KOTIWHENU 105 
plumage of any of these might indeed have ex- 
cusably suggested adjectives not altogether ex- 
travagant applied to Birds of Paradise. Even 
a Sparrow multiplied in bulk, his browns made 
super-browns, becomes on the tongues of men 
unaccustomed to the descriptive art, and in the 
ears of men hoping still for undiscovered species, 
a bird of respectable plumage and exceptional 
aspect. 
Thus ignorant of what we might or might not 
encounter, and with only unreliable descriptions to 
lead or mislead us, we determined to search island 
after island until one suitable to our requirements 
should be found. As the Dolly could only plant 
and transplant us whilst the weather remained 
calm, above all things it was important that we 
should not be stranded where rats were in pos- 
session. Time would have been wholly wasted, 
for where vermin have obtained a footing, as on 
Entrance and dozens of other islands, rarer species 
have been annihilated, and. even sea-fowl deci- 
mated. 
With mingled hopes and fears, therefore, but 
at any rate with the certainty that we should 
see much that would be new, we passed into the 
open sea. This belief was at once justified, for 
immediately we found ourselves amongst larger 
numbers of birds than almost I had deemed pos- 
sible. We sailed alongside, and sometimes nearly 
