful vermillion, and the mantle is granular. I had seen several 

 individuals of a species of Boris, to which the Katheriua bore such a 

 close resemblance, that I had nearly passed it over ; but happening to 

 touch it, the hard plates could be felt below the mantle. 



There is a large species of Emarginnla with the shell all but the 

 apex buried in the mantle, and in which the anterior slit has become 

 such an imperceptible notch that it was a long time before I could see 

 it. A beautiful Triton with an ivory mouth, ornamented with dark 

 brown teeth, seemed to be a great prize, till I was informed the natives 

 took any quantity of them to eat. 



Most collectors are familiar with the ParmopJionts, or duck's bill 

 Limpet, but alive it presents a most unfamiliar appearance, and 

 must bear the palm for ugliness in the moUuscan kingdom. The shell 

 (which is very small compared to the size of the animal) is entirely 

 covered by it. It is, indeed, not so very much larger than the shell of 

 Limax maccimus, compared to that of the slug. The animal is black, 

 and has a couple of short thick tentacles. The first I saw was 

 squatting on a stone in an attitude which reminded me very much of 

 a large toad, the tentacles resembling the fore paws. I took the thing 

 for a monstrous Aplasia. On handling it, the creature emitted a 

 copious lot of slime like a slug. Evidently there was something hard 

 in the back, which on examination proved to be the ivory shell of the 

 Parmophoru8. This repulsive animal is a favourite article of food with 

 the natives. I am told they wade into the sea at low water, and by 

 running the hand along the ledges of rock under water, can easily 

 feel the mollusc and bring it up. It is often found as large as the 

 hand. 



A word about land shells must bring these notes to a close. Wood- 

 ward says — ''The moist and equable climate (of New Zealand) is , 

 favourable to the existence of land shells," so I came with the hope of j 

 making speedy acquaintance with some of them. But for some time 

 that hope was not realised — I could not find one ; and I was quite 

 ready to agree with another authority, who says that " New Zealand 



