220 
Memoranda of an Excursion 
termine. A Carmichaelia, too, was very common, which 
differed much in habit from C. australis , found in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of the Bay of Islands, not being rigid like that 
plant, and much more filiform, with drooping branches. 
Approaching Rangitukia, a large village of the Ngati 
porou tribe, I was not a little amused and gratified, on ob¬ 
serving a written notice addressed to me, fastened to a post 
by the path side, informing me that the people of the village, 
who had heard of my arrival, were at their work in their plan¬ 
tations at some distance, and would not return till evening; 
directing me, also, to the house which I was to occupy, &c. 
This writing was etched, as it were, with a nail on a leaf of 
Pkormium tenax —a common mode of graphical communica¬ 
tion among the New Zealanders, when not in possession of 
paper; and in which they, unknowingly, imitate those nations 
from whom, doubtless, they are descended. At this village, 
where the natives are very numerous, I remained a few days, 
but had scarcely time or opportunity to eat or rest. During 
my stay, however, I succeeded in procuring several fossil 
bones of the Moa*. 
On the 29th, I left this hospitable village, and proceeded, 
as before, up the dry bed of the river. I had, on my former 
visit, obtained specimens of basanite, siliceous schistus, sul- 
phuret of iron, opal, &c. &c., from this locality; on this oc¬ 
casion, my collection of insects was large and curious, em¬ 
bracing individuals of different genera of the family Arac/i- 
nideaty which are here both large and numerous. Many of 
these insects often carry their strong and glutinous webs 
across the pathway; with which, if you happen to be at the 
head of the file, your face coming in contact, causes you 
suddenly, to halt, to the detriment of your heels, and the dis¬ 
arrangement of the whole line of march. The largest Ci¬ 
cada and Libellula are often seen entangled in those webs, 
* Vide Tasmanian Journal , vol. ii. p. 81, for an account of, and 
remarks on, the Moa . 
