NATURAL HISTORY. 
623 
I have twice seen a reptile about double the size of an 
English toad, the back was serrated and of a dirty yellow, 
but with a smooth skin like that of the frog, the head and 
termination of back nearly the same in shape, it did not hop 
but ran ; as it was near a bush I had but a transient view of 
it, but sufficiently clear to make the above observations ; a 
similar reptile was stated to have been found in the centre of 
a stone. 
No snakes have ever been found, although there are reports 
of their having been introduced by the Sydney shipping. 
Many of the earth-worms are almost like them in size, being 
considerably more than a foot long, and some even more 
than a yard, these were formerly eaten, and esteemed very 
good : this was the case with the toke tipa, a very long large 
worm, which feeds on roots, there is a saying, that the reka, 
or sweetness, of this worm remained in the mouth for two days 
after it was eaten. A long olive worm is found in mud pools. 
The Ichthyology of the New Zealand seas forms a page of 
natural history, which hitherto has been greatly neglected ; 
the two Forster’s — father and son — who accompanied Cap- 
tain Cook in his second voyage, were the first who paid any 
attention to it. More recent travellers have added but little. 
The variety and abundance of our fish is very great ; many 
kinds, however, still remain un described ; the natives furnish 
a long list of names, it is however impossible to form correct 
ideas of them from such accounts ; we are solely indebted to 
Eichardson, and especially Dr. Gray, for the best classification 
which has yet been made. 
Of the Fam. Percoidce , eleven species are given of these ; 
the one which is most generally known is the Centopristes 
trutta. The Kahawai, this is one of the most abundant, and 
is called the mackerel by the settlers. 
The Tawa tawa is the same size as the Kahawai , or mack- 
erel, which it resembles in color and form. There is a saying 
of this fish, ce Me te kiri tawa tawa ka takoto o te tangata nei,” 
— ■“ As the skin of the tawa tawa when caught, so is the skin 
of the man when slain/’ 
Polyprion cernuum, wreck-fish, or Jew-fish. 
