446 



ISLAND LIFE. 



[part it. 



of a rat in some deposit of an age decidedly anterior to the 

 first arrival of the Maori race in New Zealand.^ 



Much more interesting is the reported existence in the moun- 

 tains of the South Island of a small otter-like animal. Dr. 

 Haast has seen its tracks, resembling those of our European otter, 

 at a height of 3,000 feet above the sea in a region never before 

 trodden by man ; and the animal itself was seen by two 

 gentlemen near Lake Heron, about seventy miles due west of 

 Christchurch. It was described as being dark brown and the 

 size of a large rabbit. On being struck at with a whip^ it uttered 

 a shrill yelping sound and disappeared in the water.^ An animal 

 seen so closely as to be struck at with a whip could hardly have 

 been mistaken for a dog — the only other animal that it could 

 possibly be supposed to have been, and a dog would certainly not 

 have " disappeared. in the water." This account, as well as the 

 footsteps, point to an aquatic animal ; and if it now frequents 

 only the high alpine lakes and streams, this might explain 

 why it has never yet been captured. Hochstetter also states 

 that it has a native name — Waitoteke — a striking evidence 

 of its actual existence, while a gentlem^an who lived many years 

 in the district assures me that it is universally believed in by 

 residents in that part of New Zealand. The actual capture of 

 this animal and the determination of its characters and affinities 

 could not fail to aid us greatly in our speculations as to the 

 nature and origin of the New Zealand fauna.^ 



1 See Buller, " On the New Zealand Rat," Trans, of the N. Z. Institute 

 (1870), Vol. III. p. 1, and Vol. IX. p. 348 ; and Button, " On the Geogra- 

 phical Relations of the New Zealand Fauna," Trans. N. Z. Instit. 1872, 

 p. 229. 



2 Hochstetter's New Zealand, p. 161, note. 



3 The animal described by Captain Cook as having been seen at Pick- 

 ersgill Harbour in Dusky Bay (Cook's 2nd Voyage, Vol. I. p. 98) may have 

 been the same creature. He says, " A four-footed animal was seen by three 

 or four of our people, but as no two gave the same description of it, I can- 

 not say what kind it is. All, however, agreed that it was about the size of 

 a cat, with short legs, and of a mouse colour. One of the seamen, and he 

 who had the best view of it, said it had a bushy tail, and was the most like 

 a jackal of any animal he knew." It is suggestive that, so far as the 

 points on which all agreed " — the size and the dark colour — this description 

 would answer well to the animal so recently seen, while the " short legs " 



