92 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. IV. 
black feathers tipt with white. These feathers are 
much valued by the natives as ornaments for the hair 
on great occasions ; and are highly esteemed as presents 
from the inhabitants of this neighbourhood to those of 
the north, where the bird is never found. Near the 
insertion of the beak, a fleshy yellow wattle is j)laced 
on either side. 
Our sportsmen crossed the mouth of the Heretaonga 
river, and ascended a steep ridge of the eastern hills. 
Among the forests on the top they remained ensconced 
in the foliage, while the natives attracted the birds by 
imitating the peculiar whistle, from which it takes the 
name of huia. They only shot two or three, which 
had followed the decoy almost on to the barrels of their 
guns. 
I had formed one of several shooting parties and 
fishing excursions. The former were generally con- 
ducted in the different creeks into which the river 
divides from a kind of tidal lagoon inside the sand-bar, 
and we fell in with numerous pigeons and wild-ducks 
while exploring their courses as high as our boat could 
proceed. The grandeur of the forest which overshaded 
these clear creeks, the luxuriance and entanglement of 
the underwood, and the apparent richness of the soil, 
could nowhere be exceeded, l^^e longed to see the 
time when the benefit of the latter should be reaped by 
industrious English yeomen. 
Our fishing parties were generally directed to a snug 
cove about a mile south-east of the river's mouth, which 
we christened Lowry Bay, after the first mate, who 
used to be head fisherman, and direct our bungling ex- 
ertions in the management of the sean. In this place 
we generally had a fine haul of plaice, sole, and several 
other kinds of fish. On the beach near Pitone we ob- 
tained several immense hauls, whenever a shoal of 
