446 
ISLAND LIFE. 
[PAET IT. 
of a rat in some deposit of an age decidedly anterior to the 
first arrival of the Maori race in New Zealand. 1 
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. 2 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 gentleman 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. 3 
1 See Buller, “ On the New Zealand Rat,” Trans, of the N. Z. Institute 
(1870), Vol. III. p. 1, and Yol. IX. p. 348 ; and Hutton, “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. 
8 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. Ail, 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 ” 
