Fiji-New Zealand Expedition : narrative and preliminary report of a scientific expedition from the University of Iowa to the South Seas

Nutting, Charles Cleveland, University of Iowa, Iowa City, 1924

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Title: Fiji-New Zealand Expedition : narrative and preliminary report of a scientific expedition from the University of Iowa to the South Seas

Author: Nutting, Charles Cleveland

Published: University of Iowa, Iowa City, 1924

PLATE 1

Chart showing run;.- of expct nd from New Zealand

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Members of the Fiji New Zealand Part] 1 ...ft to right K li Wylie, Waldo Qlook, ('. C Nutting, A. 0. Thomas, Dayton Stoner, Mrs. Stoner

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

Henry Frederick Wickham, M.S., Editor

NUMBER 5

VOLUME X

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

Narrative and Preliminary Report of a Scientific Expedition from the University of lowa to the South Seas

by C. C. Nutting

With Chapters on Ornithology and Entomology by Dayton Stoner, on Botany by R. B. Wylie and on Geology by A. 0. Thomas

PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY. lOWA CITY

CONTENTS

PAGE

CHAPTER

Preface 5

I. Preparation 9

II. Outward Bound 22

III. Life on Makuluva 36

IV. The Fauna of Makuluva Reefs 55

V. Our Experience on Vitilevu, Fiji 89

VI. The Fijians 107

VII. Ornithological and Entomological Experiences in Fiji (Stoner) 121

VIII. Some Experiences of a Botanist in Fiji (Wylie) 142

IX. Experiences of a Geologist in the Fiji Islands (Thomas) 154

X. A Stormy Voyage to New Zealand 169

XI. Auckland and Vicinity 177

XII. Experiences on a New Zealand Trawler and

Notes on the Invertebrate Fauna of Hauraki Gulf 194

XIII. In and About Wellington, Capital of New Zealand 212

XIV. A Trip to Christchurch 228

XV. The Maoris of New Zealand 243

XVI. Ornithological and Entomological Experiences in New Zealand (Stoner) 254

XVII. Experiences of a Botanist in New Zealand (Wylie) 283

XVIII. A Geologist's Impressions of New Zealand (Thomas) 299

XIX. Homeward Bound Over a Lonely Ocean 337

PREFACE

This volume is the fourth narrative in book form of expeditions sent out in the interest of natural science from the State University of lowa. The first of these was "Explorations in the Far North," by Frank Russell, a narrative of a trip undertaken in 1892-3 to the Barren Ground of Arctic America, the main object being to secure a series of skins and skeletons of the musk-ox which had been reported as about to be exterminated by the Esquimos to the North and the Indians to the South. The collections made by Mr. Russell were mainly zoological and ethnological and still may be regarded as among the most valued treasures of the museum.

The second was a "Narrative and Preliminary Report of the Bahama Expedition," by C. C. Nutting, published by the University in January, 1895. This relates the experiences of a party of twenty-one naturalists, mainly undergraduates from the University of lowa, during a three months' cruise in the vicinity of the Bahama Islands, Cuba, and Key West on a sailing vessel chartered for the occasion.

The third volume of this series was the "Barbados-Antigua Expedition, Narrative and Preliminary Report of a Zoological Expedition from the University of lowa to the Lesser Antilles under the auspices of the Graduate College," by C. C. Nutting, published in 1919. The party consisted of nineteen members, mainly zoologists, their principal objective being marine invertebrates.

The fourth narrative is the present work, which will speak for itself.

As such publications are rather unusual, perhaps unique, products of modern universities, it might be well to explain that the idea originated in my mind after reading and profiting by such works as Darwin's "Voyage of the Beagle," which always seemed to me to be of exceptional value to the naturalist, and the various narratives of Arctic and Antarctic expeditions. These works have been eagerly read by thousands whose interest in science is merely incidental and have given great pleasure and profit to specialists mainly interested in scientific objectives.

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It has seemed that much of interest has been lost to the gen era! public by the failure of those in charge of scientific explorations sent out by our universities to recognize the claims of the general public to a more popular account of such work than is given in the scries of technical reports customarily issued To meet this need of easily assimilated general knowledge for the public at large these narratives have been prepared and issued by the University of lowa, and, if the letters of commendation received furnish a reliable criterion, the results have been distinctly worth while.

Each of these expeditions has resulted in a. series of technical reports written by recognized specialists and issued as a part of the publications in the series known as "Studies in Natural History," and a number of these are still to come as it takes many years to glean the scientific results of such expeditions and to publish them in proper form.

It is proper here to express our indebtedness to the many friends who have been helpful in making a success of the FijiNew Zealand Expedition, although these services are very generally acknowledged in the course of the following narrative.

Official aid of the most valuable kind has been given freely by President Walter A. Jessup of the University; Dean Carl E. Seashore of the Graduate College, and Professor G. W. Stewart who was Acting Dean when the preliminary plans were drawn up. We are also under obligations to Senators William S. Kenyon and Chas. A. Rawson. who obtained credentials from our Department of State and the British Ambassador at Washington.

Mr. T. J. Wall, Chicago Agent of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and his traveling assistant, Mr. Black, were indefatigable in securing concessions and favors for our party in the way of transportation by rail to Vancouver and, on ihe return trip, from San Francisco to lowa city, as well as in securing the good offices of -Mr. J. C. Irons. General Agent of the Canadian -Australasian Royal Mail line, who did all in his power to make us comfortable during our long sea voyage and secured permission for us to have our equipment and collections transported as baggage.

Captain J. T. Rolls of the "Niagara" and Captain B. L. Altwell on the "Tahiti" did much to make our trip comfortable while at sea. At Honolulu we were the recipients of many de-

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

14

lightful courtesies at the hands of local scientific men led by Dr. H. E. Gregory of the Bishop Museum, and my friend and former pupil, Dr. C. H. Edmondson.

At Fiji our best friend was Hon. T. E. Fell, C. M. G., Colonial Secretary, who indeed was the one who suggested the expedition to Fiji and who aided very largely in making it a success. We are also indebteded to His Excellency Sir Cecil Hunter Podwell. K. C. M. G., for official favors; to Mr. H. C. Pilling, Assistant Colonial Secretary, for receiving our party and effects and aiding in landing, and in passing the customs house, and for other favors. Also to Mr. Harold C. Wright, Government chemist, for very efficient aid rendered our botanist and entomologist, and to Ratu Pope of Bau for hospitality extended.

In New Zealand we found so many helpful friends that it is impossible to enumerate them here; all, I believe, are mentioned in the following pages. But it is proper that acknowledgment should be made to His Excellency, The Governor General, Viscount Jellicoe, and to the Honorable William Downie Stewart Minister of Internal Affairs, for many official courtesies. Most of all are we indebted to Mr. J. Hislop, Under Secretary of Internal Affairs, and Mr. Jas. McDonald, Acting Director of the Dominion Museum. We also wish to acknowledge the hospitality of the Hon. Mr. George Malcolm Thompson and the courtesies extended by Mr. H. T. B. Drew, Publicity Officer. Among our scientific colleagues we are especially indebted to Mr. Thomas E. Cheeseman, Curator, and to Mr. C. T. Griffin, F. Z. S., Assistant Curator, both of the Auckland Museum; Dr. Charles Chilton, Rector of Canterbury College; Mr. Elsdon Best of the Dominion Museum; Professor H. B. Kirk of Victoria College; Mr. W. It. B. Oliver, F.Z.S. and Mr. Harold Hamilton of the Dominion Museum; and Mr. Gilbert Archcy of Canterbury College.

Favors rendered my companions by friends in Fiji and New Zealand will be acknowledged by them in the chapters which relate their experiences while on the Expedition.

Unless otherwise indicated the illustrations in this volume are from negatives taken by the author or by Mr. Kent, University photographer, who is responsible for the frontispiece, maps, illustrations of zoological specimens, and full-page portraits.

C. C. Nutting

University of lowa March 10, 1924

CHAPTER I

PREPARATION

For many years I have felt the lure of the South Pacific, as indeed have most naturalists, particularly those devoted to marine zoology. In 1902 I was so fortunate as to be appointed one of the civilian naturalists on the Hawaiian cruise of the United States Steamer "Albatross," and thus made the acquaintance of the Hawaiian group, including some of its more remote members, such as Laysan Island and Necker Island; but the southernmost point reached during that cruise was only about 20° N., and the vast spaces of the South Pacific still remained un visited.

The Barbados-Antigua expedition was undertaken and carried out in 1918 1 by a party of nineteen persons, nearly all from the University, with myself as director. This enterprise was somewhat handicapped by war conditions, although these did not really interfere with success in the field. The burden of responsibility placed upon the leader of such a party is much greater in war time than under ordinary circumstances, and like the ordinary sailor man. I vowed to myself that this would be my last voyage in any such official capacity; but the expedition was successful and all the party reached their homes in good condition, as did the very extensive collections.

When the narrative of the Barbados-Antigua Expedition was published in May 1919. a copy was sent to his Excellency T. E. Fell, C.M.G., Acting Governor of Barbados at the time of our stay there. He had been a friend indeed to the visiting naturalists from lowa, and, one to whom we owed much of our success. Nothing was heard from him until a letter was received dated January 10, 1921, in which he explained that he had been transferred to Fiji where he had been appointed Colonial Secretary. After acknowledging receipt of the narrative and saying some pleasant things about it, he added "If you intend to organize another expedition, think of Fiji as your objective." and went on

i Nutting, Barbados-Antigua Expedition, narrative and preliminary report nf a zoological expedition from the University of lowa to the Lesser Antilles under the auspices of the Graduate College, 1919.

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lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

to say that we would receive the same official concessions that we did at Barbados and that it was likely that the little island of Makuluva would be placed at our disposal just as Pelican Island off the coast of Barbados had been turned over to us in 1918. He then proceeded to depict the Fiji Islands and the advantages of this group for zoological work in most alluring terms.

I was strongly tempted, but still adhered to my determination not to assume the responsibility of leadership in further adventures along such lines and I let the matter rest until the autumn of 1921. At that time a reporter from a local paper published a note regarding the invitation from Fiji, and immediately I received an urgent request from two of the members of the Barbados-Antigua party that they be counted in on the Fiji enterprise, and asking me to act again as their leader.

This request from two of my most valued associates, Professor A. 0. Thomas and Dr. Dayton Stoner, was more than I could resist, and the matter was taken into serious consideration. I found that President Jessup and Dean Seashore favored the idea, so the die was cast.

After careful consideration of the make-up of the proposed party, it was decided that membership should be limited to six professional naturalists, and that three departments of the university should be represented, botany, geology, and zoology. Such men would divide responsibility with the leader and each would be able to do more work and do it more efficiently than younger and less experienced men. Moreover, the cost of transportation, which would obviously be much greater than that of previous parties, would be very materially reduced by thus restricting the membership.

Professor R. B. Wylie, head of the department of botany, was very gladly accepted as a member and proved a most fortunate choice. We were particularly anxious to have Mr. John B. Henderson, who had done so much both financially and personally to assure the success of the previous expedition, join us; he took the matter under consideration, but was finally compelled by business and family affairs to decline with evident regret.-

= Mr. Henderson had undertaken the report on the Molluscs of the Barba-dos-Antigua Expedition and had the work well in hand. After our return from Fiji we were greatly shocked to hear of his death January 1, 1923, and it is difficult even now to realize that the genial, quick-witted, energetic

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

18

To the four members of the Fiji party already mentioned we added .Mr. Waldo Glock, graduate student in geology, a partieularily promising young man, who had already shown exceptional ability in research, and Mrs. Dayton Stoner who had accompanied her husband to Barbados and proved a very efficient collector of insects. She also agreed to attend to the commissi rv.

Thus we had a party made up entirely of specialists, each able to take complete responsibility for his particular field of work. There is one slight drawback, however, that seems inevitable. With six independent specialists, each full of enthusiasm for his own field of research, it is sometimes difficult to bring about the coordination, or team work, so essential to success. But the net result was good, and the scientific results, as will appear in the special reports were much more satisfactory than would have been possible with inexperienced persons, however enthusiastic and energetic.

Upon looking up the matter of transportation, through Professor Thomas, who acted as our traveling agent, we found to our surprise and gratification that our trip could be extended to New Zealand at no additional expense, so far as passenger fares were concerned; that a round trip ticket from Vancouver to Auckland, New Zealand, by way of Fiji, with stop-over privileges would cost just the same as to Fiji and return. We learned also that the Canadian-Australasian Royal Mail Line would transport us at so moderate a fare that it would cost no more to go from lowa City to New Zealand via Vancouver, Honolulu, and Fiji and return to lowa City, than one would have to pay for similar accommodations from lowa City to England and back.

It must be confessed that we were greatly intrigued by the idea of a visit to New Zealand, that wonderland of the Antipodes. I had often indulged in day-dreams of this most ancient of all islands but without hopes of the dreams ever be-

Henderson is no longer with us. He was beloved by every member of (he party of 1918; his wise counsel and never failing' cheerfulness were the main-stay of its leader during the anxious times bound to be encountered by such a party in war-time. He also aided us very materially in a financial way, furnishing his launch, the "Eolis Jr.," with its excellently devised equipment for dredging, together with his engineer, Greenlaw, free of nil charge, even for transportation and gasolene. We shall never forget Henderson nor cease to mourn his sudden and untimely death.

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coming facts. Now, however, the way seemed open, and my companions were eo,ually enthusiastic about extending bur field of operations to include New Zealand as well as Fiji, and none of us had cause to regret this decision.

Of course, we already had most effective contact with Fiji in a valued and tried friend, Mr. Fell, and that was sufficient for our purpose, as we were confident that through him we could secure all available information regarding the characteristics of the Fiji group, as well as every facility that could reasonably be granted by the Colonial Government. The extension of our visit to Xew Zealand offered more serious problems, and it was decided that official connections with the Dominion Government would be left to myself while Professor Wylie would undertake to communicate with the scientists of New Zealand and to ascertain the best way for us to utilize the limited amount of time at our disposal.

Through President Jessup we secured letters from Secretary Hughes of the Department of State, and Senator Kenyon undertook to secure a letter from the British Ambassador at Washington to the Dominion Government of New Zealand. Previous experience had made it evident that such letters of introduction are of vital importance in the case of scientific parties. The Colonial and Dominion Governments of the British Empire so far as my experience goes, have always been alive to the importance of encouraging scientific expeditions when they arc properly introduced through official channels. These governments have the power, moreover, to waive regulations regarding duties on scientific equipment, and to grant official aid to a far greater extent than seems possible for American official representatives in out-of-the-way places like our own West Indian Islands, the Virgin Islands of St. Thomas and St. Croix. 3 President Jessup also wrote a letter to Mr. A. Cecil Day, Official Secretary to his Excellency, Viscount Jellicoe, Governor General of New Zealand, stating the objectives of our visit and bespeaking the official aid of the Dominion Government. As it usually takes at least two months, sometimes three, to receive answers to letters to New Zealand, time was an element of importance and there was none to spare. Letters officially notifying the Colonial Government at Fiji of our intended visit were also sent by

■ Narrative of Barbados-Antigua Expedition, 1919, p. 250.

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20

President Jessup, together with the request that we be assigned quarters at Makuluva and that our effects be passed through the customs with as little delay as possible. In due time satisfactory answers were received and the cooperation of the governments of Fiji and New Zealand assured.

Professor Wylie proceeded to secure as many addresses as possible of leading scientists in zoological, botanical and geological fields now residents in New Zealand and Fiji. This was no easy task as he found the literature from these regions meagerly represented in our library. He succeeded, however, in getting in touch with a number of their leading men, and every one of them seemed glad at the prospect of a visit from the lowa scientists and eager to afford all the assistance in his power. This enabled us to plan quite definitely regarding our objectives and the disposal of our time. Representing, as we did, three departments of science it was evidently impossible for the party to keep together while in the field, and thus we found it necessary for each to plan an independent itinerary. Manifestly the specialist in marine zoology would find it best to confine himself to the coastal regions, while Dr. Stoner, who was to attend to the birds and insects and Dr. Wylie, our botanist would do more in the interior. Professor Thomas and Mr. Glock, the geologists, would necessarily have to travel more extensively than any of the others.

The matter of itinerary thus became much more complex than in previous expeditions. We obtained valuable assistance in this matter from Mr. Fell in Fiji and also from the official chemist, Mr. Harold Wright. In New Zealand, Mr. Harold Large of Napier went to a great deal of trouble in suggesting an itinerary which would enable us to visit the more important places during the time at our disposal. We also received several maps, time-tables, railway guides, etc. from the Colonial Government which has charge of the railways in New Zealand, and these aided us considerably in working out our schedule in that country. Mr. H. T. B. Drew, publicity officer at Wellington, sent us maps and handbooks that proved particularly useful, and Mr. Clement L. Wragge kindly arranged for our reception and quarters at Auckland.

In the matter of passports, vises, etc. we were made unpleasantly aware of the fact that citizens of the United States have

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to pay more for such accommodations than those of other countries. It seemed that our government had established a precedent by demanding $lO for a passport and an equal amount for vises. Other governments, perhaps in retaliation, assessed similar fees from Americans, while citizens from other countries were charged only a fraction of that amount. This practice is still in vogue, and so far as I can ascertain, Americans still have to pay more for seeing the world than any other people. I suppose this is on the theory that travel is a luxury and should therefore be taxed; but it is rather hard on scientists traveling for scientific objectives and paying their expenses out of their own salaries.

An excellent suggestion came from Professor G. W. Stewart, then acting dean of the graduate college, to the effect that each member of the party prepare a list of his own objectives to be attained both in Fiji and New Zealand. We were thus led to a definiteness of aim which resulted in more clearcut plans for work than would otherwise have been possible. It will be interesting to learn how many of these objectives were realized by each member of the party when the special reports of the expedition appear. As a matter of fact a great majority of these definite aims was attained, but we found in several instances that unexpected opportunities presented themselves while in the field, and each member felt free to switch his attention to these new and attractive possibilities, often with good results.

It was soon evident, that, lacking a generous Henderson to provide a launch and dredging equipment, we would have to give up any idea of deep sea dredging that had added so much to the scientific results of previous expeditions, and that our marine work would have to be confined to the reefs, flats and shallow water. In New Zealand, however, I was privileged to go on a cruise on an Auckland trawler that worked down to about 25 fathoms, thus securing some of the prizes in the way of marine invertebrates. The time thus spent yielded the best results, so far as these groups were concerned, of the entire trip.

The graduate college appropriated a fund of $7OO for equipment and transportation of collections, and a considerable part of this was expended in the transportation of collections from our own Pacific Coast to lowa City, for which we were compelled

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to pay what we considered exorbitant freight rates. These charges cut down our appropriations to such an extent that a very inadequate sum remained for equipment. We felt handicapped in this respect and as a matter of fact took with us a very poor supply of large glass jars for the preservation of the more conspicuous and showy specimens; we had to content ourselves with small bottles and metal tanks in which the specimens were crowded together, much to the detriment of the more delicate and fragile objects.

The transportation of alcohol for the preservation of material offered a serious problem on account of legal restrictions of various sorts, particularly in the United States en route to Vancouver. We finally arranged to have our three large metal containers shipped in bond to Vancouver, care of the S. S. “Niagara” of the Canadian Australasian line. In such matters I found it easier to deal with foreign officials than with those of our own government, with which it is hard to avoid a vexatious amount of red tape. There should be, it seems to me, some way whereby a state university might ship alcohol out of the country for the use of its own agents in a foreign land without so much trouble as at present. As a matter of fact most foreign officials, particularly the British, seem better able to appreciate scientific objectives and to make allowance for them than do our own. In short they are inclined to help any well-accredited scientific party or individual and seem well able to waive or modify their legal restrictions when the occasion seems to justify.

The form in which to take money for such a trip is important. As our operations were to be exclusively in British territory, it would seem a simple problem. We divided our funds between American Bankers Association checks and English money in the form of letters of credit. One thing can confidently be counted on, namely that the traveler always loses in the matter of exchange. We were assured by our bankers that both forms would pass at par wherever we went, but we found that we were everywhere charged exchange. English money, except small silver coins, was not current in either Fiji or New Zealand, and even bankers’ checks did not pass for their par value, neither was Fiji money good, except at a discount, in New Zealand. If banking accounts were established, we had to pay for each

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check used in addition to the original discount for exchange. As we were responsible for the expenditure of university funds in the purchase of equipment and transportation of collections, and, as the exchange at various rates had to be carefully computed, it was no easy matter to keep our financial accounts straight. Sometimes the formality of securing receipts from native helpers, particularly in Fiji, was perplexing and their signatures weird specimens of chirography.

Having given up the idea of dredging, the devising of equipment was a comparatively easy matter. Three or four compound microscopes and an equal number of dissecting instruments met our needs, and, of course, each of us carried his own pocket lens. We intended to make much use of photography on this trip but decided to abandon the idea of taking motion pictures. On the Barbados-Antigua expedition we took a good moving picture camera and an operator with very satisfactory results, but the expense of employing an operator, paying his transportation, buying the necessary films, etc.. was now too great for our slender means. The actual scientific results from motion pictures are not very great, although they are extremely popular and an aid to the popularization of scientific subjects.

We therefore contented ourselves with small cameras and good lenses, each member of the party taking the instrument most suited to his purpose and personal preference. We also took a microphotographic camera, particularly for use in making pictures of expanded living coral polyps. But that instrument came to grief before it had been of much service on account of the shutter going out of commission—one of the results of shipping a good deal of water in an awkwardly managed landing at Jlakuluva, where the surf was very bad.

Mr. Glock was our official photographer and did good work, using a Premo No. 12 with film packs; but he was so often separated from the rest of the party, with the exception of his fellow geologist, Professor Thomas, that he accomplished little for the zoological and botanical members. Professor Wylie was probably the most expert photographer among the biologists and his beautiful negatives of the luxurious tropical trees and plants, particularly of the wonderful tree-ferns in the interior of Fijij would be hard to surpass and will be used in the botanical lecture rooms for years to come. He used an Eastman 3 A Special

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camera which took 3%"x5%" films. My own camera was an Ansco loaned by my friend and colleague, Professor Charles H. Weller, who had made good use of it in his own explorations in Greece. It took a lantern-slide-sized film and did very good service, particularly on the reefs and during my cruise on the Xew Zealand trawler. Professor Thomas, with his 2C Kodak, and Dr. Stoner, with a 1A Kodak, were also successful in their photographic work. Between lis we brought back something like a thousand usable negatives, many of which will be utilized in illustrating the present work.

For some reason we were all inclined at first to under-expose our films, particularly in Fiji. We had been warned repeatedly that the tropical light rendered it necessary to give much shorter exposures than would be made at home. We soon found that this was incorrect and that we were most successful when we exposed about as we did in lowa. We had little trouble from film deterioration either before or after exposure. We used Eastman "tropical" films specially packed in metal moisture-proof containers and found them quite satisfactory, although some of them entrusted to local photographers were carelessly handled and in a few cases virtually ruined. Although several of us carried tripods, we did not make much use of them, especially on the reefs, on account of the inconvenience of carrying them, along with various collecting impedimenta, into the field.

For the information of my fellow amateur photographers I will say that the Eastman films are to be had practically everywhere in New Zealand, at Suva in Fiji, and even on the steamers of the Trans-Pacific lines. There is thus little danger of getting out of photographic ammunition.

Our collecting outfit was very simple, being confined to the usual tools for shallow-water work found at all marine biological laboratories. Dr. Stoner, at the suggestion of Dr. Paul Bartsch of the U. S. National Museum, took a 410 gauge Iver Johnson shotgun, which was very light and yet shot hard enough to bring down even large sea birds. He also had an outfit for collecting and preserving birds and insects. Dr. Wylie attended to the botanical equipment and Professor Thomas to the geological outfit.

A good supply of printed labels of several sorts saved time in the field. We also secured charts of the Fiji group, especially

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of the vicinity of Suva Harbor, and Mr. Fell sent us a sketch map of Makaluva and vicinity. We took few books, but included Alexander Agassiz’ “Reefs of Fiji” and Dr. Wayland Vaughan’s “Corals of Laysan Island.” Dr. Vaughan very kindly gave me the method that he had found most successful in killing coral polyps in an expanded condition. A few entomological, botanical and geological books and pamphlets were also included. In the matter of commissary we decided to depend almost entirely on what could be found in the localities visited and made no mistake in so doing. We did, however, on the advice of the University dietitian, Professor Ruth Wheeler, take along a supply of milk powder called “klim” and found it very satisfactory at Makuluva where we should otherwise have had difficulty in securing milk of any sort. A small medicine chest with contents suggested by Dr. C. P. Howard of our college of medicine was included in our outfit. The military department of the University very kindly provided first aid kits for each of us. Fortunately, however, we had little occasion to resort to either, as we were all in good health during our stay at Fiji, and well equipped physicians were available in New Zealand.

I have found from experience on various expeditions, mostly in tropical regions, that the life of a normally healthy man or woman engaged in field work is about as safe, so far as health is concerned, as it is at home. Among the forty-five persons forming the make-up of the parties to the Bahamas, Barbados and Antigua, and to Fiji and New Zealand, there was remarkably little ill health of any kind; no more, indeed, than would likely have been experienced during similar periods in lowa, A few mild cases of indigestion and slight fevers due to prolonged exposure to the tropical sun are about all that I recall, and in these cases recovery was quick and complete. An out-of-door life, good plain food and regular habits can ordinarily be depended upon to maintain at least average good health.

In the matter of clothing we were confronted with the fact that we would be in a tropical country while at Fiji and in a winter climate during our stay in New Zealand. A complete outfit for both summer and winter had to be provided for each person; also mosquito netting, water-proof blankets and a small kit for camping purposes, particularly in Fiji. We found many useful contrivances at reasonable prices at an “army store” in lowa City.

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Here, also, several of us secured good field glasses at low cost although they were actually used less than might have been an ticipated.

With all these matters to attend we found plenty to occupy our attention during the period of preparation, and it must be remembered that each of us was carrying on all of the ordinary activities that fall to the lot of the university teacher. Professor Thomas had many letters to write in attending to the matter of transportation of our party and its equipment, but the arrangements made by Mr. Black, of the Chicago office of the C. P. Railway, and Mr. Wall, his immediate superior, were in the end thoroughly satisfactory, and we secured very good quarters on the S. S. “Niagara” of the Canadian Australasian line at the minimum rate.

The work of packing our outfit was supervised by Dr. Stoner with his usual efficiency. We did not realize at that time the extent to which our party would be scattered while in the field and later found considerable difficulty in separating the material required by each, especially when we arrived at Makuluva. In future, this might be avoided by packing the material required for each individual in separate boxes, so far as is practicable. This also has its disadvantages and is less economical of space than the plan which was adopted for this trip.

Personal luggage was packed in steamer trunks, one for each member. We found some “officers’ trunks” at the army store that were well made, cheap and admirably adapted to our purpose. Duplicate lists of all materials were made as the packing progressed ; the boxes were listed by number and the contents of each specified in detail. As all packages were to go as baggage their weights had to be ascertained and kept below the maximum allowed for personal luggage, and each trunk or box provided with good iron handles for the convenience of baggage-men.

As a matter of fact the only serious mistake was in using too light material, galvanized iron, in the square tanks for specimens in alcohol or formalin. These were enclosed in good wooden boxes, heavy enough, we thought, to insure them against injury. We found, however, that several of the tanks developed serious leaks when we returned from Makuluva and after we reached New Zealand they had to be patched up under circumstances involving considerable annoyance and inconvenience. There was little damage to material, however, and our collections arrived in good

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lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

shape. But it is manifest that copper tanks such as are used by the Bureau of Fisheries are the best and safest. For the smaller things preserved in fluid we used square Ixrttles packed in the chest devised by Dr. Paul Bartsch of the National Museum. Each chest contained 108 bottles. We also took along a number of the square tin pans described in my narrative of the Bahama Expedition and found them very useful for laboratory purposes such as sorting and killing specimens.

Because the party was smaller than on previous occasions, and because of the omission of dredging equipment and large glass containers, we found the number of packages reduced to twentytwo and the weight to 1915 pounds. This was exclusive of three twelve gallon drums, containing alcohol, which were sent by express. We were allowed 350 pounds per person, or 2100 pounds in all, on our railroad tickets which were accompanied by an equal number of Trans-Pacific tickets. In this way our entire equipment was transported from lowa City to Fiji, and later to New Zealand, free of charge. Coming back was another story, so far as railroad transportation was concerned, as will appear later. The time from September, 1921, to May, 1922, was none too long to attend to the details of preparation, innumerable details it seemed to us. Indeed, much more time could have been used to advantage, and my experience goes to show that a full year should allowed to actually attend to the preliminary arrangements for such an expedition.

We left lowa City on the evening of May 14. At 5 :30 in the morning of Tuesday, May 16, we reached Portal, on the Canadian border, and saw our equipment and personal luggage, except hand luggage, bonded through to Vancouver.

"Wednesday, May 17, was a gloi-ious, bright day in the Canadian Rockies. There was more snow on the mountains, through which the Canadian Pacific wends its way coastwards, than I had everseen there before, and the great white masses stood out sharply against the intense blue of the sky. Host of our party tried out their cameras with satisfactory results, but I refrained until after we left Vancouver which I regarded as our real point of departure. At times the road ran above the snow line and the temperature fell to a wintry chill. Although the Canadian Pacific Railroad route is familiar to me, there is always a thrill in the stupendous scenery of majestic mountains, and many a new picture was hung on memory's walls that day.

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

28

The next morning found us gliding through the brilliant green Columbian country, partly shrouded in fog and rain, with occasional bursts of sunshine, but the day settled fair and clear before we reached Vancouver, one of the loveliest cities on the Pacific Coast, where our agent had secured comfortable quarters for us at the hotel St. Regis.

After breakfast we went at once to the office of the Canadian Australasian Royal Mail Line, noting in passing that the “Niagara” was at her dock. Mr. J. C. Irons, General Manager of the line, had made very satisfactory arrangements for our comfort. He personally conducted us to the ship, introduced us to the captain and showed us the staterooms that were to be our home until we reached Fiji. In the afternoon we enjoyed a visit to Stanley Park, with its superb display of big trees, mostly Douglas firs, that remind one of the pillars of some great cathedral. The evening was spent in writing last letters to our families and friends and also to university authorities explaining a change of plans regarding our return voyage. There is always an oppressive sadness on the evening before sailing that does not lessen as the years go by. Indeed, it is to me the most trying time of any voyage and always dreaded more than the actual sailing day, which is attended with sufficient excitement to crowd out the thoughts that otherwise would be saddening. I wished more than once that the evening before sailing could be abolished entirely.

As the “Niagara” would not sail until near midnight, we still had a day at our disposal. Mr. Irons had posted us at the Vancouver Club and some of us took lunch there. The club house is one of the finest that I have seen, commanding a superb view over the bay and its shipping, and the service is excellent. That afternoon Thomas and Stoner went down to attend to the transfer of our luggage to the dock and cheek up on the packages, all of which were accounted for and, apparently, in good condition.

The wharf on “steamer day” is always interesting, and one is impressed with the enormous capacity of a great liner as the huge piles of merchandise are stowed away with efficiency and dispatch. Most of the freight was billed to Sydney, Australia, and we were particularly struck with the number of automobiles that were being sent out. There were sixty Buicks and many Fords and Dodges, the three makes seeming to be the most popular ones in Australia. The busy scene always has its fascination; the rush of the trucks, the shouts of the stevedores, the clank of the hoisting engines, and above all, the efficient coordination amid the seeming confusion intrigues the imagination as the great steamer gradually sinks to the loading line.

CHAPTER II

OUTWARD BOUND

We boarded the “Niagara” at 7:30 on the evening of May 19 in order to get settled in our state rooms before sailing. We were allotted three comfortable staterooms, with ample space for our luggage and ourselves. A state room in a modern liner is a marvel of compactness and convenience. There was a small wardrobe for each of us, separate wash basins, a place to hang our watches where they would be safe and easily reached, pigeon holes of various sorts for toilet articles, several small drawers, electric lights, call bells, electric fan and a full length mirror on the door. It was evident that we were to be comfortable on our voyage of 5215 miles to Fiji.

In the morning we found the ship tied up to the dock at Victoria, Vancouver Island. At breakfast we made a party of eight, including six lowans and two ladies we met on the train coming from St. Paul to Vancouver. We had time for a stroll ashore and saw something of the city of Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, with its beautiful and stately public buildings. The day was clear and quite chilly and the snow capped Olympic Mountains stood out against the clear blue sky in the distance.

We passed out of the straits about 6:00 P.M. and then headed directly for Honolulu, our first port of call, after which we took coffee in the lounge and smoking rooms, both of which were commodious, and comfortably furnished with small tables, capacious chairs and divans, where men and women could meet socially and become acquainted. The brilliantly lighted saloons, state rooms and decks afforded a most agreeable contrast to the state of affairs when we were last at sea which was during war time when all was gloom after night settled down and not a flicker of light visible on deck. At that time it was a crime to strike a match and the man with a lighted cigar was promptly squelched. Thus the roomy brightly lighted decks of the “Niagara” were symbolic to us of the vast difference between war and peace, and we felt a sense of security that had been lacking during the voyage to and from the West Indies in 1918.

•2-J

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FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

It was quite rough when Thomas and I went on deck for an airing before retiring, and I found the warmth of the berth quite a comfort. There was considerable motion to the “Niagara” which we nicknamed “Rolls,” after the captain, and when I went on deck the next morning Glock was the only other member of our party in evidence; even he seemed disinclined to indulge in breakfast. So I was the only occupant of our table, and the dining saloon as a whole was very thinly populated. Sea-sickness is an ailment that I could never understand, lacking personal experience. It certainly has little to do with the general health of the individual, the most robust persons often suffering severely while many apparent invalids are immune. Wylie’s attack was brief but orthodox. Stoner seemed the most afflicted, while the others were soon up and about. My own considerable experience at sea has shown that the less I intrude myself on others the better. So I busied myself with writing in the library.

It was a bright day with considerable sea running. The first day at sea always has a strong fascination and I never get over the joy of it, but feel selfish to be so content when others are manifestly unhappy. It was still too chilly for comfort on deck and it was almost as bad below, the ship being insufficiently heated, as are all British vessels, from the American point of view. The dining saloon was extremely cold with all the ports open. Later, the smoking room was heated, at least according to the British idea of comfort. The next day the sea was smoother and the air slightly warmer.

A sybarite life, this! The steward brought coffee, crackers and fruit at 7 :30 A.M. to sustain life while dressing. Then the bath room steward announced, “Your bawth is ready, sir.” After a warm plunge in an exceedingly deep bath-tub I was joined at breakfast by all but two of the party. Thomas and Glock enjoyed deck tennis later and all were much happier while the life on board ship livened appreciably. Captain Rolls told of an experience he once had when the “Niagara” ran square into a sleeping whale in mid-Paeific. It was just beneath the surface and the vessel’s stem struck it near its middle where it hung, cut about half in two, until the engines were reversed and the ship backed away. The whale was killed by the impact.

A ship is always full of interest. While the oldfashioned fullrigged vessels were, undoubtedly, the most picturesque and beautiful craft that ever floated, there is majesty about a modem liner.

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lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

Although it was quite rough I accepted the invitation of the chief engineer, Mr. Petterson, to inspect his domain, and received permission to have Mr. Glock accompany us. There is probably no aggregation of mechanical devices more complex and compact than that of a modern steamer. There are scores of separate engines, arranged with the greatest possible economy of space and fitted together with the nicety of the parts of a watch. There are pumping engines, compressors, condensing engines, fans, injectors, dynamos for oil, steam, water and gas; hydraulic engines for hoisting. Electrical power is used in many ways and there is a great switchboard for its instant control. Immense turbines actuate the triple screws. Away down, far below the level of the sea, are the three great shafts, each 17% inches in diameter and working independently. There is power everywhere, throb and hum and constant bewildering motion. A powerful fire engine is there ready for instant service in case of need. The floors and hand-rails are slippery with oil, the narrow steel stairways and ladders lead more and more deeply into the bowels of the ship. The vessel is rolling and staggering in the heavy seas and one has to watch his steps carefully to avoid going headlong into the titanic mass of steel, moving smoothly and quietly for the most part and with grim, irresistible power.

Below the engines are immense furnaces for burning crude oil which is fed by blasts which spray the oil in the form of a fine mist, and the heat of from 2,000 to 3,000 degrees is constantly maintained. Over 30,000 barrels are burned during each round trip from Vancouver to Australia and back.

We were surprised to see so few men working among the engines, boilers and furnaces. Hardly more than a half dozen were noted during our trip of inspection, and Chief Petterson said that by using oil burning furnaces, the labor of at least fifty stokers was saved as well as much space and time for re-fueling. There is also much less dirt and it is claimed that there is less danger from fire than when coal fuel is used. The oil bunkers are easily filled and easily trimmed, that is, the weight equally distributed on both sides of the vessel. We even peered into the shaft tunnel just above the keel of the ship. The chief explained the various engines, furnaces, etc. very carefully, but the information was more than we could digest all at once and we emerged into the upper world with a feeling of bewilderment, although we did retain a good deal of information that was new and most interesting.

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FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

The sea was again “lumpy” and the party not so happy. The ship rolled a good deal in spite of her size and beam, and it was chilly everywhere, about the only comfortable place being our bunks or the smoking room, and the latter was not at all attractive to those inclined to sea sickness.

May 24th was "Empire Day" and when we asked the captain for permission to decorate our table with British and American flags he offered to have it done. On going down to dinner we found all of the tables and the walls of the dining saloon gay with flags of various nations. Our table had a big American flag in the middle and groups of British, American, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand flags at the ends. "We appeared in full dress for the occasion while the other male passengers contented themselves with tuxedos. There was dancing on deck in the evening, although achieved with some difficulty owing to the lumpy seas.

The next day was my birthday and I opened the little packages stowed away in my suitcase by the dear ones at home, who had given instructions not to "peek" until May 25th; their remembrances brightened the day which would otherwise have been a rather gloomy one, in fact a homesick one. At dinner, however, a grand surprise awaited me, the result of a conspiracy of our party, including the "adopted ladies," Miss Hutton and .Miss Fanning. I imagine that the Stoners and Thomas, old and tried companions of a previous expedition, were the chief conspirators, aided and abetted by all the others.

The table was profusely decorated with red, white and blue stripes along the middle of the white cloth, and three groups of little flags made bright the ends and center, the largest flag being "old glory" which never seems more beautiful than when one is far from home. There was an lowa pennant at one end and a "Niagara" pennant at the other. I was so dazed and touched by this great kindness that I did not at first see a real surprise planned by the chief steward. At the top of each menu card was printed "Wishing Mr. C. C. Nutting many happy returns of (he clay." One of these menus signed by all of our party and the two women is one of my most valued reminders of the trip. The steward presented each one of us with a similar card in an envelope ready for mailing to Ihe home folks. But the recipient of all these honors was to be still more completely overwhelmed when a huge birthday cake with most elaborate devices in the way of frosting after designs by the pastry cook was brought in by the

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lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

steward. The top was ornamented with little silvery beads and in pink letters the inscription “Many happy returns 25-5-22.” The huge cake would have sufficed for several times the number at our table and it was passed around to the captain's table, and pieces reserved for the chief engineer, chief steward and our waiters who outdid themselves in entering into the spirit of the occasion. It must be confessed that I was touched beyond power of expression and I could not fail to recall a similar occasion on Pelican Island in 1918 which was instigated largely by the same dear friends and companions.

Early in the morning of May 27th we found ourselves approaching Oahu, one of the most beautiful of the Hawaiian group, and in sight of Diamond Head, a landmark well known to all who have visited Honolulu. The rugged summits of the high purple mountains cut the sky line with jagged serrations and the vividly green valleys dappled with shadows of clouds, the breakers dashing upon the beach with its fringe of palms and low bungalowlike houses, the curve of the harbor with its entrance between rows of gleaming white rollers were all familiar enough to me. Just twenty years ago almost to a day, while serving as a civilian naturalist on the U. S. S. “Albatross,” I had visited the Hawaiian Islands. But the city of Honolulu had changed so greatly as hardly to be recognizable. Immense steel and cement warehouses crowded the water front and stately buildings behind them almost hid the Palace and Judicial building which, in 1902, were the most conspicuous structures to be seen when approaching from the sea. Great hotels and business houses gave a metropolitan air entirely lacking at that time. Electric trolley cars had taken the place of the mule-drawn trams and hundreds of autos dashed through the streets where buggies, carriages and horses had been the only modes of transportation.

After inspection by the health officers and a hurried breakfast, we went on the deck where we were received by my friend and former pupil, Dr. C. H. Edmondson, who was accompanied by Dr. Gregory, director of the Bishop Museum, Dr. Lyon, director of a privately endowed experiment station, Dr. J. M. Westgate, director of the United States Experiment Station, Dr. Kunkel, pathologist of the same institution, Dr. Bergman, professor of botany in the University of Hawaii, Mr. Judd, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Bishop Museum, Dr. Hall, also of the Museum, and several other scientific men with their wives.

34

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

These good friends proceeded to give us such a day in Honolulu and vicinity as none of us will ever forget. They put us into autos for a delightful drive to Pali Pass, a scene of mountains, valleys and sea that is noted throughout the world. I could not help contrasting this swift ride over the best of roads of easy gradient with the painful ascent for wearisome hours on the occasion of my former visit. Winding through fields and forests of tropical trees, strange forms of vegetation on either hand, catching enchanting vistas of the city and the blue Pacific as we looked backward and of deep valleys and rugged crests of mountains as we looked ahead, we finally, with almost startling abruptness, found ourselves at the top of the Pass where we left the cars to view a picture too sublime for description. We stood on the bank of a sheer precipice over which tradition says a whole army was pushed by a victorious host. We could see the road winding down the other side like a white ribbon, and the exquisite green of growing sugarcane. There were scattered groups of coconut palms, beyond gleamed the breakers of the Pacific as they lazily rolled over the coral reefs on the windward side of Oahu. Then the deep pure blue of the ocean, appearing deeper and purer than ever when viewed from this height.

We then visited the magnificent botanical garden connected with the experiment station under the direction of Dr. Lyon, who was our guide. For two of our party this was the first view of real tropical vegetation, and no better introduction to its marvels could be found. Next we went to the Club for luncheon with a notable group of Hawaiian men of science, many of whom had already welcomed us at the dock. We had broiled lobster and

“poi,” the most characteristic native dish tasting and looking much like a paper-hanger’s paste, but we ate it with our spoons instead of swiping it into a gluey mass on two fingers as is, or was, the proper custom. There were delicious strawberries and watermelons, topped off with coffee and excellent cigars for those addicted to the weed. After luncheon I was called on to explain why we were there and tell “what we had up our sleeves.” They seemed interested in our expedition, as was natural when we remember that Hawaii is the center of scientific activity for the whole of the tropical Pacific.

After lunch we were whirled away to Waikiki Beach, the Coney Island of Honolulu, past gigantic hotels that have been erected since my former visit, and to the aquarium and marine laboratory

35

lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

in charge of Dr. Edmondson, in which we were particularly interested. The aquarium is a great popular attraction where many curious and wonderfully colored fishes are well exhibited to thousands of visitors, mainly tourists, who visit the beach. There are "butterfly fishes," gorgeous fellows displaying their "homeward bound pennants" in the form of very greatly attenuated dorsal fins; blue "unicorn fishes," "angel fishes," morays, "devil fishes" and many others. A better place for an aquarium could hardly be found. Immediately in front of it are the coral reefs with their innumerable brilliantly colored fishes and other animal forms.

Edmondson's marine laboratory is very conveniently located right on the beach at Waikiki with good coral reefs but a stone's throw away, and with convenient tables for investigators and Students from the University of Hawaii. He is indeed fortunate with a rich tropical fauna at his very door and the inspiration of students in his daily work at the University of Hawaii.

Next we visited the famous Bishop Museum under the direction of Dr. Gregory. The collection embraces priceless treasures in the way of ethnological material, and many of the zoological specimens are unique, especially some Hawaiian birds, a large number of which are now practically extinct. The mounted fishes were particularly attractive in their gorgeous colors and bizarre forms. It is one of the best exhibits of fishes that I have seen. Of course, we were greatly interested in the reef fauna of the tropical Pacific including many exquisitely beautiful corals. This museum occupies a strategic position as a central point for the study of the fauna of the Pacific, of easy access to many of the island groups of Occanica with their fast vanishing people and fauna. A comprehensive survey is under way and the Bishop museum is in a position to be greatly benefitted and to become one of the most important in the world at no distant day. Its connection, through Dr. Gregory, with Yale University is also fortunate. From him I obtained helpful letters of introduction to the scientists of Fiji and New Zealand.

I was much interested in what Dr. Gregory had to say about the Japanese and other inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands. He Stated that the Japanese, and particularly the younger generation, were improving in their loyalty to the United States, for most of them were born and brought up under the American flag; on the other hand the older men still felt attachment to their mother

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

36

country, Japan, and believed that their loyalty was primarily due to her. Dr. Gregory believed that those of the younger generation were entirely sincere in their attachment to the JJnited States and said that they had an organization for the express purpose of fostering this loyalty. He regarded the Portuguese as the most troublesome element in the population; many of them have been brought in as laborers on the plantations, and do not amalgamate with the other races.

I could not help thinking of an incident that occurred during my former visit to the Island of Kaui. We passed a native hut whose occupants had allowed a family of Portuguese to camp in their door yard. A few weeks afterward we passed the place again and saw that the Portuguese were occupying the house while the natives were camped out in the yard.

There is an interesting parallelism between the bird and human populations in Oahu. The pestiferous English sparrow from America and the equally aggressive “minah birds” from India had almost driven out the native Hawaiian birds from a large part of the island. A similar disaster is under way regarding the native people. The whites from Europe and the United States, and the Chinese and Japanese from the Orient have met here in mid Pacific where the fine and really generous Hawaiians seem doomed to extinction between the upper and nether millstones of superior civilizations.

A number of our scientific friends accompanied us down to the dock and, after the beautiful Hawaiian custom, bedecked us with exquisite “leis” or necklaces of brilliant flowers in such profusion that we were fairly eclipsed. Thus ended a day that none of us is likely to forget and we boarded the “Niagara” impressed and immensely pleased with the unbounded kindness and lavish hospitality of our friends of Honolulu.

We passed out of the harbor as the sun was low on the horizon and gazed somewhat wistfully on the jagged purple hills of one of the most beautiful of all tropical islands. The Southern Cross came out in the velvety blackness of the swiftly enfolding night and we thought that the last link that bound us to the land we loved had been severed, that henceforth we would meet with strangers only, with the sole exception of our good friend, Colonial Secretary Fell, of Fiji.

When we went down to dinner a transformation had occurred that showed that we were in the tropics at last. The officers and

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lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

stewards had changed from blue uniforms to white and the easy chairs and couches in the lounge had also been transformed with light colored covers.

I found a letter in my state room from Secretary Fell informing us of preparations for our comfort there; I was glad to learn that the Government had consented to turn over the island of Makuluva for our use and that the coral reefs in that vicinity were alive and flourishing.

A letter received before we left lowa from my friend, Dr. Alfred G. Mayor, who had visited Suva in 1920, had given me the impression that many of the reefs around Fiji were in poor condition from a biological standpoint, and he intimated that we might have to hunt for living reefs suitable to our purpose. When I received that letter I little knew that Dr. Mayor, who worked with me many years ago at Alexander Agassiz’s laboratory at Newport, was to die in a comparatively short time after writing me regarding Fiji. We learned of his death shortly after our return. He was one of the most delightful companions that I have known, and I have often watched him as he made his wonderfully life-like plates of medusa; and other delicate marine organisms that he limned so skilfully, and wondered at his unsurpassed mastery of pencil and brush. With his passing America lost one of its most accomplished marine zoologists.

On leaving Honolulu we started on another long leg of our journey. The first one, from Vancouver to Honolulu, was 2,435 miles; and the second one, Honolulu to Fiji, was a little longer, 2,780 miles. We were now well within the tropics and could enjoy the life on deck. The sea was beautifully calm and the heat not at all oppressive as we resumed the daily routine of life on a long voyage.

We saw but a single vessel, except in and near Honolulu, after leaving Victoria, indeed the Pacific is a vast lonely sea, singularly devoid of living things on or above the surface. A couple of black-footed albatrosses followed us a day or two after leaving the American coast, but very few other birds were in evidence. Even the gulls so familiar to voyagers on the Atlantic were conspicuous by their absence, and for days at a time not a living thing was seen over the heaving expanse of waters. A few schools of flying fish occasionally broke from the surface and fluttered along just skimming the crests of the waves for a few hundred feet to dive again, but they were by no means so abun-

38

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

dant as in the tropical Atlantic, particularly near Barbados where they are so plentiful as to be one of the most abundant and highly prized market fish. At night hardly a gleam of phosphorescence was seen as we bent over the rail and watched the rush of the passing waters. The loneliness of the vast stretches of the Pacific impressed us strongly throughout our entire trip.

The weather was decidedly warm, but not uncomfortably so. Light summer underclothes were donned and outing suits were in evidence; white duck seemed to be the proper thing, and the clothes purchased for the Hawaiian cruise of the “Albatross” twenty years ago were again in service. Deck sports served to pass the time pleasantly for most of us. The British are inveterate sportsmen the world over and a “Sports Committee” is chosen on every voyage to manage the various tournaments. Seasickness seemed a thing of the past and everyone on board appeared to be enjoying life with zest.

Although we were nearing the equator and the temperature was quite high, the cool breeze kept up, aided at night by electric fans, so we did not suffer.

The lowa group held conferences from time to time regarding the plan of operations in Fiji. We agreed to divide our party during our stay on the island of Yitilevu, some of us staying in or near Suva for the land work, but all taking turns at the reef work on Makuluva, the little island that the Colonial Government had set apart for our use.

We were now further south than any of us had ever been before. The North Star was about to disappear and the Southern Cross was nightly higher in the heavens and more and more conspicuous. The horizon was daily bedecked with “tropic clouds,” and the sunsets were gorgeous beyond description. The clear blue of the ocean was flecked with white caps, while the sudden rain squalls came, drenched the decks, and were gone again in a few minutes.

On the 31st of May we passed the only vessel seen on the entire outward-bound voyage. It was the “Makura,” the companion ship to the “Niagara,” and the one in which we expected to go from Fiji to New Zealand on her return voyage from Vancouver. A few seabirds were sighted which seemed to indicate the proximity of land, although we had sighted none since leaving Hawaiian waters on the 28th.

AVe crossed the equator at 3:45 P.M. and the next morning be-

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lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

fore day-break we passed some islands, probably outliers of the Fiji group, where the increasing number of sea birds indicated the proximity of land. A lady. Mrs. Crompton, and her daughter, residents of Suva, had given us a good deal of information about Fiji She considered us fortunate in knowing Secretary Fell as he was one of the most powerful men in the Islands" and his friendship would assure every consideration as well as governmental aid. They also gave us considerable information about the little island of Jlakuluva which was to be our home for some time. That day I sent a wireless to Colonial Secretary Fell announcing the expected arrival of our party on Monday.

In the afternoon the captain told me that there was to be a boat drill and suggested that I photograph the scene from the bridge. He posted me where I could get the whole range of boats on one side. Unlike the procedure in war time, the passengers took no part in this drill and were not notified when it was to take place. All the boat's crew assembled and stood in their places at the sound of the whistle. They were inspected by their officers and the boats swung outward by a new device in the way of patent davits so contrived that one man, by turning a crank, can swing a heavy life-boat out-board, the davits turning on their axes and also moving outward bodily so that the boat still attached to the davits swings out clear of the rail. A reversal of the process swings them in-board again. The whole thing worked with mechanical precision, but it is by no means certain that this would be true if the ship had to be abandoned on a wild night or in case of a rapidly spreading fire. The scene was quite imposing and I secured a good negative; also one of the captain on the bridge.

That evening we had a masked ball which gave rise to much hilarity. During the previous part of the voyage we had noticed an exceedingly dignified gentleman from Calgary, partly bald and unapproachable, except by the socially elect. When the maskers came to the dining saloon there appeared a portly Ha-waiian beauty with long bushy hair, short grass skirt, bare feet and legs and the golden brown complexion, including feet, of the sunkissed natives of Oahu. This was the ultra dignified man from Calgary, and a greater transformation I never saw. She smiled and simpered, showing charming dimples and extreme embarrassment in the presence of so many white folks, and the novel etiquette at the dining table. She won first prize by acclamation! There

PLATE III

Captain Rolls of the "Niagara" (See page The "Niagara" al her dock at Victoria, B. C (See page 22)

PLATE IV

The party leaving Honolulu bedecked with "leis" (See paee 29) Inner Harbor oJ Suva, Fiji (See page B8) (Photo by Thomas)

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

42

was also a bridal party, a live doll excellently gotten up, a Hindu woman, some Fijians, Chinese, Negroes, etc. The procession on deck was quite imposing and the dance which followed made a brilliant finale. One would not have supposed that the material for so many excellently devised costumes could be found on board ship.

The next morning I received a long wireless from Secretary Fell saying that he could secure a good launch for our use at a rental of £3 per day, which seemed high to us and beyond our slender means. I answered to the effect that he make a tentative offer for a few days only. We hoped to negotiate some arrangement with the regular "around the island" boat to call at Makuluva at stated intervals during our stay there, to deliver provisions and to leave or take on passengers as the members of our party shifted to go their various ways. We were all rather sad in anticipation of leaving the "Niagara" which had been our home for a very delightful passage of nearly three weeks, during which some friendships had been formed that we were loath to terminate. But such is life and we were after all glad at the prospect of getting to work and anticipated our stay in Fiji with lively pleasure.

On June 3d we had the peculiar experience of retiring on Saturday night, getting up at the usual hour the next morning, and finding that it was Holiday, instead of Sunday, as it would have been in the ordinary course of events. We had passed longitude 180° during the night and thus dropped a day from our calendar. Monday, June sth was an eventful day for us, marking as it did the end of our long voyage and our a nival at Suva, Fiji. We were up early in the morning and hurried through breakfast as we ran into the beautiful harbor. The high, irregular crests of the mountains were dark purple, their very tips gilded by the rising sun. We passed through the channel in the coral reel's that encircle the greater part of Vitilevu, the waters became quiet in the protected harbor, and the palm groves on the foreshore were reflected in the sea. Suva came into view as we rounded a point, nestled down at the foot of the hills and embowered in trees.

Mr. Pilling, Assistant Colonial Secretary, came on board while we were at breakfast with a kindly note of welcome from Secretary Fell and instructions to see us through the Customs and to the Grand Pacific Hotel where we were to have temporary quar-

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lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL DISTORT

ters. Mr. Pilling is a graduate of Oxford where he made a fine athletic record; a gentlemanly, clear-eyed fellow with a genial smile and an efficient way of looking after strangers. He summoned some bushy-haired Fijians to take our luggage ashore, talking their own language and acting as interpreter for us. The formalities at the customs house on the wharf were soon over. We sent our luggage on ahead and walked to the hotel, about a mile distant. We found the heat rather uncomfortable at first, although it was winter in that latitude, and welcomed the cool, shady verandas of the Grand Pacific set in picturesque grounds on the shore of one of the inner reaches of the harbor.

In the afternoon we called on our good friend Colonial Secretary Fell, whom we had last seen at far distant Barbados four years before, and talked over our plans. In his office was a Fijian with a most imposing head of hair and extremely dignified bearing. We afterward became well acquainted with him and succeeded in securing a photograph, largely for the sake of his hair, which illustrates the typical Fijian head-dress at its best. Later Mr. Fell took us on a delightful auto ride along a road following the shore and then inland where it penetrated the bush among the foothills thus giving us a taste of the jungle with its wealth of luxurious tropical vegetation almost unmodified Dy man. The little island of Makuluva was pointed out to us in the distance and, of course, I was interested in what was to be my home during about half our stay in Fiji. There were several Indian villages along the road and one that was typically Fijian. Mr. Fell told us that there were few mosquitos and no venomous snakes on Vitilevu. which is notably free from harmful insects or other pestiferous things which make one uncomfortable. The Indians (or "Hindus," as we would call them) are of lighter build than the Fijians and not so guileless, as was indicated by their faces, which often had a crafty expression. Many of them, having served their time under the indenture system, were about to start back for India the next day.

Government House had burned down recently, and Mr. Fell was living on a Government yacht, having turned over his residence to the Governor.

The Grand Pacific Hotel is one of the most imposing structures that we saw in Fiji. The sen-ants arc all Indians with picturesque cost nines of white and red Eezes and sashes of blue and yellow. We Americans were insatiably thirsty and found it hard

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44

to get enough drinking water until finally the waiter, with an air of desperation, brought us each a glass “schooner” about eight inches high and set it down with a thump, amid many expressions of fervent appreciation on the part of the Americans.

CHAPTER 111

LIFE ON MAKULUVA

On Tuesday, June 6th, Mr. Pilling took us on a Government launch for reconnaissance of Makuluva and the neighboring reefs to judge its suitability as a base for our reef work. The island is nine or ten miles to the east of Suva on the south coast of Yitilevu and is reached by an inside passage between the mainland and the reefs that extend in broken series clear around to the north shore. It is sharply outlined by a long line of foaming breakers that pound incessantly over the seaward faces of the reefs and roar across their entire width at high tide. The landing is very bad as the bottom is strewn with coral rocks, and the swell is quite heavy most of the time. There is no safe anchorage and scores of anchors have been lost there by small sail-boats, launches and yachts. Very often the coral rocks are cemented so solidly to the bottom that they cannot be broken loose. The difficulty in landing is the greatest drawback to the island.

A small rowboat from the launch set us ashore. We found the tide low, giving us a good opportunity to inspect the flats and reefs with which we were soon to become so familiar. We went out from the south end of the island wading through shallowwater to the flats which extended half a mile or so to the outer edge of the reef and several miles in a general east and west direction. The landward side of the flats was not particularly attractive from the naturalist's standpoint, although we saw many brilliantly blue starfish of large size and any number of serpent stars. The farther we went the better the prospect, however, and we were soon passing over acres of compound anemones, flabby alcyonarians and small patches of coral. Masses of worn coral rock, riddled by boring mollusks and sea-urchins, as well as by weathering, provided inviting retreats for mollusks and crustaceans,, and, ai re later discovered, for brilliantly colored reef fishes which found refuge in the crannies at low tide. Nearer the outer edge of the flats the fauna, was more and more abundant and the tide pools became wonderful natural aquaria that could hardly be surpassed in beauty and wealth both of animal and

36

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

46

vegetable life. We felt sure even from this hasty examination that there was material and work here in abundance.

Our attention was next focused on the island of Makuluva itself and its facilities for quarters and laboratories for our party. The island is about ten acres in extent roughly quadrilateral in form and lies about a third of a mile from the larger island of Nukulau which is used as a quarantine station for blacks (meaning Indians and Fijians) and is presided over by the care-taker, a man named Sadler, with whom we became acquainted later. Makuluva itself is the Government quarantine station for whites, but of late years there has seldom been occasion to use it for that purpose. We found the quarters and buildings in good condition. The building that we used for living rooms and laboratories was a long, neatly painted wooden structure with a central hall running through it from north to south and a range of sleeping rooms on either side. Each of these was large enough to accommodate a man very comfortably and all of them opened on to the central hall on one side and a roomy, breezy veranda on the other. Each had a cot, a washstand with basin and pitcher, a chair or two and a kerosene lamp. Mattresses, pillows and bed linen were also provided. The wide porches on the east and west sides gave admirable laboratory space where we could work in comfort all day, using the west side in the forenoon and the east veranda in the afternoon, thus avoiding the sun at all times.

Beyond the south end of this building and connected with it by a covered walk was the dining hall with large tables and several other smaller ones that we used in our work. There was ordinary tableware in abundance and a swinging lamp for the evening. The windows had heavy board shutters as protection in case of a hurricane. South of the dining hall was another building, a duplicate of the one first described and on one side a cook house with a range and usual kitchen furniture. On a convenient platform next the dining room was a pump which drew water, or rather was expected to, from a large cistern beneath. This solved the extremely important question of water supply, although we had to draw the water in buckets as the pump refused to function properly. Other buildings, smaller and roofed with corrugated iron, we did not use, except one for our Indian cook and one for the two Fiji helpers.

Makuluva is an exceedingly attractive little island from a scenic standpoint with many graceful coconut palms, no underbrush and

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lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

with open spaces covered by a green grass that we afterward found to be excellent material, when dried, to use as packing for the fragile branched corals.

We felt very well pleased with the prospect of abundant marine material and a comfortable home while engaged in reef work. On the way back we visited the neighboring island of Nukulau and met the keeper, Mr. Sadler, who agreed to call on us once in a while to see how we were getting along and also to bring such supplies as he could furnish. He is an Australian who has spent his life roaming about the South Pacific and can tell stories of his varied adventures that would make Frederick O’Brien sick with envy.

Our most difficult problems were transportation to and from the island and the matter of delivery of supplies at regular intervals from the nearest market, Suva. We met Mr. Andy Smoothy that evening, a man who owned several launches and had the confidence of Secretary Fell. We really had no continuous use for a launch as there was no way to keep it safely near Makuluva, there being practically no shelter in stormy weather or even a safe anchorage. Moreover, we had no intention of trying to dredge as we lacked dredging equipment and none was to be had at Suva. Further, it was evident that the water was too rough outside the reefs and too shallow inside. Mr. Smoothy understood the situation and after thorough discussion the following plan was agreed to by both parties: On June 7th his large launch was to take the party to Makuluva with the entire equipment for laboratory and reef work, personal luggage, and supplies for about a week; he promised to help us land on Makuluva and then take the launch back to Suva the same day. On June 12th and 17th the small launch was to take any of us who desired to go to Makuluva, land us, together with provisions for about a week, and return with any members who desired to leave the island. On June 22d the large launch was to take the entire party, equipment and collections back to Suva and land them there. In this way we would have to pay not more than four days’ launch hire and would be relieved of the responsibility of keeping an expensive boat in the dangerous water around Makuluva.

Mrs. Stoner undertook the purchase of necessary supplies at Suva and their delivery to the island on the days agreed upon. Secretary Fell very generously provided a whale-boat belonging to the Colonial Government for our use. Mr. Pilling found an

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

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Indian cook named Kalidin who agreed to serve at 25 s. per week, and board. A Fijian boatman, named Alfred, was secured for the reef work and his fourteen year old boy went along as interpreter between the Americans and the Fiji man on the one hand, and the Indian cook on the other. He was also to act as cook’s assistant, chamber maid and general utility boy.

The next day, June 7th, was a busy one for all hands. Through a misunderstanding the motor lorry which was to take our baggage from the hotel to the wharf did not appear. Mrs. Stoner and Glock attended to the purchase of provisions for the first week, Stoner and Wylie saw to the transfer of our equipment from the customs house on the wharf to Smoothy’s launch at another dock, while I settled the bills at the hotel and waited near the telephone to correlate matters when there seemed to be a hitch. When the lorry failed to appear, I procured a taxi and took our effects to the dock.

It was about one o’clock in the afternoon when we arrived. Mrs. Stoner stayed behind, but Dr. Stoner and Professor Wylie were to return in the evening after assisting with the landing and housing of our equipment at Makuluva. We called at Nukulau on the way and saw Mr. Sadler who gave us the keys to the buildings we were to occupy, the bed linen, and silverware for the dining-room table. Landing at Makuluva was difficult as the surf was high and Mr. Smoothy insisted on transferring the party and all of the luggage and equipment in one boatload. As a result we shipped a sea or two; the whale boat had a foot or more of water in the bottom and the boxes containing the microscopes and micro-photographic camera were considerably damaged.

It was hard work for all hands carrying the heavy boxes ashore through the water and over the slippery rocks. Wylie and Stoner, who were going back to Suva, wanted to get some of their equipment from the boxes to take back with them. It was getting late in the day and Smoothy was anxious to return with his launch before dark. The lock on a box containing the tools for opening the other cases would not work and had to be forced open. All this contributed to a scene of disorder and confusion on the beach. Most of us had had no lunch and were in rather bad humor, but finally the two men who were to return to Suva located most of the things they needed and left Thomas, Glock and me with the servants, to face the approaching night and stow away the numerous items of equipment scattered along the beach.

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lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

The cook brought most of the provisions to the cook-house and soon had a fire going; our Fiji man and boy helped carry the eases to the quarters, while Thomas, Glock and I got as many things under shelter as we could, placing them in one of the little houses near the shore where they would be safe for the night.

Kalidin, the cook, did nobly and served a supper of tomato soup, ham, potatoes, rice, bread and butter and coffee that certainly tasted good after our hard work and fast since early breakfast. Ye retired early for we wanted to get a prompt start in the morning for the first day’s real reef work.

AVe arose at six the next day, just as the sun was about to rise in a blaze of glory, and took a dip in the surf at a good beach of smooth sand on the east shore. The surf was quite heavy, the bottom stony a little way out and, we were somewdiat afraid of an undertow which was evident but which proved not to be dangerous. One is likely to be rolled and scoured over the stones as the surf breaks high on the beach and surges back amid the grinding of pebbles and rolling of loose stones. Swimming is difficult under such circumstances so we satisfied ourselves with a few dives through the oncoming breakers and returned to our veranda for a fresh-water shower and rub-down.

We dressed in reef costumes of shirt, trousers and heavy shoes to withstand the sharp rocks of the flats, as well as broken shells and sea urchins' spines. Our Fijians were clothed in breech-clouts only. Each of the party took a fiber bucket and a number of stoppered bottles of various sizes, and one of us always carried a "crow foot" bar for overturning rocks and breaking loose the various things found cemented to the reef. The Fijians took spears for securing the larger fish, a sport which they keenly enjoyed and at which they, especially the man Alfred, were remarkably efficient.

Although the fauna of the fiats and reefs of Makuluva will receive detailed description in a subsequent chapter, its general faeics can best be shown by extracts from my notes on my first day's work. June Bth.

The most conspicuous animal on the inshore flats was a big blue starfish somewhat allied to Linckia, often with six rays. Of echini there were the common Echinometra lucunter, a fragment of a petalostichan test: very fine urchins with barred purplish brown and white spines of two kinds, a shorter ordinary set. and another

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

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very slender and finely barbed set and knobbed pedicellariae. These spines remind one of Aspidodiadema. Of serpent stars the most common was a black Ophiocorna. There was a smaller species barred greenish and white, one with brilliant scarlet on the upper side of rays, and several others. There were holothurians mottled chocolate and white in color, and black forms allied to Siichopus, with tubercles of the same color; also, a smoother black one said by our Fijians to be edible.

Of the Crustacea there was a small blue crab on the big blue starfish; mantis shrimps mottled greenish and whitish above and with four marginal purple spots, appendages green with white spots on margins, and chela; tipped with purple. Another, a macruran, was a greenish form with red walking legs and very large chela;. Of braehyurans there was a quadrate form, blood-red and green with whitish lines, allied to the “Sally light-foot” of the West Indies. The number of crustaceans in any good locality was prodigious. Alfred broke open a mass of coral rock and secured a remarkable slender legged macruran, white, with blood-red annular markings on the body and appendages, the latter bearing many spines and conspicuous markings of bright blue on the red annulations.

There was a profusion of various kinds of mollusks. Perhaps the most interesting (to us) was the well known Tridacna which attains the greatest weight of any modern bivalve. It will be described later. There were several Turbo, Leucozonia, Cerithium and a heavy gastropod with a remarkably thick operculum, hemispherical in shape; three species of Conus, a Crepidula adhering to a Turbo, Spondylus, several fine species of Cyprcea and a Natica. Interesting nudibranchs were common; one, white mottled with brownish and another bearing eggs on its back. A small Octopus emitted much ink when disturbed. There were several worms, one related to Nereis, a very slender brown and yellow annelid and some tube-dwelling forms.

Perhaps the most interesting assemblage we saw was a profusion of Coelenterata, among which were a brilliant blue hydrocoralline, corals belonging to the genera Agaricea Meandrina, Pocillopora, Siderastrtm, very brilliantly colored Acropora and other genera not familiar to me. There were literally acres of compound anemones, very large simple ones with numerous brilliant green tentacles, orange red bodies and profusely lobulated oral discs. A beautiful alcyonarian grew in large lobular patches

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lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

with few definite branches. It was grayish in color with very prominent non-retractile polyps —a very fine form for class use. We also found small colonies of “organ-pipe coral,” and a tabulate aleyonarian.

A number of sponges were collected but I never attempt identifications in this very perplexing group. Many brilliant reef fishes were seen in the tide-pools near the outer edge of the reef but no attempt to collect these was made that day. Reef collecting is downright hard work, especially under a tropical sun, trudging over the uneven surface of the flats and stumbling through the shallow pools. Each of us soon had his bucket full of specimens, the smaller ones in bottles and the larger ones loose in the bucket. After a half mile walk back to the island hurrying to avoid the incoming tide, waist deep in a tide-current part of the time, the bucket becoming heavier every minute, we were almost exhausted when we finally reached the veranda in which we were to install our laboratory.

A change of clothing and a good dinner prepared by Kalidin made us quite fit for the afternoon’s work of caring for and making a preliminary study of our morning’s catch. The Fijians brought fresh sea-water to fill all of the buckets and the square galvanized iron pans we had found so useful in previous expeditions. Bottles of various sizes with their stoppers were set out on the tables, the labels were put out ready to use and the alcohol and formalin placed where they were at hand for the final preservation of the “wet” specimens.

Nothing but a rough approximation in the classification of specimens was attempted, the mass of material being so great that it was a task to put it all in safety before night. Color notes and brief descriptions of some of the most interesting forms were made, labels written, and the specimens put in preservative as rapidly as possible after which the veranda was cleaned up for the following day’s work. By the time all this was accomplished we were quite ready to quit work and go to supper.

The 16-foot whale boat turned over to us by the Colonial Government proved an elephant on our hands. As a matter of fact we had no use for a rowboat in the shallow water inside the flats and the surf was too high outside. The boat was too large for us to manage with the force at our disposal and had no anchor large enough to trust. Moreover, the whale-boat was too heavy for us to draw up on the beach. Alfred found a piece of iron with which

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he anchored it, but it washed ashore, filled before morning and the heavy waves pounded it badly. Finally, we got Mr. Sadler to take it to Nukulau where there is a protected wharf, and we did not attempt to use it at all.

Alfred took great delight in spearing fish. One day he brought in a big parrot-fish, red and blue, weighing six or eight pounds. For some reason he wore a sort of wreath made of a vine or weed called “ mile-a-minute, ” giving him the appearance of a victor in the Olympian games. The fish was served for dinner but was not particularly palatable. Another time I was with him on the reef when he speared a four-foot shark at a distance of about 30 feet and there was a lively fight before he finally dispatched it with the crow-foot bar. He declared that this particular shark with black-tipped fins and tail was his “devil” because one of them had bitten a generous piece out of his grandfather. He maintained that it was good to eat but tabu to him. Kalidin, the cook, said that it was very bad fish to eat, but it seemed to be a habit with him to deny any statement made by the Fijians. Always ready for gastronomic experiments, I ordered it cooked for dinner; Wylie and I pronounced it excellent, equal to any ordinary table fish and better than any other shark I had tasted.

Another experiment in the eating line resulted in great hilarity. A big black holothurian, abundant on the flats, was brought ashore by Alfred who said it was good to eat. We told the cook to serve it and it looked rather attractive; the black outer skin contrasted with the ivory white body wall, which somewhat resembled the meat of a fresh coconut. We found it rather tough but easily cut with an ordinary table knife. Then the fun began. The tines of the fork punctured the meat easily enough but it could not be lifted to the mouth on account of its remarkable elasticity. As soon as the pressure of spearing was released, it fairly snapped off the fork as if actuated by a spring! The thing was so unexpected and extraordinary, and the expression on the face of the diner so ludicrous that the others fairly roared with laughter. Again and again we tried to use the fork after the manner of polite society but found that it simply could not be done. Afterward we took huge delight in witnessing the attempts of a belated member of our party to dine on boiled holothurian. As a matter of fact the thing was tough, almost tasteless and no addition to our cuisine.

Many of the coconut plams on Makuluva have their leaves

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lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

blighted by the larva: of a small blue moth. This insect seems to be confined to Vitilevu and some of the smaller islets around it, but has not yet made its appearance on the other large islands of the Fiji group. We were told that the Colonial Government, in order to ascertain their natural parasitic enemies, had a standing offer of one hundred pounds to anyone finding them living elsewhere.

Just off the southwest shore of our island was a magnificent patch of thriving corals of the finely branching kinds, which made a beautiful sight when the water was calm. Each of the hundreds of fine branchlets was tipped by a group of calyces consisting of a madrepore and a few adjacent polyps, which were colored a bright bluish pink, sometimes lavender, in strong contrast to the soft gray brown of the rest of the branches. Wylie succeeded in getting some very satisfactory photographs of them when completely submerged. We found a big head of Orhicella, perhaps two and one-half feet across with a dense mass of expanded polyps rising nearly three inches above the surface, —the finest display of living coral polyps I had ever seen. Here also was the largest anemone any of us had encountered. It must have been eighteen inches across the disc, but it was impossible to secure it as it shrank into a tiny crevice of flinty-hard rock at a touch.

One of the most devilish contrivances I know in the way of a mantrap is the Tridacna or “giant clam’’ which is rather common on the Makuluva flats. These sometimes attain enormous proportions which make them the largest and heaviest of all modem bivalves. I understand that one is used as a baptismal font at Notre Dame in Paris. Those at Makuluva were comparatively small, but extraordinarily hard and solid. They lie on the surface of the rock dorsal side down, and are firmly anchored by a byssus which is almost as tough as a good three-quarter inch hemp rope. It is impossible to tear one off with the hands, even if it is no more than eight inches long; indeed, a crow-bar must be used. The exceedingly hard valves have regularly scalloped margins which fit each other with great nicety. When alive, the clam habitually holds these valves open from two to eight or ten inches, according to the size of the individual mollusk. If the collector, by an incautious step, puts his foot between these valves, or in feeling with his hands under a rock gets his fingers in the trap, the valves snap shut with the unrelenting grip of steel, and the unfortunate victim is absolutely helpless, if alone on the reef. No

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amount of frantic struggling will release him, neither will the utmost exercise of his strength tear the creature from its anchorage. We heard most tragic stories of victims being held thus until the rising tide put an end to their lives.

On one occasion, while working on the tide flats, I put my hand under a rock and received a slight cut on the little finger, as clean a cut as if made by a scalpel. In a few seconds the pain became so severe, even excruciating, that I feared losing consciousness and toppling over in the shallow water. I contemplated the ignominy of drowning in less than a foot of water. The finger was red, bled slightly and was slightly swollen. The severe pain gradually subsided and was completely gone within an hour. My Fiji man said that the wound was inflicted by a little fish no larger than one's finger and that it had sharp horn-like spines about its head with which the cut was made. We afterwards secured some of these fish, or at least they were so identified by Alfred.

The stings of sea urchins' spines, cuts from sharp shells and jagged rocks and the spicules of sponges are hard on one's hands. Certain polychaetous annelids have tufts of fine setaa that are extremely poisonous, stick into one's fingers by the hundreds, and are as hard to remove as the minute spines of the prickly pear. Our hands were often quite sore from one or several of these causes. Of course rubber gloves can be worn, but these make the handling of small specimens difficult and most of us preferred using our bare hands and taking the consequences, painful as they were.

Several species of morays or "eels" were abundant on these flats; the larger ones are quite aggressive and able to inflict serious wounds with their numerous, needle-like teeth. They are greatly disliked by fishermen and dispatched whenever possible.

On Sunday we rested, shaved and cleaned up generally. I was quite astonished while shaving with my Gillette to have Esile, the fourteen year old Fiji boj r , ask me for a spare blade for his father to use. I told him that it was of no use without the rest of the razor, whereupon Alfred produced a blade-holder which he said came originally from Australia. The blade fitted and Alfred proceeded to shave, seated Turk fashion on the ground.

We strolled around our little domain which was really a most attractive spot, nearly surrounded by reefs over which the breakers dashed with thunderous noise resembling distant cannon fire.

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There was a paw paw tree near our quarters, but the fruit was not ripe. Minah birds were common and Stoner procured several, incidentally getting from them several interesting parasites, some of which appeared to be new. A few herons visited the shore occasionally and we were told that the large fruit-bats or “flying foxes roost in some of the trees at night; however, we saw none of them. The boy brought us some of the eggs of a small lizard which he found under the bark of a tree. They were round and as large as small marbles, indeed they seemed out of proportion to the size of the animal itself.

Coconut palms are the most abundant trees here, but there are a number of others, usually near the east shore, which have grotesquely twisted branches and dark leaves. They are called ‘butterfly trees.” Another tree has large glossy leaves and nuts encased in a very light spongy tissue which floats it in water. The whole affair looks much like a round sponge. We were told that the enclosed nuts, or seeds, furnish a poison used by the natives to kill fishes.

Speaking of nuts reminds me of the facility with which the Fijians climb the coconut palms. When we wanted some of the milk to drink the boy climbed the long slender trunks like a monkey and threw down as many nuts as we wanted. The novice has much trouble in removing the dense fibrous outer husks; but Alfred used a pointed stick, set the blunt end on the ground where it was braced against a log and forcibly drove the nut against the sharp point; thus it was hulled in a fraction of a minute.

The Fiji lad, Esile, was a very bright little fellow much interested in all our doings. We found him a keen collector and he secured many specimens that otherwise might have escaped us. The facility with which he learned new words, even technical scientific terms, was highly amusing. It sounded really weird to hear this naked boy, removed from savagery by no more than two generations, exclaim—“ Look, here is a nudibraneh,” or to announce the discovery of a new kind of “holothurian.” He was quite useful in interpreting Fijian into English or vice versa, or either of these into Indian for the benefit of the cook.

On Sunday the talk turned to religion and we learned that the old Fijians practiced a “devil worship,” but that Alfred was a good Wesleyan Methodist. Many of the old superstitions were retained, however, and he declared that he would never dive near

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one of the reefs to the southeast of Makuluva because the spirits of all the departed Fiji chiefs dwelt there and he was afraid they would catch him. He thought that Fiji ought to belong to the United States as the first visitors to reach these islands were Americans.

The boy caught a chicken which seemed to be running wild on the island and thus secured a piece de resistance for our Sunday dinner. That was fortunate, because about noon Secretary Fell and two other officials, Mr. Holmes and Mr. Caldwell, paid us a visit in a launch which they used in their fishing excursions, and brought along a lot of good things to supplement our lunch. We, therefore had quite a feast, although Mr. Sadler, who came from Nukulau, claimed that the chicken belonged to him. We took our visitors for a stroll on the tide flats and showed them some of the interesting things we had collected. Among the latter was a curious puff-fish mottled with light and dark greens and white polka dots on its back. It had a comical way of slowly winking its rather prominent eyes, sometimes closing them altogether as if asleep. Then there was a very large and brilliant nudibraneh in vivid hues of scarlet, crimson and white, which swam with graceful undulating motions in a pan of sea water.

That night I developed a roll of film which I had used that day and found it absolutely blank! It had been packed at the factory with a strip of black paper in front or on the emulsion side of the film. This was disheartening as there was no knowing how many rolls had the strips reversed in the same way. We had considerable trouble in developing films on Makuluva on account of the warmth of the water and the absence of ice. As a matter of fact we found it safer not to develop on the island but to take our exposed films to a photographer in Suva, who had a fairly good developing room and equipment.

On Monday, June 12th, the small launch came from Suva with provisions forwarded by Mrs. Stoner. Wylie also came for his sojourn on the island, while Thomas and Glock returned in the launch to Suva. The tides were daily becoming less favorable and the collecting fell off somewhat, but there was still plenty to occupy us. Each day we found the area of flats laid bare at low tide perceptibly decreased, and we could hardly get to the outer edge of the reef at all on account of the big rollers that swept in at irregular and unexpected intervals.

The moonlight nights were glorious during the first few days

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of our stay, and we enjoyed the evenings when supper was over and the day's work done. I had brought along my flute and the Fijians made an appreciative audience, expressing their pleasure by a curious clicking sound. We shall never forget those wonderful moonlight nights with the rustling palm leaves showing their glistening silvery edges projected sharply against the sky, while the sheen of the moonlight path on the ocean danced and quivered with the ripples. The thunder of the surf, sounding like big guns at high tide, was reduced to little more than a deep murmur when the tide was low. When the moonlight nights passed we enjoyed the solemn splendor of the southern constellations in their nightly procession. The Southern Cross, high toward the zenith, seemed more brilliant than in the West Indies where we had considered it a much over-advertised attraction. Near it was the great black space or "hole in the sky" almost devoid of stars.

More splendid than the moonlight or the glory of the star-lit heavens was the sunrise seen every morning as we took our dip before dressing. The scarlet reddening of the east as "the rosyfingered daughter of the morn" appeared was soon illuminated by flecks and streamers of golden fire as the sun seemed almost to leap above the horizon. After that it behaved strangely, according to our Northern hemisphere ideas, for it rolled around to the north instead of the south towards its setting over the distant mountains of Vitilevu.

During the night there was usually a strong and constant breeze through our sleeping rooms, and it was never uncomfortably warm. Sometimes a strong wind arose so that it was necessary to shut the doors and once or twice we had to adjust the heavy shutters to the windows. The island was very low with no portion of it more than twelve or fifteen feet above the water. On some occasions, we were told, it had been invaded by the sea during hurricanes at high tide, but evidently it had not been actually covered by water since the building of the quarantine station. "We had provided ourselves with mosquito nets for our cots, but had no occasion to use them here, although there were a few stray mosquitoes on one or two unusually quiet nights. The rainfall is much less on Makuluva than on the mainland opposite, only a couple of miles away, and it rarely interfered with our work, although heavy si onus could be seen over Vitilevu.

Onr day when Dr. and Mrs. Stoncr and I were in the middle Df the messy work of sorting out a morning's catch, and were all

PLATE V

Our servants at Makuluva—Fijian reef man and Indian cook (See paee 39) Our quarters at Makuluva (See page 37) (Photos |jy Glock)

,|. lkll: ~ basket 01 a palm leal (See page 50) Climbing [or coconuts ( Photos bj Clock i Ufred husking » coconut (See page 16) (Photo bj Thomas)

PLATE VI

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in our disreputable looking work clothes, Esile, the Fiji boy, announced that the Governor’s launch was casting anchor near the landing. We had no chance at all to “slick up” and I went down to the shore to welcome His Excellency, Governor Rodwell, Commissioner for the Mid Pacific possessions of Great Britain, Lady Rodwell and her children, Mrs. Pilling and some others, all in spick and span outing clothes. 1 must have made a sorry sight and found it difficult to do the honors as a representative of the United States and the University of lowa. However, I stepped into the water and helped the ladies ashore while His Excellency came on the back of a Fiji boy. Another Fijian acting as aide to the Governor wore the native costume of a sulu plus a white shirt, and the characteristic bushy hair approved by his race. He was Ratu Sukuna, a native chief of high rank and an Oxford graduate. He spoke the English of a cultivated gentleman and had the manner of a highly educated and polished man. We were told he had been refused admission to the British army during the great war and had then enlisted in the Foreign Legion in France. He was then the official head of the Fijian Navy, we understood. Our man Alfred told me that every Fiji man, woman and child had contributed a shilling (no mean sum for them) to send Ratu Sukuna to Oxford, and that they were all immensely proud of him and wanted him to go back for graduate work! There is no doubt whatever about the loyalty of the Fijians to their hereditary chiefs, and this man belonged to the royal line of the old Fiji kings. Two or three generations ago they were all cannibals.

I had a chat with Governor Rodwell on the veranda while the ladies and children went for a ‘ ‘ bathe, ’ ’ as they expressed it. Our little beach is about the only good sandy shore anywhere near Suva and is a very popular resort for European families who often come to spend a week-end or short vacation on this delightful little island. I am sure that we hardly realized what a hardship it was to these people to have Makuluva handed over to a party of strangers from far away lowa, thus depriving the colonials of a favorite picnic ground. The Governor seemed interested in what we had to say of our University and in the book of photographs we had taken along. I doubt if His Excellency had so much as heard of the institution we represented before our correspondence with Secretary Fell began. He did appreciate, however, the fact that our visit was likely to result in good pub-

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hcity for Fiji, and he expressed himself as pleased at our advent Our commissary department functioned in a satisfactory manner, Mrs. Stoner sending out supplies from Suva every five davs Our Fijians speared edible fish occasionally, the best of which were some flounders, and Mr. Sadler brought a few fish, a chicken and some lemons from Xukulan. He has had many weird adventures in the South seas, is very fluent in their narration and evidently enjoyed an opportunity to talk with members of our party His life on Nukulau, where he is keeper of the quarantine station for natives and Indians, is doubtless a lonely one, although relieved so we were told, by a succession of no less than eight Polynesian women who took charge of his domestic affairs for periods of uncertain length. At the time of our stay he was temporarily a widow," as he expressed it.

-Air. Sadler had no great love for the Fijian and still less for the Indian; he felt much aggrieved at the latter for his refusal to work while in quarantine. He said that when an Indian made up his mind to die nothing could prevent his doing so. On one occasion a Hindu felt aggrieved because the Colonial Government refused to allow him to keep two wives, insisting that he dispose of one. He calmly wrapped his blanket around his head, sat down in about three feet of water and succeeded in drowning himself. If this narrative is true, we have here an astonishing case of almost superhuman self-control and an evidence of strength of will that would be hard to surpass.

Dr. and Mrs. Stoner were the last ones to work with me on Makuluva, and I was glad of it, for the last days were occupied largely in packing our collections and equipment in which Stoner is an experienced and capable man. The reef work was poor during their stay on account of unfavorable tides, but he found plenty to do with the birds and insects of our little island.

We packed the corals first; they were easy enough to collect in any desired quantity almost at our very door. We had brought ashore a number of beautiful museum specimens and placed them to dry on a wooden platform near the beach. Many of them were extremely delicate branching forms, brittle as glass, and we almost despaired of packing them so that they would withstand transnortation on the long voyage from Fiji to lowa. Alfred made baskets of palm leaves in which they were carried to the

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laboratory in about ten minutes. Several of the larger and finer specimens were packed separately in strong boxes, and we took every precaution we could invent. We used fine toilet paper in little wads packing them firmly, but not too forcibly, in and around the very bases of the branches and building gradually outward towards the tips. Then we collected a quantity of coarse dried grass which almost covered the island, pressed it in between the tips and built out beyond them so that we had a light but rather firmly compacted ball somewhat larger than the extreme measurements of the corallum. Next they were placed carefully, each in a separate box, and dried grass packed around so that no portion of the specimen touched the container. One by one these boxes were packed and nailed up, numbered and carefully labeled with printed pasters brought for the purpose. As a matter of fact, our packing was fairly successful as only one big specimen was badly broken in transit to lowa City.

The smaller corals, dried mollusks and echinoderms were easily packed in whatever boxes were at hand, so that the dried material was soon disposed of.

We had collected quantities of specimens of the commoner kinds for use in the zoological and botanical laboratories, and they were carefully packed by Wylie before he left. We also had tanks in wooden cases for stock laboratory material in which we placed quantities of the big blue starfish and other wet specimens, wrapping some of them in the dried grass for protection, and then pouring in the alcohol or formalin as the case seemed to require. The smaller wet material, and this included most of the more valuable specimens collected, was packed in the special collecting chests devised by my friend and former pupil, Dr. Paul Bartsch of the United States National Museum. Each chest contained square bottles with cork lined metal stoppers which screwed on. A small amount of melted paraffin was poured into each stopper which also had a layer of cork supposed to fit tight against the top of the bottle when screwed on. The paraffin and cork together usually sealed the bottles in a satisfactory manner. Still smaller specimens were placed in small wide-mouthed bottles and vials, each cork tied on and then dipped in melted paraffin.

All this took a good deal of time. Stoner was not feeling well on account of a cold contracted on collecting trips but he stuck to his task to the end. Then the microscopes, photographic material, books, charts and miscellaneous equipment had to be care-

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fully repacked and the contents of each box listed so that the various articles could easily be found during the remainder of our stay in Fiji, and later, in New Zealand.

All of these boxes, tanks, etc. made quite an imposing array of impedimenta when the packing and marking was finished. We transferred a good deal of it to an empty but water-tight house near the landing so that time might be saved when the boat came to take us away.

Thursday, June 22d, found our packing complete and all hands ready to leave Makuluva, although it was about as near a naturalist’s paradise as I ever expect to see. Nevertheless, in spite of its great interest, reef work is no light job and, if pursued energetically, it thoroughly tires one before the end of each day. Work in the hot sun is more than the average man can withstand for a period of two or three weeks without coming uncomfortably near the limit of his strength. We had been well fed, however, thanks to Mrs. Stoner and the cook, and that helped a lot. The powdered milk called “klim” that we brought from home was a great success, indeed, better than the milk that we had at the Grand Pacific Hotel at Suva, and there was enough of it to use freely. We managed not to depart materially from accustomed food habits and had little opportunity to experiment with strange tropical fruits. Most important of all, we avoided the strange and weird concoctions in the way of drinks that so often tempt the traveler to his injury.

The Government launch, Andi Yiti, which translated means “Fiji Queen,” sent by Secretary Fell with his usual forethought, made its appearance about 11:00 A.M., towing a capacious whaleboat in addition to the one we had left with Mr. Sadler in Nukulau; Sadler himself came to assist in embarkation. He advised us to load on the west instead of the north side of the island, and this proved an excellent idea as there was a good sandy beach and almost no surf at that time. It was a big task to carry all our things out to the whale boat, but we had several Fijians who came in the ‘‘Andi Yiti” in addition to our party and Mr. Sadler. Before leaving we gave a crab net and collecting bucket to Alfred in addition to his wages. I also bestowed on him an old shirt, a pair of old trousers much frayed at the bottom and a pair of old shoes which seemed beyond mending. He seemed overjoyed and declared, in effect, that he was my servant forever. We had worked together and I imagine he had achieved some sort of affection for

PLATE VII

My Fiji reef man in reef costume <*>■•■ page 13) Surf roaring over Makuluva flat* (See page 10) (Photo by Thomas) Makutuva flats at low tide (Wee pace 42)

Vent™l and doraal views oi gianl clam i Bee page iI I Abdomen <>f "robber crab" showing unpaired" appendages i s '''" page <>7 >

PLATE VIII

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us, as had his bright boy Esile. The cook was much less demonstrative and I imagine he was somewhat jealous of the attention we paid the Fijians. Last of all we presented Mr. Sadler with a bucket, crab net, small seine and, what pleased him most, a small tight cask which had contained formalin. He said that it was just what he needed for a water cask to carry in his little sail-boat when he put out on his fishing trips.

In about an hour we were all on hoard the Andi Viti and making our way cautiously through the channels between the reefs, bound for Suva. We could hardly repress a feeling of regret at leaving our delightful island home, for it had certainly been good to us. We made quite a procession with the handsome launch conveying our party and the personal luggage, with the two big whale boats and Mr. Sadler’s small boat trailing behind. We called at Nukulau to leave Mr. Sadler to his loneliness. We reached the dock about noon and found no one there but a mob of chattering Fijians who understood not a word of English while we were equally ignorant of their language. Leaving the Stoners with our goods, I went to the customs house wharf where I found an obliging official who telephoned for a lorry to take our collections and equipment to the wharf where they would be in charge of responsible officials. Two of our tanks leaked badly and caused considerable trouble until Stoner got hold of a tinsmith who soldered them successfully.

I went to the Fiji Club where, through the kind offices of Mr. Pilling, a room had been assigned me. This club is owned and run mainly by colonial officials and is very comfortable; it is built on a hill overlooking Suva Bay on one side and the city on the other. In the evening I was introduced to a number of the members who usually gather there before dinner for a social hour. They are a fine lot of men to whom we were greatly indebted for comfortable quarters and many courtesies during our stay in Suva.

I found that the next day was a legal holiday (the Prince’s Birthday) and that the banks would be closed. This was disquieting as I had promised to pay off my Fijians and the cook at the bank on that day, and I was particularly anxious to keep my word with those men who had served us so satisfactorily. I had decided to take my meals at the Mac Donald Hotel, and at breakfast the next morning when I told the manager about my difficulty he at once offered to cash a check for me for the necessary amount (£8). Being an absolute stranger to him I was surprised at the

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somewhat unexpected courtesy. I learned afterward, however, that this was by no means an exceptional incident. As a matter of fact there is a very slim chance for anyone to defraud by passing bad checks in Fiji, as it is practically impossible to leave the island without making one’s intention known to the officials in advance. Neither would it be practicable to escape into the interior, as a white stranger would be a marked man anywhere and reported at once to the police.

So I had the pleasure of paying off our servants in full. I found them very keen about getting the last possible shilling due them. The Fijians seemed well satisfied but Kalidin, the cook, protested rather vigorously about something or other. His remarks were not translated to me and he finally subsided and accepted the pay originally agreed upon.

Wylie, Thomas and Glock were off on a trip to the interior with Secretary Fell, who had very thoughtfully invited them to accompany him on a sort of inspection tour to the very heart of Yitilevu where they could get a taste of tropical nature practically undisturbed by man and see the aboriginal Fijians in their primitive condition. Professors Wylie and Thomas will relate their experiences on that wonderful adventure in another chapter of this work.

CHAPTER IV

THE FAUNA OF MAKULUVA REEFS

Having previously worked mainly in the tropical Atlantic it is but natural for us to make certain general comparisons between the reef fauna of the West Indies and that of the western South Pacific as represented by the reefs of Fiji.

One of the first things that surprised us was the generic identity of many typical forms in the regions compared. Most of the corals were of genera already familiar to us such as Porites, Acropora, Orbicella, Agaricea, Siderastraen, etc., all found abundantly in the West Indies, although the species seemed different, as would be expected. Among the echinoderms were a handsome blue Linckia, the commonest starfish on the flats, the familiar genera Ophiocorna and Ophiothrix, the widely distributed sea urchin Echinometra lucunter and a Diadema or a similar form. The mollusks were mainly of familiar West Indian genera such as Cerithium, Turbo, Cyproea, Natica, Conus, Murex and Triton. The Crustacea, too, were chiefly of familiar genera. Taking it all in all there was much less difference between the fauna of the two areas than one would suppose, although Agassiz has called attention to the same fact in his book on the coral reefs of Fiji, and elsewhere.

Of course, we found many genera in all groups that are absent or rare in the West Indies, such as Pocillopora, Fovites, Leptoria and others among the corals, while the aleyonaria were represented by the organ pipe coral, a tabulate form, and a number of other genera that have not yet been worked over but which are quite distinct from the familiar forms of the Atlantic. Among the mollusks were such forms as Tridacna, Pteroceros and Haliotis, all of which are rare or wanting in the Atlantic. These are, of course, but a few of the characteristic genera but enough to indicate the fact that along with a great generic identity of forms there are a good many types in the South Pacific that seem to be lacking in the tropical Atlantic.

Another thing that strikes the collector is the almost entire absence of whole groups of marine forms that are particularly abun-

55

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dant throughout the tropical Atlantic. For instance, we found scarcely any hydroids on the reefs and flats about Makuluva in habitats where they would be plentiful in the West Indies. But perhaps the most conspicuous forms about the coral reefs of the West Indies, the gorgonians or flexible corals that abound everywhere we have worked in the Atlantic, are utterly lacking, so far as our collections show, on the Fiji reefs, where their place is taken by flabby, lobulated Alcyonacea that lack the axis cylinder characteristic of the Gorgonacea. While echinoderms were evidently plentiful, the number of species was few, particularly among the star-fishes, serpent-stars and sea-urchins. Such familiar genera as Oreaster, Asterias and Archaster were apparently absent about Makuluva. Of the ophiurian forms, we found no representatives of OpMura, for instance, and there seemed to be a complete absence of simple-armed basket-fish. Among the Echini proper, the genera Hipponoe, Toxopneustes and Cidaris seemed to have no representatives on these reefs, and but one crinoid was found. The holothurians on the contrary were plentiful both in individuals and species, although here, too, most of them were of the same genera as found in the West Indies, such as SticJwpus, Euapia, Holothurui, etc.

Taking it all in all the Makuluva reef fauna was not as rich as that found around many of the West Indian islands, particularly the Bahamas, although the fact that we spent all of our time in one locality may account for not finding a good many things that are probably there.

One tiling that struck us as a decided difference between the general aspect of the two regions was the matter of color. Blue is a rather exceptional color, so far as the fauna of the tropical Atlantic is concerned, but is quite common on the Fiji flats. There are many intensely blue reef fishes; the commonest star-fish is a big blue Linckia, while some of delicately branching millepores are a very clear intense blue. The tips of the branchlets of several profusely branching species of Acropara are of a bright lavender ranging from a bluish pink to a pure blue tinged with pink. Some of the alcyonarians have a distinctly bluish-gray tinge. Of course, there are many other brilliant colors among the reef inhabitants and it cannot be said that blue predominates; but it is much more prominent than about the West Indian reefs. The most brilliantly colored animals that we saw were found

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among the nudibranch mollusks, some of which were as gorgeous as can be imagined.

In the following survey of the reef fauna I merely attempt to give some idea as to the general facies of the region from a zoological standpoint, pausing occasionally to dwell upon some of the more interesting forms. The identifications are usually merely approximate, unless otherwise stated. In the descriptions of some of the more striking animals, I have preferred to work independently rather than to look up the descriptions of other naturalists. In this way I hope to impart in the forms discussed an interest that would be lacking if numerous references were cited.

THE PISHES

Carcharius melanopterus. This is the “devil shark,” the capture of which was described in the last chapter. In color it is a light greenish-brown, almost white below, the tips of the fins abruptly black, and this color also edges almost the entire tail, especially below. The specimen captured was a young one between four and five feet in length. According to our Fiji reef man they grow much larger and are dangerous to man. We were surprised to find it very good eating, one of the best fish that came on our table while at Makuluva.

The Mursenidas, or morays, were quite common on the flats and we saw several during an hour’s walk when the tide was out. They slithered through the shallow pools with remarkable agility and we were constantly being astounded at the small size of the holes and fissures that they were able to enter. There were evidently a good many passages under the flat surface of the rocks as one of these eels would slip into a small crevice and often emerge some distance away. Many of these morays are protectively colored and assimilate well with the surface and rock masses. The larger ones are really formidable animals and more fearless than any other fish that I know. An incident illustrating this point is related in my “Barbados-Antigua Expedition”, page 178. We made no attempt to secure the larger specimens on account of our limited space. The following species may be noted:

Gymnvthorax. This is the largest specimen brought home by us, being a little more than three feet long. It seems nearest my namesake G. nuttingi Snyder from the Hawaiian Islands; but instead of having light spots on a dark background it has very dark, almost black, spots on a yellowish background. The mottling is

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very fine, the spots are irregular in outline and decrease in size on posterior parts of the body. The tail coloration in general is much like that of Echidna trossula Jordan and Stark, and the tail is not so blunt as in G. nuttingi. The teeth are sharp, rather flattened, blades, elongated triangles, pointing backward like the teeth of a saw. In places the mottling seems reversed, being light yellowish on a black background. The spots are nowhere aggregated into dark rounded blotches as in G. pictus.

Another moray was much smaller, about 22 inches long and very beautifully marked. It apparently belongs to the genus Urapterygius, the fins being confined to the caudal region; the markings are very dark brown bands extending across the dorsal and ventral regions but interrupted on the sides by a light yellowish stripe with many small irregular dark brown spots. The ends of each half-band are somewhat broadened, rounded and contain distinct very light yellowish circular markings, making two rows of light spots on each side of the animal. All of the dorsal and lateral areas not occupied by the bands are light yellow with irregular dark brown spots. Anterior teeth are sharp, compressed with tips curving backward while the posterior teeth are much smaller and blunt. The dentition seems to be intermediate between the genera Echidna and Gymnothorax. Another specimen has the black half-bands less distinct.

Tetraodon, near T. acrostaticus, is a very remarkable form with prominent teeth, like immense incisors, one on each side of its jaw, and each divided from its mate by a sharp fissure. The specimen has no definite spines or bristles, but a number of minute soft papillae can be seen, particularly on the ventral surface, but less evident on the back and sides. The nasal tentacle is bifid, a generic character according to Jordan. The specimen is about nine inches long, the dorsal and most of the lateral surfaces black or very dark brown with round yellowish spots; the ventral surface is yellow with very prominent longitudinal blackish stripes.

The family Tetraodontidas, or puff fishes, contains a number of bizarre forms resembling the porcupine fishes, but without the formidable sharp spines of the latter. They can swell themselves up as light as a drum, on occasion, and appear to use this power as a means of protection. The human analogy is so evident that comment is unnecessary. A larger specimen bears out the statement of Jordan that "the black stripes on the abdomen disappear with age." The papillae, also, are less evident on the larger and presumably older specimens.

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The Diodontidse, or porcupine fishes, are quite common about Makuluva but too large to justify us in preserving specimens. Alfred speared a big one and brought it in alive so we could observe its enormous powers of inflation. It made a definite grunting sound when irritated and we noted that it had workable eyelids and could completely close its eyes, giving it a very wearied expression. It appeared to be Biodon hystrix, a species found in the warmer parts of both the Atlantic and Pacific. We had part of this specimen for dinner and found it fairly good eating.

The little fish mentioned on page 45 evidently belongs to the Scorpsnidaa, or scorpion fishes, which includes a number of species with poisonous spines. The "lion fish," so much feared by the Barbadians, is an excellent example. Our specimens have been kindly identified by Dr. Barton W. Evermann as belonging to the species Sebastapistes laotale. This genus was first described by Jordan and Evermann, 1 who regard the spine before the eye as characteristic of the genus. The specimens secured by us are small, usually not more than three inches long, but they are venomous looking little villains, and I can well believe that it was one of these that stung me so painfully while we were on the Makuluva flats. The head fairly bristles with thorny spines, particularly the operculum and preoperculum; there are others above and just back of the eye and a pair looking like miniature horns just in front of the upper part of the orbit. There are several fleshy tags about the operculum, nostrils and edges of the jaws which add to the general ugliness of the fish. Its colors are mottled brown and yellowish, resembling the surface of the reef rocks on which it lives. Certainly it is a repulsive looking creature and lives up to its appearance. I know of no other fish of its size that can inflict such severe pain on the uncautious collector as can this little Sebastapistes. Dr. Evermann writes me as follows: "This species which you collected is regarded as particularly vicious. '' Another specimen closely allied to this was considerably larger, measuring nearly six inches.

Among the reef fishes was one greatly resembling the “red hind” of the West Indies as described by Evermann. It is one of the groupers and a finely marked fish. The genus Epinephelus

1 The Shore Fishes of the Hawaiian Islands, 1905, page 455.

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is found in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans but the species appear to be distinct. The Balistidae, or trigger fishes, are characteristic of the reef fauna in both the Atlantic and Pacific, and they were not wanting at Makuluva. One specimen appears to belong to the genus Balistapus, with three rows of curious spinelike scales on each side of the caudal peduncle and peculiar plates behind the gill openings. The specimen comes nearest to B. rectangulus. The anterior part of the head and ventral regions are greenish-yellow, posterior part of dorsal region and laterally, dark dusky which breaks up into oblique bands passing backward and downward toward the ventral region. The trigger, or dorsal fin, has a very stout spine with a roughened surface behind which is a much shorter and smoother spine to “set” the trigger. The scales have peculiar granular surfaces with smooth edges, the latter giving a diamond-shaped pattern over the whole scaled surface.

A specimen belonging to the Pomacentridse, or “demoiselles,” a family characterized by single nostrils, is grayish in color with five sharply contrasted black bands extending somewhat obliquely downward almost from the mid-dorsal to the ventral surface. Its teeth are incisor-like, but each is finely scalloped on its rounded edge, and is so delicate as to be translucent. The Blennidse are rather common on the Makuluva flats where they seem to remain between tides in little pools or sometimes in crevices of the rock. They have smooth, sealeless bodies and large, protuberant eyes giving them a curious pop-eyed appearance, which, together with fleshy tags to the nostrils and the eyes, very rough forehead and swollen, almost human lips, give them a comical likeness to humanity.

Of course, such a cursory description as is attempted here must omit mention of many forms which will be described in the special reports of the expedition. The present object is to give a general idea of the fauna of the flats and reefs of Makuluva to enable the reader with only a general knowledge of zoology to construct a mental picture of the sort of things he would see if visiting the region.

Much might be said of the gorgeous colors of the fishes inhabiting the larger tide-pools near the outer edge of the flats, but it would be impossible to portray in words the beauty and vividness of these colors, the crystal clearness of the water, the fantastic sculpturing of the rocks forming the walls and bottom of

PLATE IX

Opened branchial cavity of robber crab The gills are shown above anA the branchial papillae below (See page 68) Hairy membrane covering gill chamber of robber crab (See page 68)

I’LATE X

Impressions made by bVrod vessels on carapace of robber crab i See page 69) Larger Impression a on under pari of carapace (See page 69) Profusely branched pulmonary papilla lining pulmonary cavity (See page 69)

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these natural aquaria, or the festoons and fronds of vivid green, pink and purple sea-weed of various soils that add to the charm. But there is more than this; one would have to-hear the booming roar of the nearby surf, feel the rush of fresh sea air and experience the tang of excitement furnished by the occasional high breaker that sweeps suddenly and most unexpectedly over the slippery rocks on which one stands, before the picture could be completed.

As to the fishes in these larger pools, the most conspicuous and numerous are colored the deepest most vivid blue imaginable, the deep blue of stained glass. They were so wary that we failed to secure specimens and so could not identify them, but they appeared to be blue parrot fishes. An “angel fish,” grayish with sharp longitudinal markings, yellow tail, eyes and gills a brilliant blue, was rather common. Then there were gaily decorated butterfly fishes ( Chwtodon ) mainly yellow but with sharply contrasting bands and dots of black. Balistidas of several kinds add their gay reds, yellows, greens, black and white to the general color scheme. Many visitors come from Suva to Makuluva to enjoy these wonderful tide-pools and their gaily decorated inhabitants, which certainly furnish a sight well worth seeing.

Several species of these reef fishes stay between tides in recesses of the rock entirely out of the water. Alfred found an angel fish and a trigger fish in one of the big coral rocks at least two feet above the general surface of the flats that were at the time well above water level.

One of the most interesting fishes we secured does not occur on Makuluva but is found in the mangrove swamps that line the shore of Vitilevu opposite our little island. It is the Perwphthalmus, or climbing fish, allied to the gobies. This little creature has very pronounced goggle eyes, raised considerably above the level of the top of the head, which it moves independently as it surveys the scenery from a mangrove root well above the water. The pelvic fins are far forward just below the pectorals and united at their bases. They are strong and their inner surfaces can oppose each other in a firm grip. These fins are probably the main agents by which they climb out, hitch themselves along a root or branch and then hold on while they contemplate the world above water. The pectoral girdle is remarkably strong and solid and the pectoral fins can be bent in an abrupt angle which doubtless helps them in working their way between stones or even grass

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roots. The operculum covers the gills completely and extends well back of them, doubtless aiding in retaining water in the gills when this peculiar fish is out of its native element. The head, with its very large protuberant eyes, resembles that of a grasshopper when viewed in a profile. The two dorsals and the caudal fins are finely barred with red, brown and white, while the paired fins have little or no markings. The mouth is wide and the outline of the upper lip is broken by two prominent lobe-like descending flaps on either side of the middle, giving a most comical expression to its physiognomy. The inner surface of the operculum, which is all in one piece, is covered by a rather thick membrane resembling rubber and reminding one of the lining of the branchial chamber of some of the land crabs of the West Indies. 2

There is a considerable air space below the gills, between them and the bottom of the head, and below the pharyngeal cavity, which communicates with the exterior by a slit-like aperture, the gill opening; this slit can be closed completely by the operculum. There are four gill arches on each side, each armed by two opposite rows of short gill rakers. The gill filaments are stiff, fingerlike projections shorter, proportionally, than in most fishes, a double row supported by each gill arch. There are strong muscles so placed as to allow the vertical movement of the whole of the gills. Each gill filament is divided transversely with various flattened disc-like gill lamella; looking like a pile of lozenges. The structure is much like that of the gills found in the chitons. So long as these gills keep moist they can perform their function and are, I suppose, capable of utilizing the air either in or above the water. The whole contrivance suggests that a considerable amount of water is kept in the bottom of the large space below the gills proper which is so conspicuous a feature. The rest of the gill cavity might contain air when the creature was out of water. Now the musculature seems adapted to lower the whole pharyngeal apparatus so as to dip the gills into the water from time to time and then lift them again into the air which fills the upper part of the chamber and which can be renewed as often as necessary through the mouth. Thus the moistened gills can take care of the air by the ordinary process of respiration, as all of the necessary elements are present—the thin walls of the gill lamella;

2 See Bahama Expedition p. 97 and Barbados-Antigua Expedition p. 183 for a discussion of the adaptations for breathing found in the land crabs of the West Indian region.

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being undoubtedly capable of acting as a medium for the exchange of the oxygen in the air outside for the carbon dioxide brought by the blood to the gill lamella 1 . The gill filaments, moreover, seem stiff enough to prevent their matting together when out of the water. There is quite an evident analogy between this apparatus for breathing air and that of the land crabs. In the latter the water contained in the bottom of the branchial chamber is applied to the gills by a brush-like modification of the scaphognathite or "bailer," while in Periophtliahnus the gills, if I am right in my interpretation of the muscular structure, can be periodically dipped into the water at the bottom of the chamber analogous to the branchial chamber of the crab.

The preserved specimens were not suitable for the study of the swim bladder, nor am I sure from a somewhat hasty examination that they have this organ in functional form. This little fish must spend a good deal of time out of the water and seems quite intent on contemplating the scenery. Professor Thomas, who secured the specimens we brought home with us, says that the Fijians call this climbing fish "tiloko." He adds, "It moves over the water by n scries of short rapid jumps, can climb up out of the water on to the sticks and stones and stay there ten minutes or more. It is very hard to capture. Two of them jumped out of a pail on the floor of the house and it took Glock and myself several minutes to catch them. It was like catching lively crickets."

In their “Fishes of Samoa” 3 the authors say: “It (Periophthabnus) abounds especially in muddy bayous, freely leaving the water to climb bushes, to skip through the grass or to lurk under piles of stone to await the returning tide. It is exceedingly quick of movement and very tenacious of life. Specimens placed in a pail of formalin escaped when the lid was raised.”

Most of the members of the family to which this strange creature belongs, the Gobiidas, are dwellers along the rocky flats and shores that fringe the tropical islands of the Pacific. When the rocks are bare at low tide these little gobies slither across the surface of the flats with remarkable agility and retreat to the crevices and cavities in the rock masses where they often, perhaps habitually, remain until the return of the tide. Thus they have gradually developed an ability to travel rapidly over bare ground and to

3 Fishes of Samoa, Jordan and Seale, 1906, p. 394.

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lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

respire without being immersed in water. From such a group it is not at all remarkable that an air-breathing form such as Periophthalmus has been developed.

In his work “Fishes” Jordan says, “In some fishes the eye is raised on a short fleshy stalk and can be moved about at the will of the fish. It is said that the vision of the pond-skipper, Periophthalmus, when hunting insects on the mud flats of Japan or India, is equal to that of a frog.”

THE CRUSTACEA

Most of the forms secured were well known shallow water and reef dwellers and members of widely distributed genera, but they are always interesting on account of their marvelous adaptation to environment in form and color. Like the insects on land the Crustacea represent a highly successful type of animal and, therefore, a highly adaptive one. They lurk in the crannies of the rocky flats and retreat into the cavities of the masses of coral rock that dot the surface. They are hidden in the fringes of algse and other aquatic plants that line the edges of the tide pools and hide in the forkings of branched coral heads and alcyonarians. Indeed, they are nearly übiquitous but usually not at all obtrusive, their retiring disposition being aided by an amazing ability in the way of camouflage, an art at which they were adepts ages before humanity discovered its use. Our Fiji boy, Esile, was adept at catching crabs and many of our specimens are due to his keen eyes and agility, as well as to his patience in breaking off chunks of coral rock in order to lay open the retreat of their crab population.

The writer is indebted to Dr. Mary J. Rathbun, of the United States National Museum, for the identification of the brachyuran crabs mentioned in this brief account of the reef forms, and to Dr. Waldo Sehmitt for that of the few macruran forms mentioned.

A very smooth-shelled form, Carpilius convexa, has a shiny, polished carapace without grooves or lateral spines, but it is very finely punctate. It is creamy white in color with curious scarlet blotches, often amoeboid in form. There is a central conspicuous blotch with two plainly marked, eye-like dots of whitish.

Another form of crab found is Zozimus minis, brick red on the dorsal surface which is strongly carunculated. like a cobblestone pavement The chehe have a tubcrculate base and smooth olive greenish fingers.

PLATE XI

z 7. o r at •-. -. Ui A 9 to ■s? ■ls £ a* or/2 G « gig •4 ■- ii

Serpent Btara on Makuluva Rata (Sae page 14) Expanded c >ral polvps, probablj Orbicella (8"e page t4) Branching coral The tips are vio'el pink in life (See page Mi (Specimens photographed undi r wati r bj Wyli >)

PLATE XII

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

82

A small land crab, Ocypoda ceratophtJialma, was found on the sand beaches and also on the higher ground of Makuluva. This is quite a lively little crab that burrows in the sand but spends a good deal of its time wandering over the grass and among the fallen leaves under the trees. It is daintily colored, being very nearly a cream color in general; but the background on the carapace is conspicuously marked near its hind margin with a pair of scarlet blotches which tend to coalesce in the central line but are even there partly divided. The entire carapace is finely punctate. The pointed eye stalks are peculiar and extend well beyond the blackish eye which appears to be merely a basal swollen part of the stalk. The "fingers" are rather slender, thus differing from the truncated ones possessed by the West Indian, relative, 0. gaadichaudei. These forms shed their claws very readily and are so agile as to be hard to capture. Another specimen of this species had very large and prominent black eyes in striking contrast to the general pallid coloration of the carapace.

Trapezia digitalis is a minute crab densely hirsute, reddish in color with black fingers. The hairs are red basally and ivory white toward the ends. The chela; are very broad and the eyes are small.

Actaa tomentosa is on ovoid form in which the antenna; fold transversely and the appendages are adapted to walking rather than swimming. It is very dark colored, almost black, and conspicuously carunculated; the caruncles themselves are strongly tuberculate. Many of the caruncles are squarish in form and tend to arrange themselves in transverse rows on the carapace. The legs are quite hairy, and the eyes small, flush with the surface, their stalks granulated so as to be scarcely visible when the eyes are retracted. The antennules are mere slender filaments.

The family Grapsida? is represented by Ptnnon plnnissimus, allied to the "Sally light-foot" of the West Indian region. This form of rock crab is very greatly flattened and has the art of concealment and of dodging into remarkably narrow crevices, developed to perfection. It is smaller than its West Indian relatives of the genus Grapsus. The carapace is densely granulated and a clear dark olive in color. The legs are conspicuously striped with yellow, the distal joints are barred with the same color, showing in sharp contrast to the dark green. There is a group of sharp rostral spines, and the front edges of the legs, particularly the meri, are also ornamented with a row of strong thorny spines.

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lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

The chela are quite small in the specimens collected, and the eye stalks short. The abdomen of the female is very broad and almost orbicular. In examining specimens after our return the color in some seems to have changed to a dull red.

Of course the universally distributed hermit crabs were abundant on the reefs. This group seems to be a remarkably successful one even if most of its members do live in borrowed homes and pay no rent. The largest and most conspicuous hermit that we collected has been identified by Dr. Schmitt of the U. S. National Museum as Dardanus gvMatus. This form is very brilliantly colored, even the terga are a very rich crimson, a fact difficult to understand when we remember that the abdomen is habitually concealed in the shell occupied by the hermit. It is noticeable, however, that the abdomen is not so unsymmetrical in this species as in most of the pagurid crabs which may indicate that the hermit habit has been acquired in comparatively recent times. The chela? and anterior appendages are very hairy, brilliant crimson in color with conspicuous white dots which stand out in a striking manner from the crimson background. The antenna are very long, slender and almost white in color.

The writer was much disappointed in not securing specimens of the robber crab (Birgus latro), although it is found on some of the remoter islands of the Fiji group. It does not occur, however, on Yitilcvu where we spent most of our time. An opportunity to study this strange form in its native habitat would have been most welcome as it would have enabled me to fairly complete the study of a series of land crabs illustrating the transition between strictly aquatic and practically terrestrial forms, involving an examination of the respiratory organs of these crustaeea which has interested me for a number of years. 4 Birgus latro is regarded as having descended from pagurid ancestors which habitually ensconced themselves in gastropod shells, but their descendants have widely departed from the ancestral mode of life, have taken to the shore and even climb trees after coconuts.

We heard the well known story about the manner in which the robber crab is captured by the natives, and it seems to be quite generally accepted in Fiji. The story is that when the native locates one of these big crabs up a palm tree lie climbs up part way and fastens a strip or girdle of grass and leaves around the

' See narrative of Bahama Expedition p. 07 ami Barbados-Antigua pedition p. 11-'',I 1 -'', for a discussion of these forms.

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

84

trunk and then descends. The crab, in turn, crawls backward down the tree trunk feeling behind it as it goes. When it feels the girdle of leaves it is under the impression that the ground is reached and lets go, tumbles heavily to the earth where it is either stunned or killed. At any rate, it is then an easy matter for the native to catch and tie it up before recovery from the shock of the fall.

Through the kindness of the United States National Museum, this University has been presented with two specimens of the robber crab, one for inspection and return and the other for purposes of dissection. 5 One is a male and measures 15 inches from the rostrum to the end of the tail and has a spread of twenty inches across the back and over the extended walking legs. The total length, including the antennas, is just twenty-four inches. The antennae themselves are annulated, like those of the lobster, and the antennules have a bifurcated terminal joint. The carapace, chelae and walking legs are very curiously ornamented with sharp, transverse, interrupted ridges which are lunate on the cephalic region. The chelate appendages are extremely heavy, especially the third joint which is greatly thickened and trihedral in section. The raised ridges on the hand are broken and there are little tufts of hair in front of each ridge. There are six large walking legs and a posterior pair which is chelate. The abdomen has six well developed terga, the third being much larger than the others. Below the terga the abdomen is in the form of a large soft-walled sack, hairy on the under surface, and is said to contain a supply of oil in the living specimen. Under the distal end of the abdomen is the tergum of the last abdominal segment, bearing rudimentary appendages and the telson. The female is smaller and there are three well developed abdominal appendages on the left side bearing long hairs for the attachment of ova. These three appendages constitute the only departure from bilateral symmetry and doubtless indicate the descent of this form from the hermit crabs.

The most interesting feature of this strange crab, from my point of view, is the respiratory apparatus, especially when compared with that of the land crabs of the West Indies. In opening the branchial chamber of Birgus the gills appear, eleven on each side in the ventral portion of the chamber and immediately above the bases of the hinder pairs of walking legs. These gills

s The writer takes pleasure in acknowledging 1 the aid of Mr. Wendell Krull, graduate assistant in zoology, in the dissection and study of this form.

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cannot be called rudimentary in any true sense of the word, although they are so described by Geoffrey Smith in his treatment of the species. 6 On the contrary, they are well developed. The tip of the posterior gill seems exposed, projecting just back of the last thoracic segment and in front of the last and smallest pair of walking legs. The longest gills measure nearly an inch and a half and are altogether too well developed, it seems to me, for a rudimentary structure. Each gill is terete in form, tapering at each end and attached by its middle to the hard plates which limit the branchial cavity below. There are two series of leaf-like plates on each gill, borne on a hollow stem, the cavity of which is quite extensive in the preserved specimen; this hollow stem communicates with the body cavity at the point of attachment of each gill. It is not quite correct to call this a “hollow stem” because the tube is formed by the union of two series of branchial lamella near their distal ends; that is, the members of each pair of lam cl he are thus joined and their extreme bases are also joined so that the “tube” is extraordinarily large, its greatest diameter extending from the extreme bases to near the distal ends of the lamelhe.

The branchial space is divided into a ventral chamber containing the gills and a much larger dorsal chamber lined with branched villi. The gill side of the membranous partition is covered with hairs. Each gill plate is in reality a much flattened hollow sack, like a collapsed water bottle. On the under side of the hollow stem which bears the leaflets is a large number of hairs which under the microscope prove to greatly resemble the "cat-tails" we gather in the fall. Each has a very slender chitinous stalk, the distal part being covered with a dense mass of what looks like the fuzz or fur of the cat-tail.

The membrane lining the entire upper, or pulmonary, chamber is thick and rubber-like and the inner surface resembles short moss owing to the numerous branched finger-like villi that project into the chamber. That part of the membrane immediately around the gills has simple villi that are surrounded by hairs which seem to radiate from the villi. Many of these hairs are somewhat hooked at their ends and interspersed among them are some of the "cattail" hairs already described.

The part of Ihe carapace forming the branehiostegite is ex-

« Cambridge Natural History, IV, p. 174,

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

86

tensively broken by a series of somewhat deeply incised channels forming a rudely reticulate pattern. On the inner surface of the branchiostegite is a similar network of what appears to be large blood vessels. Inside of this branchiostegite is the highly vascular lining of the pulmonary chamber which bears the profusely branched bunches of villi. The outer surface of this membrane bears complete impressions of the reticulate pattern of blood vessels between the plates. Dorsally these impressions combine to make a very large one running obliquely from the antero-lateral edge of the branchiostegite to the posterior border where it joins a similar impression from that part of the membrane lining the gill chamber proper. The impression made by the combined vessels then turns abruptly inward and forward and seems to enter the body cavity a little to one side of the middle of the line of juncture between the carapace and the first abdominal segment. The hairy membrane covers the dorsal and lateral surfaces of the gill chamber. The number of gills seems to be eleven in both sexes and they lie longitudinally in the branchial chamber.

The condition of the viscera and other contents of the body cavity is such as to preclude investigation of the heart and main vessels.

It is evident that we have in Birgus a form more highly specialized for breathing in air than is found in any other decapod crustacean. The quantity of highly branched and vascular villi and the area that they cover is much greater than in any of the land crabs of the "West Indies, where gills are still the main organs of respiration. In Birgus the gills can by no means be described as rudimentary. Although relatively small, they bear every structural evidence of being functional. The hairs covering the lining of the cavity containing the gills are excellently well adapted to retain whatever moisture there is in the branchial chamber and thus create a condition in which the gill lamellae can use the oxygen in the air even if there is no water in the bottom of the gill chamber. Doubtless the soft abdomen aids in respiration, as its lower surface is supplied with hairs resembling those in the lower branchial chamber.

I have been unable to learn whether the holes or burrows of the robber crab are deep enough to reach water. In the South Sea islands (he general level of the lowlands, especially near beaches, is not far above the water level, and it seems likely that Birgus may have convenient access to water to replenish the sup-

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ply in the branchial chamber without visiting the shore at all. This may, in part, explain the presence of functional gills. In any event it seems reasonably sure that the respiratory tufts of villi are the principal organs of respiration.

This system is evidently derived from that of the hermit crab. A comparison with Cu-uobita diogenes, a form which is almost as terrestrial as Birgus, shows many points of similarity, 7 among which the following may be noted: The gills are of the phyllobranch type and the lamellae are thicker and less numerous than in water breathing forms. The number of gills is reduced and the individual gills are terete in both species. Similar tufts of hairs are found on the abdominal ventral region of Ccenobita, greatly resembling those in the lower branchial cavity of Birgus, and channels for blood vessels are found in the lining of the branehiostegite of both forms. The most striking difference is in the presence of the tufted villi in Birgus while they are absent in Canobila. Thus not only the unsymmetrically placed abdominal appendages of the female of Birgus, but also the general gill structure, tell the tale of the descent of the robber crabs from the hermit crabs.

Gonoductylus chiragra, one of the mantis shrimps, is quite common on the fiats of Makuluva where it is very active. This species has conspicuous black eyes and some of the mouth parts are tipped with scarlet. It resembles the pistol crab in its habit of making a clicking noise when confined in a bottle or glass jar and sometimes thumping the fingers of its captor. As in the common mantis shrimp, the second maxilliped is used as a chela but is built on a different plan from that of the lobster, for instance. It has a remarkably heavy and solid basal joint. The pincer is formed by the backward flexing of the distal joint of the appendage so that it opposes the anterior border of the preceding joint. The inner edge of the flexed finger is very finely serrate, and the teeth are much smaller than in the common mantis. Moreover, the abdominal "hump" so conspicuous in the mantis is not evident in the Gonodactylus. Back of the hand there are three pairs of slender walking legs and six pairs of swimmerets, including that of the tail fin. These arc very broad

'I am using in this connection an unpublished thesis, "Mollification of Respiratory Structures involved in transitions from Aquatic to Terrestrial Crustacea", by Otto Walter, a former graduate student in the Department of Zoology, State University of lowa.

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FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

and plate-like, biramous, the exopodite being the broader and edged with hairs. They appear to be much more powerful swimming organs than those of Squilla, the common member of the family on our coasts. The last abdominal segment has a very heavy tergum which is strongly corrugated longitudinally; the telson has three similar corrugations proximally and ends in two strong points, one on either side of the median line, with two shorter lateral points on either side of these. The inner borders of the two central points are very finely serrate. The last swimmeret extends backward beyond the telson.

Gonodactylus, much more heavily built and less delicate than SquiUa, is an inhabitant of the shallow pools on the surface of the Hats, and is one of the most common and conspicuous of the crustaceans that we found at Makuluva.

A large crayfish, or spiny lobster, lives in the rocks and shallows around the reefs, but we did not succeed in securing specimens. I suppose it belongs to the genus Palinurus which is common in the West Indies and a much prized dainty when properly cooked and served. Crayfish are caught at night by the Fijians who use torches whose bobbing lights could be seen around the island on calm nights at low tide.

One of the notable things about the crustacean fauna of Makuluva is the scarcity of Cirripedia or barnacles. I find no reference to them in my notes nor do I recollect seeing them. These almost universally distributed forms are familiar on all American coasts both East and West, as well as in the West Indian region. We found them later, rather abundantly, on the New Zealand coast.

A very remarkable slender-legged macruran, found in one of the crannies of a coral rock mass, was preserved, but I have been unable to locate it since our return. It was pure white in general color but with blood-red transverse markings on the carapace and appendages. There were blue blotches on the red bars or animations and the exceedingly attenuated walking legs had numerous thorny processes.

Owing to the scarcity of hydroids and bryozoans on the ilakuluva flats, the crustaceans are cleaner than those usually found in such places, not being overgrown with symbiotic organisms.

MOLLUSCA

Here again we find few really unfamiliar forms, a great majority appearing to be generically identical with those found in

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the West Indies. Perhaps the most striking group at Makuluva was the Nudibranehiata, some of which were among the largest we had seen. Their colors were gorgeous beyond description; scarlet, crimson, white and blue being the most conspicuous. Unfortunately, we were unable to preserve the larger ones and the smaller ones were but sad relics of their former selves by the time they had been immersed in formalin for even a few hours. The colore, of course, are totally evanescent. We doubtless missed many good things among the mollusks on account of not having with us the keen-eyed John B. Henderson, to whom the securing of the fine series from Barbados and Antigua was due. We were practically confined to forms found on the surface and reefs of the flats, as there was no bottom over which a net could work successfully because of the coral heads and rocks. Professor Thomas did the greater part of the work on mollusks, although he had but a few days at Makuluva.

Lamellibranchs were proportionally few and belonged to well known genera. The most conspicuous, of course, was Tridacna, which has been already referred to, belonging to a family characterized by the absence of siphons and the presence of a very strong byssus with which it anchors itself to the rock. The specimens on the flats were all small, the deeper water probably being a better habitat for the big fellows.

As I have never seen any detailed description of the soft parts of this giant clam the following notes may be useful. The dorsal edges of the valves are widely separated back of the umbo to accommodate the extraordinarily strong byssus connected with the muscular, cylindrical foot expanded towards its distal end which bears the mass of byssal fibers. The shell has two faint pallial sutures corresponding to the double edge of the mantle which fits closely the deeply scalloped edges of the strong valves. In some specimens the opening for the byssus is unsymmctrieal in that the right valve is reflected back over the dorsal surface more than the left. The muscle scars are hardly evident on the shell; this seems Strange to one who has noted the power with which the shells grip any intruding object. There is a very large posterior adductor muscle but no anterior adductor, and the attachment of the former to the valves is farther toward the ventral edges than is usual in the lamellibranchs. The muscle itself is enormous and the surface of attachment to the valves correspondingly large. This muscle mass is plainly divided into two parts and the ques-

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

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tion arises whether these two masses might not represent both posterior and anterior adductors.

The mantle itself is, as already indicated, double edged; the margin nearest the shell is very thin and does not project as far as does the inner border which comes to the very edge of the valves, is very muscular and rugose on its exposed surface where there are also numerous rounded colored tubercles which we took to be eyes like those of the scallop or Pecten. The color is completely destroyed by formalin in the case of Tridacna, while a good deal of it remains in Pecten. On the inside, towards the median line of the body, this muscular part of the mantle sends off a much thinner sheet of tissue which meets a similar one from the opposite mantle coalescing with it along the mid-line so that the whole structure is continuous, except for two rather small, slit-like apertures toward the ends of the gaping shells.

The foot, instead of projecting ventrally as in most bivalves, is turned abruptly towards the dorsum so that the large byssus extends through the great gaping dorsal aperture of the shell. This form being fixed, the foot has no function in locomotion but is highly muscular so as to form a firm anchorage for the tuft of fibers that make up the byssus. The byssal mass seems capable of partial retraction into the foot which accounts for the habit of this clam of shrinking tightly against the rock when touched, so that one can get no purchase with his fingers if he attempts to tear it from its anchorage. The excessively numerous byssal fibers form a compact oval mass of parallel threads about an inch long; each thread is terminated by a flattened cap which adheres strongly to the rock, and the whole mass, deeply embedded in the cylindrical foot, ends in the extensive byssal glands.

Taking it all in all, the extraordinarily developed byssus is one of the outstanding features of Tridacna. The portion of the mantle immediately surrounding the byssus and lying between that organ and the opening in the shell is strongly papillose; some of the papilla? branch. The appearance is that of a glandular organ. The labial palpi are poorly developed and hardly distinguishable.

An almost black species of Lithodomus was found in holes apparently bored by it in the reef rock. It is almost cylindrical in shape, the umbonal region is smooth, but the rest of the shell, except the extreme posterior end, is very finely crenulated with vertical markings that extend across the lines of growth.

Among the other lamellibranchs were a fine Pecten, a few small

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lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

pearl oysters, a Lima and a number of other inconspicuous forms.

The Gastropoda were greatly in the majority among the mollusks of the reefs, many of them being quite conspicuous for their beauty. .Many fine Cyprseas were collected. One of these, C. moneta, has been used as money and is the well known cowry shell. We noticed that a string of these cowry shells was attached to the great kava bowl used by Ratu Pop! and we were told that they indicated that the bowl was the property of a chief. There were many specimens of the more showy sort, such as Cameo, Murex, Pteroceros, and Conus. A very beautiful Triton was found, occupied by a large scarlet hermit crab. The shell has very prominent rounded corrugations alternating with quite minute ones. The verruca' on the whorls are quite distinct but the surface is smooth and one edge is expanded into a ribbon-like border with distinct reddish-brown markings. The small corrugations are broken up into fine nodules in the grooves between the whorls.

Among the Conidae we found a number of forms, one being the largest Conus that I have seen, measuring five inches in length. Unfortunately, however, it was an old and badly worn specimen in which the color markings had been destroyed. Another Conus was much smaller, but beautifully marked with rich reddish brown and white scale-like spots of rather irregular form, but each outlined by a dark, almost black, edge, giving a beautiful mosaic effect. Another interesting mollusk was an Astralium three inches wide by about two inches high, differing from many Turbos in having quite distinct whorls. The entire surface was covered with fine, closely set frills or ruffles that passed obliquely across the whorls, while the convexities of the ruffles formed lines of prominence arranged at right angles to the ruffles themselves. This curious frilled appearance extends to the lower surface of the shell, almost to the columella, the aperture itself being frilled, except on its columcllar side. Another form, apparently a Trochus, was abundant and had the solidest operculum I have seen, it being practically hemispherical in shape. We were told that these shells were collected and sold to Indian and Japanese firms for the manufacture of buttons.

Doubtless a eonchologist would find numerous interesting things among the .smaller and less conspicuous gastropods which we secured at Makuluva, but I am not sufficiently in formed to do this. I find, however, the following generic names which are only approximately correct, in my notes, and they may serve to indicate

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FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

something of the general nature of the gastropod fauna. Those already mentioned are for the most part omitted. I find notice of Ctrilhium, Leucozonia, Spondylus, Natica, Bulla, Oliva, Livia, Patella, Haliotis, and Mitra. Many other genera are included in the collection but 1 do not venture even approximate identification of the smaller things.

I have already spoken of the beauty of the nudibranchs found on Makuluva flats. It would be impossible to imagine more vivid colors than are exhibited by some of them. One particularly brilliant individual gave us an interesting exhibition of swimming in a definite direction by rhythmical undulations of the delicate lateral edges of the mantle. I had read somewhere that the nudibranchs do not swim in any true sense, but positive proof was before our eyes. This specimen was about ten inches long when alive but has shrunk to four inches in the preservative, and, of course, its colors have disappeared.

Many chitons were secured and I find a note of one that was soft and lacked the characteristic plates. A quantity of common forms was collected for future class use.

The cephalopoda were by no means so numerous as we found them in the West Indies. A minute Octopus was found on the abdomen of a fish. The quantity of ink discharged by a small devil-fish was truly surprising and the agility with which they squirm away from behind their “smoke screen” won our admiration.

ECHINODERMATA

All in all the echinoderms of Makuluva were disappointing. Although numerous enough individually, they were chiefly of well known Atlantic genera and but few surprises were in store for us there. Such forms as Heterocentrotus and Colohocentrotus, common in the Hawaiian group, were not found, but the übiquitous Echinometra among the echinoids, and Ophiocoma among the serpent stars predominated almost everywhere on the flats.

The holothurians, from their size and number of conspicuous forms, were most likely to attract attention. Great, thick-walled species, such as produce the trepang of the orient, lie fully exposed in the depressions of the flats. One of the commonest is jet black in color while its dorsal surface is devoid of tubercles, quite smooth and shiny. Our experience in eating it has already been

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described. It is hard to account for the very conspicuous coloration, as it can hardly be protective unless it is a case of "warning coloration." But the Fijians, at least, consider it good to eat.

The apodous group of holothurians is represented by a fine species, probably Euapta, very much like the one described in my narrative of the Barbados-Antigua Expedition. When fully extended it is about two feet long, irregularly mottled brown, reddish brown and yellowish, sometimes giving an effect of obscure annulation. The tentacles are fifteen in number and rather profusely branched. The anchor and anchor plates are much larger than in Euapta lappa, often three times as long. The anchor flukes are quite efficient and give a distinctly prickly feeling to the integument, their points breaking off in one's fingers. These spicules are the largest of any I have seen and differ from those of E. lappa not only in size but in the fact that the anchors are perfectly smooth, and devoid of nodules on the outer faces of the flukes. They are found in all the Synaptidfe figured by Hjalmar Theil in the Challenger Report on the Holothuroidea, The end of the shank is shaped much like the flukes of a whale and is terminated by fine rows of nodules. The anchor plates, larger and more complicated than those of E. lappa, are about as long as the shank of the anchor, and with many more perforations, none of which have the fine denticles like the cogs in a watch wheel. They are shaped much like those figured by Theil for Synapta beselii and it may be that our specimens belong to that species which is represented from various islands of the South Pacific, such as Tahiti and the Philippines. As Fiji lies roughly between these two localities it is not unlikely to be found there. This group belongs to a suborder in which the respiratory tree is entirely absent.

The order Pedata has numerous representatives on the Fiji reefs, but lack of space prevents any detailed description. I will, therefore, content myself with giving a few of the color notes from my field notebook. One species was yellowish white with two rows of conspicuous chocolate spots; another was very slender, olive green in color and covered with white spinelike processes; another, a small mottled one, with chocolate and white blotches.

The Eehini were numerous individually but not many species were represented. As indicated before, Echinometra outnumbered all other forms combined. Its color variations interested us greatly and ranged from almost pure white through various changi

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green and olive to a very dark, somewhat purplish brown. Some had distinctly barred spines, and in others the spines were light green with a sub-terminal band of dark brown and pure white tips. The largest specimen of all had white spines while the test was almost black. This species is doubtless Echinometra lucunter and is recorded from Fiji in Agassiz' great work, "The Revision of the Echini." Some specimens are quite large for this form. A few Diadema were found, and one seemed very much like the West Indian species, although a specialist would doubtless find distinguishing specific characters. Another form which, judging from Agassiz' figures and description, I am inclined to think belongs to the genus Echinothrix, is described by him as having spines of two sorts; "the one being very fine elongated silk-like spines and the other large, verticillate or longitudinally striated spines, not as hollow as in Diadema, but having more the solidity of those of Astrophyga." s This is much like a Diadema in appearance, but the two sets of spines are sharply distinguished. The larger set is not characterized by the imbricating whorls of scales so well shown in Diadema, but is much more like the ordinary eidaroid type where thin and definite longitudinal rows of denticles are found. These spines are almost as long as those of Diadema but are stouter basally in proportion to their length. In one specimen these are jet black, in another they are barred with dark brown and very pale green, almost white. Another set of spines is placed between the larger ones and characterized by extreme slenderness, appearing rather like stiff hairs than spines. These are black in the black specimens and finely barred in the one with the barred primary spines. The actinostome is much like that of Diadema, but the buccal feet are more numerous and not so prominent. The apical system also resembles that of Diadema. Not daring to denude the test and thus reveal the tubercles, I am much handicapped in studying these specimens which I at first mistook for Diadema.

A small form, probably of this same species, shows the buccal feet without plates, a distinct anal cone and a few spines on the plates of the apical system. The distinction between the two sets of spines is not so great as in the larger and presumably older specimens.

Another specimen bears some resemblance to Strongylocentrolus

s Revision of the Echini, pi. Ill”, figs. 1 and 2.

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as defined by Agassiz, but the pores are not distinctly arranged in arcs of four or five pairs and the peristome has minute and numerous detached plates. The spines seem to be of two kinds, long and short; the former slightly attenuated at the distal end and light green throughout, while the latter are slightly clubbed at ends; the clubbed parts are white. The two sorts seem to intergrade, however, although most of them appear quite distinct.

Only one petalostichan form was found, a small specimen closely resembling Echinonrus semilunaris that we collected at Antigua in 1918.

The Ophiuroidea were abundant in the shallow pools on the landward side of the reefs where the water was comparatively quiet. But even here each specimen had an anchor to windward in the form of an arm or two thrust into the narrow fissures of the rock. Thus an entire specimen was hard to procure. Ophk>coma was, as usual, by far the most abundant genus, many times outnumbering all others combined. The astonishing variation in coloration continually surprised us. Some were almost entirely black, others black with large white spots in glaring contrast. One had all the spines finely ringed with dark brown and white. Ophiocoma cchinala was by far the most abundant species. 0. riisei was also found, although Agassiz in his illustrated catalogue of the Museum of Comparative Zoology does not report either species from the Pacific. Ophiolhri.r, with its glassy spinulated spines, was occasionally seen. It had the pierced jaws, characteristic of the genus, according to Agassiz, the prominent radial shields, numerous tooth papilla?, conspicuous tentacles and bluish green color of Ophiothris. The upper and under arm-plates are blotched or finely speckled with dark brown or black. The spines themselves are not so long, relatively, as in the "West Indian forms I have seen. 0. longipeda and 0. demersa are the only species reported by Agassiz as occurring from the tropical Pacific, and these do not agree in specific characters with our specimens, which may belong to several species.

Another serpenl star has a very close, superficial resemblance to Ophiura; the upper arm-plates are broken up as in 0. cinerea. The barred anus, short arm-spines, scaled disk, slit-like genital Openings just outside the mouth shields, two tentacle-scales and numerous papillae are characteristic of the genus. But the resemblance is superficial only, so much so thai a careful study convinces one that it cannot be an Ophiura at all. according to

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Agassiz' definition of that genus. In the first place there are but two genital openings to each arm, instead of four, although the two present are very near the mouth shields and on the side of the arm-base instead of in the interbrachial region. The armspines are hut three in number, instead of seven to thirteen; the spines are not noticeably flattened and stand out from the side arm-plates resembling relatively small spines of the Ophiooyma type. The disk is covered with minute, scale-like plates and the radial shields are so small as to be scarcely evident. This interesting form does not fit into any genus described by Agassiz. Other closely allied specimens may belong to the same genus.

Another specimen, which I have been unable to identify generically, has a jet black disk and white arms with almost white spines, sharply speckled with black, cylindrical in form, and abruptly truncated at their distal ends. It looks like an Ophiocoma and has evident mouth papilla;. The disk has a leathery, granulated integument typical of that genus. One specimen mentioned in my notebook had a spread of about two feet, the greatest I have found among the true serpent-stars. It was grayish in color, with very prominent radial shields and may have been an Ophiothrix.

The Asteroidca were poorly represented on Jlakuluva. By far the most common was a large, intensely blue species, one of the most conspicuous objects on the flats. Dr. Stoner found one in a New Zealand museum labeled "Linckiu laevigata." It is a large, pentamerous species, usually with a spread of a foot or more, and sometimes individuals are found with more than five rays. The disk is quite small compared with the length of the arms. The color, an intense bright blue, disappears rapidly when specimens are dried but much less rapidly in alcohol. It has a tough, leathery consistence and rarely if ever shows the tendency to shed its rays. so remarkably manifest in West Indian species of this genus. The surface is quite smooth, although close inspection shows that it is finely granulated. Papula. l are numerous on the dorsal and lateral surfaces, but not on the ventral surface below the marginal plates. The latter are arranged in two regular rows which are evident but not conspicuous. There is a single row of short stumpy spines on either side of the tightly closed ambulacra] furrow whose surfaces arc granular like thai of the general surface of the starfish, and they seem to be covered with a rather thick integument. The tube-feet arc provided with suckers and are arranged in two

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straight rows in each ambulacral area; the ampulla; are leaf-like No pedicellariffl can be seen. There is a single, very flat, round madreporic body. The autotomous species of this genus, such as Luukia guildingi found in the West Indies, have more than one madreporic body.

A small specimen, grayish in color, with a relatively large disk and short triangular arms, was found on the tide flats. It has a conspicuous row of marginal plates representing the upper marginals, but the inferior marginals seem to be lacking. The upper series bear conspicuous triangular spines and there is a row of short pointed spines covering the ambulacral groove. Beneath these, as viewed from above, other rows of fine spinelets are found. Ihe thm, fragile dorsal plates are regularly arranged, while the madreporic body is inconspicuous and pedicellaria appear to be absent. This form greatly resembles Gymnasteria carinifera as figured by Sladen. 9 He names the Fiji Islands as one of the localities from which this species is reported and states that it has been found on the reefs there.

I find in my notes the mention of a "fine sessile crinoid with arms barred brown and white." Tlris is the only crinoid we saw while at Fiji, and it so disintegrated in the preservative used (formalin) that I will leave it for description by a specialist when the scientific results of the expedition are worked out. Of course many other echinoderms have been passed over without mention, as this narrative presents merely a cursory view of things that strike the author as having particular interest.

WORMS

This term is used in the old sense to include all worm-like forms, such as leeches and nemertines. as well as the annelids proper.' The representatives of this heterogeneous group found on Makuluva are not numerous and do not compare in variety with those .secured by the Barbados-Antigua Expedition of 1918. This is due in part to the difficulty of breaking up the flinty reef-rock in order to expose the forms hidden in the deeper recesses. Among the Polychseta is Leodice longicirrala. lo This specimen is the longest true annelid I have ever seen, the preserved spec-

» Asteroidea of the Challenger Expedition, pi. LII, figs. 5-8,

line Mullin of the Department of Zoology in the State University of [owa has been good enough to identify approximately the forms here mentioned.

PLATE XIII

Hon. T. I-;. Pell, C. M <;.. Colonial Secretary of Fiji A powerful friend of two expeditions from the S.ate University of lowa

PLATE XIV

View of part of Suva and Suva liav from Fiji Club (See page 89) The Fiji Club hous.- (See page B9)

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imen being forty inches in length, with the terminal part of the caudal end missing. The color in life is a rather bright reddish brown which has not been changed greatly in preservative. The gills are rather profusely branched on one side, there being twenty branches on a single gill in some cases, and they are conspicuous organs borne on the parapodia. The seta; are in tufts. The nuchal cirri, characteristic of the family Leodicida?, are present. The setae are not so large or numerous as in the "sea scorpions" of Bardados.

Another very slender, dark brown specimen appears to belong to the Leodicida;. It is darker than the one previously described and much more attenuate.

The Phyllodacidai are represented by a form having exceedingly conspicuous bunches of seta?. The body is greatly flattened and the sides appear as if covered with cotton wool along their entire length, so numerous are the glassy spicules so compacted together that the parapodia proper are not visible, nor are the segments when viewed from the side. The head bears the caruncle, peculiar to this family, apparently lamellate in structure, and the parapodia bear gills. The seta? are much like those last described, many of them being distinctly serrate on one side of the distal part, while others are exceedingly fine and smooth.

The tube dwelling forms are represented by several species. One seems to belong to the family Sabellidse which we found so abundant on the sea-wall at the dockyard in Antigua. 11 The tubes feel rather soft like a sponge. The gills are brown and borne on a double horse-shoe shaped lophophore. Each gill seems to have a double series of filaments along most of its length and these filaments are relatively longer and more slender than those in the Antigua species, although the entire worm is much smaller.

Some fragmentary specimens seem to belong to the Tcrebcllid®. They construct tubes of bits of shell, stone fragments, etc. which look like very crude and badly made mosaic work.

One of the most surprising forms seems to be a nemertine. It is one of the most conspicuously colored worms I have ever seen. When fresh it was nearly a yard long and was pure white in color with a very conspicuous broad longitudinal dorsal stripe of dark, bright, reddish brown. No coloration could be more striking than

11 Mullin. Eeport on some Polychic tons Annelids collected by the Barbados Antigua Expedition in 1918.

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this combination. The dorsal band is much interrupted in places. The form is flattened and attenuated to a mere thread at one end where there is an appearance of branching into several very slender filaments. On what I take to be the head end, its greatest diameter is about a quarter of an inch; here is a broad collar of the same chocolate brown as the dorsal band and at this end there is some indication of segmentation, although the body in general is smooth. Another nemertine is quite dark brown all over and probably two feet long.

A small marine leech completes this hurried list of some of the more conspicuous worm-like forms from Makuluva; but the specialist will doubtless find others of interest equal to those mentioned above.

CGELEXTERATA

As would be expected, this phylum furnishes the great bulk of animals on and about the coral reefs, and I imagine that it would lead all others in actual number of species.

Commencing with the aleyonarians. we noticed the absence of two of the three groups into which this order is usually divided. We found no representatives of the Pennatulacese nor of the Gorgonacese; the Alcyonacea; being the only one represented in our eolleetion. The absence of sea pens, or Pennatulacese, is not remarkable as they are usually deep water forms; but the total lack of the flexible corals, or Gorgonacese, is much more noteworthy, especially to one accustomed to the multiplicity of these forms in the tropical Atlantic.

One form very closely resembles Sarcophyton in general shape, being a good deal like a somewhat irregularly lobed mushroom. The stalk is thick and devoid of polyps while the head is much expanded to form a somewhat kidney-shaped mass on the upper .surfa.ee of which the completely retractile polyps grow. There are no calyces, at least there is no evidence of them when the polyps are retracted. At first I could find no zooids, but they are evident under the low power of the compound microscope. The polyps themselves arc of the ordinary alcyonarian type with eight fringed tentacles which do not close over the disk, and with small spicules. The general coenenchyma is a Bpongy mass with numerous, slender, spindle-shaped, warty spicules. There are two specimens of this form in ihe eolleetion from Makuluva. which agree

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very well with the figures of the genus Sarcophyton, as given by Bourne in his article on Anthozoa. 12

One of the most interesting forms encountered on the Makuluva reefs was an alcyonarian with strongly retractile branches, a thing that I had never heard of, except in some pennatulids, such as Ptylosarcus, where the stem is highly contractile, or perhaps it would be better to call it erectile.

The Makuluva form looks so much like a gorgonian, such as Plexaurella, with erect stubby bx-anehes, that I supposed it was one. One of the surprises of my life came when I touched one of the branches and all of them immediately began to reti'act until the whole colony took on the shape of an irregulaxdy rounded mass, each branch being reduced to a nodule on the general surface. The retraction was fully as rapid as that of an anemone, and repeated experiments showed that they always quickly responded to a tactile stimulus. The polyps promptly retracted at the same time. An astonishing effect of this retraction is that the colony turns pale at the approach of danger—first shrinks away and then turns pale, like a timid maiden! The polyps are dark brown when expanded, thus giving a decided brown coloration to the colony. The ccenenchyma, however, is almost pure white and the retraction of the polyps exposes this surface, resulting in a quick change from brown to white, dotted with the brown openings into which the polyps have withdrawn.

The polyps themselves are small, dark brown, having tentacles of the usual alcyonarian type with fringed margins. They are encrusted with small spicules of a type not at all characteristic of the family Nepthyid® to which this form seems to belong. These spicules are almost uniformly double spindles, or rather doublestars, such as characterize the family Gorgonellid®, a widely different group. These double-stars have their ends covered with strong nodules which themselves bear several sharp points, and there is a smooth girdle on the median part of the spicule separating the two stars. The tentacles are not fully retracted but are folded over the disk of the retracted polyps, a character diagnostic of the family Ncpthyid®, according to Bourne. However, the uniform spicules in the shape of double-stars, (for I found none of the spindles) would, it seems to me, necessitate another class-

" Lankester, "A Treatise on Zoologv" part 2, fig. XII. and the tp. 24.

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ification. Such spicules are found in Sarcophyton belonging to the Alcyonidie, according to Thomson and McKinnon."

in longitudinal section the canals are parallel but branch near the surface to connect with the numerous polyps and are almost filled with ova which are often found a considerable distance below the surface. The partitions between the canals bear numerous spicules, which would indicate that the species belongs to the sub-family Siphonogorginie; but I find no report of double-stars »i this group. A cross section of a branch shows no large central canal or group of canals but the walls are thicker than usual probably from the necessity of accommodating the muscular masses that effect the retraction of the branches. In a retracted colony such a cross section shows the water tubes occupied by tissue which seems continuous with the polyps and may be muscular

Another alcyonanan found aboundantly on Jlakuluva flats belongs to a family that I have not met with before, the Xeniide Ihe colony is encrusting or i rre gularly lobate, a clear reddish gray, almost v lo let, in color and lives in the shallower tide pools of the flats. Often the bodies of the polyps are almost white and the tentacles gray. In some cases the polyps are entirely white They are non-retractile, a characteristic of this family, hence this form is an admirable one to preserve for class use. The polyp bodies are translucent and about one-half inch long in the living specimens. The tentacles are strong and have a elose-set fringe of stubby papilla; on either side, with two or more rows on each side of a tentacle. In certain views the papilla; appear to cover the upper surfaces giving the appearance of closelv set knobs. The tentacles and papillae are frosted over with numerous minute spicules which are round or oval disks with a granulated appearance, and shaped like red blood-corpuscles. These spicules are also numerous on the thin polyp walls where they are closelv and evenly scattered. These disk-like spicules are also characteristic of the family Xeniidas. Although they are most abundant on the surface, some of them are seen scattered throughout the fleshy eeenemchyma. The polyps are so packed together on the surface as to leave very little room between their bases.

A longitudinal section of a branch or lobe shows the numerous canals which are continuous with the body cavities of the polyps

on the Percy Sladen Trust Expedition to the Indian Ocean, pi

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and which contain mesenterial filaments extending considerably below the general surface, ova and developing planula; quite down to the base of the colony. Siphonozoids seem to be absent in this species, although very small young polyps are found near the bases of the fully grown ones, from which they appear to be budded, near the surface of the colony. These could easily be mistaken for siphonozoids, as suggested by Wright and Studer in their Report on the Alcyonaria of the Challenger Expedition.

The only other aleyonarian that calls for mention is the organpipe coral, or Tubipora, which we saw here in a living condition, a new experience for all of us. We preserved some of the smaller colonies, showing partly expanded polyps, for subsequent study. But this beautiful form has so often been described and figured that it need not detain us now.

Most of the reef corals have been mentioned in the preceding chapter. Dr. Vaughan has been good enough to name most of the genera represented by our collection of dried specimens. In the Challenger Report on the Reef Corals, John J. Quelch enumerates sixty species from Fiji, the largest number found in any one group of the Pacific Islands, according to these writers. Doubtless others have been added since.

By far the most conspicuous genus is Acropora which contains most of the larger branching forms. Some greatly resemble A. alcicornis or the staghorn coral of the West Indies. One very beautiful species seems to be the Pacific representative of A. palmata. It forms a kidney-shaped horizontal plate, usually quite symmetrical, about eighteen inches wide. From this plate arise numerous closely crowded vertical spikes about three-fourths of an inch high, all attaining approximately the same level. The upper surface of the colony is slightly concave. Viewed from below, the corallum is seen to be composed of a mass of anastomosing branches forming a flabellate structure that appears like a solid plate when viewed from above; but below it is a mass of branches which anastomose very profusely. The tip of each of the vertical spikes is colored a bright bluish pink while the rest of the colony is a grayish brown. It grows in the quieter pools inside the reefs. There are several species of this wide-spread genus. One forms a clump of short, stout branches, the corallitc walls being unusually thick and the margins incomplete on the adaxial side, so that the ends of the corallites look like horseshoes

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with the convex sides turned downward. Another species, similar in form, has eorallites of much smaller size.

The genus Pocillopora is represented by several finely branched species. The colonies are generally smaller than those of Acropora, but there is great diversity in the manner of branching. The most common form is a dense oval clump of closely aggregated branches; but sometimes they are delicate and slender like the common Acropora of the Atlantic.

Fovitcs is a genus that I had not seen before. It seems to be an encrusting form, and the general aspect is like that of some of the Devonian fossils. The eorallites are low and large, quite varied in shape, their walls contingent; in combination they form a sort of network of large mesh. Our specimens greatly resemble the figure of Cyphastrea oceUima. 1 * Leptoria is another genus greatly resembling Meandrina of the tropical Atlantic. The eorallites are extensively confluent and the septa all seem to belong to one series, instead of two as in the Atlantic Meandrina. Turbinaria is a foliaceous form with distinct round eorallites separated by ccenenehyma, sometimes of considerable extent. Forties is another genus well represented on these reefs, but the specimens offer no important points of difference from the Vest Indian forms.

While on Makuluva I tried preserving coral polyps in an expanded condition by a method that Dr. Vaughan has used successfully. My chief difficulty was getting them to expand in the laboratory. This they refused to do, although I tempted them with choice bits of crab meat which Dr. Vaughan informed me was eagerly devoured by the Atlantic forms with which he experimented.

The OrbiceUa mentioned on a preceding page was of intense interest to all of our party, as it offered a display of expanded polyps unique in our experience. These were brown but had a white area around the mouth.

The anemones were represented by a number of interesting species. I have already spoken of the huge specimen that had a spread of something like eighteen inches, the largest any of us bad ever seen. It had an extensively lobed, fringed disk margin and thousands of bright green tentacles. The body beneath the

« Vaughan, Recent Ma'lroporaria of the Hawaiian Islands nml Laysan pi. XXVI, fig. 1.

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tentacles was a beautiful orange red. It bore considerable superlicial resemblance to the figure of an actinian given on pi. 4, tig. 31 of Dana's Zoophytes of the Wilkes U. S. Exploring Expedition. These plates still remain, in my opinion, the most beautiful ones, of anemones, that I have seen.

Great areas of the Hats were fairly carpeted with colonial anemones or Zoanthidea. 1 suppose there were literally acres of them and doubtless some colonies contained thousands of individual anemones. They were rarely expanded at low tide, even when covered with water, so we could not get satisfactory views of the polyps. They were usually of a yellowish tan color, sometimes almost buff. In preserved specimens the polyps are thickly crowded over the surface leaving but little ccenenchyma exposed, and they are but little exserted; their walls are tough and leathery, having a sandy feel, for this form and many of its allies cements sand on its outer surface, presumably for protective purposes. The mesenteries are numerous, about forty in specimens examined, and are furnished with thick muscles. The tentacles are folded over the disk in retraction. A vertical section shows that the polyp is about one centimeter long when retracted.

Several other anemones were found, both compound and simple, but the two described were by far the most conspicuous, ily notes mention a slaty blue compound anemone, and we brought a number of other forms which will be placed in the hands of specialists.

But one medusa was seen by me on Makuluva and that was too large for any of our bottles. It was of the Rhizostoma; type with complicated mouth-arms and no central mouth. The disk was purplish in color, the lower part blue, the mouth arms transparent and brown-edged. The hydromedusse were inconspicuous, with the exception of the Hydrocorallinae of which several species were fairly common. One that closely resembles the MUlepora of the West Indies was identified as I'sammocora by Dr. Vaughan. The colony forms a profusely branched clump, the tips of the branches often having a clavate form. The surface is quite unlike that of MUlepora, however, being covered with curious, densely aggregated, bristly points and short bristly ridges, which in some places give a minutely vermiform appearance. The zooids are hard to make out. The ga.stropores are placed in the center of a number of bristling radiating ridges which are shaped like the petals of a flower, forming a sort of daisy pattern around the gastropores.

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These tend to a linear arrangement in very shallow grooves on some parts of the surface. The daetylopores are arranged around the gastropores and between the petals. There is evidently a style to each gastropore. The largest colony secured is about seven inches high and profusely branched.

Distichopora is represented by small branched colonies. The branches are rounder than in specimens from the Atlantic and have a purplish tinge. The edge of each branch has a deep groove along its whole length and the ga-stropores are arranged along the bottom of the grooves, while the daetylopores occupy the ridges on either side. The general surface seems to be largely devoid of the blister-like swellings found on' our West Indian specimens. A majority of the specimens collected at Makuluva are a pretty blue, rather than purple, almost the color of the large starfish Linckia, although a somewhat darker blue, and the tips of the branches are often almost white. Some specimens have the short, stubby branches on opposite sides and strictly alternate. None of them is over two inches in height. In addition to the gastropores and daetylopores along the grooves on the edges of the branches, there appear to be others on the surfaces and in one specimen at least the zooids themselves are seen in a regular eyclosystem. This would doubtless place the species in another genus, a description of which I am unable to find.

We found no ordinary hydroid colonies at Makuluva. This is, I believe, the first place where I have failed to find material belonging to this group.

Numerous sponges were also found, but nothing that seems to be worthy of special mention.

.-'I

CHAPTER V

OUR EXPERIENCES ON VITILEVU, FIJI

The Fiji club was a welcome relief after the somewhat strenuous life at Makuluva. There was a comfortable writing room where we could bring our notes and correspondence up to date or read the latest papers from New Zealand, and others which were about a month old, from England. I saw no papers or magazines from the United States and we were thus completely isolated, so far as home news was concerned.

About five in the afternoon the club members, almost all of them colonial officials, assembled for a social hour or two before dinner. As seems almost universally the case, the colonials are not teetotalers by any means, neither were they worried by prohibition laws.

The house servants were Indians, in red fez and white coats, and they were quite efficient. We were somewhat surprised to note that the doors and windows of the club house were always open, even at night when the lights were out and everyone sound asleep. This denoted a sense of security from thieves that was novel to us, especially in a city as large as Suva; but the club officials assured us that there was no danger of anything being stolen, so sure were they of the honesty of both the Indians and native Fijians. Indeed, the only case of thievery we knew of was when some money, a silk scarf and other small articles were taken trom Gloek’s room when we stopped at the Grand Pacific Hotel just after landing. This we attributed to the fact that this hotel was the most thoroughly Europeanized house in Fiji.

My most interesting experience in Yitilevu was a visit to Ratu Pope of Bau, w'ho, Secretary Fell assured us, was the most powerful of the present Fijian chiefs. The trip was arranged through Air. Stewart who was, I understand, the Secretary of Native Affairs under the Colonial Government. I had also a personal letter of introduction to Ratu Pope from Secretary Fell. An American railroad man, Mr. Welch, with some other tourists, chartered a launch for a trip to Bau, and through their courtesy I took advantage of this arrangement instead of trying to get a

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Government launch for the purpose. When I went on board about noon, I found quite a gay party of excursionists who had provided plenty of eatables for us en route. The inside passage between the reefs and the coast was very rough; the waves often dashed masses of spray completely over the top deck of the launch and thoroughly drenched a few adventurous voung folks who were ndnig on top. Canvas curtains from roof to gunwale on the windward side protected those below fairly well, but considerable water came m. V> e ate lunch during the roughest part of the trip, but all were good enough sailors to enjoy it in spite of the violent antics of the boat.

We passed Makuluva on our right and took a short cut through mangrove swamps to the Rewa River, the largest stream on the island. The jungle of mangrove trees on their network of roots which rose well above the surface of the water at low tide before they united to form the gnarled and twisted trunks, formed an impenetrable mass on either hand. The oddly shaped branches sent down innumerable shoots to the muddy ground; these in turn took root and thus formed a perfect maze of interlacing roots and stems making an impassable barrier, the gloomy depths of which were overshadowed by the dense dark green foliage through which scarcely a ray of sunshine penetrated. In the ooze beneath, many crabs of various kinds found home and livelihood, while the peculiar climbing fishes. Pcriophthalmus, were perched on the roots above water calmly surveying the scenery with their protruding, goggle eyes.

We ascended the broad stretches of the Rewa River for several miles. On the right bank we saw an imposing group of buildings at Naililili where there is a large Catholic mission and church. About sixty square miles of good, arable land have been formed by the Rewa delta; indeed this seems to be some of the best agricultural land in Vitilevu.

Shortly after this we turned abruptly into a muddy channel, said to have been dug originally by some of the war-like Fijians of a former generation, whereby the natives of Han could quietly transport war parties to attack the tribe on the Rewa; from these forays they often returned with "long pig" to furnish the piece </, resistanct for a cannibal feast. This channel is narrow and tortuous, much like a very muddy winding creek at home; we frequently ran our bows into the bank and had to back off, as the tide was low. Here and there we passed small Fijian villages

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of grass-thatehed houses, usually of one room, with no opening but a single door. These villages became larger as we advanced, and groups of people could be seen, some of them with no clothing but a narrow strip called the "sulu." Children were quite in a state of nature and the women retired modestly to the background as we passed. There were a few trees such as mangos, coconut palms, bread-fruit trees, etc. in each village, and small garden patches which seemed common property were in evidence.

At about four in the afternoon we reached the west coast of the island; the sea was not rough and we had a pleasant run of eight or ten miles past occasional picturesque islets on our right, some of which were quite rocky with eroded shore-lines. It was almost sun-down when we reached the island of Bau, one of the most historic places in all Fiji, and very picturesque it was with hilly contour and many trees of kinds strange to us. We stepped from the launch onto a rickety pier and were at once surrounded by a group of Fijians, not one of whom appeared to know a word of English. However, our skipper found a boy who agreed to deliver my letter of introduction to Ratu Pope and I saw him go to a group of men, kneel and deliver the letter to his chief. Meanwhile, we waited until the lad returned and motioned me to follow him. We found the chief playing cricket with the Bau Cricket Club in which he takes great pride. With a pleasant greeting in excellent English he asked me to be seated for a few minutes until the game was over. Then he had my suit case taken to his home and arranged for the rest of the party who were to be accommodated at the rest house.

Ratu Pope is a very handsome man, speaks English as well as any of ns, is a member of the Executive Council of Fiji and absolute ruler of this little island with a population of about seven hundred happy looking natives. I find in the account of the Wilkes expedition that in 1840 "Ambau," which was the old spelling for Bau, was the most important district in Fiji and had a population of about 6,000 people, not confined, however, to the island itself. Ratu Pope is a grandson of Cakobau, the last king of Fiji, and says that he is in all probability the last of his line. I have never experienced finer courtesy than while a guest in his home. The house itself is of the same pattern as the rest but much larger. It has but one room, about twenty by forty feet. The floor is covered with fine matting and the walls made of slender reeds, bound together with sennit on the inside and thatched

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heavily with leaves on the outside. Everything was scrupulously clean. Inside was some European furniture such as a table, a few chairs and an oil lamp. This table is historic as it is reported to be the one on which was signed the document which turned the islands over to the British through King Cakobau. There were a few pictures on the walls and, contrary to the usual custom, there were several windows in addition to two or three doors. The chief wore the native sulu consisting of a rectangular piece of white cloth about the size of an ordinary towel simply wrapped around the loins and tucked or rolled in at the waist. He also wore a white shirt with a collar and neck-tie, but no shoes while at home; however, he wore the regulation European clothes while on official duty at Suva. We ate alone at dinner attended by a man servant. No native woman entered the house while I was there. AVe had soup, chicken, vegetables and very good coffee. Afterward he seemed to enjoy one of my cigars and we had a delightful chat in which he showed considerable acquaintance with world affairs.

Ratu Pope then invited the other visitors to join us in a kava drinking ceremony which partook of the nature of a solemn ritual. Kava, a drink known all through Polynesia, is made from a root called "yangona." The fibers are separated by pounding in water so that the juice is extracted and they are then strained out with an instrument resembling a bunch of fine twigs. The remaining liquid is whitish or milky and has an aromatic twang, rather bitter and peppery. At the ceremony in the evening I was seated at the right of the chief and the other visitors sat along the sides of the room in chairs brought for the purpose. Near the center of one end of the house, opposite most of the visitors, was the kava bowl about three feet across supported on short wooden legs, shallow, like a great wooden soup plate. The men who were to take part sat cross-legged back of the bowl. A string of cowry shells stretched out from the front indicated that it was the property of the chief. The main functionary, himself a subordinate chief, took a kava cup made of the half shell of a coconut, stirred the fluid solemnly for a while, then filled the cup and handed it to a second man who. kneeling, gave it to the visitor regarded as the guest of honor. The recipient took the cup, which is almost as thin as an egg-shell and pointed at the bottom, in both hands. Etiquette required that he empty the cup at one draught and then spin it on the floor by a dexterous twist of the wrist. At the same time all the men clapped their hands rather slowly and solemnly and cried.

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“matha” (it is empty) in a low voice. The cup then went the round of the visitors and finally to the native men; but I understand that it is tabu to the Fijian women. This kava drinking is said to last practically all night sometimes, and-the greatest decorum prevails. It is regarded as bad form to change the position of one’s feet, and as all are seated cross-legged on the ground, the position is no less than torture to an ordinary white man; even the natives, I was told, find it a severe test of endurance. Fortunately, the rules were relaxed in our case and the visitors had chairs.

I noticed no effect to indicate that kava is intoxicating, but was told that confirmed drinkers after a long bout have their legs affected. The taste was not particularly pleasant to the novice, but the effect was distinctly refreshing. Major W. A. Chappie says, 1 “It (kava) has absolutely no effect on the brain or senses. In great excess it is said to weaken the legs, though it does not affect the mind or consciousness. The drink is not pleasant but it has a slightly styptic effect on the mucous membrane of the mouth and leaves a rather cleansing taste which all observers comment upon. Whites drink it freely without apparent effect.”

Later in the evening the men sang for us, still seated crosslegged back of the kava bowl; they sang well, in excellent time and melody, the bass voices booming out with fine effect and the tenor being rendered in a falsetto voice. Most of the songs were in Fijian, but some were renditions of English songs; among the latter was “Tipperary” and others brought back from the great war. Like almost all native peoples the Fijians enjoy singing, but on this occasion there was no musical instrument. It seemed to me that the men showed considerable training as the parts were very well carried.

After an hour or so of this, the other guests left; Mr. Welch and I remained, and, by request, spent some time in telling the men about lowa and the wonders of the United States in general, such as the size of the country, its railroads, skyscrapers, the University, etc. The men listened in silence, most of them with heads bowed, very intent on hearing and understanding everything that was said, as Ratu Pope patiently translated our remarks. He was the only one at Bau, so far as we discovered, who understood English. The only sound from the men was a peculiar sucking

i Fiji, its Problems and Resources, p. 99.

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in of air between the upper teeth and tongue, their expression of astonishment. I asked Ratu Pope if the men believed the .stories of seemingly miraculous things that we told, and he said, “Every word of it, and they will stay up all night to talk it over.” It is really quite a novel sensation to address au audience in full confidence that one will be implicitly believed, a sensation not common among speakers in the United States.

The chief united Mr. Welch and me to sleep at his home and we retired at a late hour, nearly midnight in fact. We had cots with a covering of fine matting and a light blanket. When we had retired, the chief left, bidding me "sleep the sleep of the just," another unusual experience. We were then the onlv occupants of the house. A soft breeze came through the windows and there were no mosquitoes. An almost absolute quiet prevailed, so we had a very refreshing sleep.

We were awakened early in the morning by the beating of the native drum or "lali," about the only musical instrument we sawin Fiji; it is simply a hollowed out log, which gives off a loud resonant note when struck with a club. We afterward found that it was used to call the congregation to church in the evening. Mrs. "Welch came from the women's house to join us at breakfast and Ratu Pope presided with fine courtesy. We had excellent fish and the chief claimed that the head was the choicest part. There was also very good coffee and the best bread-fruit I have ever tasted, raised on the island and baked in hot ashes. It was perfectly white, very light and mealy, resembling mashed potatoes, but drier and more flaky.

We then made a tour of the island under the guidance of our host, taking our cameras with us, although the day was overcast with alternating brief periods of sunshine and light showers. Wylie had my tripod, so time exposures were impossible; but the results were fairly good and the place the most interesting that I visited in Fiji. The little island is divided into three parts; the chief's compound with several houses for his immediate family and retainers; the native village on three sides of a park-like square, containing the cricket ground and some very large and handsome shade trees; and the missionaries' compound on an eminence beyond the church. This latter was a well built structure and we attended pail of the service which was of the Weshyan order. The people wvrv dressed in their Sunday best and the singing was good; some of the songs were the same as are

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heard in church or Sunday School in the United States. It was evident, however, that not much attention was given to the real meaning of the songs, but this state of affairs is by no means conlined to Fiji.

The missionary and his wife had a good house on the highest point of the island and seemed comfortably situated. The Eev. Mr. Adamson was a fine manly type of fellow. As it was Sunday, the question of photographing the people at their daily tasks proved a very delicate one. I said that I had come a very long distance to visit the place and had only one day to spend at Bau, the most historic spot in Fiji; but that I was unwilling to do anything against his wishes. He said that lie was "no Sabbatarian" but that they had taken great pains to induce the people to be very strict in their observance of the Sabbath. While he did not feel that he could give his specific consent, he would not oppose us in the matter, particularly if the chief desired the photographs to be made; and so the matter rested.

It would be impossible to find a greater contrast than the Bau of the present, in its quiet Sunday restfulness. with its earnest church services and orderly, neatly dressed people as we saw them that day, makes with the Bau of two generations ago. Then it was probably the bloodiest spot in all Fiji, perhaps in all of the South Seas, the seat of the Fiji kings and the home of the most war-like tribe. The men at that time were inveterate cannibals, parties from Bau going in the darkest night to the adjacent mainland for the purpose of clubbing a few unwary natives and returning with their "meat" for the subsequent horrible orgies of a cannibal feast. We were shown the stone against which it was the cheerful custom to dash out their victims' brains. This stone is now in the Methodist church and at one time its hollowed top was used as a baptismal font! Afterward, however, this use was abandoned as being too gruesome to be associated with that sacramental function. It seems that King Cakobau, the grandfather of our host, was finally persuaded to adopt Christianity and gave this stone to the church in testimony of his change of heart and his "putting away of old things."

The lives of the first missionaries at Bau were far from pleasant, and we were told that on some occasions, when the missionary himself left home on official tours, the natives would enliven the loneliness of his wife by hanging fresh strips of human flesh on the

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hedge in front of his house. This was to make things cheerful for her during her good man’s absence.

We were shown the site of the old Devil House on a sort of artificial hill near the shore. This heathen temple was reached by flights of stone steps which are now in a state of almost complete ruin. Around the base of the mound were a number of stones, resembling gravestones, taken as trophies from other tribes; they appeared to be regarded somewhat as battle-flags are regarded by European nations. A number of these stones were still standing. The Devil House itself had been destroyed in a hurricane, but pictures of it are extant. It was much like other thatched houses but rather larger and better built. Here the rituals of cannibalistic feasts were enacted, for the custom of eating human flesh had its religious significance it seems. Only the chiefs were allowed to enter the sacred enclosure and the ceremonials are said to have been quite elaborate. The chief introduced me to a very old man, the oldest on the island, very tall and straight, with gray hair and beard. His face was a really dignified one and quite European in physiognomy. This man was a cannibal in his earlier days and seemed rather proud of the distinction. The old coronation stone was not far from the Devil House and looked like a simple stone post, about three feet high, planted in the ground. I understand that this is the equivalent in Fiji of the ‘ ‘ Stone of Scone. ’ ’ The old cannibal said that he had been present at the coronation of Cakobau, the last of the Fijian kings, and stood in a position assumed by that potentate during the ceremony. W 7 ith permission I took a photograph of both of these old relics of by-gone days as they stood together.

I also secured photographs of Ratu Pope, his house, the native village, the kava ceremony, fishermen and their nets, Ratu Pope’s thirty-man canoe in course of construction, the Devil House, a group of girls under a huge banyan tree, one of women and children seated on the ground, fish pots, women weaving tapa, and the graveyard back of the church which contains the grave of Cakobau, and several members of his family.

The chief invited me to stay another day to see the fishermen at work, for the men of this village are the most noted and skillful fishermen in Fiji, being justly celebrated for their success with spear, nets, fish-traps, fish-pots, etc. But the wind seemed to be rising and it was doubtful if he could put me ashore on the main

PLATE XV

The first kindergarten in Fiji (See page 98) Baker Memorial Building, Wesleyan Mission (See page 98) Fijian students at the Wesleyan Mission (See page 98) (The middle and lower photos were presented by Rev. Dr. Le Lean of the Mission)

Ratu Pop*, Chief of Bau, grandson oi the laal Fiji kii.- (See page 91) The kava ceremonj al Ban I See page 92 i The "Coronation Sour" al Ban and an old Fijian who was once a caaaibal I a o page 96)

PLATE XVI

island if a storm should arise; moreover our time in Fiji was becoming too short for the things we wanted to do.

We had to be transported in boats to the launch, which on account of the low tide was anchored perhaps a half mile off the shore, so we bade goodbye to our courteous host and departed just in time to board the launch before a heavy rain squall struck us. The trip back to Suva was rather uneventful, although we were stuck in the mud several times; but this afforded us occasion to visit with the inhabitants of the various villages along the bank and to see more of the native customs than would otherwise have been possible. The channel through which we went served as a cut-off to the Eewa river; at low tide it is a very muddy and uninteresting stream but we were glad to see the little villages tucked away under the shade-trees along the shores. The architecture of the houses, however, is quite monotonous in their resemblance to hay-stacks. Of course, the villagers were interested in our unexpected visit and came to see the boat and the strangers, but our intercourse was greatly hampered by the inability of cither party to understand the language of the other. One thing that struck me particularly was the cleanliness of the Fijians both as to their houses and persons. Although very bare and provided with simple earthen floors, the inside of every house I saw was neat and scrupulously clean; and clothing, although exceedingly abbreviated, seemed never to be soiled.

On our arrival at the Fiji Club we found that Mr. Fell, Wylie, Thomas and Clock had returned from their trip to the interior of A itilevu. They reported a highly interesting experience and were enthusiastic about the grandeur of the scenery, declaring that some of it was comparable to that found in the Yosemite. Wylie was delighted with the beauty of the jungle, with its grand display of tree ferns and other tropical vegetation.

The next day Dr. and Mrs. Stoner started on a trip to Levuka and the after, Thomas and Clock left early in the morning on a little steamer for the other side of Vitilevu where the climate was quite different and notably drier.

Suva is quite oriental in appearance. The streets are lined with little tailor shops, haberdasheries, Indian curio shops and some good shops, or stores as we would call them, owned largely by Englishmen, and carrying an extensive line of European manufactures. The people often walk in the middle of the street, turning to the left after the English fashion. There are many

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Indians with various sorts of turbans, some of which look like bath-towels twisted around the head. The women have a furtive expression, wear rings in their noses, many bracelets and ankle rings but no shoes or stockings. They are usually dressed entirely in white and have finely chiseled features. Some of the men are quite handsome with black beards and imposing turbans, and have the dignified bearing that denotes the high caste Hindu. The whites dress in European fashion, of course, and are not overfond of the Indians, evidently viewing them as something of a menace because of their increasing in numbers and influence.

The Fijians never cover their heads, as their great mass of outstanding hair provides sufficient protection and an imposing headdress as well. Secretary Fell is evidently a sincere admirer of these natives and says that any stranger could go unprotected into the remotest parts of the interior and his life and property would be entirely safe.

I met Mr. Hoodless, Acting Superintendent of Schools, who invited me to accompany him on an inspection trip to the Methodist Mission, about twelve miles from Suva. This is the longest auto ride that it is possible to take from the capital of Fiji, although there are many autos there. The Mission is in charge of the Rev. Le Lean and his wife and embraces an extensive tract of high ground overlooking the Rewa river from an elevation sufficient to catch the cool sea-breeze at almost any time. There are about five hundred people, Fijians and Indians, living there, but the races are separated owing to their mutual dislike and even hostility. The main building is Baker Memorial Hall, made of cement blocks resembling cut stone and covered with tiles. In all there are about twenty buildings, many of them small cottages where the married students live. In Baker Memorial Hall (erected in honor of a Rev. Baker who was killed by the Fijians) is the main school where the missionaries are assisted by two young women from Australia and several Fijian men. Most of the students are being prepared for missionary work, and a finer looking set of young men would be hard to find anywhere. The Rev. Le Lean took me over a good deal of the extensive tract owned by the Mission and we also visited his home which seemed well built and comfortable, and commanded a beautiful view of the open country with the blue sea beyond. Here also is the first kindergarten established in Fiji where about twenty little Fijians looking astonishingly like the “pickaninnies” of our our southern states

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are presided over by a competent looking white woman assisted by one or two Fijian men. The children went through their various stunts for our benefit and with a good deal of enthusiasm. They looked well nourished and happy. We saw the gardens where a sufficient amount of taro, bananas, yams, tapioca, etc. is raised to supply the wants of the entire community of five hundred people. We had a fine lunch with Rev. Le Lean and his wife and enjoyed a rest on their veranda. It rained almost continuously in the afternoon, but we saw some of the work-shops where the natives are taught wood work and some metal work by a competent English mechanic; they make chairs, tables, bedsteads, etc. for the other missions, under Government contract. I was told that a superintendent of agriculture and stock-raising was coming from the Philippines and that American agricultural methods were to be introduced.

The Methodist and Catholic Missions, when up to a certain standard grade, are financially helped by the Colonial Government and seem to be doing a large part of the educational work in Fiji. The students are taught to contribute financial aid to the Mission whenever possible, and I was told that the Fiji men of the Mission, together with their native teachers, had recently been working on the Government roads for three weeks, earning two shillings a day, nearly all of which was turned over to help the cause of the missions. Whenever I hear returning travelers engage in the popular pastime of “knocking the missionaries” I think of the splendid work of Dr. and Mrs. Le Lean and enter a prompt, emphatic protest. Having read Mr. Frederick O’Brien’s “White Shadows in the South Seas” together with his comments on the missionaries, I asked Mrs. Le Lean whether it was true that the natives had suffered severely on account of being compelled to wear clothing prescribed by the missionaries. She replied that they, the missionaries, had done nothing in the way of insisting upon clothing, except demanding that the most primitive demands of decency be observed and that the clothes they wore be entirely sanitary and sensible. And this appeared, from my observation, to be absolutely true.

Secretary Fell invited me to dine with him at the Grand Pacific Hotel, where both men and women appeared in formal evening dress. Somehow this does not accord with our preconceived ideas of Fiji, but it seems that the formal dress of the European has now encircled the globe and no place, however remote, is secure

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from its invasion. Mr. Fell told me that a white woman could go alone anywhere on the islands without fear of molestation from the Fijians.

Having decided to ship our Fijian collections home direct from Suva, instead of taking them with us to New Zealand, we spent the day of June 30 in arranging for their transportation on the Niagara due to call on July 1. As there was no American consular agent in Fiji we found it impossible to secure a bill of lading in proper form, a matter that caused us considerable trouble later on.

In talking with the various officials at the Club and at the hotel where we took our meals I gained considerable information about the Fijians who are sincerely admired by most of the Colonials. Although they have very evident negroid characteristics, they differ from Africans in length of hair, well formed noses, legs with fully developed calves and thighs, comparatively small feet (our reef man Alfred could wear Thomas’ shoes which are of no more than average size for a white man) and in less protuberant lips. The Indians, having for many centuries been subjected to a severe struggle for existence in a densely populated country, aie more ambitious and willing to work to accumulate property than the Fijians. The Fijians are looked down upon, by the thrifty Indians but regard themselves as superior men at least physieially.

Hookworm and elephantiasis are prevalent in certain districts, the latter, according to my informant, being conveyed by the bite of a large mosquito. In speaking of the disease called elephantiasis. Mr. Fell said that the male glands were so enormously enlarged as to sometimes weigh as much as eighty pounds! Malaria is unknown or at least rare. The most prevalent disease is known as '-yaws"' and attacks the women in particular. It is allied to syphilis, but is not contracted venereally and hence is not regarded as a proof of immorality, although it manifests itself by much the same symptoms.

The Niagara came in on the first of July, according to schedule, and was full to flic brim. Suva is very lively on "steamer day'' and there is quite a market for souvenirs on the dock and street leading to it. where women display their wares in the shape of mats, tapa cloth, many kinds of beads and trinkets made of shells and coconut shells. I was interested in the corals displayed for sale and in the fact that many of them were dyed in fancy colors

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of pink, blue, green, etc. to make them more attractive to the tourists who came ashore for the few hours the steamer was in port. The Fijians are skillful in weaving and some of the mats, baskets and rags, were attractive and sold quite readily. The ■women sat cross-legged along the road with their wares spread around them and seemed to greatly enjoy dickering with the passengers, although few of the native women knew more than a few words of English.

Thomas and Glock returned from their trip to the north side of Vitilevu and reported a very hard, uncomfortable experience. The small coastal steamers called “around the island” steamers are poorly equipped for passengers, with limited accommodations and scanty fare. Both of the men were about exhausted. Thomas, who seems able to stand almost anything, looked more tired and fagged out than I had ever seen him.

Wylie was to remain in Fiji some nine days longer than the rest of us to finish some work he had begun. He, too, had been overdoing in the matter of work and felt the strain. I urged him to take things easier for a while, but he was so enthusiastic about the opportunities offered that he was loth to slow up. My own work on Makuluva, although strenuous at times, was more healthful than work in the interior and I had thus far been in excellent health.

On Sunday, July 2nd, some of us went to the Fiji church (llcthodist) and greatly enjoyed the service. It was "Parade Day" and the Defense Force turned out in a body; a fine soldierly set of men they were. The band was exceptionally good. Perhaps three hundred people were present in the church, nearly all Fijians, and the room was well filled with as earnest and attentive an audience as one would find anywhere. The white visitors sat on the platform behind the preacher. He, the Rev. Mac Donald, an energetic white man of perhaps forty, preached a really able and eloquent sermon, although, we understood not a word of it. But his command of words was evidently effective and he never had to hesitate for proper expressions to use. His gestures were restrained, but eloquent, and the attention of his audience seemed literally breathless. These people, many of them natural orators, knew how to appreciate him as he discoursed on the text "Lift up your eyes unto the hills." The congregational singing was really fine, the four parts being well sustained; the bass from the Defense Force was particularly effective.

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After the service the Defense Force paraded, led by their band, and then proceeded back to their barracks. They are a well disciplined body of men and make a fine appearance, being well set up, with their imposing head-dress of bushy hair and khaki uniforms consisting of a military blouse, belt and the “sulu” for trousers. The Defense Force wore sulus which terminated below in a number of sharply pointed flaps and their legs and feet were bare.

A prominent member of the band was Savou, clerk to Secretary Fell, a fine looking, upstanding fellow with the handsomest head of hair I saw in Fiji and was exceedingly proud of it. He could speak English, and allowed me to photograph him in his uniform, the particular point of interest being his hair. He was quite willing to talk about it and I asked him to tell how the imposing result was achieved. He said that the main thing was to keep it clean and that he washed it thoroughly twice a day in warm weather and once in cold weather. It was then carefully dried, after which coconut oil was rubbed in thoroughly so as to reach the scalp. The real dandies, of which he was evidently a good specimen, never rested the head on the ground or a pillow when sleeping. Instead they used a section of round wood such as bamboo placing it beneath the neck instead of the head so that the precious head-dress could not be disarranged. Savou was one of the men who accompanied Secretary Fell and three of our party on the trip to the interior, and our men admired him greatly.

The Defense Force is regarded by the Colonial authorities as a valuable military body, excellent soldiers who take naturally to the life of the constabulary, are brave and obedient to orders. Fiji, by the way, furnished its full quota of men in the great war and is naturally proud of it. It seems to me that Great Britain’s management of native troops is one of the real mainstays of her Colonial policy, and they have seldom proved unfaithful; so far as I have been able to ascertain they are uniformly loyal to their king.

Savou escorted Glock and me to the Fiji museum which is in the Botanical Gardens beyond the Grand Pacific Hotel and on the Victoria Parade. This Parade is a sort of boulevard well worth seeing, broad and well-paved leading along the shore from the main business section to and beyond the well kept, imposing Botanical Gardens which are themselves a credit to the metropolis

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of Fiji. In it is the present Government House which looks as though intended for an officer’s barracks. The original Government House was destroyed by fire, and His Excellency, Governor Rodwell, occupies a part of the building in the Botanical Garden, awaiting the erection of a new official residence.

In the same grounds is a model Fijian house built by the natives to illustrate their style of architecture at its best. It is larger than any other native structure that I saw, with a steep roof and huge ridge-pole extending beyond each gable. Its roof and sides are neatly thatched as is the universal custom in Fiji, and the interior is occupied by an exhibit of various articles of native manufacture. It was not open to visitors on Sunday.

The Fiji museum is a two-story building, apparently of cement, with a large, double-decked veranda in front. Inside it is poorly lighted owing to the obstruction of light by the deep verandas. The collections relate mainly to ethnological matters, almost exclusively Polynesian. Naturally, Fijian material predominates, and much of it is of exceptional value, but it is poorly displayed, many of the cases having much more wood and less glass in their construction than is in accord with modern museum methods. The rooms are too dark and the material too crowded for effective display. There was considerable native pottery, models of houses and boats, masks, kava cups and bowls, tapa cloth and other samples of wearing material, baskets, whales’ teeth, knives, spoons, breast plates, canoes and paddles. In one room was a great pile of unassorted war-clubs which would make an imposing display if properly arranged and exhibited.

The museum is in charge of an elderly curator who did not seem disposed to vary his collection by means of exchange, but he treated us with courtesy.

Returning to the Fiji Club we paid our bills and wrote notes to the members who had treated us with exceptional kindness. The club house had been a real haven of rest during our stay at Suva and served as our base of operations. The sleeping rooms were as comfortable as one could desire, and the service of the neatly uniformed, well-trained Indian boys exceptionally good. The house commanded a beautiful view of Suva Bay on one side and the city on the other. Being on high ground it was always cool at night and we had no trouble with mosquitoes, but the beds were all provided with nets, as is the rule in tropical countries.

As Suva is on the wet side of Vitilevu we expected to be con-

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siderably hampered in our work by rainy weather. But although the annual rainfall is sometimes as much as 172 inches, we saw little of it; however, it looked as if it rained in the interior nearly every day. When our men were on the trip with Mr. Fell we expected them to report drenching rains almost daily, but they said that they encountered very little, although dense fogs and mists often interfered with their view, especially from the mountain tops to which they occasionally climbed.

Mr. Wright, the Government Chemist, had been exceedingly helpful during our whole stay. He had given a convenient room in his laboratory to Professor Wylie where the precious botanical specimens could be handled and prevented from spoiling; had also aided Dr. Stoner very materially in his entomological work, and had given freely of his time and extensive knowledge to any of our party that could be helped thereby. He is a Cambridge graduate, a thoroughly competent scientist in his own specialty, and widely acquainted in other fields of knowledge.

On the morning of July 3rd we made farewell calls on our colonial friends and wrote notes to others expressing our appreciation of many courtesies. Colonial Secretary Fell had more than made good his promises of official and personal aid to the expedition. It was through him that we occupied the delightful little island of Makuluva, where we had unsurpassed facilities for working in comfort without being interrupted by the numerous visitors who often, although unwittingly, are a great hindrance to visiting strangers with a serious objective and limited time. Mr. Fell also made it possible for three of our party to take the journey with him into the interior of Vitilcvu. a trip of surpassing interest and one that will be remembered with delight by those who were so fortunate as to be included.

There were several other men, mostly in the Colonial service, who greatly aided us. whose services will be noted in the chapters written by Professor Wylie, Professor Thomas, and Dr St oner. One thing that I very much desired to take home with us was a Fiji flag, but I was usable to do so. It seems that these colonial flags are used only by colonial officials and in connection with governmental buildings. Private citizens are apparently not allowed to possess (hem nor are they for sale at the various shops. Eence we were compelled to depart without securing the official colonial flag of Fiji.

Our steamer, the Makura, came in at about ten o'clock in the

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morning of the third of July, but we did not go aboard until about the middle of the afternoon. As noted before, Wylie was to remain in Fiji until the next steamer called on its way to New Zealand; he felt that much remained for him to do and, moreover, had arranged for another trip into the interior with Mr. Wright. I certainly disliked leaving him there as he had worked too continuously and I was afraid of a breakdown. Besides, he was my “bunkie,” a close associate during our outward voyage to Fiji, and later on Makuluva, and had shown me what a royal good fellow he was.

We found mail from home awaiting us on the ship and, although the news was about a month old, it was the latest we had and most welcome. It was necessary to see that all of the equipment and baggage was transferred from the dock to the ship, each parcel carefully checked off until the list was complete. Dr. Stoner could be depended upon to attend to that and to keep track of our goods and chattels at all times.

Mr. Fell came aboard to see us off, accompanied by Mr. Pilling who had so efficiently attended to us on our arrival. Their primary object, however, was to bid good-bye to Sir Charles Davison, Chief Justice of Fiji, who was leaving for Australia. Many people were on the dock to see the Makura off, most of them to bid farewell to the Chief Justice who seemed a very popular official. Our two Fijians were on hand and Alfred's honest face loomed up amid the crowd. Esile was there, too. Both had served us faithfully and had taken an extraordinary interest in collecting on the reefs and flats of Makuluva. Their keen eyes had seen many rare specimens that would otherwise have escaped us, and we think of them often when studying our collections in the laboratories at home.

Here we saw for the first time a leave-taking custom that was extremely attractive and characteristic, we believe, of the South Seas. One end of a long roll of brightly colored paper tape or ribbon is held by the departing friend on the steamer and the other end by a friend on the wharf. As the ship slowly leaves the dock scores of these ribbons stream from her decks and are unrolled slowly by those ashore, who sometimes fasten several together so as to prolong tho "tie that binds." One by one the ribbons are broken or the ends are reached until only a few at the stern are intact and they soon follow suit. Finally the last one is broken and the connection between the friends on deck and

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those on shore is severed amid the waving hats and upturned faces. This pretty custom and the Hawaiian fashion of bedecking departing friends with "leis" or wreaths of brightly colored flowers, are farewells that struck us as beautiful and expressive of the friendships that the traveler finds in the far away islands of Oceanica.

CHAPTER VI

THE FIJIANS'

The population of the Fiji group of some two hundred islands lying between 15° and 22° South latitude was, in 1921, 155,234, of which 89,562 were native Fijians, 61,150 Indians (that is natives of India), and 4,552 whites; or in the proportion of 58 Fijians, 40 Indians, and 2 whites per 100 persons. It will be seen, therefore, that there were nearly fifty “blacks” to every white person on the islands.

These latter, the Colonials, are the officials, planters, traders, and missionaries. The Indians are mostly small farmers, laborers, house servants, and small shop-keepers. Usually the Fijians live in small communistic villages and work only enough to supply their exceedingly simple needs. They are independent and seldom belong to the servant class. Occasionally they work “by the job” on the Government roads or as dock laborers on “steamer day.”

The whites are, of course, the ruling class and are almost all British; most of the Indians were imported as laborers on the plantations, the Fijians being the only real natives. As such they interested us greatly. We found them extremely different from our preconceived notions gained from various publications of travelers from the South Seas. Indeed, our friends received the news of our departure for Fiji with cheerful predictions that we would be welcomed with gastronomic fervor, which may serve as an index to the ordinary notions Americans entertain regarding the Fijians,—that they are degraded savages and cannibals. This opinion is just about as up-to-date as a belief that the present Americans are given over to the practice of burning witches!

A hasty review of recent publications regarding the South Sea Islands gives the impression that most Europeans and Americans go there without any idea of learning things of ethical importance. Some go to exploit the natives commercially, some to teach them

1 The author is indebted for much of the information in this chapter to a work called “Fiji, its Problems and Resources’ ’ by Major W. A. Chappie, Whitcomb and Tombs, Limited, 1921; and also to the narrative of the Wilkes Expedition, Vol. 3 which gives an excellent account of the Fijian natives as they were in 1840.

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to be good and to be civilized; still others to reap a rich literaryharvest in expatiating on lovely women with scant raiment and still scantier morals.

We honestly liked the Fijians. They are physically a fine race, well built, muscular fellows, not flabby like many other Polynesians that we saw. They are upstanding and look the stranger in the eye without truculence on the one hand or servility on the other. They are wise in adhering to their native costume, the sulu, and wear neither hats, shoes nor stockings. They are considerably darker than most Polynesians we saw and exhibit a negroid strain, probably from an admixture in past times of blood from New Guinea or New Hebrides. As already mentioned, their chief ornament is their bushy head of hair that stands out four or five inches like a black or reddish-black halo and is really an imposing and dignified affair. I notice from the narrative of the Wilkes Expedition that in 1840 many of the Fijians were heavily bearded, but at present they are almost universally without beards.

It would be hard to find a greater or more rapid change for the better than has taken place in the Pijians during the la.st three generations. One has but to read the narrative of the famous Wilkes Expedition, which visited Fiji about 1840, to realize their condition at that time. Indeed the story is so revolting as to be almost incredible. Constant wars, pillage, cannibalism, massacres of whole villages, parents murdered by strangulation or being buried alive by their own children, wives burned alive at the funeral of husbands, the killing of maimed persons and eating the flesh, often putrid, of even their dearest friends. All these atrocities fill many pages in the narrative as it relates to the main island of Yitilevu. and these conditions remained up to the memory of men now living, one of whom I conversed with at Ban.

Compare this nightmare with the people as we found them—a people courteous, kind, honest and law-abiding; with no experience of tribal war for many years, a people among whom the stranger can travel in perfect security; a people uniformly hospitable, even in the remotest jungles of the interior. And this is true not only of chiefs like Rata Pope but poor people in their most primitive villages,

No one can contrast this situation with thai prevailing a couple of generations ago without seeking the cause of the remarkable transformation. In my opinion it is due almost entirely to the wise Colonial policy of (ireai Britain on the one hand and the

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work of the missionaries on the other. The Colonial Government interferes as little as possible with aboriginal customs and habits and controls their excesses with a kindly firmness. The Fijians are allowed to have a hand in local government and some of them hold offices of real power; Ratu Pope, for instance, being a member of the Executive Council of Fiji.

In reading the accounts of returning travelers one finds a pronounced tendency to criticize the missionaries. The Colonial authorities, who certainly know the situation, admire and cooperate with the various missions, be they Methodist, Roman Catholic or of any denomination that is earnestly seeking to help the natives. My own visit to the Wesleyan Mission, already described, convinced me that these influences are all for the good of the people among whom and for whom they work.

We found that life in Fiji was reduced to the simplest possible terms, in sharp contrast to the amazing complexity of our modem) civilization. Here indeed is the real “simple life” in its nearly perfect expression. The Fijians are criticised because they are disinclined to work, or at least to work continuously. But why should they work? The expense of maintaining an ordinary Fijian family in the simple comfort to which it is accustomed is reduced almost to the vanishing point and the Fijian’s family budget worries him but little. His bill for clothing is next to nothing, as his garment when at home and not expecting visitors, is the sulu, which answers every purpose of decency. Protection from heat or cold is not necessary in that climate. On Sunday the men in the more civilized parts of the islands put on a cheap cotton shirt and the women a sort of one-piece garment much like what we used to call a “mother huhbard” reaching from neck to ankles and without frills or furbelows of any kind. Indeed its disadvantage is its homeliness. I heard no mention of underwear for either men or women, and doubt if it exists in Fiji. So the tailor’s, shoemaker’s, milliner’s and dress maker’s hills are of insignificant proportions.

The family residence involves almost no expenditure at all. The Fijian cuts the poles for the frame from the trees standing in the adjacent forest. The reeds used for the inside of the walls are from the same place, as is the sennit with which he binds them together. The roof is of thatch and the outside walls are covered with imbricating leaves. There are no partitions in the one-room house, the floor is of hard packed earth raised a couple of feet

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above the ground, and the women make the matting which serves for carpet. No glass, no hardware of any sort is needed. Above all he has no labor unions to deal with, neither is there any walking delegate to delay the work or pile on additional costs.

The furniture need concern him little. With a few shillings he purchases a porcelain plate, like a deep soup-plate about two feet across, in which the family meal is served, having been cooked outside on a sort of picnic fire used by several families in common. There are no beds nor bed clothes, except the fine tapa made by the women; no chairs, for all sit cross-legged on the floor; no plates, saucers, knives, forks, or spoons. Cups are made of halves of coconut shells and bowls are made of calabashes or gourds. There are no carpets, wall paper nor stoves, and very little kitchen ware. In fact his home is made merely to sleep in, for he and his family live out-of-doors, unless it rains, when they seek shelter until the shower passes. No stoves, fireplaces, nor furnaces are needed for heating purposes; therefore, there is no coal to shovel or pay for, no bill for gas, electric lights, water or telephone.

The women have no beds to make, dishes to wash, carpets to sweep or tables to set and their lives are devoid of the daily grind of endless nerve-wearing drudgery in the lives of the women of the middle and lower classes in America.

For food, a few pennies per week will supply the luxuries not produced in the community garden patch where they cultivate taro, yams, plantain and other vegetables; bread-fruit, mangos, coconuts, and pineapples are raised sufficient for their needs.

Fijians eat very little meat but are very fond of it. There is usually a pig or two, sometimes a goat and almost always a few chickens around the native house. I suppose they never have sufficient meat to satisfy their craving and this may have something to do with the cannibalism so universal in the South Seas in early days. It was taking advantage of about the only reliable source and really satisfactory supply of meat!

Fish are plentiful and good and the people living along the coast or the large streams can easily catch enough to supply their needs. Prom the size and number of weirs, nets, fish-traps, fishpots, etc., that we saw near the mouth of the Rewa I should judge that fishing is one of their important industries and the source of much really excellent food.

These people of the simple life appear to be well nourished and content, often happy. Theirs is an out-of-doors existence and

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they have enough work to keep them in fair physical condition. As said before, they do not have the soft, over-fed, flabby bodies that one so often sees in Rarotonga and Tahiti. Their pleasures are simple but apparently adequate. They enjoy singing and often have good voices. Occasionally they indulge in a dance, or “meke,” but we did not see men and women dancing together. Kava drinking is a sort of social ceremony, even more so than the “afternoon tea” of our British friends; but the women are seldom allowed to indulge as it is supposed to induce sterility, which may be at the foundation of the “tabu.”

The women are modest and retiring in demeanor; they exhibit little sex consciousness, at least to the stranger, and in this differ from many of the inhabitants of other island groups in the Pacific. We saw no evidence of moral laxity and were told by the officials that the Fijians are a really moral people; neither was there evidence of any serious degree of admixture of races. The Fijians have a deep aversion to the Indians and want little to do with them, while the whites are not particularly attracted to the native women.

In regard to natural intellectual endowment, we find the Fijians by no means an inferior people. Ratu Sukuna, the Oxford man who visited us at Makuluva, was apparently up to the high mental level of the typical Oxonian and Ratu Pope had the mental grasp of affairs of the ordinary white official. Both of these men spoke English with as fine diction as our ordinary college man. As a matter of fact I am inclined to believe that racial differences in intellectual capacity have been greatly over-emphasized and that innate capacity has been generally confused with the effect of environment in our estimate of the comparative psychology of races. Of course it may be argued that the two chiefs mentioned are exceptional men; nevertheless they show a capability of intellectual achievement that would do credit to exceptional men of the socalled highly civilized races anywhere. Given equality of education, I believe the Fijians would show themselves by no means inferior to the ordinary Europeans in mental status.

After reading the romantic narratives of travelers who have visited the South Seas in recent years one has the impression that morality, particularly in matters of sex, is at an exceedingly low level among the peoples of Oceaniea. Indeed, according to these returned travelers, they are not so immoral as unmoral. But we have positive evidence to the contrary in the little book, “Fiji, its

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Problems and Resources, by Major W. A. Chappie," the most recent and authoritative publication I have found, and I am glad to quote from it. Speaking of the Pijians, he says, "Nothing is ever scon to offend the eye of the most sensitive observer. There are not even overtures of affection between the sexes. The women are shy and diffident. The men never leer or follow. The Fijian people might be all of one sex for all that in public is betrayed to the contrary. Hyde Park and Brighton Beach would shock them to stupefaction."

"The promiscuous love scenes portrayed in the pictures show the whites in an unfavorable light to the astonished Indians and Pijians, and if some precocious Fijian or agitating coolie on a visit to Britain were to undertake a 'Report' on the morals of the whites, it might be as lurid as other ventures of a like nature."

All this is so contrary to the stories brought back from the South Pacific by some of our popular writers that it is calculated to upset our preconceived notions regarding morality in the sunny isles of the sea. The writer does not challenge the veracity of these travelers, but does insist that their description does not apply to the Pijians. In this connection I was much interested in certain passages found in "Last Days in New Guinea," by Captain Monkton, who describes the Binandere, one of the largest tribes, as a people who "though fierce warlike cannibals were also honest, truthful, and moral to the last degree." It is interesting to note that it is very generally thought that the Pijians are derived in part from these people, and that some of their most commendable moral standards may have come down from a remote ancestry in Xew Guinea, It also reveals the curious fact that cannibalism may not be incompatible with good morals in other directions.

Taking it all in all every one of our little party considers the Pijians the finest race of natives that he has seen, and some of us have had a rather extensive acquaintance with native peoples. It is quite evident, moreover, that the colonial officials have a real admiration for the Pijians with whom they, of course, have had long and intimate contact. And I have heard warmer commendation for the Pijians than for any other native people in the colonial possessions of Great Britain which I have visited.

Nearly all of the Pijians live in small hamlets and villages which are, ill fact, communes. A study of these miniature communes is well worth while as here we have communism reduced to its simplest form. The biologist studies the amoeba as illustrating the

PLATE XVII

Fijian fishermen and their ho at Ban They are allowing '.heir net (See page 96) Fijian women and children of Ban (See page 96)

PLATE XVIII

Fijian women, (he one at li-ft wearing a fine tap* -kin i Photo by Glock) Glocb and Fiji guide, Savon Note characteristic hair «>f Savon < See page 1021 (Photo by Thomas) Typical Fiji village In interior of Vitilevn i See page 113) (Photo bj Thomas)

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simplest form of animal life, the single cell, and from this he acquires knowledge of the fundamental activities of protoplasm. In the same way we can investigate the communal villages of Fiji, devoid of the complexity of more highly advanced civilization, and thus get a notion of the primary activities of humanity as expressed in communism, as well as a conception of the natural results of the system.

Major Chappel says, “There is no ownership in Fiji, no individual ownership. All things are held in common, except the women —they are particular about that. If a thing is indivisible, it is in possession for the time being of the one who casually remarks, ‘that’s a nice hatchet or, ‘that’s nice yangona.” I have an idea, however, that if an object comes into the possession of one in this way that another could relieve him of it by the same procedure, and that there is a sort of unwritten law by which the possession of a desired thing can be made relatively permanent by common consent, although the tenure is insecure if an individual chooses to invoke the communal law. A chief, however, can apparently secure permanent possession, on the theory that he is superior to the law.

The result of all this is a lack of incentive to the acquisition of personal property. The Fijian is apt to answer any suggestion that he accumulate property, with the remarks, “What’s the use? It wouldn’t be mine if I did get it.” I imagine that this is the real cause for the reputation for laziness which they have among the whites. In the rural communistic villages the old traditions hold and there is no incentive to labor beyond the simple activities of their daily life. This is, I believe, the fatal objection to all real communism the world over. It offers no incentive, no motive for thrift, no urge to work steadily or more effiieiently or to embark in any enterprise that would result in added comfort or in bettering one’s condition above the average of his fellows. The biologist believes that every advance in organic life is the result of the struggle for existence, or competition, which I believe is a better term; there can be no progress without that.

But there is another and more serious aspect of the ease of the Fijian. The Indians, or Hindus, as we would say, were imported as plantation laborers or servants under the operation of the indenture system or the “cadet” system as it is called there. The men thus secured were usually of low caste, below par as it were. The system itself was iniquitous and led to much injustice and

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even practical slavery. Later the system was abandoned and the Indians allowed to shift largely for themselves. Coming from a densely populated country and an ancient civilization they had been subject for many centuries to an unusually severe struggle for existence. This struggle resulted in the survival of those who were most alert, best able to care for themselves, keenest in business dealing or in petty bartering. They were also marvelously frugal in their manner of life and used to enduring privation in order to accumulate a little property and get on in the world. Like the Hebrews, they were accustomed to the uses of adversity and eager to earn a wage that would enable them eventually to better their conditions. In Fiji they found themselves free from the galling bonds of the indenture system, in a land where a little work would satisfy their very modest daily needs and with almost no native competition to meet. The communistic Fijians were pitifully equipped to compete with these thrifty strangers from a foreign land. Accumulation of property was an idea utterly foreign to their traditions and way of thinking. In short, I believe that the fine, manly Fijians are no match for the Indian with his uncanny ability in driving a shrewd bargain, backed by many centuries of racial experience. The Fijian is but a child in an Indian ’s hands and can not cope with him in business matters. Thus there is a strong probability that the Fijian, like his brother of Hawaii, will be crowded to the wall by the steady encroachment of the newcomers until he loses out in the economic competition. Of course it might be possible for the Colonial Government to offset his handicap by legal restrictions on the aggressive tactics of the Indian, but it is hard to say how this can be effected.

Just as in Hawaii, the situation regarding the native birds is parallel to that of the native peoples. For in Fiji, too, the English sparrow from the East and the mynah bird from the West are successfully competing with the aboriginal avifauna. Here, too, the British Colonials on the one hand and the Indians on the other furnish the upper and nether mill-stones between which the unfortunate Fijians are threatened with racial extinction, and the struggle for existence seems likely to end inexorably in the survival of those best fitted through centuries of keen competition to survive. One can not avoid raising the question—ls the “fittest” actually the best race? In other words, is the Indian actually better than the Fijian ?

If a fine, manly physique and independent bearing which in-

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dicates an adherent self-respect, a moral character that is fundamentally honest, a sex morality that seems to have definitely impressed the Colonial authorities, and intellectual capabilities that are demonstrated wherever adequate education is available are indications of superiority, then it seems to me that by these criteria the Fijians are a definitely superior race.

To arrive at any just conclusion it is always necessary to ascertain the point of view of the people against whom charges are made and judge in the light of the traditions and environment of the accused. Let us look at the most conspicuous charge, that of cannibalism, from their standpoint, confessing at once that no defense can be set up from the point of view of modem civilization. The natives of all islands in that vast stretch of ocean known as Oeeanica were confronted with a great scarcity of a natural food:—meat. While we do not know definitely the origin of cannibalism, the most common explanation is, it seems to me, that this almost total lack of an adequate meat supply furnished the original incentive.

Aside from the sentiment that appears to be instinctive, practically among all races of mankind, there appears to be no a priori reason why human flesh is not available food, and many members of many races have, when under stress of hunger, availed themselves of this means of sustaining life. We know that this very thing has happened time and time again in the case of shipwrecked sailors, Arctic explorers, beleaguered cities and severe famine in many parts of the world. In the case of the Polynesians every battle resulted in the possession of the bodies of the slain foes. Would it be strange if some men under stress of hunger were tempted to avail themselves of this means of satisfying their native craving for meat? Upon experimenting, human flesh was proved to be not only edible, but life sustaining and satisfying. There was doubtless the further incentive, always a powerful one in the case of primitive man, of doing that which tends to terrify the enemy, fear being universally regarded as a powerful aid in battle. One of the commonest boasts or threats among savages is, “I will eat you after the battle!” Another wide-spread belief among these people is the idea that the victor attains the qualities of strength and valor that characterized the champion whom he has slain, and by eating his flesh can make them his own to aid in securing further victories.

By some such means cannibalism may have gradually become a

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recognized custom among the savages of Polynesia and in the course of ages have been firmly established by tradition and continued usage. It seems to have prevailed among all the islands about which I have been able to procure information. In New Zealand it was apparently almost universal, and, according to the universal testimony of the white contemporaries, these Maoris were certainly an exceptionally fine race of men. It appears, moreover, that this custom, atrocious as it seems to us, was often accompanied by conspicuous virtues and strict morality. In this connection the reader may be interested in rereading the testimony of Captain Monkton, given on a preceding page, in regard to the morality of the cannibal tribes of New Guinea.

Now that which has once been thoroughly established by custom and tradition is regarded as right by an overwhelming majority of any people or tribe. Conscience commends those who do that particular thing and condemns those who do not. Under these circumstances can wc say that cannibalism was wrong from the standpoint of the old Fijians? Of course we regard it as atrociously wrong and criminal, but did the Fijian or his fellows consider it wicked to indulge in ''long pig?" And if the answer is in the negative was the practice immoral?

In connection with Baker Memorial Hall already referred to, another instance suggests itself of the necessity of realizing the viewpoint of native people before passing judgment on their actions, however revolting they may be in the estimation of civilized men. This building was erected in honor of a missionary, the Rev. Baker, who was murdered seemingly without any provocation at all. After leaving Fiji I was told what is claimed to be the true story of this atrocity and was given the viewpoint of the natives. The story may be garbled or absolutely false, so far as I know, but it points a moral just the same.

It seems that a Fiji chief, accompanied by some of his followers, visited the missionary and seeing a comb which took his fancy. lifted it from the table and stuck it into his own bushy mop of hair. The Rev. Baker, perhaps without due consideration, reached out his hand and removed the comb from the head of his visitor and was at once killed by the other Fijians; a most cruel and unprovoked murder, according to our ideas.

But let us look at it from the standpoint of the Fijians themselves. According to their traditions or laws, if you please, the ehicf had a perfect right to appropriate to his own use anything

PLATE XIX

Group of Fijians in interior of Vitilevu Native house at Viria (See page 124) Fijian football team (See page 128) {Photos by Stoner)

PLATE XX

Boys in breadfruit tree A proud father Fiji village, Interior of Vitilevu (Photoa bj Thomas)

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which, he found in the territory over which he ruled. But a far more serious matter was the fact that, again, according to well established laws or traditions, the person of a chief and most of all his head is tabu, and to break this tabu by profanely laying a hand on the royal head was profanation, an unspeakably horrible act, the punishment for which was death! In other words the Fijians thought the killing of the missionary not a murder at all, but an entirely legal and justifiable execution! An understanding of the native point of view would have prevented the fatal error which lead to the death of a brave and devoted missionary.

In the narrative of the Wilkes Expedition the most revolting descriptions are given of the murder of Fiji parents by their own children. But according to the narrative even this horrid custom had its justification in the eyes of the natives. It appears that the old Fijians believed in a literal physical immortality, and that a man lived throughout the future life in the same condition as was his at death. For instance, if he had lost a leg, he was a onelegged creature throughout eternity. If he died old, decrepit and helpless, he was doomed to a future of decrepitude and helplessness. Hence these people feared a helpless old age much more than they feared death; and begged, even commanded, their children to make this horrible fate impossible by putting the parents out of the way before old age could overtake them. And so it appears from their point of view that the killing of parents was not an inhuman murder, but the carrying out of a sacred filial duty which traditions inexorably demanded.

I trust that no one will think for a moment that the writer is actually claiming that cannibalism, murder and patricide are commendable or right; but he is trying to show that these people should be judged in the light of their own traditions and usages, their own laws, and that these acts did not result in a feeling of guilt and moral turpitude which our standards involve; that they probably felt no remorse or severe condemnation after commiting such atrocities.

Before leaving this account of Fiji customs it might be of interest to state that I was informed on good authority that the old Fijians practiced the rite of circumcision and that it is still in practice to a considerable extent; but I learned nothing regarding its origin.

As to the whites, or colonials, of Fiji, our contact was limited almost exclusively to the official class. These are of course prae-

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tically all British and much like those found wherever the British flag waves. They struck us as men who knew their business, or profession and understood how to deal with visiting strangers. It may be that, representing as we did a friendly nation and an American University, they were inclined to favor us more than they would unofficial visitors. But they did seem to fully appreciate our scientific objectives and doubtless were entirely aware of the possible publicity value of our visit to Fiji. However this may be, the colonial officials left nothing undone to further our plans and insure the success of our visit. Of course I was better acquainted with Colonial Secretary Fell than with any of the others. It was perfectly evident that he had a sincere admiration for the Fijians and he repeatedly expressed himself as being extremely fond of them. This attitude I have found to be quite common in all the colonial dependencies of Great Britain which I have visited. Officials do try to get the point of view of the natives over whom they rule with a sort of paternalistic despotism that may be mistaken at times, but is sincere and honest in the main; and very generally benevolent and well-meaning in spite of the unrest which seems so prevalent in the world to-day.

Of course colonial administration is often confronted with problems that are perplexing in the extreme. In Fiji the labor question seems to have been the hardest one to solve. 2 The responsibility of introducing Indian laborers lies mainly with the sugar planters, who represent by far the most important industry in Fiji. The planters were confronted by the fact that the Fijian natives would not work with any degree of constancy. European labor was out of the question as the cost was prohibitive on the one hand, and white laborers are ill-fitted to withstand the climate. Hence it was perfectly natural for the planters to turn to the millions of Indians for an adequate and constant supply of manpower without which their plantations would inevitably have failed.

Under these conditions it was natural to resort to the indenture or “recruiting system.” This was completely under government control, the official agents in India procuring the recruits and sending them on, after careful investigation, to Fiji at the sole expense of the employing companies, who provided food, clothing and transportation. Under the terms of the contract the Indians were

2 The information embodied in this discussion is taken almost exclusively from the work already referred to, “Fiji, its Problems and Resources,” by Major W. A. Chappel, 1921.

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required to work for their employers for five years, after which they could do as they pleased, theoretically. After another five years they had free passage back to their homes in India. Various laws were enacted to protect these indentured laborers; for example, members of families could not be separated and living conditions of the vessels on which they traveled were carefully checked up.

On the other hand, the indentured men could not abandon their work without being subjected to arrest and return to their employers. Since 1919, however, this feature has been abandoned at the suggestion of the employers. Major Chappel points out the fact that the Indians thus "recruited" were necessarily from the lowest class, those unable to make good in their own country and thus apt to be a troublesome element wherever they went. In the case of those who came to Fiji, there were an unusual number of women, the proportion in 1917, 22,G00 women and girls out of a total of 01,150, made it possible for these people to lead, in general, a normal family life. Gradually the more ambitious Indians left the work on the plantations and took to other pursuits, such as shop-keeping, gardening, stock-raising and farming. Many became domestic sen-ants in Suva, and I noticed that they were often employed as chauffeurs. It seems that the indenture system was abandoned in 1920 at the instance of the Indian Government.

The Indians increased in numbers with great rapidity from 1905 to 1917, the figures being 25,955 in 1905 and 61,150 in 1917, thus considerably more than doubling in a period of twelve years. Part of the increase was due to immigration and part to a natural increase due to favorable conditions. There is no doubt that the Indian is thriving in Fiji, is gradually acquiring property and political power. He is far more enterprising and thrifty than the natives whom he is supplanting, and in the natural course of events the Fijians will be eliminated not by assimilation, for the races do not mix, but by extinction. Major Chappel tells us that while the Indians more than doubled in twelve years, the Fijians have actually decreased. Measles and influenza caused a mortality of 50,000! Figures are not given showing the mortality among the Indians from these causes, but the net result was a doubling of the Indian population and an actual reduction of the native Fijian race —a result greatly to be deplored from a biological stand-point, for the Fijians are an unusually fine people. But

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Seas," this same thing is happening everywhere in Polynesia, and it seems evident that throughout that vast area the native races are doomed to extinction, although O'Brien seems to think the white man the guilty party. In Fiji, however, it seems to me that the Indians will be the cause of the obliteration of the native race. I believe, moreover, that the Colonial Government is anxious to save the Fijians from this impending fate but that it will find the ta.sk a difficult if not an impossible one.

So far as we could discover there were no Americans in Fiji except a demist in Suva, nor was there an American consular officer of any kind, a fact that eventually made trouble for us.

CHAPTER VII

ORNITHOLOGICAL AND ENTOMOLOGICAL EXPERIENCES IN FIJI

Dayton Stoner

In a recently published article wherein Doctor Frank M. Chapman, Curator of the Department of Birds, American Museum of Natural History, New York City, discusses the aims and objects of that institution, he says: “It is, therefore, the policy of the Museum to give its Curators wide field experience, knowing well that this will result not only in better collections but in more discriminating reports upon them.” 1

A somewhat analogous situation prevails at our own University in the department of zoology as well as in our other departments of natural science. Encouragement and permission are given their members to see, collect and study material in the field, both at home and abroad, and to participate in trips and expeditions which are organized with these objects in view in order that those thus engaged may better serve, and that, in turn, others may benefit through the agency of this participation. Such a policy had its inception at the University years ago and our recent efforts in the South Seas afford a good example of the favor in which such enterprises are still held by the university administration.

Since my own endeavors on the Fiji-New Zealand Expedition were almost wholly ornithological and entomological, I shall confine my remarks largely to these fields of natural science, realizing only too well, that a short stay of four weeks in Fiji (June 5 to July 3) and one of five weeks in New Zealand (July 7 to August 15) scarcely qualifies one to speak authoritatively on these subjects. However, one may, even in that short time, acquire at least some notion of the bird and insect faunas of the regions under consideration a/nd this I shall attempt to set forth in the following pages. Mrs. Stoner accompanied me on many field excursions and assisted in the collecting, sorting and packing of material.

The opportunities for observing and collecting more and un-

» Natural History, XXII, No. 4,311, (July - August), 1922.

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usual forms of life were greater on this trip than on any that I had previously taken. Indeed, the South Pacific is particularly rich in peculiar and aberrant types of animal life. From the standpoint of animal distribution also, this trip was of special interest since representatives of both the Polynesian and New Zealand regions were encountered and comparisons between the two faunas could be made at first hand.

On the evening after our arrival in Suva a visit was paid us at our hotel by Dr. C. Harold Wright, Government Pharmacist and Acting Commissioner of Agriculture for the Fiji Islands, who, from the first, exhibited a keen interest in our work and extended many courtesies to all of our party in facilitating the objects of our visit. Among other things, Dr. Wright offered storage space in the Chemical Laboratory for some of our boxes and impedimenta. To myself, as entomologist, he issued a commodious working space in the office of Mr. H. W. Simmonds, Acting Entomologist for the Fijis, who was temporarily absent and did not return until several days after our arrival. This office occupied one wing of the Government Buildings and on being furnished with a key to it, a very marked concession, I was left to come and go as I chose.

It was in this room that I, on a subsequent occasion, indulged in my first—and only—drink of yangona or kava, the native beverage. Each day about ten o’clock it was the custom for one of the native Fijians in the Commissioner’s office to prepare some of the dried root of the kava plant {Piper sp.) in a large wooden bowl. When this was mixed with water a yellowish-white fluid resulted which was passed around by the native in a coconut shell. The drink has an insipid taste but is exceedingly thirstquenching. If indulged in too freely it is said to produce temporary paralysis of the lower limbs although it does not befog the brain.

From time to time Dr. Wright offered suggestions as to collecting grounds, aided in the identification of certain plants upon which I found insects and furnished literature on various groups of animals.

To Mr. Simmonds I am much indebted for information concerning collecting places, notes on the fauna of Fiji, the identification of specimens and for pleasant companionship in laboratory and field.

After spending two days at the Grand Pacific Hotel with its

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numerous Hindu servants in native costume, and said to be the finest hostelry in the South Pacific, the various members of our party followed their own inclinations very largely. Mrs. Stoner and I took up our abode at the home of Miss Rennie, where we were in a position to see and to participate in the home life of a European on a tropical oceanic island.

The spacious front garden with many tropical trees, flowers and bushes surrounded by a white picket fence, the house, a red-roofed two-story affair with the outside stairway almost over the front door, a back yard with orange, lemon, guava and banana trees, the small cement veranda, the long dining hall with its bare floor, chickens, shavings and other miscellany, our broken lamp set in a porcelain "jug," the "shower-bawth," to reach which one must cross the dining room, the ancient and obeisant native servant, Daniella, and the half-caste Annie —all made an ineffacable imprint on our memories. This was "home" while we were in Fiji and from this as a base we worked over various parts of the island.

Frequent collecting trips were made into the outlying districts where various types of habitats were visited. In the vicinity of "Walu Bay, about two miles from Suva, the mud flats where we found tiger beetles (Cicindela vitiensis) were investigated; nearby bush and cultivated plots yielded a host of other insects. Everywhere, the thorny mimosa, or sensitive plant, with its pink blossoms abounded and the great expanses of it reminded me of our own red clover fields. As one walks over it the leaves fold to one side of the stem thus exposing the thorns upon which I frequently caught the bag of my insect net. Few insects are harbored by this plant.

The rice flats east of Suva were inspected and some of the arthropod inhabitants were taken. Scorpions and centipedes flourish in such places. The woods and bamboo thickets northeast of Suva furnish quite a variety of insects. A trip to Navua eighteen miles away was fairly productive of results, entomologically speaking; and two visits to the Tamavua quarry where material for roadbuilding was being taken out and where some very fine native bush is to be found, yielded good results. Never have I seen such a tangled jungle as the vine-covered trees and earth here presented. All along the trail in the bush proper, Clidemia hirta with its blue-black fruit and few insect inhabitants, occurred in profusion. In the more open places the “mile-a-minute” (Mecania scandens)

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grew luxuriantly and attracted a more varied and abundant in sect fauna.

On our journeys about Vitilevu our collecting efforts excited little curiosity or comment among the natives; apparently they either did not notice us or if they were interested their interest was not made known. Never were we followed about in the field and at no time did any one thrust his efforts upon us unsolicited, as so often happened among the West Indian negroes.

The little coral islands of Makuluva and Nukulau some twelve miles northeast of Suva proved to be good collecting grounds. On both these islands are Government quarantine stations which were under the immediate supervision of a care-taker in the person of a “hard-boiled” Australian, Mr. J. W. Sadler, who lived on Nukulau with a black woman, a parrot, three dogs and a multitude of chickens, ducks and flying foxes. We spent five days on Makuluva in collecting birds, insects and marine invertebrates. Nukulau is densely wooded and the “Sone,” a creeping vine grows everywhere. Another vine which clings to the trunks and limbs of the trees is the ‘ ‘ Dire Samu. ’ ’ It bears poisonous red and black seeds something like the “crab-eyes” of Florida and the West Indies. I found mosquitoes on this little island more abundant and troublesome than at any other place in Fiji.

One of the most interesting of the collecting trips which Mrs. Stoner and I made in Fiji included a visit to the native village of Yiria some twenty miles up the Rewa river and about thirty-five miles from Suva. In company with Mr. and Mrs. Ashbel Welch of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Lui, a native “boy” from the steamship company’s office to act as interpreter, we left our lodging in Suva at noon of June 14. We traveled by motor car over ten of the comparatively few miles of surfaced road on the island to Dabui Leva, crossed the Rewa river by means of a cable ferry and arrived at Nausori a little later. The hilly and winding road, lined everywhere with the ever-present mimosa and lantana, had taken us over a very rough but beautiful part of the island. We passed in turn small cleared areas, dense bush with magnificent tree ferns, now and again a native house or small village with its adjacent taro patches, and a large tapioca plantation. Occasionally we met a blase Fijian or a garrulous Hindu who passed the usual greeting, “Salaam, sahib.”

At Nausori, after a brief wait which time I occupied by collecting water-striders in a small creek near by, we boarded the de-

PLATE XXI

Offices of Colonial Department of Agricnltnre (See pace 122) At left—Mr. C. Harold Wright, Acting Director of Agriculture (See page 122) At npiit—.Mr. H. \\. Simmonds, Acting Entomologist (See page 122) (Photos by Stoner)

Quartan oJ our entomologist al Suve (See page 128) Native bush »l Tamavua |S ff pup' 1411 Villager! ... Vlrls (8m page 188) (Photos by Btoswr)

PLATE XXII

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crepit and leaky gasoline launch “Tomy,” which was to be our means of conveyance up the muddy Rewa for the following five hours.

The place of honor, the small cabin in the prow of the boat, was turned over to our party while the other passengers, mostly Hindus, occupied the remaining available space §i the larger cabin toward the stem. Mail and baggage were stored on the upper deck and in various out-of-the-way places.

Apparently considerable speculation was rife among the Hindus and Fijians on board as to our nationality, destination and business. After much talking, laughing and gesticulating among themselves they finally struck up conversation with Lui who, upon being pressed for an answer as to our identity said in Fijian, “0, Americans! all big chiefs.” The matter having been thus amicably and satisfactorily settled, the passengers occupied themselves by reading, writing, talking and smoking. Some were very adept at rolling long, black and exceedingly formidable looking cigars; however, cigarettes were the favorite smoke and the Hindus had a peculiar method of holding them between the thumb and base of the forefinger with the lighted end enclosed within the palm of the hand. Some “smokes” were made to serve two or three persons.

As the “Tomy” coughed and chugged slowly up stream frequent bailing was necessary and stops were made here and there to take on or discharge passengers who sometimes found it necessary to wade ashore from the boat; considerable areas along the banks were thickly covered with coarse para grass; at frequent intervals along both sides of the stream were large cane fields; in some places the uncut bush extended to the river banks. A few native houses and small villages were passed; and, at one of these, Naduruloulou by name, where the boat stopped to discharge mail, the Magistrate’s Court was in session.

As the journey progressed the river became shallower and narrower and the captain was obliged to zig-zag back and forth in order not to go aground. In spite of his care we scraped bottom several times. Once the engine stopped; the gasoline tank was empty; the precious fluid must be conserved as much as possible in Fiji for there it costs three shillings sixpence (about 75 cents) a gallon; from one of the tins on deck the tank was filled and we were again under way.

Darkness began to come on—it comes very quickly in the tropics; a single smoky lantern served to light the way only dimly

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but still we chugged on although the crew of three now bestirred themselves and it was evident that a landing was soon to be made. After a little the captain ordered the mate to call to some one on shore for a lantern and after much halloing and talking a number of lights appeared among the trees along the high bank and soon the boat came to aT stop at a shaky wharf.

It was a queer feeling that came over us as we were escorted through the darkness up the steep, slippery bank by a group of babbling natives who could speak and understand only a limited amount of English. We began to wonder if, contrary to what we had been led to believe, cannibalism did not still prevail on the island.

Our minds were soon set at ease, however, for Mecuisela, 2 the native Wesleyan preacher, took us in charge and escorted us to his home which he turned completely over to our use. His house was a single-roomed structure about 18 by 24 feet with woven reed walls, a corrugated iron roof and an earthen floor thickly covered with straw on which were laid native mats. By the dim light of the smoky hanging lamp we made out a small table and three chairs; so, drawing these together and spreading out the contents of our food boxes, and with Mecuisela looking on, the while talking and grunting to himself, we partook of a late luncheon during which we had opportunity to inspect further the contents of the room.

Along one side was an ancient chest of drawers and several small wooden eases, one of which we later found contained Mecuisela ’s preaching clothes consisting mainly of a black, readytied necktie, a white shirt and a sulu. The latter is the universal article of wearing apparel among members of the Fijian sterner sex and is simply a piece of cloth two or three yards long and about twenty-eight inches wide which is wrapped around the waist and the free end tucked in so that the garment maintains its proper position on the body. An ancient Seth Thomas clock hung on the wall with several photographs of the preacher and others. Highly colored pictures of the Last Supper, the Barren Fig Tree and the Defiled Temple adorned other wall space; an old shotgun was suspended from a nail. In one corner of the room, snuggled down in the straw, was a sitting hen. But the piece de resistance was a huge bamboo bed fd/2 by 12 feet covered with straw

2 Pronounced Methuselah.

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and over which were placed eight native mats. A canopy of tapa cloth and a mosquito net completed the hangings.

Since it was late and we were all tired we tried not to think too much of the scorpions, centipedes and fleas that might be lurking between the mats and so the four of us, without removing our clothing, lay down on this huge bed where we passed a night of fitful slumber. The lali was being beaten to call together the villagers for divine service and at eight-thirty parson Mecuisela departed to conduct it. A little later the notes of one of our familiar hymns drifted in to us from the meeting-house. The next morning Mr. and Mrs. Welch went on up the river while Mrs. Stoner and I remained behind for a day of collecting.

The village of Viria, which is typical of many another native village in Fiji, comprises about sixty people who live in a miscellaneous assortment of houses and hovels arranged in the form of a hollow square. The greensward in the square is kept short by the pigs, goats, chickens and the tramping of many bare feet. A general store, managed by a European, supplies most of the simple needs of the villagers.

Unfortunately for me, a drizzling rain had set in and it continued with slight intermission throughout the day. However, I started out in search of insects and when the rainfall became unusually heavy I sought shelter under the dripping trees.

In the evening a meke, or native dance, was put on for our benefit in Mecuisela’s house. About eight-thirty three native girls with leis of flowers around their necks and wrists, took a sitting posture on the floor in front of us and to the accompaniment of a small lali beaten by a boy, and with wierd singing carried on in a high pitch by all, the “dancers” indulged in various graceful movements of arms and hands. Lui said that they were singing of recent happenings in the village. After a half-dozen songs they clapped their hands together sharply to indicate that they had finished the first number of the program. Meanwhile, the parson and a number of natives had entered the house; the latter stowed themselves in various out-of-the-way places on the floor where they viewed the dance and the members of our party who, I feel sure, were more interesting to the natives than were the dancers. On completion of a dance the commendation of the on-lookers was expressed by the words “Vinaca, vinaca,” which means “Good, good.” Dance followed dance until we were more than satisfied and to further express our satisfaction and the dancers’ as well

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we offered a small gratuity after which they all departed leaving us for another night’s rest on Meeuisela’s couch.

Next morning we went about the village visiting the natives and taking photographs. Most of the native Fijians are very glad, indeed, at times anxious, to pose for their photographs. The Hindus, on the other hand, will not permit it. At eight o’clock the whistle of the “Tomy” warned us that she was about to leave. So, escorted by the ancient Mecuisela and most of the villagers we descended the slippery bank up which we had come two days before, to the wharf. Again we boarded the decrepit launch and with the farewells of the natives in our ears and Mecuisela almost in tears we chugged away leaving behind these simple people and taking away pleasant memories of our visit with them.

BIRDS

In accordance with expectations, the species of birds of Fiji are quite different from those inhabiting North America, though representatives of certain families are common to both regions.

The following characteristics of the Fijian avifauna as I have observed them from Yitilevu and the near-by islands and seas seem to me to be worthy of mention.

The total number of species on and about the island is only about seventy-five, of which less than twenty are “water birds.” The surprising paucity of marine forms was constantly brought to my attention.

No one species of native bird is markedly abundant. The dense bush offers a comparatively safe retreat for some species but even here the number of individuals falls below what one might be led to expect. There is present a goodly number of introduced species which thrive well.

The small number of nocturnal and crepuscular birds calls for special mention as well as the limited number of strictly raptorial birds and the total absence of woodpeckers.

As the steamer approaches the entrance to Suva harbor through an opening in the great barrier reef, one sees a few crested terns {Sterna bergii) perched upon the floating buoys and signal posts. Perhaps also a bluish dot here and there along the shore proves to be a blue heron or “Belo” {Demiegretta sacra), a species which I found later in the marshy mangrove swamps. An occasional tropic bird {Phaethon aethereus) may have been seen a little farther out to sea. With these exceptions water birds are not plenti-

Border of Botanical Gardens, Suva (See page 142) Coconut Palms, afakulnva (See page ii"• i (Photos by Wylie)

PLATE XXIII

On the Walraann River Croesing the Waidena River (Bee page 149) (Photos by Wylie)

PLATE XXIV

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ful. One missea the usual number of gulls found in bays and harbors.

Almost immediately on landing, the attention of the visitor is drawn to small flocks of strong-flying brown and white birds with a patch of white in the wing and which are possessed of loud and rather harsh, discordant, cries. In the coconut and mango trees, on and about the buildings adjacent to Victoria Parade, the principal thoroughfare of the city, along the beach at low tide, in the more or less cultivated regions, everywhere, in fact, the hardy, inquisitive and belligerent mynah (Acridotheres tristis) is found. This species was introduced into Fiji many years ago in an attempt to control insect pests but it has found other food more easily available and so agricultural interests have not benefited by its presence. It partakes somewhat of the characteristics of the European house sparrow with respect to nesting habits, fecundity and adaptability and, in general, is held in ill repute by natives and Europeans alike.

“Indeed, an interesting analogy prevails between the Asiatic people and the Fijians on the one hand and the Mynah and the native Fijian birds on the other. The hardier and more aggressive Chinese and Indians, the latter introduced in great numbers into Fiji largely under the indenture plan of labor, are slowly but surely forcing down the Fijians who, though seemingly powerless to help the situation, hate the newcomers most heartily; the more so as they see business and property along with wealth and all that goes with it gradually coming into the power of the invaders. So it is with the hardy and aggressive Mynah as compared with the native birds. This crafty and quarrelsome introduced species stands back for no native bird and is gradually outstripping the native species in the struggle for maintenance. The same condition prevails in the Hawaiian Islands and may become true in New Zealand.

“The Mynah is a trimly built bird about ten inches in length with the upper parts, breast and sides brown, the head and neck black, the lower parts white and a white bar on the wings. The short blunt bill is yellow and there is a bare patch of yellow skin behind the eye. Mynahs are mainly terrestrial and gregarious; they have a considerable variety of notes and are great imitators. Their nests, loose bulky affairs, are sometimes placed on the branches of trees but more often in gutters and unused chimneys of

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houses, the birds partaking in this respect of some of the bad traits of the European House Sparrow

“About twelve miles northeast of Suva and four miles off shore is situated the little island of Makuluva upon which is located the Government Quarantine Station. On this bit of disintegrated coral about eight acres in area where temporary quarters were established by us, Mynahs are common and a number were taken for specimens. The birds usually go about in small flocks and after once being shot at they become very wary and difficult of approach. When wounded they often fly some distance before coming down, sometimes alighting in the tops of the coconut palms where it is impossible to secure them.

“Although apparently successful in the struggle for existence the battle is not always in favor of the Mynahs for they too have their enemies among which may be mentioned man and certain parasites. The prevalence of parasitism and the extraordinary degree to which it may be developed is well illustrated by one Mynah taken on June 19, 1922, which served as host for the following parasites; several thread worms between the conjunctiva and the cornea of the eye; both eyes were infested and more than a dozen worms each measuring from eight to ten mm. in length were taken from the two organs. Some of these worms have been submitted to Dr. B. H. Ransom, Chief of the Zoological Division of the Bureau of Animal Industry, United States Department of Agriculture, who pronounces them to be a species of Oxyspirura, probably new, and adds that the Mynah forms a new host for representatives of the genus. In addition to these parasites this bird bore two small owl flies and two small biting lice. Eggs of the latter were also discovered and probably other individuals of all three types of parasites escaped observation. Another bird examined contained a large round worm in the abdominal cavity. Other Mynahs were found to be infested with these parasites though none other examined was so markedly afflicted as the individual above mentioned.

"Notwithstanding a considerable diversity among the major parasites attacking them and the presence of other natural and unnatural enemies these vigorous birds not only survive but even seem to increase.

"In conclusion, by way of summarizing, it may be stated that the factors which seem to contribute to the success of the Momah when introduced into a new country are its audacity, hardihood,

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adaptability, wariness in eluding enemies, its omnivorous food habits and its selection of breeding places. After all, one can not help admiring this bird.” 3

In a communication which I recently received from Dr. Casey A. Wood of Chicago, Illinois, who has just returned from Fiji, there is included a transcript of a report which he made to the Colonial Secretary concerning the mynah. The comparatively few stomach examinations which he has made reveal few insects and in areas where Koster’s curse abounds he found that the birds had been feeding upon both the seeds and soft parts of that exceedingly noxious plant pest. The seeds were unaffected by the digestive juices of the bird which seems to act as a disseminator of undesirable plants and “a very poor exterminator of (possibly) harmful insects.”

The beautiful Australian diamond-bird (Pordolotus sp.) has also been introduced into Fiji where it, too, seems to thrive unusually well.

One of the most familiar birds in Yitilevu is the little finchlike ploceid, Erythrura pealei. Its vivid greenish coloration is set off by bright crimson on rump and crown. This bird frequents the more open districts where it feeds very largely on seeds but where also, it serves as a target for the sling-shots and air rifles of the Hindu and Fijian boys.

Another common species in and about Suva is the noisy, grayish, caterpillar-shrike, Lalage pacifica (Campephagidae),

The need for more nocturnal and crepuscular insectivorous birds in Fiji is evident to those who have conditions there at heart and some attempt wall probably be made in the near future by the Colonial Department of Agriculture to introduce certain Australian species for the purpose of controlling noxious insects, particularly night-flying moths. During my stay in the islands, by invitation of the Acting Director of the Colonial Department of Agriculture, I participated in a conference dealing with the proposed issue. It is felt by some that, since Fiji is almost without night flying insectivorous birds, a few judiciously selected importations from the sister colony 2,500 miles away will supplement the good work of the native diurnal forms. The three birds which seem to offer the greatest possibilities are the white-throated night-

3 Stoner, Dayton, The Mynah—A Study in Adaptation. The Auk, XL No. 2, 328-330, 1923.

lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

jar (Eurystopus), the morepork ( Podargus ) and the boobook owl ( Ninox ).

I strongly advised them to proceed slowly in this matter, not to tamper too much with Nature’s balance and not to introduce new birds, no matter what beneficial qualities they might appear to possess, until complete and exhaustive studies of food, breeding and other habits in their native home had been made; careful consideration should also be given to the practicability of securing and transporting specimens as well as the likelihood of their survival and relation to other animals in their new home. Importation of a new species of animal into any country is a serious and often dangerous business.

Of diurnal insectivorous birds, three species of muscieapids, Myiagra sp., and Rhipidura layardi, the meliphagids Ptilotis procerior and Myzomela jugularis, the swift, Callocalia spondiopygia, the graceful black and white wood swallow, Artamus mentalis, and the white-eye, Zosterops flaviceps are among the commoner forms.

In the higher and more wooded portions of the island doves of several genera are to be found, the two commonest ones being the Fijian “Sogi dina” ( Columba vitiensis) and the “Coge” or barking dove, (Chrysoenas luteovirens), whose call is more or less resonant and ventriloquial. The former is occasionally taken by the natives for food.

But three species of raptorial birds occur on Vitilevu, the falcon ( Faico lunulatus) and the “Lulu” ( Strix lulu) apparently being the commonest representatives about Suva.

Along the beaches and fresh-water streams the kingfisher (Halcyon sacra ) is fairly common. It is green above and tan below and although considerably smaller than our own representative of this family onq can not fail to identify it by its characteristic actions.

The total absence of woodpeckers in the Fiji bush is one of the most notable departures from the usually prevalent conditions existing in our own woods.

As a general proposition, birds on Vitilevu are less abundant both from the standpoint of number of individuals and number of species than one would expect in view of the seemingly favorable conditions; only about thirty-five forms, both native and introduced, are at all common on the island and adjacent seas. Several species keep well into the bush and so are seldom seen. Little if any damage is done to crops or cultivated fruits.

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There are no native predaceous mammals, no snakes and few predaceous birds on Fiji. The principal enemies of birds —the mongoose, the wild pig and the rat—have all been introduced by man; and he, as is the case in other places that could be mentioned, is one of the chief offenders against the rights and liberties of the birds themselves. Neither the Indians nor the Fijians observe, to any appreciable degree, methods of conservation and the laws relating to the killing of birds are not strictly obeyed.

TERRESTRIAL ARTHROPODS

Before considering the insect fauna of Fiji in any detail a short general summation of its characteristics as they have occurred to me may be worthy of mention.

Those who have made a study of the affinities and relationships of Fijian insects find that they are very similar to the New Guinea insects and it would seem, therefore, that a considerable proportion of the Fijian forms has been derived from those of New Guinea which lies 2000 miles northwest of Vitilevu and is the largest oceanic island in the world. This theory seems to be borne out by the relationship apparent between the insects of Tahiti and Tonga with those of Fiji for the insects of the former islands are more like those of Fiji than like those of New Guinea and have probably spread to those islands from Fiji. Since the Tongan and Tahitian insects are closely allied to the Fijian and since the Fijian and New Guinea forms are, in turn, closely allied, it follows that the archaic ancestors of the more recently evolved Tahitian and Tongan forms originally came from New Guinea.

If this be true it is reasonable to suppose that the smaller forms would be more easily transported from place to place than the larger forms and this would, in some degree, account for the generally small size of the Fijian insects. Winds, currents, ships, floating timbers, the feet of birds—all no doubt, have had a part as distributing agencies.

Although the size of most Fijian insects is small and the number of conspicuously colored forms is few, a considerable variety is represented, the flies (Diptera) and true bugs (Heteroptera) perhaps being most abundant in number of species.

A considerable number of the species and genera are peculiar and are found nowhere else in the world. As evidence of this I may cite Dr. W. M. Mann’s recent paper on “The Ants of the

162

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lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

Fiji Islands," 4 in which forty-seven of the seventy-eight forms discussed therein are described as new. Thorough collecting and a large amount of taxonomic work still remain to be done in most groups of Fijian insects. It is hoped that our collections and the reports which will be published on them will go some way toward making known the entomology of the region.

The comparative paucity of beetles (Coleoptera), the abundance of cockroaches (Blattids), so far as individuals are concerned, and the small number of four-winged flies (Hymenoptera), exclusive of ants which are exceedingly abundant, is worthy of comment.

While spiders (Arachnida) are not insects, the smaller ones in particular make up a conspicuous part of the terrestrial arthropodan fauna of Fiji.

A more detailed account of the occurrence, abundance and habitat of some of the commoner Fijian insects and other terrestrial arthropods as well as incidents which pertain to their taking may be of interest.

Of the lower forms, spiders are exceedingly abundant, particularly small ones. A large yellowish species similar to our Epeiras is common in Suva and its huge webs extend from the trees to the telephone wires and perhaps over several of the latter with here and there one of the spiders resting on the delicate, glistening strands.

A few scorpions were taken at Wain Bay and at Viria. They frequent damp places in the woods and are often found under the loose bark of decaying trees. The thatched roofs and walls of the natives' houses often harbor them in numbers.

Millipedes are common in damp places wherever some shelter can be found. At the Tamavua quarry I saw a very large one dead; it measured seven inches in length and one-half inch in diameter. Under the rocks at the bottom of the valley along the Tamavua river near the quarry a moderate sized species was common. When picked up it coiled quickly, at the same time emitting a large amount of a brownish and very pungent fluid from pores along the sides of the body. This fluid looks and smells like tincture of iodine and stains the skin like it and certainly must be an effective means of defense. A small blackish form with white spots along the sides is not uncommon in moist woodland.

■* Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, LXIV, No. 5, 401-49£ 1921.

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Centipedes are of frequent occurrence but I saw no large ones; a moderate sized species is found in woodland, under diied cov> dung and in piles of newly threshed rice.

Practically all the orders of insects are represented and it is interesting to note that at least some of the forms that occur in lowa occur also in Fiji. With the continual increase in the acreage given over to cultivation, a corresponding increase in damage done by insects has become apparent, and control measures for certain cane, banana and coconut pests are now being advocated.

An illustration of the extensive distribution of one of our simplest insects is afforded in the well-known fish-moth ( Lepisma saccharina). This thysanuran occurs abundantly and its destructive qualities are as apparent in Fiji as in the United States. Springtails (Collembola) also, are very common under rocks, sticks and logs in damp places and often in turning over such objects a perfect shower of these little insects greets the collector. They are furnished with a delicate, flexible, chitinous structure near the tip of the ventral side of the abdomen by which they can leap several inches into the air; it is from this structure that their common name is derived.

Owing to the abundant rainfall in the vicinity of Suva there are many small streams and ponds which offer excellent breeding places for dragon flies (Odonata). At Navua in particular, members of this group were numerous.

The commonest neuropteron is the laeewing ( Chrysopa sanvitoresi) which is often found on guava. The larvae feed on scale insects of which something like twenty species of these more or less destructive forms are found in Fiji. Another small brownish chrysopid was taken in the dense bush at Tamavua.

The order Orthoptera is well represented. Locustids in all stages were common at Navua on June 29. A large conoeephalid was taken frequently. In fields bordering cane patches and on the high para grass which has been introduced into Fiji to furnish food for live stock, and which flourishes to a marked degree along streams and drainage ditches, a large green aeridiid occurred in numbers. Several other species of grasshoppers were taken. Grouse locusts frequent the vegetation of roadside ditches and damp situations. I came across no particularly striking forms.

Under the loose bark on trees and dead stumps a big black brachyelytrous cockroach is common. At Makuluva, Nukulau, Tamavua and Yiria it was encountered in all stages of develop-

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ment. The insects are very active and shun the light. When disturbed they discharge with some force a fine column of fluid with a very pungent and evil odor. In the bush at Colii Suva on chipping away the loose bark of a tree, four or five of these black fellows scurried away quickly but before doing so one of them discharged with a distinct hissing sound a stream of this ill-smell-ing fluid into my eye. Its presence caused the optic to burn and smart terribly and to water profusely for several minutes. This fluid is irritating even to one’s skin for a drop of it which struck me on the face produced a distinct burning sensation. The Fijians sometimes call these insects “Maori bugs.”

Hordes of crickets occur everywhere. A large black one (Gryllus oceanicus) is common under leaves, sticks, grass and debris—anything that offers them shelter. At Makuluva, on one occasion, I found a small hermit crab in the act of devouring one of these crickets. The crab had bitten into the prothorax of the insect and was making a meal of its contents. It seems probable that these little iCrustaceans which are extremely abundant along all the beaches of Fiji may exert a considerable influence on the insect population of the islands. A stmall blackish cricket with white legs is very common on Yitilevu; we found it on Makuluva also but far less abundantly.

At least two species of leaf insects, locally known as “guava bugs” (Phasmidse) occur on Yitilevu but I was not fortunate enough to come across any and so could not test out the oftdescribed protective adaptations attributed to these forms.

A moderate sized earwig (Dermaptera) is abundant and generally distributed over Yitilevu. I believe that it is an introduced form.

One of the commonest representatives of the true bugs (Heteroptera) is the long, slender yellowish coreid (Leptocorisa acuta). On a side hill near Suva in the vicinity of small cultivated plots, I took from one plant of yangona ( Piper sp.) at a single sweep of the hand net more than five-hundred individuals. The bag was literally alive with the bugs which produce a dull buzzing note while in flight. Another representative of this family, the obese blackish Brachylybus variegatus, is one of the most abundant insects about Suva where it frequents drying and decaying bananas on the trees. On June 13 we found it in all stages. The insect is not of great economic importance.

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A small elongate, blackish lygaeid ( Pamera sp.) is not uncommon; another small grayish member of this family ( Gernialus pacificus) with a rotund thorax and reddish eyes occurs frequently.

On June 21 at Makuluva I found on a mula-mula tree and on the dried leaves beneath it a strikingly colored yellow and black pyrrhocorid { Dysdcrcus insularis) in all stages of development. Hundreds of the insects could have been taken in a very short time. Although the species is found on Vitilevu I never saw it again in such numbers.

Of the shield-backed bugs (Pentatomoidea) the shining black coptosomid ( Brachyplatys pacificus ) is the most common being found in greatest numbers on yellow hibiscus although it also frequents lantana, mile-a-minute, cyrtospermum and other plants.

The most striking member of this group is the highly colored, obese, exceedingly variable and sexually dimorphic form, Tectocoris lineola, which occurs most frequently on mula-mula trees growing, usually, near the beaches. On June 20 all stages were taken at Nukulau and Makuluva though young were more abundant than adults. Often, clusters of from five or six to fifteen or twenty of the metallic green and black nymphs clung to a tender twig from which they were extracting the juice. The broadly convex seutellum of the adult female is usually yellowish with four large irregular dark areas; the seutellum of the adult male is iridescent purplish with four blackish crescents. The species is recorded as an enemy of the larvae of the coconut moth ( Levuana iridcscens).

Near Tamavua, I took, on a slender, smooth-barked tree with green and red berries, many nymphs and a number of adults of the trim-appearing and brightly colored seutellerid, Lamprophara hifasciata. The coloration of the bugs blended in so well with the fruit that they were exceedingly difficult to distinguish. In all, something like ten species of Pentatomoidea were taken on Vitilevu.

On several ponds and small streams about Vitilevu I took water-striders (Hydrobatidse) and in a tide-pool at Makuluva I found a small marine form.

Of the Homoptcra, the cicadellids or leafhoppers abound in some numbers in grassy situations, along woods and in fields. A

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small blue-winged ricaniid (Euricania tristicula) is quite common near woodland.

A number of species of scale-insects occur in Fiji and among these is the almost cosmopolitan, fluted or cottony cushion-scale (Icerya purchasi). It feeds on orange, lemon and guava but its presence here is, as yet, of little economic importance.

Although beetles (Coleoptera) are not abundant, a goodly number of small and inconspicuous forms occur.

The tiger beetle (Cicindela vitiensis) was taken on damp mud flats at AValu Bay and again later in low places near the Tamavua quarry.

In cultivated and semi-cultivated areas, along the edges of dense bush, and on roadside vegetation a small, bluish-black halticid (Ilaltka gravida) occurs frequently. Indeed, we came across this beetle more often than any other; it was most abundant on Jussiaea suffruticosa, some plants being almost entirely denuded of leaves by the beetles.

In the vicinity of cultivated plots, two species of chrysomelids, Aulacophora fabricii and A. quadrimacidata were particularly common ; both are of some economic importance since they feed upon melons, pumpkins and other Cucurbitaeea'.

The yellowish coccinellid (Coccinella transversails) is fairly common on roadside vegetation and in cultivated patches of taro, yams, etc. Both the larvae and adults feed on plant lice.

Among the interesting introduced forms is the small red and black Australian ladybird beetle (Vedalia cardin-alis) which feeds upon scale insects. A few specimens of this species were introduced from Australia into California about 1890 in an attempt to control the fluted scale (/. purchasi) which was very destructive to orange trees. The beetles multiplied rapidly and within a few years had checked the destructive scale to such an appreciable degree that since that time the damage inflicted by it has been only occasional and local.

Another coccinellid beetle (Epihichna 28-piinctata) occurs commonly and we secured a good series. It is yellowish with fourteen black spots on each elytron and like others of this genus it indulges in a vegetarian diet, feeding upon various kinds of Solanacese.

One of the interesting entomological experiences which I had in Fiji was the opportunity to cultivate a more intimate acquaintance

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with a small, wood-boring, anobiid beetle which is often called "Death-watch". These beetles seemed to infest the timbers of our landlady's house in numbers and every night after the place had become quiet we could hear the regular tapping or ticking sound of the insects as they struck their heads rapidly against the sides of their burrows. Although this sound is supposed to be prophetic of a death in the family, I was unable to discover any evidence of such a catastrophe except one or two fowls which were sacrificed to satisfy our gastronomic cravings.

We did not take many weevils but at Nukulau a big grayish fellow (Elytrurus acuticauda) was not uncommon.

Butterflies (Rhopaloeera) are not very common. In this faraway land it was a great joy to come upon a well-known representative of the group, the monarch butterfly (Anosia plexippus). At "\Yalu Bay I found a fjlack and white butterfly common enough. The right side of the tip of the abdomen is furnished with a yellowish, filamentous introversible scent gland which the insect extended rapidly from time to time seemingly in an attempt to discourage the approach of enemies. A distinct odor could be detected as emanating from this gland.

Moths (Heterocera), particularly night-flying forms, are fairly common and as agricultural pursuits gain in popularity some of these are likely to cause considerable damage. Of the insects in Fiji which have a distinct economic bearing, the coconut moth {Levuana irid-escens) is one of the most important. The adult moth is of a metallic blue color with an expanse of about %-inch and looks rather like our Theclas. In the vicinity of coconut plantations and even on the very small islands of the group where coconut trees form volunteer growths, the moths are abundant. The damage is done by the larva? which burrow into the great fronds of the trees, weakening them and when a good "blow" comes, these branches are torn off and the vitality of the tree is thereby reduced.

The two-winged flies (Diptera) are well represented. Strangely enough, house flies (Musca dmnestica) are not particularly abundant in Fiji and very few of the houses are furnished with screens. The stable fly (Stonwxys calcitrans) occurs on the islands.

Owing, in part, to the unusual amount of precipitation, mosquitoes are abundant and their breeding places are numerous.

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Pools of stagnant water are frequently met with and even some of the plants harbor sufficient water among their branches and stems to allow the pests to breed. One of the most interesting places in which I discovered mosquito larvae was among the bases of the stalks of a large-leaved plant ( Cyrtospermum edidis) which looks something like our rhubarb. Mosquitoes of the malaria-carrying genus Anopheles are not found on the islands but the disseminators of yellow fever and filariasis {Stegomyia fasciata and Culex fatigans) are present in some numbers. Although I saw only a single instance of the disease known as elephantiasis, the form in which filariasis is most often exhibited, I was informed by the physician who has charge of a large general hospital at Navua, that this disease is widely prevalent in the Fijis.

Flower flies (Syrphid®) are common, the genus Xanthogramma being well represented. A large horse fly (Tabanid®), Tahanus fijianus, with yellow and black abdomen sometimes attacks human beings.

The fruit-flies (Trypetidas) are represented by several species, one of which, Dacm parsiflorce, in the larval stage, attacks the fruit of several plants and causes some damage. Another small form with heavily-veined wings (Oxyna parca) is common.

The order Hymenoptera (four-winged flies, etc.) is exceedingly well represented but ants make up the largest share of the group. The large yellow vespid (Polistes hebraus) is common everywhere and its pensile paper nests are often constructed in mulamula trees and in bamboo thickets. On one occasion I inadvertently aroused a colony of the wasps in such a situation and. having heard of their effective defensive ability, I considered retreat the better part of valor and acted accordingly and hastily. At Colii Suva where extensive road surfacing was being done under the direction of Mr. Dawson Thompson, a European engineer, these insects caused no end of trouble by insisting on crawling into his rolled-up maps and tracings while they were resting on the shelves in his shack.

A number of the smaller representatives of this order are of value as natural checks on destructive insects by parasitizing their eggs or larv;v.

Ants arc everywhere and exceedingly abundant in number of individuals while the number of species, as already indicated, is large. The formieid. Pheidolt megacephcHa, is a general predator

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on other insects and probably does much to keep in control certain noxious forms of insect life. On Makuluva this ant was common under the loose and dried bark of dead trees. On one occasion I found eight or ten individuals co-operating in the carrying of a good-sized longieorn beetle.

At Tamavua a moderate-sized black ant was found in abundance on tree ferns. It had the peculiar habit of holding the abdomen bent forward over the thorax while at rest, but when running it was carried in the usual manner.

CHAPTER VIII

SOME EXPERIENCES OF A BOTANIST IN FIJI

Robert B. Wylie

A kind invitation to join the Fiji-New Zealand Expedition organized by Professor C. C. Nutting in 1922 afforded favorable opportunity to see those distant lands. The party of six left lowa City shortly before Commencement and returned to America early in .September. I had desired for many years to collect class and research material from the tropics and to see the various economic plants of the great middle zone. Others have described the organization of this group from the University of lowa, thus permitting me to limit my account to certain aspects of the work in Fiji.

"\Ye awoke on board the Niagara on the morning of June fifth to find the tropical island of Vitilevu, largest of the Fiji group, spread out in the morning sunlight. Before us stood the terraced slopes of Suva, its red roofs gleaming from under canopies of mango foliage. To the right, past the harbor's mouth, rolled the surf bordering the coral reefs, —a windrow of white foam stretching into the distance as though painted on the sea. On the left there rose from the palm fringed shore the verdant hills which merged into the softer green of the nearer mountains while purple against the sky lay the more distant ranges of the interior. To one who had lived most of his life on our corn-covered lowa plains it was a dream come true to feel at last the atmosphere of a tropic shore. The landing amidst the bare headed Fijians, turbaned Hindus, and helmeted Europeans; the peculiar faces, odd garments, and soft voices; the strange sights, unusual odors, and tropic breezes, —all gave reality to a scene that otherwise seemed to belong between the pages of a book.

The courtesies of government officials began with our landing, and their helpfulness was greatly appreciated by all of our party. Colonial Secretary Fell and bis associates not only arranged quarters for us in government buildings, but gave us exclusive use of Makuluva Island as a base for our work. They aided us in securing launch, porters, etc., besides taking several members of the

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lowa party as guests on trips into the interior of Vitilevu Island. Mr. Harold C. Wright, Acting Commissioner of Agriculture, very kindly allowed me the use of a laboratory in the Chemistry building and through his knowledge of native plants and the Fijian language greatly aided me in my work.

Others of our party have discussed in their respective chapters the salient features of these islands. Without unnecessarily repeating their descriptions a few facts only are necessary as a background for the consideration of plants growing in the region. The Fiji group including outlying rocks and reefs numbers 250 islands lying between latitude 15 and 22 S. and therefore well within the tropic zone. Their small size and remoteness from large bodies of land give them a distinct ocean climate with a fairly uniform temperature. The larger islands are mountainous with extensive alluvial lowlands in places. Coral reefs account for many of the smaller islands and constitute a marginal breakwater off most of the shores. The total land area of 7435 square miles is chiefly contributed by two or three of the larger islands. Vitilevu, the largest, upon which the capital, Suva, is located, is nearly one hundred miles in east-west dimension and about sixty miles north and south with an estimated area of 4112 square miles.

The rainfall is somewhat rhythmic in distribution and with a wetter season extending from December to March, though even in the dryer parts there is scarcely a month without rainfall. The prevailing wind during the dryer part of the year is the southeast trade wind, which gives this side of the island a rainfall of about 110 inches, while the leeward side has less than half that amount, averaging perhaps 45 inches. My experiences were exclusively with the rainy side of the Vitilevu Island, in and around the capital city of Suva.

During my six weeks in the islands, June and July, there were many early morning rains, but though out daily on collecting trips I never encountered a heavy rain-storm in all that time. Their so-called winter weather was very mild, comfortably cool at night, and though hot during the day, the air was always tempered by the waters of the Pacific whose surf pounded on all sides of this island.

These islands, though long peopled by native races, are still comparatively undisturbed over great areas. On Vitilevu Island one encounters relatively natural conditions within a few

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miles of the capital and the interior of this island, except along the stream valleys, is perhaps infrequently visited by white men even at this date. Agriculture is well developed in the delta regions and along the larger rivers.

The vegetation on the rainy side is abundant and tropic rain forests occupy great stretches of country ranging back into the mountainous interior. It is estimated that the colony has about two million acres of forest containing many trees valuable for lumber, boat, and cabinet work. Some of these trees yield timbers of fine grain and capable of high polish. A favorite wood of the natives is their vesi ( Afzelia hijuga) from which are made their war clubs, walking sticks, furniture, and ornaments. A few others are the Fijian kauri (Agathis vitiensis ) ; island mahogany {Calophyllum. hurmanni) ; yasi ( Eugenia effusa) used in boat building; and yaka ( Dacrydium elatum) used for furniture and ship building. There is hope of developing export trade in the finer of their lumber products. In this connection it is perhaps worthy of note that the earliest trading with these islands near the opening of the 19th century grew out of a search for sandal wood. Later the demand for cotton, due to the scarcity arising out of the American Civil War, led to the admission of the Fiji Islands as a colony of the British Empire in 1874, upon petition by the organized government of the islands.

Of interest to one from the colder zone are their crop and fruit plants, all so different from our own. Agriculturally the islands are relatively undeveloped, though extensive areas are under cultivation. The delta plains at the mouths of streams are favorable areas for sugar cane and for pasture lands. Alluvial deposits along the rivers are given over to bananas of which there is a considerable export trade. Cotton is no longer grown, though the quality produced in parts is of the best, winning first place at our Centennial in 1876. Practically all the tropical and subtropical crops and fruits may be grown in the islands, but most of them are given but little attention aside from food plants for local use. Coeoanuts are grown extensively and the annual export of copra is about 20,000 tons. Bananas were exported to Australia in considerable quantity, but since the war Australia has interposed a heavy import duty, with disastrous results to this industry in Fiji. New Zealand is their best market at present, and bananas for Auckland or Wellington are cut from the stems and shipped

Tree ferns, interior of Yitilevu (See page 150) (Photo by Wylle)

PI,ATI-: XXV

PLATE XXVI

The "Gates of Namosl," Mt. Pell to right of house in center (See page 162) View from Waivaka, Mt. Namosl In distance (See page 168) Road-making In the Suva soapetone, near Colo-i-Suva (See pace 187) ( Photos DJ Thomas)

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packed in small wooden boxes from which they are retailed in New Zealand. Strangely enough bananas seem difficult to buy in Suva. I found but one shop where they could be had with any regularity. Apparently they are used less freely there than in our own country.

Sisal hemp, jute, cotton, tobacco, rubber, cocoa, pineapples, coffee, rice, limes, oranges, etc. are all capable of cultivation in these islands, but most of these are grown, if at all, only in an experimental way at the present time. Of course the natives make much of their taro, yams, cassava, and tobacco, but none of these enter into their exports, though all of them are important for domestic use.

A week spent with Professor Nutting on Makuluva Island afforded opportunity for the examination of coral reefs and what might be termed the strand vegetation of the shores. This tiny coral island is oval in outline, about 300 yards long and but 200 yards in width, and is only a few feet above the high tide level. At low tide the shelving shore is laid bare for nearly half a mile out, on three sides, and one may walk across its level surface containing numerous interesting tide pools. At the outer edge are the masses of living corals and over them pounds the surf with ceaseless roar. These coral terraces have a number of species of algae, but the rocks are relatively bare and there were no large or conspicuous forms such as one finds in northern waters. The Corallines took high rank as regards relative numbers, and contribute to the formation of limestone, but formed no compact associations. Considerable quantities of Sargassum were beached on the windward side.

The shore was strewn with countless seeds, fruits, and plant fragments, and a little higher, above the shifting coral sand, I encountered numerous vines, chiefly legumes, some of these many yards in length, intermixed with grasses and younger trees. This association acts as a soil-binder as waves add to the land area. The palms, seemingly self-planted, were numerous, there being perhaps nearly a hundred of them on the island. A number of these were quite young, and in the sands were germinating seeds. The older palms were leaning quite uniformly to the northwest. Along the shore freshly buried fruits of eocoanuts contained seeds which were germinating. I noticed how careful the natives were not to disturb these potential palms. On one side of the island in

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pure sand I found young plants of mangrove started in a region where of course further growth was impossible for them.

With maturer conditions of soil various trees establish themselves, such as Tournefortia argentea, Termirudia lit oralis, T. catappa, Hernandia peltata, Calophyllum linophyllum, Drymispermum hurnettianum, etc. Of special interest were several pandanus trees with their conspicuous fruits. At the northwest corner of the building assigned to us for use as laboratory was a fine but solitary papaya tree (Carica papaya) in full fruitage. Since this species is dioecious and therefore could not pollinate its own pistils I wondered as to the possible source of pollen. A careful study showed that no other mature tree of the species was growing on this island, though at the north end was a young tree a few feet in height which apparently had never blossomed. The nearest possible source of pollen therefore was from Nukulau, a neighboring island somewhat larger than Makuluva, which was reported to have many papaya trees. In this case the pollen was carried across open water for a distance at least one mile, or if from the mainland, a distance of three miles. The fruits contained abundant seeds.

The greater portion of my time was spent in and about Suva, with headquarters at the Fiji Club. This comfortable club house occupied a hilltop overlooking the harbor and most of the town. Through the kind invitation of the officers of this club we were permitted to use their dormitory building and so we escaped the tediousness of hotel life. The secretary of the club, Mr. Clarence DeMouncey, showed me many kindnesses not the least of which was the privilege of being a guest on two occasions in his attractive suburban home. Here grew in profusion a wealth of cultivated flower and foliage plants which were the special pride of Mrs. DeMouncey. Prom Suva as a center we made numerous short excursions to adjacent “bush”, semi-cultivated, and cultivated areas.

While in these islands I was interested to see the splendid work being carried on by Dr. S. M. Lambert, an American, working under the auspices of the Rockefeller International Health Board. He was engaged in a study of the hook-worm disease with which the peoples long resident in the tropics are so afflicted. Dr. Lambert was using carbon tetrachloride as a specific, and during the fore part of that year had treated over 25,000 cases, about 90% of whom were cured by a single dose. Thousands had thus

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been improved in health and vigor and this was reflected in increased labor efficiency and happier lives. In this way as the diseases of tropics are conquered the tremendous agricultural resources of these regions may be developed. The next generation will have to use the great middle zone and such work as Dr. Lambert is doing is a necessary forerunner of the full industrial development of the tropics.

The climax of our experiences was an eight day journey into the interior of Vitilevu island as the guest of Colonial Secretary Pell. His group included Captain Alan Lawrence, of Australia, and Dr. A. O. Thomas, Mr. Waldo Clock and myself of the lowa party, together with numerous Fijians and a Hindu cook.

The first stage of this trip was down the coast by launch from Suva to Navua, a distance of about twenty miles. Going out at high tide we took the inside channel and rode for miles over most beautiful coral formations. The water was so shallow that in places the launch scraped bottom, and as the sun shone brilliantly we had a favorable view of these submarine growths with their darting fish of striking colors. There was afforded at the same time a general survey of the nearby shore with its low mountains clothed in green to their summits.

We were entertained that evening at a formal dinner given by the District Commissioner at Navua, and spent the night at a comfortable hotel situated on the river’s bank. Early the following morning the party proceeded up the Navua River in flatbottomed punts which were pushed along by slender “makita” poles in the hands of stalwart Fijians. In the lower stretches of the river through the delta district, travel was easy and two men each readily handled the boats. But by afternoon when we were pushing up between mountains, six and finally eight men were pushing mightily on each boat. No more interesting display of strength and skill than was shown by those splendidly muscled natives working happily in perfect rhythm, shoving the boats up over those difficult rapids. Only twice were we compelled to disembark though several times the Fijians were forced to wade and push the boats with their hands.

Noon brought us to the village of Nakuavu where we were received with great dignity by the head men of the village who conducted us to a bower tastefully decorated with palm and other foliage plants erected in honor of our visit. Within this enclosure

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were gathered the men of the village who received us with full formality. Their age-old ceremony centers about the making and serving of kava, the native drink which is prepared from the roots of the Piper methysticum. The powdered root is thoroughly mixed with water in a finely carved wooden bowl of perhaps four or five quarts capacity. The fiber is then removed by dragging a loose strand of bast through the mixture, wringing the fluid back into the bowl, and shaking out the fragments. This is repeated a score of times when the milky kava is cleaned and duly pronounced as ready to serve. During the half hour required for the making of the kava, half a hundred of Fijian men, seated on the ground, chanted a ritual in deep sonorous voices.

The master of ceremonies then presented a cup of kava to each of the guests in turn, and in order of their rank. On these occasions the kava is served in a half shell of a large coconut, which has been carefully smoothed. Some of these cups worn by long usage become lined wdth a precipitate like mother-of-pearl and these are greatly valued by the natives. I rather dreaded the ordeal of drinking the kava when my turn came, for courtesy compels one to take the bowl in both hands and to drink its contents without pausing for breath. When emptied the cup is set spinning on the mat towards the cup bearer who serves the next in order. I found the beverage not unpleasant to the taste. Kava is widely used by the natives and by many wdiites as well. It is non-alcoholic but undoubtedly possesses an alkaloid, as it becomes a habit with those who use it. We saw no ill effects or physical detriment following its use by natives, though we were informed that prolonged indulgence brought on a temporary paralysis of the legs, but the brain, fortunately, remains clear.

The afternoon took us still farther upstream and the evening found us welcomed to the village of Namuamua at the junction of the Navua river with the Wainikoroiluva. This was another pleasant village having the characteristic broad stretch of open grass with the houses grouped around this court. Ornamental plants such as crotons, dractenas, varieties of coleus and other flowering or foliage plants were grown about their dwellings in tasteful array. Numerous breadfruit trees with their marvelous leaves, splendid palms, and a number of shaddock trees with their yellow fruits stood near the houses. The shaddock resembles grape-fruit, though less pulpy, and are as large as a small pump-

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kin Seeing them for the first time one feels that he is looking at an orange through a magnifying glass.

In this village we were treated with great courtesy, given the exclusive use of some of the houses, but underneath all the formality we were very plainly objects of curiosity to the natives of the village. On the evening of our arrival there was in our honor a prolonged singing festival by the men of the village, their heavy bass voices uniting in a monotonous chant with a peculiar rhythm and most unexpected pauses, with here and there an exclamation or a groan-like ending which sounded most weird as it was borne to us across the tropic night. One felt that he was in the presence of the long past ages and could well imagine the feelings of captives in other days, awaiting the dawn which would bring the human sacrifice and the cannibal feast. While we were spared the boiling pot our sufferings were none the less acute for the singing continued that night without interruption until daylight, and was resumed the following evening at night-fall. At midnight of the second night, the chorus still proceeding with undiminished vigor, Mr. Pell sent an envoy to thank the singers, assuring them of our appreciation, and begging them not to put themselves to further inconveniences in our behalf. So we got some sleep that night.

This boat trip up the Navua with excursions out the following day along some of the smaller tributaries gave us a most favorable opportunity for close contact with a tropical rain forest. The trees were not as large as I had expected to find and were frequently spaced rather widely apart, but the whole formation was one vast tangle of vines and creepers, trees, shrubs, and epiphytes, —the whole constituting an almost impenetrable jungle through which we made no effort to pass, since travel by river permitted ready contact with its margins. Only when accompanied by natives armed with cutting knives for opening the way could a white man hope to make much progress through such a jungle.

A strenuous overland trip of ten or fifteen miles took us into the beautiful valley of the Waidina river. In its upper stretches the stream flows through a double fault valley bordered right and left by nearly vertical mountain walls, 1000 to 1500 feet in height, dissected in part into separate elevations. While rounded in many places the walls are here and there so nearly vertical as to be almost bare of larger vegetation, but the slightest irregularitv gives

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anchorage to luxuriant growth and wherever the slope permits there are unbroken forests.

In this valley beside the clear river is the village of Namosi, one of the most beautifully located towns in the world. Approach to the village is through an avenue of orange trees well grown and loaded with fruit when we were there. Above and below where the flood plain widens are banana plantations under native cultivation. On the bases of the mountains are fields of taro, the major food product of the region. The houses are grouped in the form of a rectangle, around an open grassy space with the home of the head man across the end. From the edge of the village rises Mount Voma, 2500 feet in height, from whose top on sunlight days one may not only see most of Vitilevu Island but others of the group as well. Two botanists, Seeman and Horn, the one in 1860, and the latter in 1877 climbed this mountain, and their books give interesting descriptions of the views from its summit. On the other side of the valley the mountains are more sloping and are heavily forested.

Our two day stay there was an unending delight. The numerous trails and willing guides opened up to us a considerable area up and down the valley. My most interesting experience while there was a climb up the mountain valley to an altitude of perhaps five hundred feet where fern forests of considerable extent spread out. By following a native trail up past the taro fields I was able to get quite close to one of these groups of fern trees. It was however with the greatest difficulty that I made the journey from the path to the edge of this fern forest. I am sure that I spent more than half an hour of the hardest kind of climbing and sliding and tumbling, working my way through the jungle for one hundred yards into the relatively open association where the fern trees were dominant. I was rewarded by an inspiring mew; standing there one could well imagine himself back millions of years in the Carboniferous period. The slender graceful stems of the fern trees ( Alsophila lunulata ) rose to a height of forty feet or more, and overhead their beautiful fronds made an almost continuous canopy of green. These leaves, each ten to twelve feet in length are singularly soft and they sway almost noiselessly in the breeze. Over considerable areas these fern trees constitute the dominant forms. They shade out the ground vegetation apparently, and many climbing plants have some difficulty in ascending the slender

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unbranched stems. I made a number of exposures and despite the fact that the films were carried for several days before development succeeded in getting some excellent negatives which are now most prized, with half the world separating me from beautiful Namosi.

With Mr. Thomas and Mr. Glock I was quartered in one of the native Fijian homes and we were much pleased, not only with the courtesy of our host and hostess who visited the house from time to time, but also with the neatness and attractiveness of the dwelling itself. Experience brought to my attention again the fact that the Fijians, men and women alike, know practically all their larger plants, and have native names for all of them. I was interested to note though, that they sometimes do not distinguish between closely related forms, which is not surprising since they often look much alike. For instance, they use the same word for Marattia and for Angiopteris, ferns which are similar but not, of course, identical. These wonderful Marattiaceas abound in Fiji and have enormous leaves twelve to fifteen feet in length, though Ihe stems are short and tuberous.

We were deeply impressed with the evident honesty of the natives. Our baggage, unlocked, lay in their houses during our stay, and clothing, cameras, binoculars, and other items of apparatus were left lying in their houses while we were away. Though they were fairly burning with curiosity, we saw no evidence that the I'ijians ever touched our belongings. If, however, we indicated to them a willingness to show them anything they crowded around like eager children revealing that the immunity of our possessions was not due to lack of interest or curiosity on their part. It was at Namosi that Captain Lawrence throw away at night a worn out pair of tennis shoes which were tied together. Falling in the edge of the jungle the strings caught on twigs thus suspending the shoes a little way from the ground. We had traveled miles down the river the next day when a boy came running to us bringing the shoes we had left behind. That night Captain Lawrence again threw the shoes far out in the darkness, supposing he had seen the last of them; but again a native followed after us many miles to return the shoes to their owner. That night Captain Lawrence buried his worn-out tennis shoes and saw no more of them. Such experiences emphasize the probable truth of the statement that nowhere in the world is life and property safer than in the Fiji Is-

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lands at the present time. This is all the more remarkable as it is less than a hundred years since the first missionaries began thenwork among the cannibals of this group and but one generation since they came under the British government.

The return trip from Xamosi was in part a repetition of the journey outward, but since the boats were going down stream travel by water was easy. The first stage of our journey was an overland tramp of about ten miles to a point on the Waidina river where punts were awaiting us. The further trip down stream to the Rewa river was through alluvial plains merging into the broad deltas bordering the river farther towards the coast. These bottom lands were pastured in many places with herds of cattle evidently of high grade and looking quite as sleek and comfortable as any to be found in our lowa pastures. One could not pass through these rich areas of relatively cheap land, with ready means of transport to the sea. without thinking of the wonderful possibilities for the development of dairying in that region.

Reaching the Rewa we took launch down to the home of the District Commissioner, Mr. Stewart, who entertained us most splendidly at his residence. After days in the wilderness the numerous courses served, spotless linen, glittering silver, and faultless service of a British formal dinner offered marked contrast to life with the natives. The situation was not without some embarrassment for us Americans however, as we were still in khaki and rough shoes, and had not anticipated such formal occasions in making our plans for this trip into the wilderness. A little farther down stream we took automobiles to Suva, from the region of Xausori.

The others of the lowa party sailed for New Zealand on July 4 but I remained a few days longer in order that I might avail myself of an invitation from Mr. Harold C. Wright. Acting Commissioner of Agriculture, to accompany him on a four day walking trip into the region immediately north of Suva. This was a most interesting experience since we traveled for the most part over ancient Fijian roads, some of them having doubtless been 1 ramped by the barefoot natives for thousands of years. We passed the village of Tamavua, ate lunch at Tholoisuva, and from the neighboring hill enjoyed an inspiring view of the Waimanu River valley and the numerous scries of hills and mountains beyond. Descending to this river and passing upstream a few miles wv

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reached the native village of Vatuvula. We were quartered for two days there in the home of a native preacher who kindly gave up his house to us. Excursions from this village were made up stream one day and into the forests on another. Here I saw for the first time near at hand the Fijian kauri (Agathis vitiensis). While not comparable to the more noted species in New Zealand they are nevertheless beautiful trees. We found here also Dacrydium, another southern gymnosperm. On both this trip and the one preceding we saw many “candle nut” trees (Aleurites triloba), so named from the fact that the seed is so rich in oil that it bums with a bright light when ignited. I believe these were formerly an article of export from the islands. The fourth day of our journey was involved in the return trip which we shortened by taking a boat down the Waimanu, and motor cars when once we reached the paved roads. I appreciated very much the kindness of Mr. Wright in arranging this trip for me.

The concluding days of my stay in Fiji were busy ones with packing and farewell calls upon those who had shown us so many favor’s while on their island. On the evening of July 12 I went on board the Navua and shortly before sunset we put out to sea, starting for New Zealand. As beautiful Suva faded into the distance and the twinkling lights were finally lost in the night I watched the mountains outlined against the western sky and wondered if ever again it would be my privilege to see this delightful region. Memory will always hold, however, with constant delight, the soft sighing of the trade winds through the palms and the fem trees, the distant roar of the surf, and the happy voices of the natives. Nor lean I ever forget those Britons who, half way around the world from their loved England, watch and serve this far distant bit of their empire.

CHAPTER IX

EXPERIENCES OF A GEOLOGIST IN THE FIJI ISLANDS

A. O. Thomas

The writer was a member of the University of lowa scientific expedition to the Fiji Islands and New Zealand during the summer of 1922. The purpose of the expedition was to sw.ure zoological, botanical and geological museum and classroom material and to gain first-hand knowledge of other parts of the earth—a very valuable asset as every teacher knows. The Fiji islands are noted for their luxuriant tropical flora and for their famous coral reefs. The relation of the latter to the geography and geological history of the group has been a subject of much investigation. Moreover, the Fijians themselves present a never-ending source of interest.

The Fiji archipelago is made up of a chain of far-flung islands some two hundred in number. They are arranged in the form of a crescent hundreds of miles across yet on a map they occupy but a dot on the vast Pacific. Eighty of the two hundred are inhabited ; each of the others is but a few acres, more or less, of bare rock or coral sand. Vitilevu, the largest island, is eighty by one hundred miles in extent and has an area equivalent to about a dozen counties in lowa. It lies within the crescent and toward its western hom. The group is astride the one hundred eightieth meridian. The international date line formerly passed through a village on the island of Taviuni in which a canny Scotchman is said to have kept a tavern built across the line. The bar at the west end ran till midnight Saturday, closed promptly, while the one at the opposite end opened, for it was still Saturday there. Sunday violation was thus avoided. The date line is now in the open ocean far to the east.

At dusk on Iho day of June 3-4, we sighted the sporadic outpost of the Fiji group and during the night slipped quietly through Nanuku passage into Koro sea within the crescent. Vanualevu, the second largest island, was on the right ; Yitilevu. with its encircling coral reef was ahead. This great coral platform, miles in width, is trenched by a tortuous passage leading to the

]54

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commodious harbor of Suva, the capital. Only experienced pilots can negotiate the channel and occasionally a vessel is grounded in a storm as a number of rotting hulls testify.

The sky line of Vitilevu is rugged but not wild. Joske's Thumb and various other peaks stand out near shore while the crests of the interior ranges are low on the hazy horizon. Irregularities are subdued by heavy forest and indentations of the shore line are concealed by swamps densely crowded by mangroves and other halophytes.

At the pier we were met by government officials who made our entry a mere formality. At the same time we were accorded a most hearty welcome, and every detail regarding our welfare and comfort had been anticipated and looked after most carefully. Colonial Secretary Mr. Fell, his able representative Mr. Pilling, and all the government officials were most helpful, cordial, and courteous —to all of them we owe much more than we can ever hope to repay.

A day or two sufficed to establish ourselves, first at the attractively situated, and beautifully surrounded Grand Pacific Hotel, and finally, in bachelor quarters at the quiet comfortable buildings 01 the Fiji Club on the hilltop. One can never forget the yiew from his window across the harbor to the white crested breakers on the edge of the barrier reef miles away, or to the hazy tops of the inland mountain range to the right. Tree ferns and cycads rustled outside the ever open window, strange-voiced birds chattered in the crotons and hibiscus, while a bare-footed, condescending Hindu servant anticipated every want. Yes, "tomorrow we get London mail, sir," —the Times were a month or six weeks late but it mattered little—no one was in a hurry—"and there may be a letter from home."

The white people of Suva are cordial, hospitable and quite friendly. They are largely bankers and shippers, planters and storekeepers, professional men and government servants in many capacities. They have followed the Union Jack around the earth. They are world citizens. It was a pleasure to know some of them intimately in the informal atmosphere of the Fiji Club rooms.

I had the pleasure of having associated with me Mr. Waldo S. Clock, a graduate student from the University. We tramped over many a mile of Fijian road and jungle, and together we enjoyed a bit of scenery or discussed some geological feature. Many pleas-

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ures were increased by sharing them; many a problem was more lucid after a stimulating field discussion; burdens and difficulties were halved by cooperation.

Suva has well kept streets, there is road material a-plenty, and labor is cheap. For some miles out there are good metalled roads but beyond these is the bush. A drive out on the Tamavua road, now in the process of construction, illustrates the value of a good highway. Good grades are established, sharp turns are avoided, and an excellent road bed covered by a good surface metal is laid. In the vicinity of Suva a soft, shaly rock, locally called “soapstone, ’’ is the main underlying stone. It is not durable as surface metal hence the greatest problem is to secure hard rock that will stand traffic. Such a rock was found in the side of a deep valley which was located only after weeks of traversing the jungle by the engineer, Mr. Seeley. The rock he found is a hard bluish-black basalt occurring in typical, polygonal, basaltic columns below a reddish phase of the soapstone. The face of the rock metal quarry at time of our visit was sixty by seventy feet. The stone is lifted to the crusher by steam power over a sloping cable to a height of approximately three hundred feet at the side of the Tamavua road. We heard some criticism on account of the expense of lifting this rock but as a matter of fact the Public Works Department feels fortunate in having so good a quality of road metal in the soapstone district. Prom the planter’s point of view the extension of metalled roads to the interior and finally to the north coast is of immediate importance in developing the island. From the standpoint of the natives opening up the bush will graduallv convert their extensive communal holdings into pasture and eaneficld. Then, too, the white man’s ax will rapidly denude the forested areas unless rigid timber regulations are enacted. From another angle, road construction furnishes employment during slack seasons for the thousands of Hindus who live on freeholds in the vicinity of the plantations. The laborers on the Tamavua road work in gangs, by nationality. They are very picturesque in their distinctive costumes or in some eases almost lack of costume. Light-hearted Fijians in one gang, Samoans in another, Hindus of one caste next, then of another caste, darker and beturbaned. “Salaam, sahib,” they greet as one passes. We wonder how such slight frail-looking men can handle the large blocks of stone in the hot sun.

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Near Suva at the upper end of Walu Bay we found men employed taking out a hard, tough limestone apparently of Tertiary age. The stone is used for road metal in and about Suva. They eall the product “yellow metal.” It is corallifsrous and contains a few mollusc shells in places. The foreman showed us several large, triangular teeth of the Tertiary shark Garcharodon which he had found in the quarry. These teeth are fully five inches long and an inch thick at the base. Above the gum line they are covered with a hard, glossy enamel and the serrated cutting edge is as keen as a well-kept band saw. What formidable jaws bearing scores of these teeth their ninety-foot possessors must have had! There are great caves dissolved out of the stone suggesting that it has been well above sea level during a good paid of the time since it was formed.

The foreman of the road workers was a Welshman named Edwards and when the writer dropped a word of greeting in his boyhood tongue a look of surprise, then delight, passed over his face. We must have a cup of tea. A servant was dispatched for the tea-billy and cakes. He recited a story of a sea voyage to Ceylon as a boy, of service in the South African war, and now he is settled in a little home in a suburb of Suva. A dusty photo of his childhood home at Llangollen was brought out; his mother lives there now. As we left he presented Clock with a balaka walking stick, then fondling over two or three of his finest he handed me one of yaro. Would I not be some day in Llangollen and could I not leave the stick with mother —a commission which I devoutly hope to carry out. A tear ran down his face as we bade good-bye beneath the rain-tree.

A walk to the top of the hill beyond the Signal Station in Suva brought us to the site of the old fortified village of the Fijians. There was a wonderful view of the harbor and a lookout over the lowlands on three sides of the hill. There is little to recall the old village except an enormous quantity of bleached sea shells. At first we thought it a shell marl of marine origin but the underlying black loam precluded that. It was a kitchen midden. The spot is 250 feet above the water of the bay and many miles from a good tide flat where such shell-fish abound today at least. We could imagine the Fijian women trudging up the long hill with basket-loads of them for food. The list on the menu is a long one: Area, Cardium, Mmoma, Verna, Ostrea, Spondylus, Tridacna,

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Strombus, Trochus, Turbo, Pteroceras, Conus, Oliva, Cerithium, and many others. As we dug in the refuse we half expected to find a human bone suggestive of an occasional cannibal feast. Bits of charcoal and pottery were the only finds.

The largest river in Fiji is the Rewa. This stream has developed a wide delta deposit over a part of the broad coral flat to the west of Suva. The mud from the river doubtless affects life on the flats for some distance out to sea. Well out from the mouth, or mouths, of the Rewa are two islands, Nukulau and Makuluva. The former is the site of the quarantine station for Fijians and East Indians. It. is wooded, larger, higher, and more inhabited by birds and insects than is Makuluva. A brief walk along the beach opposite the dock showed that the shore shells are chiefly bivalves rather than univalves as is the ease at the other island. Areas of two or three kinds were very common. A fine banyan tree, a breadfruit, a pandanus, and three majestic tamarinds form the background of the quarantine buildings which are under the care of a real character, a Mr. Sadler. He has three fine dogs one of which dives for and catches fish, brings them ashore, and deposits them at his master’s door!

Makuluva is a typical coral-sand island located on the flat farther out than Nukulau but still a mile or more inside the barrier reef. The flats are a wonderful sight at low tide. They extend for many miles inside of and parallel to the barrier. These, hundreds of acres are dotted with shallow tide pools in which thousands of small forms seek refuge until the return of the tide. Serpent stars, sea-urchins, prawns, crabs, eels, small colored fishes, molluscs, and so on, abound. Toward the edge and near the surf line are great heads of Orbicella, Porites, Meandrina, Pocillopora, and other coral of many brilliant hues.

Acres of slimy algae occur in places. Tunnels and holes bored by sea-urchins, cross channels fretted out by the coming and going tides, and loose coral heads impede one's progress; five-rayed starfish of the deepest ultramarine blue are common, a steely-blue to black holothurian lies helpless among the rocks, one's foot just misses the trap of a Tridacna, an innocent looking prawn gives a shock like a pistol crab, a savage and aggressive moray eel claims the right-of-way as one turns over a stone, an innocent little fish gives the hand a painful sting, a ''sea-scorpion" with its hundreds of sharp selae is allowed to go in peace, a midibranch of gorgeous

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orange, red, and gold slowly swims off with a strange undulatory motion; from a broken rock unwinds a worm, at first a few inches, then a foot, two feet, then by the yard—collect what you want and leave the rest; a big shell walks off, —it is simply a large, red, hairy hermit crab moving his house. At one place the writer turned over a flat coral head three or four feet in diameter. There was the usual scurrying to cover of crabs and fishes, but imagine the surprise when there rolled off of the up-turned stone two beautiful comatulid erinoids four to six inches across. Their arms and other appendages were most attractively barred with yellow, white, and dark bands. These rare animals were the high water mark of that day’s collecting. But the tide returned, ankle-deep, then knee-deep; our rapidly diminishing island and laboratory were a half mile away and the water to our arm pits before we got the collecting pails to land.

This great tide flat with its teeming life is but the repetition of another flat which is now close to two hundred feet higher as the Tertiary limestones mentioned above testify. Streams have carved the old elevated platforms into deep valleys and sloping hills and its landward edge is many miles from the present shoreline. Intermediate diastrophie movements have somewhat complicated the story as the Suva soapstone and other evidences seem to imply.

An opportunity to see the gorgeous living corals of the fringing reef and those of the deeper waters inside the barrier reef was had in a ride at high tide in the “Alma S,” a staunch gasoline boat drawing about two feet of water, and piloted by her owner, Mr. Smoothey, a very efficient skipper. The run was from Suva to Navua at the mouth of a river of the same name. Wonderful reefs of immense purplish heads, some solid, some branching, flexible corals, sea-urchins and gaudy reef fishes abounded in the clear water. A species of medusa, individuals a foot across, purplish above with brownish tentacles below, was very common, some at the surface, others ten to twenty feet down. We passed through and over them for miles. The boat finally reached the Navua dock and none too soon for the tide was turning.

This delightful trip was but an introduction to an eight-day excursion inland first by poling up the Navua and walking across the divide to the Waindina, then by boat down the Rewa and back to Suva. Elsewhere in the volume Doctor Wylie, the botanist of the party, has described this delightful trip into the heart of

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Vitilevu, hence I will confine my remarks to some notes of a geological nature. First of all, however, I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to Colonial Secretary Fell who accompanied us on the trip. By careful planning and excellent organization every detail was so well thought out beforehand that the trip was a pleasure jaunt rather than one of almost insurmountable difficulties; guides, porters, polers for the boats, cooks, interpreter, and even a private secretary made up a large retinue. A royal party could not have been more welcome than we as we were met with ceremony, feasted, and entertained in one Fijian village after another. Mr. Fell managed the whole journey without a hitch; he was very popular with the natives, highly respected by the bulls or chiefs and a jolly good fellow at all times. He has our everlasting gratitude and good will.

The Navua river drains a fairly large territory. Its lower reaches are wide and affected by the tides for some distance and the land on either side is a very fertile delta plain. As the landward edge of the plain is reached, the valley narrows perceptibly, the gradient of the stream increases, and rapids are frequent. In places the valley walls are steep and rocky, almost perpendicular at times. There is little or no valley flat except a few square rods at the turns. Over the steep, tree-fern covered slopes small tributaries come tumbling in, some as silver threads of water, others with great turbulence. At a point some sixty or eighty feet above tide, as accurately as we could estimate by the aneroid, the gorge is quite narrow with sides and floor of solid rock. There is no doubt but that a well constructed dam here would impound considerable water and that a hydro-electric plant capable of generating much power could be built. Our visit was made during the dry season and yet the volume of the stream was sufficient for a considerable amount of power. High water marks on the sides of the valley gave indication that during floods immense volumes pour down the gorge with great violence. This fact, of course, is the one to be most carefully considered in planning a dam. But by making it extra heavy and of good material there should be no difficulty. Records covering stream discharge and flood measurements are doubtless available. If not it would be a wise policy to acquire such data on each stream which is a potential source of hydro-electric energy—and there doubtless are several in a region where the annual rainfall is so great. The rock at this

View of Suva Harbor from Hospital Hill (See page 157) A sharp turn in a passage in the Rewa delta (See page 163) The rugged sky-line of Ovalau, Levuka in the foreground (See page 1641 (Photos by Thomas)

PLATE XXVII

The _ >rgi 'i Ihe Navuo River (See page 160) A narrow pari of the gores of the Kavua River (See page 160) Poling ni> the rapids of th> Navua River (See page I ill. toa bj I!

I'LATK XXVIII

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place is igneous, some of it basaltic, and some of it is a coarse, angular agglomerate. In places enormous blocks, handled in flood time, lie in the bed of the stream. It is hoped that this source of energy will soon be harnessed for we can think of no greater boon to Suva than cheap hydro-electric power. The distance of its transmission from the Navua gorge to Suva is not over twentyfive or thirty miles.

Namuamua, on the right bank of the Navua, is a very pretty village. During our stay here I made an interesting side-trip up a tributary of the Navua to a place where native informers declared they had found showings of coal, and in fact they had some pieces of carbonaceous shale which burned with some difficulty in the charcoal fire at Goko’s cook house. The deposit was finally reached and proved to be a clayey sandstone alternating with thin bands and lenses of shale. The whole was much jointed and where exposed, weathered rapidly along the joints into a crumbly clay. In these ledges, of which ten to fifteen feet are exposed along the stream, are bits of carboneaeous material from a fraction of an inch to an inch or more in diameter. They appear to be inclusions washed in from some earlier deposit at the time the shale and sandstone were laid down. There was nothing to indicate a coal deposit of any value either here or in the original beds whence the carbonaceous shale originated.

On the Wainukovo, a small tributary from the left into the Navua, below Namuamua, is an over-hanging bluff two to three hundred feet high. We found yellowish, sedimentary rocks, largely calcareous, with some sandy and clayey strata interspersed. The beds dip up the Navua, at an angle of 20° or more. The lower part of the section is a conglomeration of volcanic ejecta, rolled pebbles, and other debris. The most interesting feature is the presence of worn coral heads in the talus at the foot of the cliff and in relief over its face. Their precise age has not been determined but they have a story to reveal.

The journey up the Navua beyond this point was on foot. The country grew more rugged and the trail, doubtless as old as the Koman roads of Britain, led by the easiest yet steep grades to the head-waters of the stream, among towering mountains hard by the Korombasambasanga range. The trail finally enters the Navuni-ivi or Namosi gorge at a certain point in which is a low col where grows Seemann’s orange tree. Trickling down the grade

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behind us are the very head-waters of the mighty Navua and before us down the opposite and steeper slope run similar waters to the Waindina. The gorge widens and as we proceed its sides tower higher and higher. In places the narrow flats along the stream are cultivated but if not, an almost impenetrable bush knotted together by mile-a-minute and other vines extends to the very edge of the path. At the divide (650 feet above tide), the gorge runs east and west. Farther on and some one hundred feet lower, the gorge heads to the northwest. Its flat is now wider and the stream several yards in width is confined to one side of the valley; finally, nestled along the right bank, lies the beautiful, thatch-roofed village of Namosi. Turning about at the foot of the rara or village green we viewed the magnificent setting of the Namosi gorge. Back at the elbow where it turns from due west to northwest stand two prominent peaks, sentries of the valley. They are known as the “Gates of Namosi.’’ The cliffs of the valley wall are from one thousand to twelve hundred or even fifteen hundred feet high. Some of their faces are sheer or overhanging. Rarely are they barren of vegetation and where they appear so, the binoculars reveal patches of lichens or other growth. Here and there the cliffs are notched at right angles to the valley and down many a notch comes a wild turbulent tributary. One of the internotch masses rises almost vertically on three sides; on the main valley side it is vertical quite from the base—like some titanic office building. This rectangular towering mass is fully eight hundred to one thousand feet high. It is on the right hand side looking up stream and about a fourth of a mile beyond the bull’s house. I named this conspicuous eminence Mount Fell in honor of our kindly host and it is hoped that new maps of Fiji will adopt the name.

The left side of the gorge is. on the whole, less abrupt at the base but it terminates upward in even higher peaks culminating in .Mount Namosi whose summit is a little over 3000 feet above tide and fully 2500 feet above the village at its foot. Its summit, like that of the peaks of the Korombasambasanga range to the south, was much of the time swathed in clouds and mist. The rock in the valley and in the cliffs, as near as could be ascertained in the brief time of our slay, is of volcanic origin and is dark in color when fresh. Much of it is made up of rounded cobbles in a matrix of basaltic lava. Some of the pieces are quite crystalline.

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even dioritic. The cobbles in the agglomerate are grayer, a few of them darker, than the matrix.

The origin of this Fijian Yosemite is a matter of speculation. Erosion has had a part but the small size of the streams and the low col precludes this mode of origin. That the valley is con structional and the result of the down faulting of a narrow block or graben is the most likely explanation as the steep sheer faces of the valley wall at Mt. Fell and elsewhere strongly suggest.

Although Fiji has no evidences of recent vulcanism the great quantity of rock of this origin in the interior points to much volcanic activity at a former time. That there is still smoldering heat beneath is proved by the fact that there are hot springs just above Namosi while near Delailasakau some miles below Namosi wc visited a hot spring issuing from a parti-colored, vesicular rock. The water is clear and too hot for the hand. The flow is strong and there is odor of sulphur dioxide. Mr. Fell said that earthquakes of very small tremor occur but rarely in Fiji.

Upon my first arrival in Suva I expressed to Mr. Fell the hope that I might see by way of contrast a part of the north shore where the rainfall is considerably less than half that of the southeast part of the island. With customary generosity Mr. Fell took up the matter and by use of the telephone and written correspondence had the whole trip carefully planned for us in fullest detail. So, on the second day after our return from the Namosi trip, Mr. Glock and myself took passage aboard a little steamer, the Andi Keva, This is a coastwise boat of 106 tons and was the only mode of inter-island communication at the time. In order to negotiate the passes of the Rewa delta at flood tide it was necessary to board the boat at 5 :45 A. M. There was a drizzling rain and it was pitch dark as Glock and I stumbled through the narrow streets leading to the wharf. In spite of all we had read and heard about procrastination and slow-going in the tropics it was well for us that we were on time for she put off quite promptly. Her skipper was a fine appearing, business-like man of rather unusual type—a half-caste Fijian. With him were his two robust children whose mother was a Samoan. They were pale-faced, straight-haired, and quite comely.

The voyage was pleasant, the sea being fairly smooth as we were inside the barrier reef the whole way. The delta of the Rewa liver is a large fertile area just above high tide. Parts of it are

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covered by impenetrable mangrove swamps. The Rewa has many mouths or distributaries and it is the custom of navigators of small craft to enter one of these and by zig-zagging back and forth save many miles beside avoiding the more open sea between Nukulau and Makuluva. Our route was through the Wainibokasa passage which turned so sharply at times that a Fijian boatman dove from the prow with a three-inch rope in his teeth and upon gaining the bank on the inside curve fastened the rope to a post set for the purpose, thus turning the boat in her own length. Any slight accident or grounding of the boat long enough for the tide to go out would have meant a long delay. A night in that mangrove swamp with its millions of hungry mosquitoes would not have been a pleasant experience.

Our first stop was at Levuka on the island of Ovalau. This we reached early in the afternoon and we were told that general business routine and tide conditions would keep us there until the next morning. Levuka is the old capital of the Fiji group and is beautifully situated along a shelving shore at the foot of high rugged hills. In spite of its lost prestige it is still a town of considerable commercial importance. We noted several large steamers at anchor loading copra and other produce.

Ovalau is a mountainous island with peaks rising fully two thousand feet. Its deep, short and sheltered valleys are well adapted for coconut plantations and the island is comparatively free from the insects and blights which injure the trees on Yitilevu. The rock observed here is a very coarse conglomerate which in places is rudely bedded and even cross-bedded. A resident told us that the stone is the same on the highest hills of the interior.

The shore of this island for some distance to the north of Levuka shows unmistakable evidence of rather recent elevation. The shoreline previous to the uplift was a bold cliff into which the waves had cut a platform which is overhung at the promontories by hard, conglomerate cliffs. This platform is now five or six feet above high tide and is the site of a level, well-kept road. At low tide hundreds of dead coral masses are exposed near shore. These are much worn and partly dissolved, and w T hen a mass becomes free it is soon ground to pieces by the action of the waves. These coral evidently formed a part of the fringing reef before the uplift. The present barrier reef is miles out. At one point

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there is a large stack with a big sea cave on its sea-ward side. It is now quite out of the reach of the waves.

The next day found us approaching the northeast coast of Yitilevu. Beyond Tova Peak the vegetation clearly shows the effect of diminished rainfall. It is brown in color, scrubby, and there are very few trees of any size. Before reaching Ellington, our landing place, several small islands appear on the right. One of these, we were told, is owned by a German who vowed when the war broke out not to have his hair cut until Germany won the war. He finally had it cut in 1920. His island is remarkable for the large grove of Casuarines growing upon it. Ellington is merely the deep water entry for Penang which was our objective. Here we were met by a constabulary officer, Mr. S. P. Sanders, who has charge of the police force of the Ra province.

At Ellington we found a representative of the Department of Agriculture busily engaged in exterminating a thistle-like plant (Xanthium strumarium) which had gained a foothold from some Australian cargo. It was spreading with alarming rapidity and threatening to choke out native crops and grasses.

In the mangrove swamps near this place is a species of strange fish locally called the gobi or tiloko. It is about six inches in length, its eyes protrude like those of a crab, and its pectoral fins are so modified that it can cling with them to sticks and stones. It passes over the water with a series of hops and skips and refuses unless cornered to disappear into the deeper parts of a pool. After desperate efforts to catch one a shilling was offered a native woman if she got us a dozen upon our return later in the week. Epon the return the fish were presented us in a closed pail and we repaired to a room in which were a table and some chairs to transfer our gobi to a jar of preservative. The lid was no sooner lifted than out jumped most of them and they had to be chased about and caught like so many grasshoppers. The reader can imagine our surprise at the activity and elusiveness of animals which are normally helpless on the land.

Penang is reached by a narrow gauge, two-foot railway owned and operated by the Penang Sugar Company of Melbourne. It seems to be entirely independent of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company which owns and controls the great mills at Lautoka and Nausori. The Penang plant is equipped with up-to-date machinery but the low price of sugar in 1922 compelled it to operate at a very low margin if not at an actual loss.

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Our destination in Penang was the beautiful home of Mr. A. E. Bailey, the District Commissioner of Ra. This gentleman and his estimable wife welcomed us most heartily and looked after our every comfort and need. Early next morning riding horses were at ihe gate and Mir. Sanders of the Police force accompanied us on a long ride to the Rakiraki range which marks a sort of boundary between the wet and dry sections of this part of Fiji. The top of the range is green and forest clad; intermittently great banks of clouds hovered over its top but dissipated very soon if they started down the valleys in our direction. It had not rained in the Ra district for some time. However, this was the dry season and when the wet season comes there is enough for a good sugar crop of high quality. The mode of cultivation, rattooning, and so on are very different from that on the Rewa or Navua deltas where rainfall is very high.

As we ascended into the foothills the lava origin of the range became apparent; the rimrock made a bold scarp. Such a place is Suicide Rock whose vertical, columnar wall of reddish color is several hundred feet high. Suddenly, as the rain forest was reached, there was a change in the vegetation. The wood became dense and damp and the trees closed overhead.

At the top of the range we looked back to the broad Penang valley with its regularly laid out canefields. Beyond the range was a greener region with dense bush crowding in on the small cultivated areas. Nowhere had we ever seen such a contrast in the space of a few miles.

After riding back to a certain point in the range we dismounted and turned over our ponies to a prison trusty who had been carrying our lunch. He took them down the hill to the Fijian village a mile and a half away, while we struck off through the bush to see some old tribal boundaries in the form of a cairn on the hill. From this point we started down a steep valley at the end of which we could plainly see our mounts by the aid of our field glasses. It was early afternoon.

We dropped down a steep slope into tall grass at its foot. The grass was harsh and half dead, cutting our hands and faces at every move. Moreover, it was completely entwined by a slender but tough vine called voivoi. Progress was next to impossible; go back we could not, the slope was too steep. By the use of a pocket knife to cut the vines we made about fifty yards in a half hoar. It was hot, the grass was over our heads, we became sep-

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arated, but kept in touch by shouting at intervals. After another hour or so we gained the bed of the stream where we slipped, crawled and fell by turns. The water was cool and refreshing. Farther down the pools became too deep and we had to detour through the bush again and again. It was getting late, we had visions of spending the night insufficiently clothed among swarms of mosquitoes. Our impatient horses were only a half mile away. Finally the stream widened; we saw a taro patch and beyond it a cow paddock. Soaking wet with perspiration, footsore, and with hands bleeding, we climbed our mounts and galloped on. We had a new idea of the bush and were quite convinced that the dry side of the island is not barren by any means.

Mr. Sanders told us that this grass and bush is the home of droves of wild pig. They are the descendants of some pigs freed on the island by Captain Cook over one hundred years ago. The natives, and occasionally the Europeans, organize hunting parties and an exciting time is had with dogs and guns. There are no large wild animals in Fiji and it is thought that the introduction of the pig as a substitute for human flesh had much to do with the suppression and elimination of cannibalism.

In the Penang valley are several mounds of considerable size, usually of a reddish color. They are evidently much weathered small volcanic cones. The soil on one of them is unusually red. The Fijians’ love of a good story explains its origin. It seems that an old chief once upon a time had two indolent sons who killed a favorite rooster of their father’s that his early crowing might not disturb their sleep. His blood stains the hill to this day. In order to escape the father’s wrath they put to sea in a hastily constructed boat which had a very tall mast. A storm overturned the boat and the long mast fell across the Rakiraki range for could we not see the dent made by it just above Suicide Rock where the spirits of the brothers haunt the place nightly? The natives give this spot a wide berth.

In pursuit of the investigations in Fiji several persons rendered aid in one way or another. Mention has been made of the generous and efficient help of Colonial Secretary Mr. Fell and his official staff without which little could have been done beyond the immediate environs of Suva.

Mr. C. H. Wright, government chemist, gave us a much needed and convenient room in his laboratory for storing and packing. He also loaned books and maps and accompanied us on a very

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instructive trip to Colo-i-Suva. Mr. Wright is well informed on Fijian natural history and he speaks Fijian fluently.

The District Commissioners, Mr. Stewart of Rewa, Mr. Bailey of Ra, and Mr. Disbrowe of Navua, rendered every assistance in their power. None of us will forget the hospitality with which we were received at the homes of each of these gentlemen. Mr. S. F. Sanders of the Wailaka constabulary presented us with several rare Fijian curios and with some interesting moonstones from near Yitilevu bay in Ra. He was our companionable guide to the Rakiraki range. Mr. Sturt, of the firm of Sturt, Ogilvie and Company, Suva, gave me several beautiful cone and Harpa shells from his fine collection. Mr. Sturt has thousands of perfect Fijian shells which he has acquired of native fishermen during a period of over forty years. Some of them are as rare as they are beautiful. We especially admired, and it is feared, coveted, his magnificent cowries, cones, and Olivas.

Many other individuals rendered aid and volunteered services in many ways. Especially do I wish to extend my gratitude to the officials of the Fiji Club for the many courtesies extended me there. It was with deep regret that we passed Kandavu light house as night closed over the last of the Fijis with our boat headed for New Zealand.

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CHAPTER X

A STORMY VOYAGE TO NEW ZEALAND

After all our good-byes had been said to our Fiji friends on the dock, we went below to inspect our quarters. The Makura was considerably smaller than the Niagara, having a displacement of 13,500 tons as against the 20,000 tons of the latter. But the size of a vessel is no measure of her seaworthiness nor of her comfort. In spite of the crowded condition of my stateroom, where I had at least space in which to sleep, this vessel was just as good a sea home as one could ask, and we found nothing at all to complain of in the service.

The run from Suva to Auckland, New Zealand, is a comparatively short one of only 1140 miles and took less than four days. The rest was a welcome interlude between the work in Fiji and that which was still to come in New Zealand.

July 4th was a beautiful clear day and the temperature was balmy, just right for comfort. On deck we found two Americans strutting up and down in a very chesty manner, displaying gorgeous neckties in the shape of American flags. They were full of brag and made themselves decidedly unpopular. An Australian official afterwards informed me confidentially that we were welcome to claim all such men, as they were wanted by no one else. I was mainly concerned about the dishonor they did our beautiful flag and it was largely on that account that our party left them severely alone.

There were several American school teachers in the second cabin going on a vacation trip to New Zealand. They appeared to be a jolly crowd, enjoying the experience hugely and will doubtless have many extraordinary adventures to relate. American women are able to take care of themselves anywhere and are among the most independent travelers the world over. Such trips are the best sort of relaxation and have a rare educational value.

The deck sports were in full blast. People on these long voyages give themselves whole heartedly to the various sports, particularly on British ships. A “sports committee” is elected and all sorts of games and tournaments arranged.

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In the smoking room Thomas had a heated argument with some Australians who were roundly cursing America on account of prohibition. I suppose they thought it might be catching! It was really amusing to find the colonials so incensed against the United States on account of strictly domestic affairs, such as our prohibition laws.

At dinner that evening the band played “The Star Spangled Banner ’ in honor of the day and all passengers stood up in recognition. Such international amenities always move me greatly. They make me feel that blood is thicker than water and that old England is really the mother country in spite of all efforts of our hibernian countrymen and others to “twist the Lion’s tail!” We responded with hearty good-will when the dinner ended with the strains of “God Save the King.” I could not help thinking of how great the geographical distribution of my July Fourths had been for the proceeding five years,—l9l7, Barbados; 1918, Antigua; 1919, in the hospital at Rochester, Minn.; 1920, in camp in Montana; 1921, at home in lowa City and 1922 in the South Pacific en route to New Zealand.

ln. the evening we had a lecture by Professor Chant of the University of Toronto who was leading a party to a remote spot on the northwest coast of Australia for the purpose of observing a transit of Venus due sometime in September. What struck me most forcibly was the very generous support given by the Australian Government to this scientific expedition. It had volunteered to meet all the expenses of the entire party from the time it landed at Sydney and during the journey of some thousands of miles to and from their remote station on the northwest coast. Not only was free transportation of the party and its bulky equipment furnished, but quarters and commissary supplies during the entire time spent in Australia, which would be some three months as I understood it.

The next morning the ocean was a little rough and some of our party were again afflicted with mol de mer. There was a slight following sea, a northerly wind and occasional rain squalls which sent us below. I had a talk with Captain Wills about the war and he finally expressed his feeling and that of his fellow countrymen about the late entrance of the United States into the world conflict, although he showed no bitterness.

The wind rose during the next night. By breakfast time on July 6 the sea was quite rough and a good many passengers were

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seasick. The wind increased rapidly, the sea grew heavier during the day until the gale amounted to a storm, and huge waves larger than I have seen for many years rolled in from the Antarctic. The Makura shipped masses of foam but no green seas until nearly noon, then they smashed against the vessel with solid blows like a sledge-hammer, making her shiver and reel like a drunken man. Seated in a big wicker chair in the smoking room I was trying to write when I was suddenly tipped over and rolled on the floor, after which safety was secured by seeking a corner on a divan which could not capsize. It was hard to keep on writing with one’s attention being continually distracted by the angry seas outside. The ocean when enraged has always had a real fascination for me, and at such times there is a sort of exultation that repeated experiences do not lessen as the years go by.

I had a long talk with a gentleman who had lived forty years in Fiji and owns a large shop there. He expressed a sincere admiration, indeed affection, for the Fijians; but does not want too many white men to locate there as he says they will “spoil the natives.” Possibly he enjoys a business monopoly.

After lunch the storm increased in severity, and two men were hurt, one a passenger and the other a smoking-room steward. Both had nasty falls. The steward suffered from a badly cut head when he was thrown violently against the table. It was really dangerous to try to move about anywhere. At lunch there was a tremendous crash of tableware as a sudden, dizzy lurch of the ship emptied all of the tables and broke hundreds of dishes. Then an extra heavy sea struck the ship a solid blow on the bows, broke through the heavy bulwarks on the port side, smashing the iron plates, surging over the smoking room and lounge on the upper deck, breaking some of the strong storm shutters and flooding the room with its upholserted furniture. The Captain declared that this was the heaviest storm the Makura had encountered for eight years or more, but she was sea-worthy and there was no real danger although the vessel was delayed six or eight hours by having to slow down. There was a massiveness, a sheer bulk and thrust of these huge waves of the South Pacific that I have never seen surpassed, although it seems to me that I have seen higher seas in the Atlantic. We regretted that no photographs could be taken as the lens was immediately covered with a fine mist of spume that drifted continuously across even the highest deck.

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Although we were in no serious danger, the continuous and violent motion was exceedingly tiresome even to those who were not seasick and we soon had enough of it.

In the evening the “survivors,” meaning those not down with seasickness, had an enjoyable time around the piano in the lounge. The Britisher enjoys singing and the Colonials on the Makura were no exception. Some of them were first-class vocalists and there was a good accompanist at the piano. I was surprised at the number of old time American favorites which seemed familiar to them—“Suwanee River,” “My Old Kentucky Home,” “John Brown’s Body,” “We Are Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground,” “The Vacant Chair,” “Dixie,” “Hail, Columbia,” and a lot of others. We really had a jolly time, although it was hard to keep on our feet, as the vessel reeled her way over and between the big seas.

By daylight we sighted some of the out-lying islands of North New Zealand, more or less in the lee of the land. By noon we were in the great Hauraki Gulf which deeply penetrates and almost bisects the North Island of New Zealand, and ends in the beautiful landlocked harbor of Auckland, with sufficient depth of water to enable the biggest trans-Pacific liners to go up to the extensive series of docks on the sea front of the metropolis of the Dominion of New Zealand.

We passed in sight of Great Barrier Island, where the wreck of the “Wiltshire” was breaking up. We heard of this disaster during the voyage. It seems that a captain had in some way lost his bearings during a severe storm and foggy weather and the vessel had been caught in the set of an unexpected current and piled up on the rocky coast of Great Barrier. I afterward secured a good photograph of the wreck which was a frightful one as the big, new “Wiltshire,” a fine steel ship, was actually broken in two, the two halves being separated as cleanly as by a cleaver and lying side by side on the rocks. By what seemed little less than a miracle no lives were lost although great difficulty was experienced in getting a line ashore. I was told that one brave fellow jumped into the icy sea which raged around the stricken ship and the ugly rocks of that very rugged coast and succeeded in getting a line ashore through the breakers, a feat that seems impossible to one who has witnessed the fury of these breakers and knows the sheer rocky coast at this place. Others on shore helped him, however, and they fastened the end of the line high

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up on the front of the cliff and finally succeeded in hauling every man in the Wiltshire to safety. The vessel was a total loss but they were successful in salvaging a large part of the cargo after the sea went down.

Another wreck that I afterwards saw in dry-docks was one of the strangest of the “stranger than fiction” tales of the sea. The ship was the “Rona,” a steel cargo vessel loaded mainly with sugar. On a perfectly clear evening, with no sea running and all the shore lights burning brightly, this ship ran square into a small rock on which stands a light-house with a powerful light. It seems as if there had been a deliberate attempt to ram the light-house itself, for the bows of the “Rona” were pointed directly at it and actually reached to within about forty feet of the light itself.

In the Court of Inquiry which afterwards investigated the cause of this wreck the first mate, a man with an excellent record and a Master’s certificate, testified to the following effect: “The ship was on her true course when the Captain went below to attend to some business leaving the vessel in my charge with orders to ‘steer for the light’—and I did!” Surely a most successful piece of navigation, for he struck it fairly as to the direction and would have run it down had not the intervening rock interfered. The first officer claimed that he was merely obeying orders, but further explained that he was deceived as to the distance of the light and did not really intend to ram it.

Although it was a brilliant sunny day we found it quite cold on deck and we realized that we had gone through the tropics into the winter climate of the South Temperate Zone. Auckland is about 37° South and we were consequently within about 5° of being as far south of the line as we were north of it when at home in lowa. It was actually mid-winter in New Zealand.

The run up the Gulf to Auckland was delightful and the scenery all that glowing accounts have pictured it. The sea and sky were intensely blue, the islands we passed were very rocky but many of them green with their non-deciduous trees and shrubs, and the mountains loomed on the distant mainland. Sailing boats and steamers were numerous and the suburbs of the city looked like summer resorts at home.

As we neared the harbor all passengers were summoned for medical inspection which was different from any we had previously experienced. AVe were formed in line on deck with our pass-

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ports and every one was ordered to bare both arms to the elbow. It was, as I have said, quite cold, and as all had overcoats or heavy wraps it was no easy matter to bare the arms according to orders. So overcoats were taken off, cuffs unbuttoned, and sleeves rolled up to the required extent. When we appeared before the officers who were conducting the inspection each of us was told to extend both arms straight up. The official gripped them with a quick pressure below the elbows, passed the hands toward the wrists and told us to pass on; that was all there was to the inspection. I could not help admiring the excellent memory of the chief steward who called out the name of each passenger as he confronted the officer, giving it without hesitation and correctly in every ease.

I afterwards learned that this curious form of inspection was due to a report of a few eases of bubonic plague in Australia, and that its presence in an incipient form could be detected by this procedure.

The inner harbor of Auckland presents a busy scene with numerous ferry-boats plying back and forth to various points on the bay, Devonport, Birkenhead and other suburbs. The docks are quite extensive and big steamers from many points of the world showed their painted funnels and masts above the great ware-houses. An extensive railway terminus with numerous small engines and cars very much after the English type could be seen. Beyond this the city had a metropolitan aspect and its numerous rounded hills were crowned with imposing structures and parks. After our stay in Fiji the whole scene was distinctly impressive.

But the business of disembarkation soon took our attention and all was excitement and confusion. The stewards who had served us had been remembered with the usual tips and the stateroom boys were taking our luggage ashore to the custom-house on the wharf to which the Makura was soon tied. Some of our party had a distinct grudge against the good ship Makura on account of her antics during the storm, a thing for which it was unfair to blame the vessel which had behaved as well as could be expected, considering the pounding she had sustained.

Our passports were taken up and we were instructed to register ■with the police within seven days of our arrival, at which time our passports would be returned.

The laws regarding immigration are very strict. No Germans or Russians were allowed at that time to land at any point in

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New Zealand, and very severe restrictions were imposed on all Orientals. Perhaps this is the reason why the Dominion of New Zealand claims the purest Anglo-Saxon population in the world. It is a rare thing to meet any but English, Welsh, Scotch, or a very few Irish in that country and practically all of the Colonials are descended directly from citizens of some part of Great Britain.

We were met on the dock by the manager of the Government Tourist Bureau for Auckland, Mr. Wallnutt, who at once took us in charge in the most helpful manner possible, saying that he was instructed to see all of our baggage and equipment through the customs without delay. Not a thing was opened after I had explained that we had nothing but personal effects and the necessary scientific equipment for such a trip as ours.

This Government Tourist Bureau, by the way, is one of the best organizations we met with in New Zealand. It welcomes the stranger on the dock and is at his service throughout his stay in the Dominion. It arranged all of our travel, secured our tickets and wired for our hotel accommodations wherever we went. Nothing could give a more pleasing impression to travelers from other lands than such service. It saved us without charge much time and annoying perplexities wherever we went. I believe that as Americans learn of the superb attractions of New Zealand the tourist trade will become much more extensive than it is at present and that the service of this Government Bureau will make travel more and more popular with Americans.

Mr. Clement Vraggc, a well known meteorologist came to the wharf to welcome our party in the name of the scientists of New Zealand and, at my request, secured lodgings for us in Auckland. Mr. Wragge was an eccentric character with a great reputation as a weather forecaster, a reputation extending far beyond New Zealand. We had heard of him at Fiji and were assured that the planters there relied implicitly on his prognostications and that these forecasts were very generally correct. He told me that the matter of predicting the weather was a much easier and simpler problem near the Antarctic regions than in the Northern Hemisphere ; I have no doubt that his long experience and scientific training enabled him to attain a very creditable degree of accuracy. Since coming home we have received news of Mr. Wragge's death, which was not entirely unexpected, as he was quite an old man when we saw him, although active and alert in manner.

Our luggage was piled on to a big lorry, and we were placed in

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taxis and quickly taken to our quarters at No 4 Emily Place Which is near the wharves, railroad, the Auckland museum, and the mam business thoroughfare, Queen Street. There we found ourselves conveniently situated but we suffered severely from the cold. The rooms were entirely unheated even in mid-winter and although we dressed in thick winter clothing we were never really comfortable in the evening until we were in bed

Of course this is the custom of the country and indeed of almost all British possessions as well as of England itself. Perhaps we suffered more on account of coming directly from Fiji where it is always warm. We managed to keep fairly comfortable while at work during the day and in bright weather the temperature was not uncomfortable outside.

PLATE XXIX

Steamer day at Suva (See page I'i'ii Pari of the Auckland docka (See page L 74) (Photo bj Wylie)

PLATE XXX

The wreck of the "Rona" (See pape 173) The wreck of the "Wiltshire" (See pnpe 172) (Photos reproduced by permission of \V. Beattie, Auckland)

CHAPTER XI

AUCKLAND AND VICINITY

Emily Place is on a rounded knob of a hill overlooking the harbor and railroad terminus. Beyond the water with its numerous vessels of all descriptions one sees the large suburb of Devonport and still further the extinct volcano of Rangitoto rears its head, the highest mountain in that general region. The plan of the city is irregular to a perplexing degree, due largely to the number of rounded hills of volcanic origin which break the contour of the plain over which the city is spread. The streets, of course, seek the lower levels and wind around the bases of these hills in the most erratic way. The Post Office and many of the finest business blocks are on Queen Street which runs along an irregular depression or valley with higher ground on either hand. There are some fine parks and numerous churches, some of considerable architectural pretension. Electric tram-cars furnish good transportation facilities and there are also numerous public taxicabs.

The general tone of the city is metropolitan as might be expected of the metropolis of the Dominion of New Zealand, with a population of about 158,000. It has the stir and general air of a much larger place and is the port of entry for trans-Paeific steamers from America, Australia, Fiji, Polynesia in general, South Africa and India. One line runs directly to England by way of Panama. This is, therefore, a city of considerable commercial importance. The climate is milder than that of South Island, and many subtropical plants are found in its parks and gardens.

The restaurants furnish very good substantial meals at a cost of about 36 cents in our money and living is somewhat cheaper than with us, but one has to be on hand promptly at meal time or he finds the places closed. There are few places where one can be served at any hour of the day and still fewer are open at night. Even if the visitor is on hand during the prescribed hours he may, if somewhat late, find that most of the dishes on the menu are out and must content himself with what happens to be left. There

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is always an excellent fish course, usually in the shape of snapper, probably the best table fish to be had in New Zealand. The famous New Zealand mutton is the standard meat, although beef is often served. Vegetables, coffee and a "sweet" for dessert complete the bill-of-fare. At all of the better restaurants which we visited a regular dinner was served in the evening at the price mentioned and, although there was some choice, there was nothing like the variety of foods which appear on the menu of our middle-class restaurants. But the meals are good enough for any reasonable person and remarkably cheap. The larger hotels charge much more for meals which are somewhat more elaborate. Tipping seems to be unknown in restaurants.

The stores or shops in the principal business streets are large and about as pretentious as are found in cities of similar size in the United States.

A map of Auckland shows it to be about four miles square and the maze of streets, especially in the business district, makes one fairly dizzy, being more perplexing, if possible, than the old part of Boston. However, we soon got our bearings and learned the principal landmarks. The main attractions from the visitor’s standpoint are the parks, libraries, art galleries and museums, most of which will be mentioned in the course of this narrative.

As it was winter, my own special work, marine invertebrates, did not offer much that was alluring for it was too chilly to do shore collecting. Therefore, it seemed best to devote most of my time to establishing connections with the scientific men and learn what I could from the museums and libraries. I also hoped to accomplish something worth while in the way of exchanging specimens and publications, thus making the visit profitable from the I nrversity s standpoint; I feel that these hopes have been fairly well realized. But it took considerable time to gain the support of the Dominion Government and little was accomplished along this line before we went to Wellington, the capital.

On the first morning after arrival I proceeded to buy some warmer clothes and finally fortified myself against the cold by wearing a suit of winter underwear, an extra undershirt of New Zealand wool, a good woolen sweater and a suit of ordinary winter clothes; and in addition I usually wore a rain coat. Even then 1 was always chilly in the evenings. Clothing proved to be just

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about as expensive as at home, but the quality perhaps averaged better.

On Saturday there was nothing doing in the afternoon, as every business place was closed up here as elsewhere in the Dominion. We therefore elected to take a half-holiday and attend a foot-ball game. We found the tram-cars crowded, likewise the ball park in the suburbs. The game was Rugby, of course, and the grammar school and King’s college were the contestants. The boys appeared a little older on the average than our high school lads. They wore no guards, pads or extra protection of any sort and the knees and a good deal of their legs were bare. There were no chalk-lines forming the familiar gridiron of our fields and the object was to kick rather than to carry the ball. There were fifteen men on a side and the game was very snappy and quick. No time was taken out and there was a continuous series of bewildering fast plays throughout each quarter. When the ball went over the side lines it was at once thrown back into the scrimmage and the “scrim” was formed by a circling mass of boys who milled around until the ball was forced out of the ring and into play.

We had a great time getting back to town as the tram service was quite inadequate to transport the crowd; the laws regarding over-crowding were strictly enforced, no more passengers being admitted than there were seats, and it seems that strap-hanging is an unknown art there. The guard stood at the entrance and counted the people as they got aboard and immediately barred the door when the quota was complete. Several times we were just too late and waited for over an hour before finally finding seats. The fares are paid according to a zoning system and one pays in proportion to the distance, being given a receipt by the conductor.

We got back to our restaurant almost too late to be served and most of the articles on the bill of fare were out, so that we had to content ourselves with cold mutton, bread and butter. A little later and we would have gone supperless to bed.

Sunday was a bright sunny day, but chilly inside; so Thomas and I sat on a bench in the little park at Emily Place. Here we saw the übiquitous English sparrow again, the little rascal that is rapidly populating the world, and is almost exactly on the opposite side of the earth from its original home. A man strolled toward us and taking a seat beside us immediately began a fierce diatribe against the United States on account of prohibition. He

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declared that our people were crazy and that taking away the poor man's beer would cause a revolution. Thomas tried to reason with him but he became more and more violent until my worthy colleague became disgusted and walked away. I calmed the man down and we talked of other things. Prohibition we found a matter of intense and often bitter discussion in New Zealand where a prohibition party had developed considerable strength.

We then went to the Presbyterian church, a building quite classical in its architecture, but found its interior colder than any other place we had been in, in spite of our extra heavy clothes. The people were cold too, notwithstanding that they have long been accustomed to heatless houses, public and private, and they were coughing and snuffling more than any American audience we had seen. I was not surprised to learn later than pneumonia was common and the mortality from that disease alarming in New Zealand. The sermon was given by a Scotch clergyman and was almost as cold as the church. No one spoke to us either before or after the services. This was our last attempt to attend church during our stay in New Zealand.

Sunday is very strictly observed and no places of business are open except a limited number of restaurants; not even cigar stores, news stands or soda water places were open, and the railroad trains do not run on that day with the exception of a few to the suburbs. Ferry boats and excursion steamers ply across and about the harbor, but no places of amusement are available; even the motion picture theatres are closed on Sunday and Sunday evening.

That night some of us attended a lecture by Clement Wragge who welcomed us to New Zealand. He gave a somewhat rambling talk on meteorology and his experiences in various parts of the world, using lantern slides for illustrations. The proceedings were opened with prayer and a hymn which gave them the nee-, cssary religious tone to meet the requirements of the law, as I understand it. He advertised several of his books and a sort of experimental garden which he had established at Birkenhead across the bay where he presided over the “Wragge Institute.” Here he seems to have demonstrated the practicability of raising tropical plants such as bananas and even palms in the climate of northern New Zealand. He charged admission to his Sunday evening lectures and hoped thereby to raise funds for a wireless station for his meteorological work.

PLATE XXXI

Map of North Island, New Zealand

PLATH XXXI1

Mr. J. HUlop, Undersecretary of Interna] Affairs, New Zealand A powerful and efficient friend i>f our pa rtj

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The next morning we went to the Police Station and registered as required by law, and, as none of us had ever been ordered to appear before, the experience was unique. The officers were very courteous and explained that we were doubtless perfectly respectable people and would be subject to no further annoyance. We then went to the Customs House where our passports were returned to us without further formality. Upon drawing twenty pounds on my letter of credit I found that there was a charge of three “bob” (shillings) for exchange.

Returning to the Auckland museum I met the curator, the veteran botanist, Cheeseman, a man of world-wide reputation as a systematist and particularly for his classic work on the flora of New Zealand. He was very courteous promptly agreed to allow us to use the museum for working headquarters during our stay, and allotted a room in the basement for the storage of our equipment and collections. He also told us to make ourselves at home in the excellent scientific library of the museum where there was a real fireplace. There we spent many hours in comfort while consulting the books and scientific periodicals in this extensive library, which is not open to the public and is available for accredited specialists only.

Mr. Cheeseman was apparently a very old man and quite feeble, but he took time to show me through the museum which is one of the best in New Zealand, probably actually the best in the world so far as ethnological material regarding Maoris or natives of New Zealand is concerned. Only a few weeks ago the writer received the news of the death of this veteran and well beloved scientist, who was probably the most distinguished botanist New Zealand has produced.

In the museum are many zoological treasures, such as an excellent habitat group of the kiwi, or Apterxjx, a wingless bird still rather common in some parts of North Island. But the Maori work, particularly the marvelous carvings in wood was the most interesting part of the exhibit and is exceedingly well installed and displayed. Best of all it has a series of descriptive labels printed in large type and giving more adequate information than I remember having seen in any other museum. The collection is' literally priceless and would be creditable in any of the most pretentious museums in the world. There was an entire “guest house” sixty feet long and elaborately carved outside and in, especially on the front, doorway, and interior pillars and posts.

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The rafters are painted in very pleasing and graceful designs in led, black and white. Inside, between the upright, richly carved slabs, the walls are covered with finely woven reeds bound together with flax in regular geometric patterns, giving an exceedingly dainty effect.

The finest and most complete Maori war canoe of the ancient kind is here. It is 84 feet long with a beam of 7 feet, and was capable of accommodating one hundred warriors. I counted the seats and found the statement to be true. The prow, and particularly the great sternpost, was the most elaborate piece of perforated carving which I saw in New Zealand, the spiral design predominating. The wood was black and resembled the finest ebony. This canoe and the “guest house” are the largest objects displayed, but there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of others which are smaller but of equal interest. An ethnologist could spend many months there in a delightful and profitable study of the treasures in the Auckland museum, and I am sure he would be impressed with the artistic skill of the Maoris in carving everything, even the bailers for their canoes!

There is a strict law in New Zealand against the exportation of genuine Maori work, but much of it was taken out of the country before this law was passed.

The exhibit of jade or “green-stone” was particularly valuable, as well as interesting. This beautiful stone is hard enough to scratch glass and takes a very fine polish. The work of cutting it without the ordinary metal tools must have been arduous in the extreme. When separating a piece from a large block a groove was formed by rubbing with wet sand under a thin edged stone, and the groove was deepened with almost infinite patience until a slab was cut off. The “mere,” a spatulate, short, club-like affair, was made of jade and used by the Maori warriors; and a curious grotesque figure called “Tiki” was carved from a flat piece of jade and worn by the women as a sort of good luck charm.

I was glad to leam that something like $1,000,000 had been appropriated for a new building to house these superb collections. I understand that this is a municipal museum and it is one of which any city might well be proud.

The next day I found myself greatly interested in the beautiful carvings in the museum and went on a search in the various photograph establishments to find what they had in the way of

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pictures of this work. Our cameras were hardly suited to bring out these delicate designs. After visiting several shops where photographs were on sale, I found a place in the top story of the Victoria Arcade which was just what I wanted. The place was quite unpretentious and not at all advertised, but there was a photographer who was a real artist and had won the "Grand Prix" at the Panama Exhibition. Mr. Henry Winklemann, whose specialty was yachting scenes of unusual excellence, had there gathered together an admirable series of illustrations of Maori art, bringing out the finest details with a fidelity which seemed to me unexcelled. He himself was absent, but had left his pictures in charge of Mr. L. Stubbs who kindly showed them to me and became interested in my plan to procure a series to be used in University publications and for lantern slides. The photographs were all copyrighted but Mr. Stubbs said he would take the responsibility of allowing me to use them for educational purposes, provided due credit was given to Mr. Winklemann. I thus became the possessor of a very good series illustrating Maori houses of various sorts, their native dress and details of their carvings which I could not have obtained in any other way. The series also included pictures of canoes, canoe races and other characteristic activities which will help American audiences to a better understanding of these wonderful people of the Antipodes.

Back again in the museum, I met the assistant curator, Mr. L. T. Griffin, F.R.Z.S., an up-to-date museum man with much experience as a zoological collector in South Africa and elsewhere. He is, moreover, a taxidermist of excellent ability and resource. He said that museum curators in New Zealand were greatly hampered by legal restrictions regarding collecting birds, particularly, and seemed doubtful about our securing a permit for Dr. Stoner, our ornithologist, to obtain representatives of the avifauna of that country. On account of this restriction the Auckland museum had hardly any duplicates available for exchange.

Mr. Griffin is a most versatile man, his main zoological interest being in fishes, and his exhibit series of the fishes of New Zealand is one of the best of its kind. He is also an artist of real ability, illustrating his work with exquisite colored plates, and the fishes in the museum are colored with fidelity to nature.

Many of the Maori carvings bear a close resemblance to the totem poles of the Alaskan Indians. No metal tools were used for this work but sharp shells and stones were utilized. The eyes in

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the figures are made of the pearly abalone shells with black pupils for centers. Elaborate spiral designs are common and we were told that the idea was derived from the manner of unfolding of circinate fronds of the tree ferns so common in New Zealand. Human figures in these carvings are always represented, so far as I saw, as having but three fingers or toes on each hand or foot. I was unable to find an explanation for this, but heard a suggestion that this was a token of high rank among the old Maori. These people are said to have emigrated from Rarotonga and Tahiti five or six centuries ago, traveling in the great canoes that have become historic, just as the caravels of Columbus and the Mayflower are famous in our annals. There are some gruesome specimens of the art of preserving human heads by the Maori method of smoke drying, their elaborate tattooing, or rather face carving, and the fact that the lips have shrunk away from the protruding teeth give them a horribly grotesque expression. These heads, by the way, were formerly much in demand as curios, and the accommodating natives readily furnished them to traders, ship captains, etc., which resulted in quite a brisk trade that had to be sternly repressed by law.

At the office of the Union Line S. S. Company, I found that, on the request of Mr. Irons, Vancouver Manager of the Canadian Australasian Royal Mail Line, reservations had been made for our return trip, Wellington to San Francisco, on the “Tahiti” sailing August 15.

On July 13 Stoner, Thomas, Gloek and I visited the island of Rangitoto in a fast launch kindly placed at our disposal by Mr. Hamer, the Harbor-Master at Auckland. The early ride through the harbor and out into the gulf was a delightful experience; it was a bright sunny morning, the sky and the sea both were intensely blue.

At about ten we reached Rangitoto, on which is the mountain of the same name, one of the most prominent hills visible from Auckland. The island is entirely volcanic and the mountain itself one of the most recently formed of the volcanic cones in that part of New Zealand. It is quite symmetrical and has a deep crater a little to one side of the summit. There is a good trail made by the voluntary labor of the people who use the island as a summer resort. Anywhere aside from the narrow trail the surface is a mass of jagged, sharp-edged rocks of scoria interrupted often by impenetrable bush. We saw a great profusion of unusually

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beautiful lichens along the way and also encountered a wallaby, or kangaroo, that allowed us to approach near enough to secure his photograph. Prom the top of the mountain we had a superb view of the gulf, harbor, adjacent islands and the city of Auckland with its suburbs.

After descending from the mountain we again took to the launch and visited the municipal quarries on another part of the island. These are quite extensive and yield immense quantities of rock for break-waters in the harbor and “metal” for roads. The larger rocks are blasted out, placed on large lighters by heavy cranes and then taken to the break-water. The smaller fragments are run through a crusher near the shore and used in road making.

It was low tide and collecting was good along the rocky shore where numerous pot-holes had been hollowed out of the scoria by the action of the waves. A number of specimens of anemones, mollusks, and starfish were secured.

On the way back we visited the big dry-dock where the ‘ ‘ Rona, ’ ’ whose performance in trying to buck into a light-house has already been recorded, was undergoing repair. She was an 8000ton steel steamer and her fore-foot was crumpled up for a distance of about fifteen feet. She had struck another rock on being hauled off, which resulted in still greater damage to her bottom, below the engines, a bad place to reach in making repairs. We saw the machine shops connected with the dry-dock, where there are large lathes for turning out great guns, rollers for bending steel plates and many other powerful machines; there were pumps for emptying the dry-dock at the rate of 3,000,000 gallons per hour.

The next day I went with a letter of introduction from Mr. Griffin to Mr. Deighton, Manager of the Municipal Council’s Fish Market. This is an interesting experiment in municipal ownership, designed to bring down the price of fish, which was said to have been controlled by a private monopoly which maintained higher prices than the city fathers thought justified. I understand that this objective has been achieved.

My object was to find a way to do something along the line of collecting marine invertebrates, my special job, in spite of the winter season. I thought that the captains of the New Zealand trawlers owned by the the .Municipal Council’s Fish Market might be induced to pick out and save the invertebrate material that came up in the trawls and which would otherwise be dumped

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over-board. Through the request of Mr. Griffin several specimens had already been saved for me in this way, and Mr. Deighton kindly promised to do what he could to persuade the skippers of the trawling fleet to continue the good work by saving all of the specimens they thought might be of scientific interest. But I succeeded in making still better arrangements for collecting marine material. The trawler Cowan was just in with a load of fish and Mr. Deighton introduced me to her skipper, Captain McKay, with the suggestion that I might go out on a trawling cruise with him. Captain McKay proved to be a man after my own heart, a Scotchman with a delightful burr and as fine a specimen of an honest, keenly intelligent sailor-man as could be found. He extended a cordial invitation to take a cruise with him in the Cowan on his next trip beginning July 20. I had always wanted to add such a cruise to my somewhat varied marine experiences, and gladly accepted; although I knew well enough that life on a trawler in winter would be no child's play, indeed much more like the experience related in Kipling's "Captains Courageous," than the ordinary sea life. As a matter of fact I have always considered deep-sea fishing in winter about as severe a test of endurance as could be imagined. But I believed myself tough enough to stand it, at least for a few days, and was indeed keen to try it.

Calling on Mr. Hamer to thank him for the use of his launch on the Rangitoto trip, I found him absent, but his assistant, who was in, took a very sincere and kindly interest in our plans. He believed that the best place to collect marine specimens was the little island of Rakino further out in the gulf than Rangitoto, and took me over to the office of Mr. Sanford who controls that island. He was absent, but his brother at once interested himself in our project and introduced me to Mr. Allison, chief of the i'i rry service, quite an extensive organization, by the way. This gentleman very generously offered me the use of his own launch to visit Rakino on "Wednesday, July 19, when he believed that there would be a good low tide. So the work sceemed opening up for us at last

My last pair of shoes brought from home were worn out, the reef work at Makuluva having been the ruin of several pairs. So I proceeded to buy some shoes of New Zealand make, all of which are extraordinarily heavy; the ordinary American styles are regarded as quite a curiosity, indeed I was asked if mine were not made of kid. I bought a highly recommended pair for 32/6 and

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they proved instruments of exquisite torture, abrading the region of the tendon of Achilles until both ankles were worn raw and bleeding and I was practically a cripple, suffering pain at every step. Mrs. Stoner had some adhesive tape and bandages which helped a good deal but there seemed no hope of real relief. After hobbling around for about a week, however, I succeeded in having my old shoes patched up.

The Museum contains the finest moa material I have seen. Besides a complete restoration of the entire bird made by Mr. Griffin, who used feathers of the apteryx for covering his manikin, there is a very large complete skeleton, and mounted specimens of all the related non-carinate birds including the ostrich, cassowary and emu, to illustrate the gigantic size of the moa as compared with some of the largest existing forms.

Sunday, July 16, was spent in resting and writing and in photographing some views of Auckland, particularly in the parks. Later I had a very interesting talk in the museum library with a Mr. Holder who had spent a good many years in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea and had secured a very fine ethnological collection, part of which is being installed in the Auckland museum. He had lived a long time among the most primitive aborigines of the South Seas and had had many exceedingly novel and interesting experiences. He spoke of many curious religious superstitions, saying that the horn-bill often appeared in their carvings and seemed to have some religious significance. In certain of the dances the men act the parts of various birds and seem to actually think that they are birds for the time being at least. Before leaving, Mr. Holder presented a couple of Papuan fans to Dr. Stoner and myself, asking us to give them to our wives with his compliments.

On the morning of July 17, Dr. Wylie came in on the Navua and our little party was once more intact. He reported successful work in Fiji and a most enjoyable voyage to Auckland which gave him a well earned rest. I then called on the U. S. Consul, Mr. K. de G. MacVitty, who had been ill for a few days and thus absent from his office when I had looked in once or twice before. He was very cordial, but seemed to think it would have helped our party in New Zealand if we had notified him in advance of our intended visit so that he could have prepared the way for a proper reception on the part of the Dominion Government. I told him that we were getting along all right and had thus far

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found it unnecessary to ask any Government concessions; that we were entirely content with the way certain citizens of Auckland had helped us out. We were to learn later of the great courtesies and material aid that would be ours when we reached the capital, Wellington.

The very next day I received a telegram from Mr. J. Hislop, Under Secretary of Internal Affairs, informing me that Mr. Hamilton, of the Dominion Museum at Wellington, had been given a permit to collect birds, and was coming to Auckland to arrange for a trip with Dr. Stoner, the material secured to be given to our museum. Several letters had passed between us and I was afraid that our ornithologist would have little opportunity to secure specimens. Indeed I learned afterwards that this was a very unusual favor on the part of the New Zealand authorities and that Dr. Stoner was perhaps the first foreigner who had been granted such a concession. The arrangement was entirely satisfactory as Mr. Hamilton proved to be a very good guide and ornithologist, and gave his services also in preparing the birdskins after they had been collected.

Thomas and Glock left on July 15 for a month’s trip over New Zealand. They had carefully planned their itinerary and were bent on covering as much as possible of both the North and South Islands. We did not see them again until shortly before we sailed for home.

Stoner, Wylie and I got up early the morning of July 19 for the trip to Rakino. The launch Mavis was waiting for us at the pier and was a very able little boat, loaned for the occasion by Mr. Allison. We greatly enjoyed the run of twenty miles down the harbor and out into the Hauraki Gulf as the day was bright and sunny. Arriving at Rakino we found that there was no small boat to take us ashore and that the tide was too low for us to land at the little pier. So Skipper Foster ran her nose against the rock and we managed to climb down over the bows and get a footing on its slippery surface. The tide, although low, was not low enough, for the best collecting, which of course is always at the lowest possible ebb, comes only two or three days each month. Climbing over the rocks and around the headlands was hard work and there was no good beach. We found a few interesting things and some starfish were brought by the little bare-footed children of the caretaker of the island. How they could walk on bare feet over these rocks covered with sharp barnacles, worm-tubes and

PLATE XXXIII

Mounted group showing restoration of the Moa. its skeleton and some recent carinate birds for comparison (See page 187) Restoration of the Moa and its skeleton, and a human skeleton to show relative heights i S ■>■ oage 187) (From photographs donated by Mr Griffin, P.Z.S., Assistanl Curator of ihe Auckland Museum |

PLATE XXXIV

Auckland Police Stnlion (See pace 181) (Photo by Stoner) Scene in Auckland Museum, showing great Maori war canoe (See page 182) (Photo re produced by permission of H. Wlnkelmann. Auckland) A part of Queen Street, Auckland, showing the Post Office i See page 17")

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mollusks was a mystery to me, but they did, and with no apparent discomfort. We collected a number of crabs, mollusks, tubedwelling worms and the only medusae secured in New Zealand. Stoner found some interesting insects.

A little after eleven o’clock the tide was high enough to enable the launch to reach the wooden pier, and we returned at once to Auckland in time for a late lunch.

On July 20 I started on the trawling cruise to which I will devote a short chapter later on, as it was a unique experience, full of interest and deserving of separate treatment.

After returning I found that the plunder secured during the cruise was sufficient to fill one of our collecting tanks and felt that the trip had been eminently successful. Mr. Griffin added some interesting material such as a basket-fish and handsome starfish that the trawlers had brought him, thus completely filling the tank which was sealed and sent to Wellington with our other collections and equipment.

The Government Tourist Agent, Mr. Wallnutt, secured a ticket and berth for me on the fast train for Wellington, as well as hotel accommodations at that city. I called on our consul, Mr. MacVitty, and chatted awhile. He gave me a tip to the effect that we made a mistake in putting up at our humble quarters in Emily Place; that New Zealanders were impressed by externals and that we would do better at Wellington if we went to good hotels, instead of to rather obscure lodgings. This was doubtless true and we took the hint. Indeed I had already felt that it would be better to have more pretentious headquarters at the seat of Government and had secured a room at the Empire, one of the best hotels in Wellington.

There is a very good art museum in Auckland. I enjoyed a visit there shortly before leaving for the South, and found a number of excellent paintings of historic nature. One showed the ceremonial of tattooing, or face carving, that was so characteristic of the old Maori. Another represented the first sighting of New Zealand. A double canoe of great size was loaded with Maoris who had made the memorable voyage from Hawaiki and were in the last extremity of starvation. Many had fallen over the thwarts in collapse and I have seldom seen utter misery more strikingly portrayed than in their faces. A few leaders were standing and had just sighted the rugged headlands of the new world to which they were coming. It was one of the most striking

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dramatic pictures I have seen. Another large painting pictured the burning and plundering of a British ship by the Maoris.

That evening we took supper with Mr. and Mrs. Griffin, and found new reasons for wondering at the versatility of this remarkable man. He showed us a very fine painting of a pair of tigers, his own work, which had been accepted by the Royal Academy. He is apparently a real connoisseur in art, and his house is a marvelous treasury of choice things from various parts of the world. Among other things, he showed us two very large porcelain vases from China, each about five feet high, two large vases from Japan which were thought by the auctioneer to be of papier maehe but they proved to be silver of rare workmanship, a very ancient bronze vase (Japanese), carved ivory boxes of texture so delicate as to resemble fine lace, smelling bottles encrusted with jewels, exquisite miniatures on ivory and many other articles of rare value. His main interest, however, seems to be in Egyptology and he is evidently a past master in deciphering ancient Egyptian inscriptions; he has written a dictionary of which he showed us the original manuscript, also volumes of translations of various inscriptions which he had been requested by explorers to make. He also showed us many valuable scarabs, an exquisite Venus in onyx, and other things taken from Egyptian tombs.

Taking it all in all we felt that in far away New Zealand we had encountered one of the most versatile and learned men we had ever met in all our travels. His home is a veritable museum of art and his wife seems to take great pride in it; but we could not help feeling that it must take a good deal of time and care to keep these numerous treasures properly dusted and that this priceless collection would be in great hazard were there children running about.

Mr. Hamilton, who was with us that evening, is connected with the Dominion museum at Wellington and is himself an exceedingly interesting man. He was a member of Sir Douglas Mawson’s Antarctic Expedition, going as taxidermist. During the war, he served in England as a member of a special commission organized to circumvent the German submarines.

On July 27 Wylie left for Wellington with the intention of stopping off at several points of interest en route. After seeing him off, I called on Professor Wilson of the University College. He had a museum of well selected animal types and good labora-

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lories for a limited number of students. It was a rather unusual fact that the University men of Auckland seemed hardly aware of our presence but we had no cause for complaint; some of them had been helpful to members of our party. As a mater of fact we had been too busy to care much for social amenities.

I said good-bye to the veteran curator, Mr. Cheeseman, and also paid a farewell visit to Mr. Griffin who certainly had done all in his power to further our work.

The next evening I left on the through express for Wellington, on the longest continuous railroad trip which can be taken in New Zealand, a distance of 426 miles covered in about 16 hours. The railways are controlled by the Government and seem to be well managed by Mr. R. W. McVilley, the general manager. The timetable is a Government printed book of 384 pages which can be carried in one’s pocket. All train schedules, fares, distances, etc., are plainly set forth, together with the rules and regulations of the service. Tourist tickets may be had, good on all lines anywhere in New Zealand for seven weeks after issue, at the very moderate price of 16 pounds 5 shillings. The rates are really economical for one who travels a good deal and were used to advantage by Thomas and Gloek of our party.

The Government Tourist Bureau will take any amount of pains to see that travelers are properly routed and will also attend to their hotel accommodations by wire in advance, all without charge. They also secure berths in sleepers. Indeed, the traveler is as well looked after as in our own country and sometimes the service is better. The giving and taking of tips is strictly illegal and I saw no evidence that the law was broken.

Members of the Legislature and many other Government officials travel on passes. No person can enter a carriage in which all seats are taken. Luggage up to 112 pounds in weight is carried for each passenger. “Left luggage” wall be charged fourpence for each parcel and this charge covers storage for one month. A seat may be reserved on a through train from Auckland to Wellington for ninepence and a berth on the sleeper for twelve shillings and sixpence. These are but a few of the regulations concerning railway travel. Reduced rates are given for workers’ weekly tickets, season tickets, family season tickets, weekly twelve-trip tickets, recruits for naval forces, young persons in employment, newspapers reporters, news-boys’ season tickets, school season tickets, free school season tickets, school

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boarders, students of agricultural and technical colleges, New Zealand military forces etc.

I was told by a prominent Government official at Wellington that the railways in New Zealand are not self supporting, but that the service was so good and prices so low that they seem to meet with public favor in spite of the additional taxation incurred.

The cars, or as they call them, carriages, are much smaller than ours, as in England, and the sleepers are arranged more like our Pullman compartment ears with a corridor along one side and the berths placed cross-wise in the compartments; thus there is more privacy than in our Pullmans and the berths are narrower but longer and will not accommodate two persons. The dressing-room is very small and there is no hot water, nor is the car appreciably heated. Consequently I was uncomfortably cold in spite of what seemed to be an adequate supply of blankets. My room-mate was a Mr. Collins, a Government official concerned with industrial affairs who, much to my surprise, called me by name. It seemed that Mr. Sanford had told him that I would probably be on the train and requested him to look out for me. Hence I was well cared for and formed a very pleasant and helpful acquaintance.

We passed through the highest mountains during the night and the daylight run in the morning was through picturesque country. At a station we had a good breakfast for which we were allowed thirty-five minutes and charged the equivalent of sixty-two cents. The passengers were, of course, almost exclusively Colonials, very friendly and helpful to the casual stranger. The country we passed through early in the day was a beautiful rolling upland, white with frost; then it became more hilly with snow capped mountains in the distance and finally we ran along the rugged headlands of the west coast facing the Tasman Sea with the surf breaking high along the bold cliffs of the shore and the intense blue of the ocean beyond.

As we neared Wellington the country became quite wild and rough with very deeply cut valleys and sharply pointed hills, culminating in a very rugged area just before we reached the city.

While sitting in the smoking car I was addressed as “Professor” by the man sitting next to me and found that he had been, a fellow passenger on the Niagara. He had been a captain in the British navy and commanded a submarine, if I remember rightly. He was very friendly and we passed several hours in eonversa-

The crew *>f the trawler "Cowan-" Captain McKay second from left, standing (See page 195) A catch of fish dumped on tin- deck of the "Cowan" (See page L9B) Emptying the trawl on the "Cowan" (See page 198)

PLATE XXXV

PLATE XXXVI

i I 1 ! i s -.1 J I I 1 ! jf i* fl f I 1 r j I !

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tion. As a matter of fact the New Zealanders seem to me much more approachable and less reserved than the average Englishman. They form acquaintances and take a more lively interest in strangers than do the British or even passengers on our Pullman cars; but this I have found to be true of Colonials in general.

About noon we entered a series of deep valleys between abrupt, picturesque hills dotted with pretty houses, many of them of the bungalow type, much like those in the United States and differing greatly from the suburban dwellings found in England.

I was met at the station by Mr. Hislop, Under Secretary of Internal Affairs, with whom I had had some correspondence. This meeting was a turning point in our fortunes and Mr. Hislop proved a most powerful and efficient friend to all of our party. He had my luggage put into a government auto and introduced me to Mr. Oliver of the Dominion Museum who was instructed to take me in charge. We drove at once to the Empire hotel where a room had been reserved and I was informed that the government car and chauffeur would be at our disposal while we were in the vicinity of Wellington.

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CHAPTER XII

EXPERIENCES ON A NEW ZEALAND TRAWLER AND NOTES ON THE INVERTEBRATE FAUNA OF HAURAKI GULF

The morning of July 20 was gloomy enough, as at daylight I hobbled down to the docks in my murderous New Zealand shoes, through a heavy rain and high wind, carrying a ponderous suitcase, blankets etc. The Cowan was at her wharf and Captain McKay welcomed me on board and assigned me quarters in his cabin. Although by no means palatial, the room was the best the boat afforded and the good skipper could do no more than give me his room and bunk in with his chief engineer, a very intelligent Scotchman by the name of Crawford, whose acquaintance I greatly enjoyed. The captain and his chief both being Scotchmen, were naturally quite chummy and I found them as fine types of the real British sailor-man as one can meet.

The cook served breakfast, and a good one, in my room which was on the upper deck facing the bows. Soon after starting we were bucking our way through very rough seas and the motion of the short, tubby Cowan, which was a sort of metamorphosed Sydney tug boat, offered the height of aerobatic performance. Of course the motion seemed accentuated in my room on the top deck, but I managed by sitting on my up-ended suitcase, with the wall at my back and my knees braced against the side of the bunk, to have at least one hand free to manage the food. The crew were not so fortunate however, as they ate below in the forecastle and a big wave was shipped while they were eating, flooding the forecastle and drenching them and their food. They were used to such trifling misadventures however, and seemed not to be greatly disturbed.

It was so rough that we were soon forced to put in and anchor in a little landlocked cove in the island of Waiheke (I am not certain of the spelling) and waited there for the weather to moderate. The captain and I went ashore, although it was severe punishment for me to walk over the rocks in my partially crippled condition. The island is said to be about 100,000 acres in extent

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and is owned largely by Mr. Allison. Sheep and a few horses were grazing on the grassy slopes and seemed to be in good condition. We picked up a few mollusks along the shore, but found nothing of special interest and went aboard again before noon. Here we found that the cook, a typical cockney Englishman, had managed to cut off a finger while preparing the meat for dinner, and had keeled over at the sight of blood. They had bound up his wound however, and he went on with his work as if nothing had happened.

The Cowan was simply a tug-boat, about 80 feet long, given to fantastic performances in bad weather. The crew consisted of Captain McKay, Engineer Crawford, a mate, cook and three other hands, seven in all. When working they kept the trawl going night and day letting it down, or “shooting” it at intervals of about four hours. It is dragged over the bottom for three hours, then hauled up, and its contents removed, after which it is “ shot ’ ’ again. There were not enough men for two watches, so all hands were called every three hours to help get in the trawl, attend to the fish and “shoot” the trawl again. Much of the time they were wet either from water shipped by the boat which was sometimes swept by heavy seas, or from handling the trawl; and in winter it was always cold. Managing the trawl is no child’s play. It is 120 feet long, 20 feet deep and has a very heavy mesh. It is hung so that when dragging along the bottom at a depth of from eighteen to forty-five fathoms it is on the starboard side, some distance astern and should hug the bottom at all times. When the three hours are up the net is reeled alongside by a reeling drum about amidship, set lengthwise of the deck and controlled by the mate. The trawl line is passed over the rail at the bend of the starboard bow and as it nears the surface the ends of the net are taken inboard by hand. During this process the boat rolls heavily at times and the men are often drenched by spume and sometimes by solid seas broaching over the rail. Sometimes the trawl is “hung up” or caught on the bottom and then the men, captain and all, have to exert every ounce of strength to break it loose.

After the ends and a considerable part of the trawl are taken over the rail, the fish are seen collecting in a “purse” or a bag formed by the central part of the net which is pulled in last and the immense purse appears with sometimes as much as a ton of fish. This is hoisted over the rail and inboard by the engine

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winch works the reeling drum. It is then swung over until poised above the deck inside the rail when the men pick off the fish caught by their gills on the outside and the puckering string a 1 the bottom is untied or cut and the whole mass dumped on the deck almost amidship. The fish flounder and flap around at a groat rate. Then big baskets, each large enough to contain approximately one hundred pounds of fish, are brought up from the hold through the hatch, the larger fish are thrown in by hand and the smaller ones scooped up with huge shovels. The inedible fish, such as sharks, porcupine fish and others that do not command a worth-while price on the market are thrown overboard, the filled baskets are lowered into the hold and the deck washed down

The trawl is then overhauled to see if there are any breaks or tears, which if small, are mended at once; the larger ones make it necessary to bend on a new trawl so that the work is not delayed. Again the net is lowered and all hands have a period of real. or perhaps time for a meal, while the trawl is slowly dragging over the bottom for another haul.

These New Zealand trawlers work nearly all of the time. Once in about five days they run into Auckland by night, arriving there early m the morning, discharge their cargo of fish and in three oi four hours are off for another five days’ cruise. There is no Sunday rest for them as for nearly all other workers in New Zealand, although I believe they occasionally get a day or two in port.

Their life is one of severe work and constant discomfort; it is hard on the hands especially in cold weather, but they seem a fairly contented lot, taking their hardships as all in a day’s work, having enough good food and earning a reasonable wage. I understand that the work is practically on a profit-sharing basis and so they are all interested in the success of each catch.

I noticed one thing on the Cowan which was unique in all my experiences with sailors. No matter how hard the work, how gicat the discomfort or how extreme the physical strain when the net was hung up, not a single oath did I hear from them during Ihe ciuise; I told the captain that this was the most extraordinary thing that I had as yet noted in New Zealand, that wonderland of the South. He said that swearing was not allowed on his vessel, that he and his engineer would not permit it and the men knew it.

My own life during this trawling trip was full of interest and

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novel experiences. Of course my situation was a comfortable one as compared with that of the others. To be sure I suffered a good deal from the cold and did not completely undress during the whole cruise; my bunk was narrow and trough-like with considerable topographic details in the way of hard bumps. But I slept well and greatly enjoyed the good meals which the cook climbed the iron ladder to serve in my cabin. To be sure the constant, often violent and erratic pitching and rolling of the boat was monotonous, but I was a “good sailor” and immune from sea-sickness, that blight on the pleasure of many who “go down to the sea in ships.” The captain gave me a fine compliment when he remarked, “The fact is you’re hardy!” which expressed a world of appreciation of my good behavior. Of course some of the refinements of home life were lacking, as for instance, anything whatever in the way of toilet facilities.

But this experience is one to be remembered with more than ordinary pleasure, for during it I made the acquaintance and formed friendships with real men, such as the captain and the chief, men who were hearty and genuine, who had had a world of experience and would swap yarns, sometimes by the hour, with the stranger in their midst. They were really interested in my work and every man on board was on the alert to find things they thought I would want. As soon as they got an idea what sort of specimens I was after they were eager to pick over the catch, and I thus secured many things of real scientific interest, so that I was able to end the cruise with a full cargo in the box which I had brought for specimens.

I was kept busy most of the time. With an empty oil-can I was at hand when the eateh was dumped on the deck and after most of the fish had been put in the baskets I overhauled the debris that had been in the bottom of the purse, picked out anything that promised to be of interest, dumped it into the can, and examined specimens which the men brought for inspection. It should be noted that they usually waited until I was through before dumping the refuse over the rail and washing down the deck.

Sometimes when the trawl was down and supper disposed of, the skipper and “Chief” Crawford would spend an hour or so chatting in my room. Both of these men were wise in the lore of the sea and both were canny Scotchmen with wide experience in things marine. Captain McKay was a keen observer and knew

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much that was new to me. For instance, he had observed that the scales of New Zealand fishes are larger than those of similar species in British waters. They were both honest, God fearing men, steady and sober, used to privation and hardship. They were cheerful and uncomplaining and I remember that after a gruelling struggle in getting up the trawl, which was badly tom and spilled nearly all the fish, the captain was not at all ruffled and merely remarked, “A bit of bad luck wasn’t it? but we expect it in our work.” I could not help remembering how some skippers I have known would have made the air blue with their fervid profanity under much less pressure. I learned a good deal that was worth while from these two men, tossing about in the trawler in the Gulf of Hauraki.

To return to my note-book, I find that we spent the night of July 20 in the little cove where we ran for shelter; we got away at 7:30 the next morning, and reached the fishing grounds about 9 o’clock. We then shot the trawl and commenced the regular routine of work at sea. I spent nearly an hour overhauling a magnificent, finely-branched sponge about three feet in height which the captain had saved for me from his last trip. It was too large for me to attempt to preserve, but yielded several kinds of hydrocorallines, bryozoans, crabs, serpent stars and mollusks which I put away for further reference. We were dredging off Little Barrier Island and the trawl came up about one o’clock yielding about four one hundred pound baskets of fish, rather poor results. There were a number of interesting things for me, particularly some fine, large, bright red hrachiopods, beautiful red and white striped anemones, a number of small corals, Pecten, chitons and serpent star. The trawl had dragged at a depth of about twentyfour fathoms over a shelly bottom composed very largely of the dead shells of a large Pecten.

That evening after dark the trawl was raised again but with great difficulty as it was “hung up” on the bottom, catching on what appeared to be a large sunken tree. It had also captured a large slab of volcanic rock looking like a good sized grave-stone. As a consequence the net was badly tom and most of the fish lost. The sea was sloppy and the men had a bad time generally, straining with every ounce of their strength to get the trawl in-board. As it would take several hours to bend on a fresh net, I went to bed after writing up my notes for the day.

It was a rough night but the morning of the 22nd was bright

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and clear. Going on deck I found that the captain had saved a part of the “tree” that had come up in the night haul. He had cut off about fifteen feet of it, letting the rest drop into the water. Imagine my amazement when I found that it was not a “tree” at all, but a part of a gigantic antipatharian coral! I noticed a few of what I supposed to be small colonies growing on the branches and found that they were really the ultimate branchlets of the whole immense colony. Tracing them down carefully I found them organically continuous with the whole of the fifteen feet of the tree-like object; and the very butt where it had been cut off showed the same thing. Judging from the weight of the part that fell back into the sea, the captain believed that the whole thing was several times as large as the part saved, and a reasonable estimate was that the entire colony had been twentyfive or thirty feet in height. This seemed incredible as I had never before seen an antipatharian over three feet in height.

I found that the men had saved a number of things for me during the night. There w T ere many of the big braehiopods such as were secured the day before, growing on the Pecten shells, and often clusters of fifteen or twenty small ones were found inside a single shell. There were also some hydroids, simple corals, aseidians, anemones, sea cucumbers (too large for me to save), mollusks, serpent stars, crabs, etc. I succeeded in getting some good photographs of the crew, hoisting engine, trawl and the catch of fish as they were dumped on the deck. Another haul during the day yielded similar results, but with a few new things, although the fishing was still rather poor.

We saw the light-house that the Eona had rammed wdth such disastrous results. I found that it w r as useless for me to try to over-haul the catches during the night, as I was only in the way and could do little during the darkness. The crew, however, without exception were keenly on the alert for things that might be of interest, and picked over the mass of debris from the bottom of the trawl very carefully, thus saving a lot of things that would otherwise have been thrown away.

Among other things, they saved a number of gastropod shells of the remarkable genus Xenophora that have the strange habit of adorning themselves by affixing other shells to their whorls. They will be described later. The men had also saved two species of star-fish and some other things.

The next morning a fine erinoid came up, the only one seen

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during the cruise. It was one of the sessile kind and dark red in color. There was also a very large plumularian hydroid, many interesting simple corals, some beautifully red or pink in color, and a large serpent star. That day we were trawling off Little Barrier Island, which, like so many others has its tragic story.

It seems that a man, a sort of warden (for this is a bird preserve) and his wife were left alone there for several months at a time. On one of these occasions the man took sick and died and the poor woman had to dig his grave and bury him with her own hands in that lonely spot! and she lived alone beside his grave for several weeks before her signal was seen and she was taken off.

At the end of that day, July 24, my bottles were all full of specimens and the box which I had brought along was also practically filled with material which would not spoil in the wintry temperature before we reached port. All were carefully wrapped in cheese-cloth together with their labels, and I felt that my part in the work on the trawler was an emphatic success, in the way of novel experiences, acquaintance with real men, and its primary object, the collecting of marine invertebrates. Indeed, from the standpoint of the naturalist, that week had been by far the most profitable of the entire expedition, so far as I was concerned.

We ran into Auckland during the night and made port early the next morning, after a moderately successful cruise, from the fisherman’s standpoint.

Two companies operated small fleets of trawlers out from Auckland. One was “The Municipal Council’s fleet” of which the Cowan was one. The other, with larger vessels, was owned by the Sanford Company, which, I understand, had formerly had a practical monopoly of the business. I was told that both were fairly successful and that the Municipal Council’s Fish Market had succeeded in keeping down prices to the consumer and thus attained the primary object of the organization.

I went ashore at about seven, after bidding good-bye to the captain, chief and crew of the Cowan and attempting, at least, to express my appreciation of the kindness with which they had made my cruise on the Auckland trawler one of the most interesting experiences of my life. May the world treat them as they treated me!

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NOTES ON THE FAUNA OF HAURAKI GULF

Of course the trawler Cowan was engaged solely in securing fishes for the market in Auckland, and her crew had little incentive to observe or to secure other forms of marine life. The writer, on the other hand, was not prepared to preserve fish except very small ones, and was primarily interested in the invertebrates that came up in the trawl or were secured along shore during our infrequent landings.

Of the market fishes the most abundant and highly prized were the snappers, regarded by many as the most excellent food-fish found in New Zealand waters. The "Jack Dory" was probably second in quantity and esteem. It is a laterally compressed fish with a conspicuous eye-like marking on the sides. A very beautiful form was called the "frost-fish," and looked as if it were thickly coated all over with silver gilt, so perfectly silvered was it. It was some four or five feet in length, laterally compressed, very narrow with hardly evident scales, and was regarded as a good food fish. A number of soles were taken and I noticed that the crew preferred these to any other fish that the cook served. A few barracuda were also secured which looked much like those which are so prominent in the markets on our Pacific coast.

I casually noted some other forms, such as a few large porcupine fish, puff-fish, hammerhead sharks and other small sharks resembling dogfish, some rather large rays and a lot of small fry which were thrown overboard as soon as possible. Many of these fish would have made attractive museum specimens if properly preserved and mounted.

It was interesting to note the great difference in coloration between the reef fish of Fiji and those taken in from eighteen to twenty-four fathoms by the New Zealand trawler. Here were very few brilliantly colored forms, the frost-fish being perhaps the most attractive. But there was nothing to represent the gorgeous angel-fish, butterfly-fish, trigger-fishes or even the spotted morays of the coral reefs. As a matter of fact I had little opportunity to examine the fish. As soon as the trawl was swung in-board and its contents dumped on the deck, fishes were thrown or shoveled into baskets each holding about a hundred pounds and then the remaining ones thrown overboard. So I had to act quickly in picking out the invertebrates and getting them to a place of safety before the "clean up." The filled baskets were then stored

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away in the hold not to reappear until we readied our wharf at Auckland.

Only a few Crustacea were secured and these not of unusual interest except perhaps to the specialist. A small grapsoid crab from Rakino Island is diffusely mottled with scarlet over a yellowish background and the legs are obscurely banded with scarlet. Larger specimens, probably of the same species, have the carapace scarlet and spotted with white, and the distal parts of the legs are white underneath and scarlet, sharply barred with white, above. These pretty crabs are very common at Rakino and a number of specimens were secured.

Another form from the same place was bluish gray in color and the carapace of peculiar shape, orbicular in general outline, its surface with obscure squarish flat elevations and the lateral margins compressed into a thin plate-like ridge which ended rather abruptly somewhere back of the middle. The legs, and particularly the under surface, or rather, the reflexed abdomen, were quite hairy in the single female specimen obtained.

A peculiar form came from a depth of about 18 fathoms off Cape Colville. It was quite spiny and hairy with the legs ending in sharp curved claws. It bore a small hydroid colony attached near the bifurcated rostrum and in general resembled Eurynome as figured by -Miss Rathbun in her "Crustacea from the North Pacific Exploring Expedition," PI. IV, Fig. 2. Other spider-like crabs related to this were taken from sponges, a great number of which came up in the trawl, and a very small reddish anomuran bearing ova was also taken off Cape Colville.

Thc Molluscs were well represented in many of the hauls. Large areas of the bottom at depths of eighteen to twenty-four fathoms near Cape Colville were evidently covered thickly with shells, mostly dead ones of a fine Pecten bearing a superficial resemblance to our P. irradiuns or scallop, having the same beautiful sculpturing in the form of regularly spaced grooves extending from the hinge-line to the ventral margin, alternating with low, rounded ribs. Some specimens were about five inches in diameter. On the inside of the valves the ridges were angulated, not rounded, resembling thick straps which were narrower than the intervening furrows. Fresh specimens were pinkish on the outside and ivory white on the inside.

But these Pectens, although interesting in themselves, were of prime importance to the zoologist from the fnet that they fur-

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nished an excellent foundation on which many other things established themselves and grew in great quantities. Bryozoa, tubedwelling worms, whole colonies of small corals, barnacles, hydroids and a lot of other things were thus brought to light. But the most important of all, from our standpoint, was the splendid series of red brachiopods, whole colonies of them, big and little, which often occupied the inner or concave surfaces of these shells, in striking contrast to the ivory white background on which they grew. They were the largest living brachiopods I have ever seen and were in such numbers that we have a sufficient stock to use for laboratory purposes in our regular course in zoology.

The Pecten itself formed an interesting series in all stages of growth from about one-quarter to five inches in diameter. The younger specimens were oblong instead of orbicular in form, their length being in the direction of the radiating furrows, and they had more conspicuous wings.

Another large lamellibranch conspicuous in several hauls of the trawl was a handsome Pinna. These came up in quantities but were thin and fragile and most of them were broken, even when containing the live animal. The shell was about twelve inches long with a maximum width of five and one-half to six inches. The surface was very dark with a purplish tinge and, where the epitheea was removed, beautifully iridescent, quite as pearly as an abalone shell and showing the same varying tints. The surface was longitudinally corrugated and on the ridges were series of sharply lunate projections or ridges with their convex sides directed proximally. Inside, the shell was pearly on the proximal parts and dull brown and purplish distally, with a number of irregular corrigations and nodules. Many of these shells were overgrown with barnacles, bryozoans and worm-tubes. On the distal parts the lunate projections were extended into short tubes, expanded at their ends and incomplete on the side nearest the end of the shell. The muscle scars, probably of the great adductor, were very long and the muscles much expanded to form an extensive basis of attachment. A large, siphon-like tube projected backward from the visceral mass.

This Pinna produces pearls, and a number of these were presented to me by one of the crew on the Cowan. They were all small, almost black, and probably not of very great value.

Small edible oysters (Ostrea) were abundant on the rocky shores of Rakino Island and elsewhere in New Zealand. I understand

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that the largest and best come to the market from Stewart Island at the extreme south of the Dominion.

The sea-mussel (Mytilus) was also abundant on the shores of Rakino and doubtless at many other places on the New Zealand coast. I did not hear anything denoting its use as food by the colonials, although it is quite likely that the Maori used it. These shells were also used as foundations by many small barnacles and in some cases were almost entirely covered with the twisting shells of tube-dwelling worms. I could see no prominent points of difference between this mytilus and those of our own Pacific coast. A number of shells probably allied to Cardium were collected by Dr. Stoner at Waineki Island.

Among the gastropods the most interesting find was a species of Xenophora. This species has the remarkable habit of cementing to the whorls of its shell a whole series of other shells usually of a single species. Those which came up in the trawl on the Cowan all utilized the same species, a small lamellibranch probably belonging to the family Veneridse. These are arranged in close series around the distal whorls, quite evenly spaced and always with the concave or inner side up. Impressions throughout the entire spire of the Xenophora show that it commenced this style of ornamentation quite early in life, and it is evident that if all the shells remained in place there would be several whorls of them outlining the whorls of the host. Toward the apex of the spire, however, fragments of other shells are cemented on. Is it possible that Xenophora improved its method with age and experience and finally adopted a uniform ornamentation by using the same bivalves throughout, attaching all of them with the same surface upward? Or did it use the same shell throughout because it lived on a bottom where that shell is most abundant and perhaps the only available material?

In the volume of the Cambridge Natural History on Mollusca. p. 64, Rev. A. 11. Cooke says: ''The singular genus Xenophora protects itself from observation by glueing stones, shells and various debris to the upper side of its whorls. Sometimes the selection is made with remarkable care; the Challenger, for instance, obtained a specimen which had decorated its body whorl exclusively with long pointed shells."

It seems to me thai this device is hardly protective as it renders the Xenophora mere conspicuous than it naturally is. Neither can I conceive of it as decorative in any purposeful sense. The

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problem is not solved by either of these theories but no other presents itself and it will have to remain one more ‘ 1 unsolved mystery of the deep.”

The specimens were often found almost completely immersed in a large soft sponge, all but the lower part of the body whorl being entirely covered. They were brought up in the trawl from a depth of about twenty-four fathoms, while we were working near Little Barrier Island, Hauraki Gulf.

A number of other gastropods were secured, some of them very beautifully sculptured, but none requiring special mention here, although it is hoped that the specialist (probably Dr. Paul Bartseh of the United States National Museum) will find something of interest.

One species seemed to be a sort of shell-less Patella, having the general features of that group, but without any trace of a shell. The specimens are a little less than an inch in length and almost black in color, with the dorsal integument so thin that the coiled intestine can be seen through it. On the head there is a pair of short stumpy tentacles. The foot is very regularly oval in shape, muscular, and under the edge of the mantle are a number of gill lamellae. Dr. Paul Bartseh, from my verbal description, thinks this may be an Onchidium, a shell-less pulmonate.

I have been unable to find any reference to Patellida; without shells and may be far afield in my identification. The species resembles the Amphineura or Chitons in many respects, and there are chitons which do not bear shells. We understand, however, that only one genus of this group has a distinct head, and that is a worm-like form very different from the one here described. These were collected on Rakino Island. A number of very prettily marked Patella shells were secured at the same place. They had radiating ridges of dark brown running from the apex to the margin, alternating with furrows of a much lighter color.

There are several species of chitons in the collection, most of them from Rakino Island. One is a uniform dark grayish olive, ranging to almost white in some specimens. These are small forms only about three-quarters of an inch long in which the girdle is made up of diamond-shaped plates or spicules. The ctenidia are relatively large and extend nearly the whole length of the foot. Another chiton, collected by the trawler from a depth of thirty to forty fathoms, is quite different, being about an inch and a quarter long. The plates are elaborately sculptured with fine,

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raised ridges extending directly across them parallel to the long axis of the body, and each plate is strongly keeled in its center. The anterior plate is very conspicuous, its back border elevated centrally into a sort of shallow beak and its surface marked by very prominent, nodulated ridges radiating from the beak to the rounded front border, giving a fan-like effect. The girdle is covered with small granular spicules and the pleura of the valves bear rounded nodules on their edges, but are otherwise quite smooth. The foot is long and narrow and occupies a relatively small space, the shell extensively over-lapping it on each side; the ctenidia are not visible without dissection. In one specimen the foot is reduced to a mere strip.

Still another chiton from Rakino is rather clear light gray with a series of very dark, almost black spots on the middle of each plate where the keel usually is and similar dark blotches almost bar-like, extending across the mantle, the latter covered with diamond shaped spicules. The foot is much larger and broader than in the species last mentioned.

The most striking thing in the collection of Echinodermata from Ilauraki Gulf is the entire absence of Echinoidea, for not a single sea-urchin was found. A very fine star-fish brought in by a trawler was turned over to me. I am unable to even approximately identify this form as it will go into no family description which I can find. It has five short triangular rays and a very large disk. The spread measures nine inches and the disk, four inches across, is almost flat and very slightly vaulted. At the tip of each ray arc two very conspicuous smooth, polished bean-shaped plates, in contact at their distal parts. The dorsal surface of the rays is crowded with papula? and covered with a series of hemispherical, sometimes sub-spherical, spines with polished surfaces looking like round cobblestones. Crowded in between these are many smaller sub-globular spines, some of which seem to be distorted by over-crowding.

The madreporic body is nearer the center than the margin of the disc, is somewhat irregularly oval in form with a longitudinal furrow in the center and very fine vermiform striatums. On the lower surface the spines are like those on the dorsal side but considerably smaller and here occasional two-pronged pedieellaria: can be detected while papula? are absent.

The ambulaeral feet are in two rows and have very large, powerful suekers. The ambulaeral grooves are flanked by a row of

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short, club shaped spines each of which is usually accompanied on the side nearest the groove by three smaller and more slender club-shaped spines.

The marginal plates are not evident externally and thus the species would appear to belong to the order Cryptozonia as defined by Sladen in his Asteroidea of the Challenger Expedition, but I am unable to place it in any of the families defined by him.

A single specimen allied to Luidia and another to Archaster complete the list of Asteroidea which we obtained from Hauraki Gulf.

Among the serpent stars a small species was represented by several specimens from a depth of about eighteen fathoms off Cape Coville. It appears to belong to the genus Ophiozona and has a spread of about an inch and a half. The dorsal surface of the disk is covered with large, irregular, protuberant plates like cobblestones, big and little mixed together without any apparent regularity, the radial shields appearing like the other plates but larger, and between each pair is a series of linear rounded plates ending in a transverse row of three at the distal end of the radials. The upper plates are undivided and imbricated as are the lower ones. There are teeth and mouth papillae but no tooth papilla; and the side mouth shields do not meet at the point of the jaw. The arm spines are short, lying parallel to the side arm plates and are usually three or four in number. Tentacle scales are single, thick, oval. The genital slits are so concealed by the plates that they can not be seen without dissection. The preserved specimens are light gray with the arms obscurely barred with light red.

Another serpent star from the same locality had a leathery disc like Ophiocwia but I could not make out any mouth papilla?. The serpent stars were usually badly mangled by the trawl and in poor condition for study.

Some very fine, simple-armed basket-fish were brought in to the fish market at Auckland and turned over to me. They were attached to gorgonian and antipatharian corals, as is so frequently the case with this interesting group. One was very strikingly colored, the arms sharply ringed with very dark brown, almost black, and narrow red bands; and the disc marked by sharp radiating lines of light red on an almost black background. The arms seem to be unbranched to the very tips and are exceedingly stiff and wiry, not at all like the flabby Ophiocreas of West Indian waters. There is a series of furrows alternating with the radiat-

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ing ridges on the dorsal surface of the disc and also a central depressed area. This form superficially resembles the West Indian Astrocnida described by Lyman, but is without terminal branchings to the rays and differs in several other respects, such as in the absence on the disc of the stumpy spines so characteristic of that genus.

Another simple-armed basket-fish has the same color as the last but doubtless is generically distinct although resembling it in having unbranched arms. The disc however has very prominent radial shields, the color is a uniform light reddish brown all over and the tentacle scales are much more prominent. It was found on a branch of an antipatharian coral. But in spite of the unbranched condition, these forms are really basket-fish and belong to one of the genera described by Lyman as included in the family Astrophytida;. By far the majority of these simple-armed forms were first described from the West Indies. Since then a number have been secured from the Pacific and several in the Dutch East Indies by the Siboga Expedition and reported by Rene Koehler. Two specimens of free or sessile crinoids were taken from a depth of twenty-eight fathoms. One of them is a very handsome red specimen which came through intact, but I dare not take the chance of its going to pieces in an attempt to remove it from the bottle so I will leave it for a specialist to examine.

Few worms were taken during the cruise on the trawler, but large masses of worm tubes were found on Rakino Island belonging to a form allied to Serpula vermicularis, also one belonging to the family Cerratulidse and a couple of berets-like species

As already mentioned, great numbers of handsome, red braehiopods were brought up in the trawl when working over ground covered with Pecten shells. Some individuals were as much as one and half inches long and one and a quarter inches wide, the largest living members 1 have seen of the order. It probably belongs to the genus MageUania, figured and described in Parker & Maxwell's Textbook of Zoology. Vol. 1. pp. 360-366. These authors say that this species (M. lenticularis) is found in great numbers at moderate depth off the coast of Xew Zealand. Our specimens agreed very well with the figures given in that work, (tnc Pecten valve bears on its inner surface about twenty of these beautiful brachiopods in various stages of development. The larger specimens are very well adapted for laboratory purposes as they furnish a study of a typical brachiopod. the large lopho-

PLATE XXXVII

Ventral and dorsal views o« Xenonhora, a B astropod which ornaments itself with .... . , bivalve shells (See page 204) R-lT /•>'.' , ; n "' l ","l"" 1 »•«"?' dorBßl '"" l ventral ™*< (See page 199) Kight—A Pecten shell on which numerous brachiopods are growing (See page 199) All figures an- 1-3 natural size

Dover nl Buildings ;it Wellington (Photo by Stoner) Parliament Buildings at Wellington (See page 222) (Photo bj Stoner) View on Willie Street In a busy section <>f Wellington (Bee page 225)

PLATE XXXVIII

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

252

phore being very conspicuous and the other parts being correspondingly well shown.

Pine colonies of Bugula- like Bryozoa were brought up from eighteen fathoms off Cape Colville. These show the avicularia very plainly.

Among the Coelenterates are a number of interesting things, the most surprising being the immense antipatharian already described. Some fragments of this specimen were saved but hardly enough to serve as a basis for description. The colony was very irregularly branched like the seraggly branch of an oak. Other specimens were bush-like in form, one, from which some of the simple-armed basket-fish already described were taken, being entirely clothed with an investing compound reddish brown actiniau of a rather leathery consistency. This specimen was at first taken for an alcyonarian colony.

Very beautifully colored anemones came up rather frequently attached to Pecten shells. Some of them were about three inches broad with a body height of two to three inches, regularly marked with alternating bright red and white longitudinal stripes, making a pretty pattern. The tentacles were red and very numerous. A slaty blue anemone of very convenient size for laboratory study was common on the rocks bared by low tide at Rangitoto Island, where they were collected by Dr. Stoner; others were found at Rakino Island.

A large gorgonian belonging to the family Gorgonidas was trawled from Mercury Bay near Auckland. This is interesting as being the only flexible coral found on our cruise. The group seems to find its center of distribution in the West Indies where it is one of the most characteristic features of the reef fauna.

Several colonies of a fine alcyonarian were also taken off Cape Colville from a depth of eighteen fathoms. These grew in clumps of short branches borne on a short thick stem which, contrary to the usual custom in this group, is not sterile, but bears thickly implanted polyps. On the short stumpy branches the polyps are practically contiguous. There are no evident calyces, especially when the polyps are retracted, and the spicules are small tubular spindles thickly implanted in the body and tentacles. The color of the colony is a light or salmon pink. The polyps are not completely retractile but are protected while partly retracted by the spicules on the infolded tentacles.

Many simple corals were found growing on Pecten and other

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shells dredged from a depth of eighteen to twenty-four fathoms. One of these has an oblong corallum resembling a small Fungia measuring one and three-eighths inches long and a little more than half an inch in width. It doubtless belongs to the genus Flahellum. The septa seem to be in four series and the corallum is unusually deep. It came from off Colville Island and is the largest single corallite in the collection.

Another form was rather profusely branched and bore some resemblance to an Oculina, one of the true reef corals. The individual corallites are tubular with circular apertures and no evident costae. They are about four mm. in diameter and the colony consists of a dense clump of slightly separated corallites resembling Dendrophyllm manni Verrill as illustrated by Vaughan in his work on Hawaiian Corals. But our specimens have no costae.

A very delicate, branching, white hydroeoralline was also brought up in the trawl. The gastropores form perfectly round holes in the surface of the branches but near the tips they are cut obliquely and the margin is exserted on the outer side forming a sort of scoop-like projection.

There are several interesting things among the hydroids and it is evident that a thorough exploration of Hauraki Gulf would yield important results in this group. The following may be mentioned as occurring in our collection:

Halecium robustum Allman. This species has a thick, fascicled stem and sessile hydrophores and was taken by the Challenger off Cumberland Bay, Kerguelen Island, from a depth of 105 fathoms. Curiously enough I found it in the material of the Harriman Alaska Expedition and gave it the same name, as a new species, overlooking its apparent identity with the form described by Allman.

Synthecium, sp. A specimen from off Cape Colville shows the gracefully recurved and finely rimmed hydrothec® characteristic of this genus, which was originally described by Allman from specimens from New Zealand, although it has since been reported from various other parts of the world.

Sertularella. A species of this widely distributed genus is from the same locality as the last. The hyd rot bee® are tridentate, the teeth low, inconspicuous, and large. The gonangia are characteristic of the genus being very evenly corrugated like Japanese

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FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

lanterns with a tubular neck and an aperture with everted or trumpet-shaped rim.

Several small forms such as Hebella, Lafcca and other campanularians were found growing on the larger hydroids.

A delicate plumularian belonging to the type genus Plumularia was found on the Scrtularella mentioned above. This evidently belonged to the "Catharina group" as defined in the writer's "American Hydroids," Part 1, the Plumularida?, p. 55, and probably is the well known Plumularia catliarina Johnston. A number of very beautiful colonies were secured. The numerous species of Plumularia intergrade so frequently that it is almost impossible to separate them according to any consistent system.

By far the most spectacular hydroid secured was a great clump of plumularian colonies twelve to eighteen inches high, dark brown in color, with thick fascicled stems and numerous branches. This fine specimen evidently belongs to the genus Lytocarpus. The gonosome is in the form of a pscudo-corbula of separated, protective branches which inclose an oval space over the part of the hydroeladium on which the gonangia themselves grow, the whole affair being much like that of Lytocarpus formosus Fewkes. The hydrothecal margin is quite oblique and strongly dentate, and the mesial nematophore attains the level of the margin. This form may prove to be new, but the writer does not think it advisable to insert descriptions of new species in the present narrative.

CHAPTER XIII

IN AND ABOUT WELLINGTON, CAPITAL OF NEW ZEALAND

A good room with a fireplace at the Empire hotel was certainly a much appreciated luxury, although it involved an extra charge of three shillings a day; but it was worth it.

After lunch, Mr. Oliver took me in a government auto to visit the University. There we met Professor Kirk, the zoologist, to whom I owe many courtesies. He is doing excellent work and is very active as a teacher and as a research man. We took four o’clock tea in one of the college buildings where I met a good many of the instructional staff. These teas are a regular part of the daily routine in all British colleges and serve a valuable social purpose in furnishing a daily point of contact between all the teachers. Professor Kirk arranged a collecting trip on which he expected to show me live Peripatus, one of the objectives of our visit there. He also hoped to show me a serpent-star that undergoes a direct development without the metamorphosis characteristic of echinoderms in general.

I then went with Mr. Hislop to call on Mr. Cecil Day, Official Secretary of his Excellency, the Governor, Lord Jellicoe, to whom I delivered my letters of introduction from our Secretary of State and the British Ambassador at Washington. We called also on the Hon. Downie Stewart, Minister of Internal Affairs, with whom I had a short but satisfactory interview. The minister is crippled greatly from rheumatism contracted during the war, but carries on very efficiently in spite of the handicap.

Then back to the hotel for an excellent dinner and a pleasant room which was actually comfortable, my first experience of the kind in New Zealand. Although this luxury was expensive I found that it was to the interest of the University and our expedition to occupy better quarters than we did in Auckland, remembering what Consul MeVittey had said regarding the matter of “externals” in New Zealand; moreover, as we were paying our personal expenses this involved no extra expense to the University. That night I slept in the most comfortable bed I had

212

PLATE XXXIX

Victoria College, Wellington (See pago 225) (Photo by Btoner) Canterbury College, Christchurch (See page 235)

Auckland Museum (See page 281) (Photo bj St oner) Dominion Museum ;it Wellington (See page 232) (Photo by Stoner) The Canterbury Museum at Christchurch (See page 229)

PLATE XI

258

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

occupied since leaving home and enjoyed a good hot bath next morning.

The following day I called at the American Consulate and found the Consul General was away on a trip to the United States, but the Vice Consul, Mr. Moran, was quite cordial and said that he had been expecting us. After reading my letter from the Secretary of State he remarked that I was exceptional in not appearing to want any particular favors, explaining that he generally had to deal with sailors and men who were down and out and not particularly creditable citizens of the United States. He expressed the belief that a visit from our party of scientists would give a much better impression and be a real aid to his office.

Professor Kirk took me on the promised hunt for Peripatus, that strange link between the worms and arthropods so valuable for purposes of instruction. We went to a beautiful hilly park, much of it in its primitive condition, with many shady paths, enchanting vistas of tree-ferns and other strange trees and plants. Indeed this was one of the most picturesque spots I have ever seen and I knew it would give supreme pleasure to Professor Wylie, our botanist, when he visited it later.

Peripatus, a small caterpillar-like creature, lives in thoroughly rotted moist logs and stumps, is carnivorous and is capable of greatly extending and contracting its body. Dr. Stoner, who captured a large number of them, will give a more adequate description in his account of his experiences in New Zealand. Professor Kirk dug and scraped into decayed logs with a long knife resembling the hunting knife of our pioneer days and found several of the interesting creatures, and I was allowed the pleasure of digging out some of them myself. He said they are best killed in slightly warm water and are thus prevented from retracting, indeed they expand before dying.

In the evening Mr. Hislop took me to the Savage Club, a social organization found in all places of importance of New Zealand and corresponding in part to our Eotary clubs at home. We found the hall packed with men, most of them smoking, and witnessed the installation of a new Chief Savage, who sat on a small platform on which were hangings to represent a tent, and provided with a gavel made of a human thigh bone. I seemed to be the guest of honor and was invited to occupy a seat beside the Chief Savage. There was an excellent orchestra of about thirty

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pieces, and a lengthy program occupied most of the evening. Real ability was shown in the various stunts which were put on after the orchestral numbers.

I was told that the audience represented the brainy element of "Wellington and that I was expected to address them briefly. The chairman said some very pleasant things about the United States in the course of introducing me and I was received with prolonged applause. I spoke very briefly, remarking on the value of "good terminal facilities" in both railways and speakers, and sat down after extending greetings from America and the State University of lowa, to which they responded with generous clapping of hands.

An informal lunch was served when the program was about half over and we adjourned to coffee and sandwiches, with beer for those who wanted it. The Chief Savage acted as my escort and insisted that I accompany him back to the platform to hear the remainder of the program. I was introduced to several of the gentlemen present, but my wretched memory serves me so badly that I recall the names of but few of them. Among them was Mr. Drew, Government Publicity Agent, who arranged for an interview with a newspaper man. I also renewed my acquaintance with a fellow passenger on the Niagara who lives at Christchurch. Learning that I hoped to visit that city in about a week, he warned me that I would have to reserve my hotel accommodations at once as it would be "Race Week" and the city greatly crowded.

Mr. Ilislop accompanied me to the hotel which we reached at about eleven o'clock to find the door locked! A servant responded to our knocking, however, and I was admitted. As 1 his was one of the most pretentious hotels in the Capital of Xew Zealand I was naturally surprised, but was told that it was a custom of the count ry.

Before leaving the hotel to go to the Savage Club I had been handed an official letter which I put into my pocket and forgot until after I was in bed that night. It was a formal invitation to an eight o'clock dinner to be given by His Excellency, Governor Jellicoe and the Viscountess Jellicoe, on August 2. This was an honor I had not anticipated, but thanked my lucky stars that I had my dress suit along.

On Sunday July 30 it rained in the morning and I spent most of the forenoon writing in my oozy room; among other tilings wrote an acceptance to the invitation of Lord Jellicoe. I also took

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

260

a walk to get my bearings in Wellington, a city almost as irregular as Auckland, placed in a deep valley surrounded by high hills on three sides and facing the beautiful harbor on the fourth.

After lunch, Professor Kirk called in a government auto and took Mr. Oliver and myself on a delightful ride along the coast. The scenery was most picturesque. The shore was rugged with its projecting rocky headlands and rock-strewn flats which, owing to an almost vertical stratification, are carved into weird and fantastic shapes, while the heavy surf breaking against their bases in huge foaming rollers contrasted with fine effect with the deep blue of the sea beyond.

We left the car on the shore of Island Bay and worked awhile on the rocky flats, although I was a little lame and wanted to save my only good American shoes, having conceived a violent antipathy to New Zealand foot-wear, an antipathy born of sad experience. Professor Kirk is admirably well acquainted with his local fauna, as is usual with British naturalists, and is a most energetic and enthusiastic collector. We were particularly anxious to secure specimens of Dolichoglossus, a near relative of Balarw(jlossus, and found them in abundance. The species is a bright scarlet in color but quite small. We secured a good series including many embryos of various sizes. The marine fauna is very rich and is well worked by local naturalists. We found many chitons, limpets and other mollusks, two species of star-fish, several serpent-stars and many other interesting things.

It was very cold work collecting among the wet rocks and seaweeds, and my hands became so numb that they were practically useless. Professor Kirk and Mr. Oliver were used to the temperature and seemed to mind it very little.

On the way back we stopped at Mr. Oliver's house where we saw his very attractive wife and baby. He is an able, hard-work-ing young zoologist, interested mainly in ecology, and has developed a remarkably effective system of keeping notes, photographs and printed matter regarding individual species, for ready reference, all of which he explained in a very interesting way.

In the evening, Professor Kirk took me to his laboratory to care for the specimens collected at Island Bay that day. He was dubious about the Dolichoglossus being properly preserved, but saved it in fairly good shape.

The next morning I visited the Dominion Museum which is housed, unfortunately, in a wooden building and the material is

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lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

in a very crowded condition. The Maori collection was very good and I saw many elaborately carved stern-posts for canoes, the spiral design predominating as usual, nets, fish-traps, model canoes, dipnets, carved bailers, etc. There wag a very interesting model of a Maori village "Pa" or fortification enclosed in an elaborate series of stockades and trenches. Inside were a number of typical houses and some storehouses built in the tops of trees.

Considerable aboriginal clothing was exhibited, including feather capes and cloaks, some made of kiwi feathers and others of dogskins. There were a number of garments made of the New Zealand hemp. A very fine entrance to a Pa was made of two great slabs resembling totem poles with another very wide and heavy slab constituting the door proper, all elaborately carved with grotesque figures and stained a deep red.

I called at the Consulate to get pointers regarding the Governor General's dinner and the proper etiquette to be observed and was informed (hat it would bo much like formal dinners the world over, that Lord Jcllicoe was quite democratic and much liked by the people here. The Vice Consul again assured me that the visit of our party was fortunate inasmuch as it proved that Americans were not all money grabbers, which was too often the impression given by those who visited New Zealand. Mr. Hislop was also good enough to say that the talk at the Savage Club had made a favorable impression.

I went again to the museum and was shown around the zoological section by Mr. Oliver. The exhibit is impaired by poor lighting and is too much crowded. There is a complete skeleton of a moa, all of the bones being from the same individual bird. The outstanding feature of the collection is a series of whales’ skeletons and skulls including some types which I had not seen before. Mr. Oliver has written several valuable papers on these New Zealand Cetacea. There is also a good series of the invertebrates of the country. Mr. Oliver said that ho had arranged for the storage of our boxes in his office where we could keep such of them as we wanted to get at, while the others could remain at the express office until we were ready to ship them home.

At the museum I was so fortunate as to make the acquaintance of Mr. Elsdon Best, an outstanding authority on all matters relating to the Maoris or native New Zealanders. He said that the best popular account of the famous canoe voyage was in “Hawaiki, the Original Home of the Maori,” by S. Percy Smith. Maori is

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FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

a word used throughout Polynesia to indicate native people or aborigines and should not be applied exclusively to the New Zealanders, who came originally from Rarotonga and Tahiti. Mr. Best told many interesting things about the famous canoe voyages. The first canoes to arrive found New Zealand uninhabited but those coming some two hundred years later found the “PreMaori” on the coast of North Island. These were negroid people and probably came from the New Hebrides or New Guinea and were regarded as an inferior race, although the Maori immigrants intermarried with them. The spiral design so prominent in the Maori carvings is entirely unknown in Polynesia where rectilinear designs prevailed and still prevail. People do not change their traditional designs spontaneously and Mr. Best thought that the idea of the spirals was introduced by the pre-Maori race from the West where it was, and is, frequently employed, particularly in the New Hebrides. Mr. Best has a great quantity of manuscript regarding Polynesian ethnology in shape for publication. He is a strikingly fine looking man over sixty years old, with an erect military bearing and remarkably keen eyes and alert manner.

I called on the manager of the Government Tourist Bureau, Mr. Wilson, who generously promised to send us photographs and lantern slides for publicity purposes and to do anything else in his power to help us attain the objectives of our visit.

On August 1 Dr. and Mrs. Stoner arrived in Wellington, accompanied by Mr. Hamilton, who had been helping in the collection of birds for our museum, and very efficiently too.

Mr. J. McDonald, Acting Director of the Dominion Museum called in a government auto to take me to the Art Gallery and then to Parliament House, a beautiful marble structure of classic design, where he showed me the native committee room very effectively decorated in Maori designs. We were then joined by Mr. Hislop and took a delightful ride to Observation Hill where we had a superb view of Wellington with its harbor and other environs. The scenery reminds one of Switzerland; many of the cottages nestling on the hillsides and in the valleys resembling Swiss chalets. The drive offered one enchanting vista after another. We stopped at Mr. Hislop’s home which commands a superb view of forest, or “bush,” mountains, valleys, and a glimpse of the distant sea. The house was from an American design and really beautiful. I then had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Hislop, and found her a very kind, charming hostess. Then

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home in the evening twilight along a winding road, each turn presenting a new and beautiful picture.

Wylie came and chatted a while in the evening and told me something of his trip in the North Island during the week since we parted in Auckland. We enjoyed my fire-place and had a cozy talk, exchanging our New Zealand experiences.

The next morning, August 2, I secured my steamer ticket for Christchurch, South Island, and reserved a room at the St. Elmo hotel there. I also had a conference with Mr. McDonald regarding exchange of museum material between the Dominion Museum and our own and found him ready for hearty cooperation. He promised to donate several “Tuatara” (Sphenodon) one of our main objectives in New Zealand. We then visited the Girls’ College under the direction of Miss McLean, who has spent much time in the United States and seems to be a really progressive woman. We visited a number of her classes and greatly admired the fine appearance of the pupils, who are about the age of our high school girls. The most remarkable fact that I noted among them was that not one of them wore glasses and I was assured that there was no eye trouble among the several hundred girls in the college.

After lunch I was interviewed by a reporter from the Evening Post and then Mr. McDonald called in a government car. We picked up Mr. Hislop and took a delightful drive along the coast, stopping at Scott College, a Presbyterian institution in charge of Dr. Uttley, who showed us around. The institution was modeled after the best type of English boys’ schools. Here we took afternoon tea, the inevitable accompaniment of an afternoon call wherever the British flag waves. Mr. Hislop very thoughtfully placed a government car at my disposal for the evening which was rendered memorable by the Governor’s dinner.

This was really a wonderful experience for an American professor not used to the etiquette of Vice-Regal courts, and seems worthy of rather detailed description. The car called for me at 7:30 and we joined the procession of autos in front of Government House at 7:55. An aide in uniform met the auto at the door and showed me to the cloakroom where I was handed a card with the name of the lady whom I was to take in to dinner, and also indicating our places at the table. We were then ushered into a very large, brilliant reception room where I was introduced to a number of notables, many of them resplendent with decorations

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

264

and jeweled orders and ribbons, while I wore only “the conventional black” and a Sigma Xi pin for decoration. Presently, Viscount Jellicoe and Her Excellency, Viscountess Jellicoe entered. Of course I was glad to meet “Jellicoe of Seapa Flow” Commander of the British Fleet. He is by no means a large man, but rather slim, with a nose large enough to make a rather square and determined chin seem a little weak at first glance. Her Excellency, Viscountess Jellicoe is a very handsome woman, entirely at home in her viceregal surroundings.

The guests arranged themselves in a semi-circle, the ladies to the right and gentlemen on the left. The Master of Ceremonies, one of the aides de camp, named each guest as the Governor reached him, or her, and His Excellency passed along the line with a handshake and word of greeting for each. He was immediately followed by Her Excellency, the Viscountess Jellicoe. The calling of the names enabled the gentlemen to identify the ladies assigned them, and the guests immediately passed into the dining saloon. I found the lady whom I escorted a very pleasing companion who showed real tact in coaching me regarding the etiquette of the occasion.

The Governor General sat at the middle of one side of the table which was beautifully decorated with flowers and which displayed much glittering cut-glass and silverware. The general conversation was much the same as would be heard in polite society everywhere and was often quite witty. One soldierly looking man near me had been on a lecturing tour in the United States, urging us to enter the war on the side of the Allies and he seemed greatly pleased with his experience. Uniformed attendants served the guests. There were about six courses accompanied by several kinds of wine which was indulged in with great moderation, and served mainly in the drinking of toasts. Lord Jellicoe proposed the usual toast to the King,—“ The King, God bless him!” which was repeated in unison, all standing for the purpose. After we were seated the Governor General stood up again and proposed a toast to “The President of the United States” at which he saluted the only representative of that country present. All stood again and repeated the toast. I was, of course, immensely gratified by this token of good feeling. When the ladies left, the gentlemen remained to enjoy their cigars and wine. The man near me had just said, “Now let’s have a good talk about America,” when someone took me by the arm and said, “Come with me.”

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lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

It was Lord Jellicoe himself who escorted me to a seat beside him and introduced me to the distinguished guests seated nearby, and then we chatted in a very friendly way about the United States. Among other things, he expressed great admiration, even affection for Admiral Sims, expressing the opinion that no better man could have been found to lead our navy “over there.” He was also much interested in our method of selecting the Rhodes Scholars for Oxford, saying that he was chairman of the committee to select the scholars from New Zealand. It was evident that he wanted to show special courtesy to the representative of an American University. Taking me with him when we rejoined the ladies, he introduced me to several of them including “Her Excellency,” as he called his wife, who chatted in a friendly way and showed me photographs of her children. We went to the billiard room where he showed me many hunting trophies, some very fine stags’ heads among them. The party broke up about eleven p. m. and I was returned to my hotel after one of the unique experiences which sometimes come to an American professor in foreign lands, and much gratified that I had been made the vehicle through which was expressed the great desire of the Dominion Government to cultivate good feeling between New Zealand and the United States.

The next morning Mr. McDonald took me to the library, an excellent one under the direction of Mr. Anderson who was well up on the literature of early days in New Zealand and the folklore of the Maori. There were many valuable books concerning the early voyages to the South Seas, including those of Captain Cook, and a copy of part of his original log. There was also a very beautiful collection of greenstone, or jade, articles. AVe visited the manual training school where there is a group of quite good buildings but with rather inadequate equipment. I noted that most of the blackboard space was taken up with very good pictures in crayon.

Mueh of the afternoon was spent in packing up for the visit to Christchureh which will he discussed in another chapter.

Returning to AYellington on the morning of August 10 I found that good staterooms had heen reserved for our return trip to San Franeiseo on the S. S. Tahiti at a minimum rate on orders from headquarters. T also found that Stoner was not at all well and in charge of a doctor.

AYliile palling on Mr. McDonald, I learned that he had ar-

PLATE XL!

Map of Somh Island, New Zealand

PLATE XI.II

[l'ustrationa .if Mann wood carving A v,r, elaborate rt.ni po.l for canoe (»«, pag. 244) two «~Jf«" "'"' » ll nte | (Photoa bj permiaalon of II Winkelmann, Auckland) \ «,,.. Ilntal Diece presented by the Dominion Museum, Wellington „,rtrt°KK - r *"'""■- '."VS - ' reprodue,,d " y '" ,r " mission of II Winkelmann, Auck'ana)

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

268

ranged for the Dominion Museum to present four living tuatara or sphenodons, to our University, and that I was to try to transport, alive, to lowa City, probably the first living specimens to be taken to the interior of the United States. He also had arranged to present us with a large, elaborately carved Maori doorway and a number of other Maori articles which are now literally priceless, as it is illegal to purchase or export them except under permits from the Dominion Government. Exchange of publications was also arranged.

On learning of the very strict laws regarding the exportation of ethnological material, I had given up all hope of success in securing any for our museum, but found that when one goes to New Zealand with proper credentials, and succeeds in penetrating the somewhat rigid official crust, it is possible to secure many things which would be beyond the reach of the unofficial stranger. We owe this generous treatment very largely to our good friends, Mr. Hislop, Under Secretary for Internal Affiairs and Mr. McDonald, Acting Director of the Dominion Museum.

That evening Wylie and I took dinner with Mr. McDonald at his home in a beautiful suburb across the harbor. We spent a most delightful evening there, incidentally discovering that Mr. McDonald is an artist of real ability who has painted some remarkably fine life sized portraits in oil and has done some good etchings and sketches. Mrs. McDonald was very earnestly interested in prohibition and asked many questions regarding its success in the United States. They have a daughter who is anxious to visit America.

After returning to the hotel I spent a good deal of the night in revolving schemes for transporting the tuataras alive to the United States and in planning the final packing and shipment of our collection, which was considerably more extensive and valuable than I had anticipated.

The next day I found that Stoner was still sick and that Wylje, besides having a very bad cold, was threatened with sinus trouble which might become serious. This reduced our available force to about half the original number. Thomas and Glock were away on their long South Island trip and were not expected back until the day before sailing. Mrs. Stoner could help about the packing of the insects, but was mainly occupied with earing for her husband.

On August 12 Thomas and Glock returned. The Hon. Mr. G. M. Thompson, a prominent Government official, invited us to lunch in

222

Parliament House with the Speaker of the House, the Hon. Downie Stuart, Minister of Internal Affiairs, and about a dozen other members of Parliament and prominent officials. After an excellent lunch in a beautiful room in which the members were wont to take their noon-day meal, we were escorted over the Parliament Building, constructed of New Zealand marble of a rich gray tone mottled with white. The pillars were finely polished and quite imposing. We saw the Senate Chamber and the House of Representatives which were sumptuously furnished in native wood, finely carved.

We were allowed to go into the lobby (a very special favor) where the members gather for a game of billiards or other recreation, a comfortable and well warmed room in which to rest, then to the library used by the members. In the Council Room the walls and ceiling are beautifully finished with panels of selected woods, walnut and birdseye maple, presented by the Canadian Government in return for a similar donation from the New Zealand Government when the Canadian Parliament House was burned down.

We were then taken in autos to Mr. Hislop’s for tea. His brother-in-law’s estate is next to his, a tract of undisturbed native “bush” with enticing mossy and rocky paths wandering over the hills and crossing over little streams on rustic bridges. It must be a fairy-land in summer. The hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Hislop is one of the brightest spots in our memories of New Zealand.

In the evening we went again to the Savage Club with Mr. Hislop where I was again asked to sit with the Chief Savage but I declined to inflict another speech. Thomas, however, spoke, and spoke well, making an excellent impression. The orchestra again rendered exceptionally fine music and we had two numbers by a celebrated violinist who was on a concert tour in New Zealand. We had made friends and 1 felt that the net results of our stay in Wellington were distinctly profitable to the University in the way of collections, literature and valuable connections with the officials and scientists of New Zealand.

I was much concerned over the ill-health of Stoner and Wylie and greatly dreaded that sailing day. only two days away, might lind one or both of them too ill to embark, a calamity 1 had dreaded nil all OUT expeditions but which we had thus Ear been spared. On the morning of August 13 1 called on both the invalids and found them better, much to my relief. That day was spent main-

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ly in writing farewell letters and bringing my journal up to date. It was Sunday and no business could be transacted. Thomas and Glock came to my room in the evening and told of their wonderful experiences during nearly a month of travel over the greater part of New Zealand, including adventures on the glaciers of the New Zealand Alps and a description of the almost unmatched scenery in that wonder-land through which, as geologists, they had traveled back and forth for many hundreds of miles. Dr. Thomas will tell about this in another chapter.

On Monday August 14 I called at the Union Line Steamship office for mail but found none. We were told that it had probably been put on the Tahiti when she called at Wellington on her way to Australia and that were were likely to get it when we went aboard next day. We then went to the Museum and commenced packing our New Zealand collections, although the actual work was done largely by the museum men themselves, especially Mr. Hamilton, who had already been so efficient in aiding Dr. Stoner and others of our party. A fine lot of Maori things was laid out for us by Mr. McDonald. Several large pieces of elaborate carving, a number of stone adzes, a dancing dress, Maori coat, a deathmask showing the elaborate face carvings; which I believe, were carried to a greater extreme by the Maoris than by any other people; a model of a very elaborate door-frame, fish-hooks, sea shells, etc. These all were carefully packed in a huge box, and the work so well done that nothing was broken when the collection reached home.

I went with Mr. Hislop to say goodbye to the Governor General’s Official Secretary, Mr. Day, who informed me that His Excellency requested a personal interview. Lord Jellieoe was very kindly in his greeting and we sat down and chatted for several minutes. He talked chiefly about the United States for which he expressed a very cordial feeling. He seemed much surprised that we had no distinct labor party in Congress such as had caused considerable trouble in England, Australia, and New Zealand. It was hard to realize that this quiet, unassuming gentleman had been one of the world figures in the great war, and I could not help thinking how we all held our breath in fearful suspense while he and the other British heroes fought the momentous battle of Jutland, driving back the great German fleet to remain sealed up until it was delivered to the victorious allies at Scapa Plow

w .ivwnuuo til kJUtiptl J? lUVV. We also called on the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr. Downie

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Stuart, but found him absent. On our way back to the Museum I had a good talk with Mr. Hislop who related some of his inimitable stories showing a keen appreciation of the humorous aspects of life.

This was the first rainy day we had experienced in Wellington. Stoner seemed slightly better, but quite weak and was not permitted to leave his room. Mr. Hamilton was so efficient in the packing that we could get along without Stoner who usually directed such work for the Expedition. Nine boxes of material were securely packed and plainly marked for their long homeward journey.

Mr. Best had very thoughtfully prepared a typewritten list of the things presented by the Dominion Museum with short descriptions of each article and this adds materially to the value of the donation.

That evening all of us but Stoner went to a farewell affair given by our good friends of Wellington. It was held in the Museum library room. Minister Stuart was good enough to preside and it seemed to me a fine tribute for him in his crippled condition and constant pain to honor us with his presence. He made a short speech full of good feeling and good wishes for the little party of scientists, whose visit he had done so much toward making a success. There were moving pictures of glaciers, geysers and other New Zealand marvels, native dances, fire-making with fire-sticks, incantations, eel festival, mat-weaving etc., directed by Mr. McDonald who gave a much appreciated touch of realism by showing a motion picture of a Maori girl weaving a chaplet of rushes and then, explaining that the young woman desired to give the chaplet to the only woman member of our party from the United States, handed a chaplet, identical in appearance to that just shown on the screen, to Mrs. Stoner.

A series of lantern slides were then showm, some by Mr. McDonald, animals and flowers by Mr. Oliver, and scenes from the Mawson Antarctic Expedition, of which he was a member, by Mr. Hamilton. An informal lunch served by the ladies was followed by farewell speeches. The Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon. Mr. Thompson, and others, showed hearty good will and appreciation of the value of our mission to New Zealand. In response Wylie, Thomas and I tried to tell them how grateful we were and how helpful their innumerable kindnesses had been. We tried also to show we were deeply sensible of the unbounded friendliness which

PLATE XLIII

A Maori death mask presented by the Dominion Museum (See pace 2441 Door posts and lintel presented by Dominion Museum (See page 2321 Door, door posts and lintel (See page 232) (Reproduced by ß permission of H Winkelmann, Auckland)

View in the Domain, Auckland (See page 256) Alh.Tt Park, Auckland (See page 255) Hoi Springs al Rotorua (See page 258) (Photos bj Stoner)

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we had experienced at the hands of everyone with whom we had come in contact during our stay. This delightful evening was concluded by all joining hands and singing “Auld Lang Syne!” I confess that I was deeply affected by this leave-taking and never have been made to feel the sincere friendship of people of a foreign country more than we did on this memorable evening.

We greatly enjoyed our stay at Wellington and found much to admire there. Although somewhat smaller than Auckland, (it has a population of 103,000) it enjoys the advantage of being the capital of the Dominion and the center of governmental activities. There is evidently considerable rivalry between the two cities, as is quite natural, and commercial competition is keen. The two are equally metropolitan in appearance and the main business streets are lined with imposing buildings. Willis street is the Broadway of Wellington and here are found a number of banks, the main hotels and most of the large stores or shops. The Empire hotel seems to be the most dignified hostelry and is perhaps the best in New Zealand, at least the best that we saw.

The city is built mostly on low ground between the water front and the high ridge to the south. A cable tram-line climbs this hill from near the Lambton Quay to the region of the Botanical Gardens and Victoria College, affording easy access to some of the most beautiful suburbs of the city, while Observatory Hill crowns the summit from which a superb bird's-eye view of the city and wharfs is attained. Still further to the east is Island Bay with a fine motor road, the Esplanade, running along the coast for miles. Government building is said to be one of the largest modern wooden buildings in the world. The most imposing public building is Parliament building which has already been described, while Government House is to the east of the main business center. There is a good tram-car system, of which the main line runs along the water front and out Willis street. But the thing which impressed us most was the healthy, vigorous, ruddy-cheeked children one meets everywhere in New Zealand. In spite of the fact that their knees were bare and often seemed blue with cold, I belive that nowhere else have I seen so good an average of strong, vigorous looking boys and girls. These children struck me as being the very best product of all the good products of New Zealand. The city has an extensive series of wharves excellently equipped in every way, especially in the matter of powerful cranes to handle the cargoes of incoming and outgoing vessels from almost every

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part of the world. There are ferries which run to Chri.stchureh, Nelson, and several other ports, and these boats seemed to be filled with passengers. Indeed, the water-front gives the impression of greater activity than that of Auckland and the business blocks and public buildings are quite up-to-date and impressive.

Victoria College, one of the four which make up the University, is built of brick, with stone trimmings and is four stories in height. It would be called a good college building anywhere. The biological laboratories are well equipped and seem to be well manned. The educational system of New Zealand is built on the model of that of the mother country in general, but seems to be modified so as to give good educational facilities to all classes of people and to have more of a leaning toward a practical or vocational preparation for life, with less emphasis on purely academic courses. Education is free for the most part, and those who have to work during the day are provided for by night courses in the University Colleges. The more capable students secure scholarships which yield free tuition. Education, moreover, is very generally compulsory. The four University Colleges are located at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

New Zealand has its fair share of eminent scientific men and a number of them have been and are research men of the highest grade. The best zoological textbook I know is Parker & Haswell’s Zoology. The senior author is a New Zealand man.

There are several first class newspapers, but we were usually too busy to read them. They followed the English fashion of printing the advertisements on the first pages and the news items afterwards. I have before me a copy of the Auckland Weekly News, printed on September 21, 1922, and it would be a credit to enterprising journalism anyw’here in the world. There are 84 pages, 18by 12 inches in size. The first ten pages are occupied by advertising matter. The first page of news is filled by an account of “Prohibition in America,” written by a clergyman who is a violent anti-prohibitionist and holds forth on the “dire consequences” of the prohibition law in the United States. It is full of vitriolic propaganda which would characterize the ravings of the “Bootleggers’ Federation” in America. Being placed on one of the advertising pages it may have been published at advertising rates. The excitement about prohibition at that time was largely due to the impending visit of “Pussy-foot Johnson” to New Zealand which certainly aroused a wild rage among those

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interested in the liquor business either as producers or consumers. After the advertising section came “The Weekly News Magazine” with instalments of several novels; then the general news items, a health column, literature and art, notes and comments, New Zealand news, and a page devoted to Wellington. What follows appears to be editorial matter, the leader being “A Call to Service” anent the threatening war with Turkey for which Australia and New Zealand offered assistance even to the extent of sending troops. One page is devoted largely to proceedings in Parliament and another to miscellaneous items. Auckland occupies two pages, then follow several pages of cabled items, largely from London and other parts of the British Empire, with a few brief items from New York. The latest news under the heading, “Second Edition,” occupies two pages, followed by another page of advertisements.

The most conspicuous feature, however, is sixteen full pages of extraordinarily beautiful reproductions of photographs, as good as can be found anywhere, devoted to Wellington and its environment, printed on heavy, glazed paper, giving various panoramic views of the city, the wharves, water front, bird’s-eye view of the main business district from an aeroplane, the Parliament building, public buildings and colleges, principal streets, three panoramic views of the city and harbor, the zoological garden, picturesque spots in and about Wellington, City Officials, a golf championship meet, Wellington’s milk supply and a page devoted to racing and a Rugby match between New South Wales and Auckland. Several pages are devoted to commercial news, miscellaneous items, sports, agriculture and farming, stock raising etc., and finally, ten pages more of advertising matter. Certainly a comprehensive bill of fare to interest all classes of readers. There are a number of good dailies in the more important centers. The Government Publicity Agent, Mr. Drew, edits and apparently censors all news regarding Dominion official affairs.

I found the reporters alert and evidently “on the job” as in other places but it seemed that they were less given to distorting the sayings of interviewed parties and to be more conscientiously accurate in their stories. The doings of high government officials and personages of various sorts occupy much less space in the public press than in England or even the United States, which is evidence of a nearer approach to real democracy.

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CHAPTER XIV

A TRIP TO CHRISTCHURCH

On the evening of August 3 I took the ferry to Christchurch, South Island, a twelve hour ran. The boat was fairly comfortable but much crowded on account of race week. I talked with a man who had been through the Gallipoli Campaign, who said that their most terrible experience was caused by the countless swarms of Hies, getting into one's eyes, ears, nose and mouth and taken with almost every mouthful of food. He believed that the Anzaes had been forced to undertake an absolutely impossible thing; that the Turkish defensive positions were actually impregnable without heavy artillery and that Australian and New Zealand men were needlessly sacrificed.

I slept fairly well in spite of a rough sea and the vociferous sea-sickness of several of my neighbors.

It was bitterly cold on deck in the morning in spite of the brilliant sunshine. The long range of the Southern Alps stretched along the entire western horizon, more deeply and completely buried in dazzling white snow than any other mountains I have seen: the wind sweeping down from those masses of snow and ice chilled one to the very bone.

A good ami abundant breakfast was served on board. There is a frank friendliness about these Colonials in sharp contrast to the frigidity of the Englishman and his reluctance to make acquaintance with strangers, and there is much less formality than with us under similar circumstances.

We reached Lyttclton. the port of Christchurch, about ten o'clock in the morning. Our train was waiting on the wharf, but was so crowded that I was unable to secure a scat and had to stand up all the way. It seems that the law against over-crowding passenger cars is not enforced during race week. The trip was only about twenty minutes long, however. Shortly after starting we passed through a fairly large tunnel in which the coal smoke from the engine was actually stilling. We emerged into a flat country, the Canterbury Plains, extending for 150 miles between the mountains and the coast, probably the largest uninterrupted

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level area in New Zealand, a magnificent country for agriculture, particularly stock-raising, for here the famous Canterbury mutton is produced.

The St. Elmo hotel where I had reserved a room was not a single building but a group of seven rather small frame houses, one of which contained the office and dining room. I had difficulty in securing a suitable room although I had telegraphed in advance. The one first assigned me was in the house furthest removed from the dining-room and without heat of any sort. Of course everything was filled on account of the races; but I had specified a room with heat and insisted on getting it. As a result I finally secured a front room next to the house where meals were served and with a real fireplace for which I gladly paid 3 shillings extra per day.

I met Thomas and Clock returning from their grand tour of South Island, but only for a very few minutes before they took their train for Dunedin, farther south. They were both well and had had wonderful experiences during their thousand mile trip through South Island. Its magnificent scenery, including a thrilling adventure on a great glacier, will be related elsewhere.

A reporter from the Lyttelton paper had been notified by Mr. McDonald of my intended visit and was on hand for an interview as soon as I reached Christchurch. The resulting interview was quite correctly reported.

After lunch I took a stroll to the Canterbury Museum which I had been told was the best in New Zealand. It is a dignified stone building after the style of English university architecture and was much more substantial than the Dominion Museum at Wellington and larger than the one at Auckland. There was a good exhibit of Antarctic birds and mammals, including many from Sir Douglas Mawson’s Expedition, such as the snowy petrel, Emperor penguins, Ross’ seal and crab-eating seal; all were well mounted in an appropriate habitat group. There was also a good collection of mammal skeletons containing representatives of most of the families from various parts of the world. Like all other public buildings here, the museum was unheated and I soon became chilled through so did not linger to inspect the rest of the exhibits.

I called on Dr. Chilton, Rector of Canterbury College, one of the four university colleges of New Zealand. He is among the ablest naturalists in New Zealand and a recognized authority,

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particularly in certain groups of marine arthropods, the world over. He lives in a good stone house conforming in architecture to the other college buildings, the whole reminding one of the solid buildings of an English university. The reception room was large, very well furnished and was warmed by a cheerful wood fire-place. 1 also had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Chilton, a very pleasant motherly sort of lady who must be a great favorite with the college boys. Here as everywhere else the shadow of the great war is evident and the Chiltons had lost a son on the battle front.

Christchurch is a city of about 110,000 population, and no city in Old England is more English than this. It is the center of the great Canterbury Plains and has the River Avon meandering through it. It differs widely from the other New Zealand cities I visited in that its streets run regularly at right angles with each other, especially those away from the main business center; the out-lying districts look much like our prairie cities. The business blocks have all the solidity of a European metropolis and the Cathedral is one of the most imposing and architecturally satisfying structures which I saw in the Dominion. The streets are broad and well paved, with running -water from the mountains in all the gutters, thus reminding one of Salt Lake City.

On Saturday, August 5, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Archey, of the museum, a splendidly set up young fellow of the finest English type to whom I owe very much of the pleasure and profit of my visit to Christchurch. He took me over the museum and pointed out some of its high lights. There is a good, systematic collection of New Zealand birds, several of which are now extinct. There is a complete skeleton of a small species of moa which is particularly interesting, its leg-bones being extraordinarily heavy and massive in comparison with the remainder of the skeleton. The largest moa, constructed of matched bones from several specimens of approximately equal size, is twelve feet high.

Mr. Archey thinks that the eagle was an important factor in the extermination of this gigantic bird, as it preyed on the helpless young w T hose uncouth parents had no effective means of defending it. Another important factor was undoubtedly the native Maori race. There is no trace of wings on any of the skeletons which I saw, and it seems that we have here one of the very few actually wingless birds which have been discovered, although I believe that at least one specimen of moa has been found with rudimentary wings.

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There is a skeleton of an eighty-five foot whale in a shed outside of the museum proper, and they are making a cast of a tenfoot swordfish. The Gangetie dolphin is another strange form exhibited here, and a good mounted skeleton of the elephant seal is of much interest.

The birds are much better specimens of taxidermist’s art than the mammals and do credit to the skill of the preparator. An intersting group of penguins is very well executed and includes both young and old of Adele and Emperor besides some other species donated by the National Antarctic Expedition. Most of the mounted mammals are old and represent taxidermic methods now out of date. Besides they are badly faded.

The ethnological exhibit is probably the best part of the museum and I saw in New Zealand none more extensive although it is not the largest so far as Maori things are concerned. It is well arranged and displayed in well lighted rooms. The oriental material is particularly well illustrated and reflects much credit on those in charge of the museum. I understand that the geological and mineralogical collections are especially fine.

As this is the last of the three large museums which I visited in New Zealand, it may not be out of place to add a few notes regarding them. It should be said, however, that there are other museums which are reported to be of at least equal importance, particularly that of the Otago University at Dunedin, which I did not see, much to my regret.

In my opinion the best of the three is that at Auckland, the only one which is a municipal affair. Great credit is certainly due Mr. Cheeseman, for many years the Curator, and evidently a man of almost infinite industry and patience. He has succeeded in getting together a collection of Maori art and industries which will probably never be duplicated, as the few remaining artists are fast passing away. Mr. Cheeseman very wisely devoted his efforts to the collecting and preservation of all things relating to the natives of New Zealand who lived mainly on North Island and there reached their highest cultural level; and so the venerable Curator has gathered together full series of specimens illustrating in a most comprehensive way a culture which is unique and full of human interest. I think I have never seen a better display of the ethnography of a strictly localized people whose history and achievements seem unique among the natives of the great realm of the South Pacific and whose art far surpasses all others de-

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veloped by any native Polynesian people. Almost every phase of the life and achievements of the Maoris is there to be studied by any one who comes properly accredited. Not only the vast array of specimens, very carefully labeled and excellently installed, are at the disposal of the student, hut he has at hand the resources of an excellent library where he can consult literary sources concerning the early history of the country and the publications of a host of previous workers. The most accomplished and up-to-date museum man in New Zeland, in my opinion, was Mr. T. L. Griffin, the assistant curator of the Auckland Museum, who has had the best training and experience and is extraordinarily versatile in his tastes and achievements. His habitat group of the kiwi, spotted shag, etc., and his restoration of the moa are real works of genius which compare favorably with those of the most able taxidermists anywhere. His artistic ability is shown in its perfection by the large series of New Zealand fishes mounted after the most modern technique and colored with a fidelity and delicacy of touch which is admirable, —as good as I have seen anywhere, and their poses are remarkably life-like. The fishes, be it remembered, are about the most difficult of all the vertebrates to preserve in anything like a satisfactory manner and present, perhaps, the severest test of the ability of the preparator. It is to be sincerely hoped that the Dominion Government will properly recognize the masterly work of Mr. Griffin and sustain him in it.

The Dominion Museum at Wellington is in good hands under the care of Mr. J. McDonald, Acting Director. He also is an excellent artist, a man of exceptional ability and resource with an intimate acquaintance with the Maori and is an expert photographer. He is ably assisted by Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Oliver and others, all good in their respective departments.

One of the best assets of this museum is Mr. Elsdon Best, whose knowledge of the Maori people is probably more profound than that of any other living man. He is a veteran in the work but seems as alert and keen as any of the many scientists we met. Practically his whole life has been devoted to an understanding of the Maoris and their work. He lived with them for many years studied their language, habits, art and traditions until he is said to know more of that fast disappearing language and folk-lore than does any one native at the present time. His industry has been tremendous, and his scientific publications make a surprisingly long list. He has also prepared for publication some extensive

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monographs, the manuscript of which I saw and which, when published, will be a monument to his industry and learning. He impresses me as being a man of the very first rank among the scientists of New Zealand.

This museum is badly handicapped by the building in which it is housed, a wooden structure altogether unworthy of its contents and a potential fire-trap. It makes cold chills run down one’s back to think of what will happen in case of a conflagration, and experience warns us that such a disaster is almost inevitable in course of time. In case of fire, the life work of some of New Zealand’s foremost scientists will be wiped out and the Dominion Government mil suffer a serious loss. The whole building is so crowded with almost priceless collections that very little could be saved in such an emergency.

The Director of this museum, Mr. J. Allen Thomson, F.G.S., is an outstanding man of science, being for many years a most prolific investigator, who has published a great many valuable papers on geological and ethnological subjects. He was, unfortunately, ill at the time of our visit and we therefore failed to meet him, much to our loss and regret. He is the son of the member of Parliament who gave the lunch in Parliament Building at which we were the guests of honor.

The Dominion Museum should be the best in New Zealand as it has the backing of the Government; but it is impossible to pass on its real merits on account of the crowded condition of its collections and the practical inaccessibility of much of the material. We can only hope that this state of affairs is but temporary and that it will have a home appropriately spacious, safe and dignified before disaster overtakes it. The scientific productivity of its staff is sufficient proof that the collections are well used, and that the material is by no means lying idle.

Of the Canterbury Museum it may be said that it has the best building and the most extensive ethnological collection, including much Maori work of great interest and value. Its moa remains are of special interest and seem to include a greater number of species of that giant bird than we saw elsewhere. It also exhibits the largest series of mammalian skeletons and mounted specimens. Most of the latter, however, are in poor condition, although the latter accessions, both of mammals and birds, are fully up to modem standards. I understand that since our visit it has acquired some notable collections, especially in the ornithological

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line. It seems that the very rigid legal restrictions regarding the collecting of birds has worked a hardship both here and at Auckland.

In order that the Otago University Museum at Dunedin may not pass without comment because of my inability to visit it, I will add the following quotation from an account by H. D. Skinner 1 :

“The Otago University Museum. The foundation of the present collections of the Museum of the University of Otago was laid by Dr. Hector (afterwards Sir James Hector, P.R.S.) who organized a large and excellent natural history collection for the New Zealand Exhibition held in Dunedin in 1865. This collection formed the basis of the present museum collections, but it was not until 1877 that the central block of the present buildings was completed and opened, the first curator being Captain F. W. Hutton (afterward Professor Hutton, F.R.S.) Professor Hutton was succeeded by Professor T. J. Parker, F.R.S., under whose direction some of the most striking exhibits were added. Notable among these is the series of elasmobranch skeletons not surpassed in any museum in the world. The method by which they were prepared was worked out by Professor Parker and Edwin Jennings, museum taxidermist.

“A notable benefaction was the gift of Dr. T. M. Hocken in 1907 of his great collection of books, manuscripts and pictures relating to early New Zealand and the Pacific, and his large ethnographic collection. The Hocken collection includes the largest series in existence of manuscripts relating to the settlement of New Zealand.

“The zoological collections are extensive, being especially strong in New Zealand birds and their eggs, in New Zealand fishes, and in the invertebrates. Of special interest is the series of extinct birds, the collection of moa remains being very extensive, and including eggs, feathers, skin and foot-prints as well as the largest number of individual skeletons in any museum.

“Perhaps the most notable exhibit here is the material from the moa hunter’s camp at the mouth of the Shag River, which ilustrates the stage of culture reached by the earliest inhabitants of the southern district. Their culture would seem, on the whole,

i New Zealand Nature Notes for the T'se of Members of the Australian Association for the Advancement of Science, Wellington Meeting, January, 1923.

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higher than that of the tribes found in occupation at the beginning of the Nineteenth Century.”

All of these museums are distinctly creditable institutions and all have an out-put of research results which is above the average, it seems to me, of museums of similar size and resources in the United States.

Dr. Chilton, Rector of Canterbury College, took me through the buildings of that institution which reminded me of those at Oxford, though on a much smaller scale. The laboratories are well equipped and Dr. Chilton’s own collection of Crustacea is quite extensive, for he is an acknowledged authority in certain groups. I found that college work, even that of the registrar, was suspended every afternoon during race week, thus I did not meet many of the professors. The whole establishment is distinctly English in the best traditional sense of the word, and the atmosphere is that of cultural rather than vocational training.

The students are as healthy and manly a set of young boys as one would see anywhere. Over the level Canterbury Plains, resembling our own western prairies, many of the boys rode bicycles to and from the college, which again reminds one of English universities; but their bare knees and heads in the cold winter weather certainly gave one the shivers although custom has doubtless hardened them to the exposure. They gave the impression that the Colonials are keeping up the good old stock in a most satisfactory manner. I saw remarkably little evidence of anaemic conditions and was particularly impressed by the fact that impaired eyesight was rare among them, if absence of glasses was a reliable indication.

The University of New Zealand comprises four University Colleges, each of which specializes in definite fields. The one at Dunedin devotes itself to mining, medicine, dental, veterinary and domestic science; the one at Christchurch focuses its work on engineering and technical science; that at Wellington on law and science; while the college at Auckland is concerned mainly with commerce and mining. The total registration in the four institutions was 4,123 in 1921 and they cost the Government £117,434.

There is also an exceptionally well endowed agricultural college at Lincoln as well as industrial schools and schools for the deaf, feeble minded and blind.

The relation of birth-rate to death-rate is always a criterion of

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the prosperity of a people and in this respect New Zealand makes a particularly good showing. The death-rate in 1921 was 8.73 per thousand, while the birth-rate for the same year was 23.34 per thousand; that is, the birth-rate was two and one-half times as great as the death-rate. When one sees the remarkably fine sturdy children it becomes evident that the population is "being replaced by children of superior grade and in satisfactory' numbers. At this rate of increase the country will soon be adequately populated with a stock as purely British and of the same superb qualities as are exhibited by the present generation. Indeed, from a purely biological standpoint, that of eugenics, I doubt if any country has a better prospect before it than has New Zealand.

I very greatly enjoyed a visit to the estate of Mr. Stead, one of the leading ornithologists of the country. Indeed, I was told that he knew more about the birds of the Dominion than any other living authority. His place is at Islam, Islam Road, one of the suburbs of Christchureh. After leaving the tram, the walk was delightful. Islam Road is hemmed in in places by very high hedges trimmed so as to form a perpendicular wall of green foliage, even in winter. Some of these hedges must have been at least twelve feet high, and they shut out the view of the grounds beyond with true English exelusiveness. Arriving at a gate with a sign "Islam," I walked along a winding driveway among the trees, many of which were pine, interspersed with beautiful shrubbery. The house, evidently the home of wealth and refinement, soon came into view and I was greeted very pleasantly by Mr. Stead, my host, who is a comparatively young, athletic-looking man who, for a wonder, neither drank nor smoked, the latter being quite an exceptional thing among New Zealanders. There was another guest, a Mr. Wilson, who evidently had a good scientific, and practical knowledge of botany and ornithology, and who seemed to be a man of culture and abundant means.

We strolled through the charming gardens before going in to lunch, and these were so beautiful even in winter thai one can well imagine their charm in summer time. It seems to me that they afford an excellent model of landscape gardening, with a clear meandering trout stream harboring many interesting aquatic plants, and thickets which furnished a delightful retreat for the numerous bird friends of our host. Tie was a typical, out-door naturalist who knew the intimate ways and manners of the woodland birds, some of which he brought near by imitating their own

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calls. There were many rhododendrons, not in bloom at this time, which doubtless make a noble display in summer. Mr. Stead pointed out a kind of miniature water-lily that was in bloom and entirely new to me; it had a long, smooth leaf and a deep, vaselike blossom, white with many conspicuous black stamens arranged in a circle inside.

At lunch we met Mrs. Stead, a very charming hostess, who presided with the easy dignity which makes English hospitality so pleasing wherever it is encountered. After lunch Mr. Stead showed us the treasures of his New Zealand bird collection, the most complete one which I saw in the Dominion. He pointed out the curious fact that many New Zealand birds were characterized by a marked fluffiness about the feathers of the rump. He showed a species of duck in which the young female had the plumage of a male and afterward took on the proper dress of the mature female; the only case of the kind I have seen. There was a fine series of kiwi skins illustrating the several species of this strange wingless form, many yellow-wattled and blue-wattled "crows," parrots, parakeets, etc., in fact, a nearly complete collection of the birds of New Zealand, all in the best of condition and arranged in suitable trays that slid into metal boxes where they would be safe from insect pests.

Mr. Stead remarked that if an arrangement for exchange with the museum could be made, he would add some of his own specimens to the series sent to lowa. Later on he took me in his auto to the tram-car which quickly returned me to my hotel in time for afternoon tea with Dr. and Mrs. Chilton. Here was another home of the finest type of culture such as one finds among the Oxford University instructors.

August 7 was cold and clear and I took a walk, with my camera, through part of the city. There is a noble monument to Captain Scott, the Antarctic explorer who lost his life after reaching the South Pole. It stands with a background of willow trees near the banks of the river Avon and is a very well executed portrait statue in white marble showing the noted explorer in his polar costume. At night a search-light is turned on the monument with very fine effect, making it stand out sharply against the dark background of trees.

All of the more important Antarctic explorers are well known here as most of them made Lyttelton, the port of Christchurch, their point of departure for the unknown region of the Antarctic.

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I heard many stories of Shackleton, Mawson, Amundsen and Scott, from citizens who knew these men personally. One of these stories related to the cause of the tragic ending of Scott's last expedition and revealed one of the real reasons for its failure. Ido not feel at liberty to give the entire story as it was told to me, presumably, in confidence; but it indicated that Captain Scott died through a chivalrous determination to keep his promise that a certain one of his party should accompany him to the South Pole in spite of the solemn warning of New Zealand friends that this man would break down under the strain and wreck the whole expedition. That man did go to the pole and did break down and had to be hauled by his weary companions on the long terrible return trip, thus delaying the party until death finally overtook them when one more day's journey would have brought them to their base of supplies.

At the Canterbury Museum I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Professor Robert Speight, the curator, and an accomplished naturalist. We discussed the matter of exchanging specimens, particularly bird skins. He was quite willing to arrange for such an exchange but said that permission must be secured from the Dominion Government through Mr. Hislop. It seems to be the feeling here that the Government favors the Dominion Museum at Wellington in such matters, and that the other institutions are badly handicapped on account of legal restrictions which hinder and often prevent exchanges with foreign institutions. Professor Speight authorized Mr. Archey to put aside a series of bird skins for exchange with the museum of the State University of lowa, provided authorization could be secured from the Dominion officials. This attempt evidently failed as I was informed after returning home that on account of legal restrictions it was impractical to carry out our plans.

That evening I enjoyed the hospitality of Mr. Archey’s home and found the same warm-hearted friendliness which seems characteristic of British Colonials wherever I have been. He has a wife and two children and his wife’s parents. Mr, McGee, Mrs. Archey’s father, assured me that every British and Colonial child was taught in school that America was right when she went into the Revolutionary War against England.

The next day I enjoyed an all-day outing with Mr. Archey. We started at nine on a jaunt to Port Hills overlooking Lyttelton Harbor. We took a tram-car across the outskirts of Christchurch

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which with its modern looking wooden houses spread over a relatively flat plain resembles a town in our mid-western states. We began to climb a hillside dotted with picturesque houses, set in groups in the valleys and cozy nooks of the hill-side. As we climbed still higher the range of southern Alps with their snowy peaks loomed far off on the western horizon. They were perhaps fifty miles distant across the great Canterbury Plains, one of the richest agricultural regions in New Zealand, stretching away until they appeared blue like the ocean in the far distance. Near at hand and directly before us as we looked back over the route by which we came, the whole of Christchurch was spread out, giving a wonderful bird's-eye view of the plan of the city with its regular streets breaking it up into squares like those of a checkerboard. The contrast between the regularity of this city and the maze of irregular streets in Auckland and Wellington could hardly be more striking, illustrating as it does the effect of topography on the building plan.

Christchurch is by no means as picturesque as either of the other cities visited but it is certainly much more convenient. There is no natural limit to its growth as there is in the case of Wellington, surrounded by high hills, many of which are quite rugged and abrupt. Christchurch does not lack picturesque sites for suburban homes, however, for the snug little valleys, ravines and rounded hills on the slope of one of which we stood, furnish innumerable places for houses high enough to escape the heat in summer, and command exquisite vistas of city, plain and the majesty of distant snow-clad peaks. The scene must be lovely in summer when the farms are green with growing crops. We walked along a good road of easy grade with patches of fir trees here and there, and the yellow bloom of gorse splotching the hills gave a lively bit of color to relieve the grays and dull olive of the hills. The gorse, by the way, is a noxious weed in parts of New Zealand and is regarded with about as much affection as the dandelion is with us. The hills have few trees and are largely clothed with thick tussocks of tall grass which furnish excellent pasturage for sheep. In one valley were hundreds of rabbit burrows, and these pestiferous rodents are as great a nuisance here as in Australia, but are coming fairly under control in the more densely populated districts.

Presently we came to the top of a divide and could look over into a part of Lyttelton harbor, but the town itself could not be

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seen. The harbor is surrounded by high hills and is almost completely land-locked, making the port of Lyttelton one of the best in New Zealand. The region is entirely volcanic and the harbor a submerged valley, perhaps an old crater. Seen from the height on which we stood the sea was intensely blue and the shadows of clouds flecking the hills afforded a constant shifting of light and shade.

We took tea at eleven o’clock at an exceedingly picturesque wayside inn called the “Kiwi,” as announced by a swinging signboard with a representation of that unique bird. It was just such a delightful wayside retreat as one meets so frequently in out-of-the-w r ay parts of England. Later we strolled on further and I took a few photographs of the hills and harbor. Returning to the Kiwi we had an excellent lunch and rested awhile as we enjoyed the view, before strolling leisurely downward for about three miles, I should judge, until we reached the tram line again. Mr. Archey proved a most delightful companion. Indeed it seems to me that the English and British Colonials never appear to better advantage than in the course of such a stroll. Walking and talking has been reduced to a fine art by their university men, and one can hardly realize how extremely enjoyable a day’s walk may be until he takes it with such a companion. We chatted on things biological, about which he is well versed, of things political, social, college life here and in America, and finally of course, on the World War, in which he had borne a part on the battle line in France. In looking back over the various acquaintances formed in New Zealand I can not remember meeting a single man of army age who had not done his bit “over there.” No man able to go seems to have occupied a swivel chair at home during the great conflict.

England was certainly justified in her children and no one who has spent much time in her overseas possessions from 1014 to L 922 could fail to be immensely impressed by the solidarity of the British Empire. Mr. Archey said that, for him, the hardest thing to bear was the deadly monotony of the time spent in the trenches between the brief periods of intense activity when they went "over the top" or repelled attacks. This walk over the breezy Port Mills and the panoramic views from the top will remain as one of the high lights of my many delightful experiences in New Zealand.

After supper Dr. Chilton called and we had a cozy chat in

PLATE XLV

Mamnku ' near [lotorua is,.,- page 2',9) Mr. Harold Hamilton (left) and Mr. C T. Griffin, F 1! /.. (See pages 252 ~,,1 --,7) Decay.ng renin 1,,,- where Perxpatu, wu fonnd (See page 276) (Fhotos bj Stoner)

Aquarium m Wellington (See page 264) A live Kiwi ->r Apttryx ( S.v page -7'Ji The Ke« or flesh-eating parrol (See page 269) (Photos by Stoner)

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front of my fire-place. He is a most genial man and lias had many notable experiences. He very kindly presented me with the splendid two volume monograph, “The Sub-Antarctic Islands of New Zealand,” of which he is editor. It is a fine piece of bookmanking, containing many beautiful plates, some of which are colored. These remote and uninhabited islands are of extreme scientific interest, although even their names are unknown to most people. Those included in the work referred to are all to the south and southeast of New Zealand and include the Snares, the Auckland Island group, Campbell Island, Antipodes Islands, Bounty Islands and the Macquarie Islands. The last lie some six hundred miles to the southeast of New Zealand, in latitude 57 south and so are well within the Antarctic area, as are most of the others. They are also notable as the home of the elephant seal, an animal of exceptional interest to zoologists. The Snares, the Auckland group and Campbell Islands are also the home of the southern fur-seal which is said still to be quite numerous. The fur-seal proper, Arctocephalus forsteri, although at one time threatened with extermination, now seems to be increasing. They are at present found on the Snares, Bounties and the western coast of South Island.

The expedition of which these volumes form the report was sent out in 1907 by the Dominion Government at the request of a number of scientific societies, prominent among which were the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury and the Otago Institute. As I had made the acquaintance of several members of the expedition, i.e., Dr. Cockayne, Professor Speight, Professor Kirk and Dr. Chilton, the “Sub-Antarctic Islands of New Zealand” is a work of personal as well as scientific interest to me and constitutes one of the real treasures of my book-shelves. It is published by the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury and is a credit to all concerned in its production.

On August 10 I bade good-bye to my Christchurch friends after enjoying lunch with Professor Speight and Mr. Archey, took the afternoon train to Lyttelton, which was reached after dark, and went immediately on board the ferry for Wellington which sailed almost at once.

That evening, while seated in the smoking room of the ferry, a man, whom I took to be a jockey returning from the races after a successful race week, sat down beside me. Without consulting me he ordered two whiskeys and sodas and handed one to me.

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He seemed utterly unable to comprehend how any sane man could refuse a drink, but compromised by drinking them both himself. Then he ordered whiskeys and sodas by couples and drank them all himself until he was wrapped in slumber by my side.

The sea was smoother than on the down trip and I slept well, had a good breakfast on board in the morning and enjoyed the superb view of Wellington harbor as we steamed toward the docks just as “the rosy fingered daughter of the morn” appeared and the rising sun pierced the mists of the morning to glorify the surrounding hills.

CHAPTER XV

THE MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

No thinking person can visit New Zealand without becoming immensely interested in its aboriginal people, the Maoris. MV acquaintance with the natives themselves is almost nil, as my work did not take me to those parts of North Island where they still live in considerable numbers. Although a good many were seen about Auckland and Wellington, they did not wear their native costumes, as did the Fijians, and their European clothes were by no means pictureseque. They looked very much like the civilized Indians in our country.

But in the museums we visited, the mass of literature published by the Dominion government, particularly the Dominion Museum, by the New Zealand Institute and other scientific organizations, and most of all conversation with Mr. Elsdon Best, Mr. J. McDonald and many other well informed Colonials, offered abundant material from which reliable information regarding the Maoris was to be obtained.

It seems certain that these people are descendants from pure Polynesian stock, quite different from that of the Fijians who are very largely Melanesian in derivation. The Maoris are stalwart people with rather light brown skin and hair which is straight, compared with the Fijians. Many of them wear full beards, especially the older men, and the shape of the head and general physiognomy are strongly Caucasian in appearance. Practically all authorities give them a high intellectual rating and the history of their dealings with the white men and the official positions which some of them occupy, amply confirm this conclusion. They represent but a fractional minority of the population of New

1 To Mr. Elsdon Best of the Dominion Museum I am indebted for most of the information contained in this chapter. Some of it was gleaned from conversations with that eminent ethnologist and some from his writings. The mistakes which will doubtless be found are to be attributed exclusively to the writer either from faulty' recollections of conversation or from misinterpretation of published statements. A relatively small proportion of this chapter is gleaned from “Romance of History, New Zealand,” by Reginald Horsley, published by Frederick A. Stokes Company, New York. 'This work is written in popular style, and may be an illustration of poetic license and not strictly scientific in its accuracy.

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Zealand and seem finally to have settled down into a peaceful and law abiding folk, although they gave trouble enough in the early days.

When the first white explorers reached New Zealand they found tattooing, or rather face carving, carried to greater elaboration than anywhere else in the world, perhaps. Not a square half-inch of the face was unmarked and the cheeks, forehead, nose and chin were covered with deeply incised lines of most intricate designs, the spiral motif predominating. We were told that every line had its exact significance and that any departure from the prescribed patterns was a most serious offense. These deep lines were literally chiseled into the face with a chisel-like instrument and mallet. The accompanying photograph of a death-mask of a Maori chief given us by the Dominion Museum tells the story better than any written description.

One shudders at the thought of the slow, lengthened torture borne by these men in being tattooed in order to impress the beholder with the rank and dignity of these old chiefs. The ceremony partook of a religious nature and was in conformity with a rigid ritual. The man operated on could touch no food with his hands during the long period while the artist was at work, but was fed by an attendant. A blue pigment was inserted into each incision to make the pattern stand out more prominently producing a most hideous and terrifying effect. Few living Maoris show this face marking in its perfection and the custom has almost entirely died out although even yet one occasionally sees a face with a few indistinct blue lines. But the carving on wood exhibits real art brought to a beauty and perfection scarcely to be excelled anywhere. Before the introduction of metal tools it must have required almost infinite patience and many years to turn out a masterpiece. I was told, for instance, that one of the elaborately carved stern-posts of their great war canoes employed several generations of artists before the design was completed and that much of the work was done after the canoe was launched. Now the original design must have existed in the mind of the one who commenced the work, as the finished product shows perfect unity of plan throughout. Moreover, the colors of the lower surface of the projecting eaves of their elaborately ornamented whare wkakairo, or meeting house, are in patterns of very pleasing and graceful designs in red, black and white.

Mr. Best informed me that the spiral designs are not found else-

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where in Polynesia. Moreover, it seems impossible that such a motif could arise independently after the Maoris reached New Zealand. He is inclined to think it due to the pre-Maori race, or “Moriori,” a people leaving little positive material evidence of their existence, but probably originating in Melanesia, where the spiral design is known to occur.

The Maoris were a war-like race and cannibalism was common among them, as throughout most of Polynesia. They showed real military genius in planning their “pas” or fortified places which were strategically located and surrounded by well designed stockades, moats and trenches which were ample protection against spears, clubs or stones. Of course they were never intended to withstand artillery fire of which these people learned to their grief when they resisted the Colonial Government.

Like the Fijians, these people believed in a literal immortality; moreover they had a highly elaborate system of spiritual and mental concepts as set forth in Mr. Best’s little work on “Spiritual and Mental Concepts of the Maoris,” but the subject is too complicated for treatment here. 2

The word “Maori” is used throughout the most of Polynesia to designate simply natives or aborigines, I was told that a New Zealand Maori can understand the language of either the Cook or Society Island group, and this is the best of evidence of community of origin.

It seems that about forty generations ago two Polynesian chiefs discovered New Zealand and returned to the islands whence they came, and that some twelve generations later the first real settlers arrived in New Zealand. In the interval the Moriori or preMaoris appeared, probably from Melanesia, and were in New Zealand when the first migration of the true Maori arrived.

The land from whence they came is known by well established tradition as Hawaiki and there is still some doubt as to its location, but there is much strong evidence, I understand, to indicate

2 In this connection, mention should be made of a series of monographs of the Dominion Museum, published in compact, convenient form and containing a mine of interesting, reliable information. The three published before we left New Zealand, copies of which are before me, are:

No. 1. "Some Aspects of Maori Myth and Religion" Bv Elsdon Best

No. 2. "Spiritual and Mental Concepts of the Maori" By Elsdon Best

No. 3 "Astronomical Knowledge of the Maori" By Klsdon Best

These "Dominion Museum Monographs" are published by the Museum, Wellington, under the authority of the Minister of Internal Affairs.

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that it was Rarotonga or other islands of the Cook group; or possibly Tahiti of the Society Islands.

These old Polynesians were experienced navigators and accustomed to long voyages, with a good knowledge of the currents, winds, seasons and stars. They were as bold and fearless as the old Vikings. Their great canoes, many of them double, were thoroughly sea-worthy and very well built, although without nails or iron in any shape. The labor involved in their construction was tremendous when we remember that only stone implements were used. Long experience had given a good practical knowledge of the proper lines for speed and safety.

Mr. Best, in his "Astronomical Knowledge of the Maori," says: "In pre-European times the stars were studied by the natives—not by all persons, be it explained, but by a limited number of men of the tohunga (or adept) class, who devoted much time to the study of the ra rorika, or little suns, as they were termed. Such men would often pass long hours of the night in contemplating the stars, and would be looked upon as reliable weather prophets. Travelers and fishermen would consult them ere venturing forth, and their powers are also said to have enabled them to foretell the general aspect of coming seasons, their fruitfulness or otherwise. Such were the studies of the tohunga kokorangi, the Maori astronomer.

"These men knew well the movements of the stars; they knew when to look for their appearance, and always waited it in order to scan closely their aspect. One famous old wise man of the Wairarapa district of last century, devoted much of his time to studying the stars and planets. His contemporaries have told me that they have often known him to pass the greater part of the night on the summit of a hillock near his hut gazing continuously at the heavens—surely his thoughts would return to the old seafaring ancestors who followed the stars across half a world, who sailed eastward and northward and southward until they lost the familiar stars of long centuries, and saw strange new ones appear above the far-off horizon, and then, further back his memory would recall the teachings of his elders concerning the hidden fatherlands, the mist enshrouded land of Irihia, wherein his ancestors had dwelt ere the gleaming stars lured them forth on the greal trackless ocean that was to be their home for so many centuries."

The story of the discovery of Now Zealand by the people from

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Hawaiki, and its later colonization is an epic worthy of a Homer. As related below, I have used the sources mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, but find that these disagree as to the interval between the first discovery ''about forty generations ago" by two chiefs and their followers; and as to the exodus of some thousand men, women and children in ten or twelve double canoes.

Mr. Best thinks that there was an interval of some twelve generations between the two, while Stokes, in his "New Zealand," represents the exodus as having been led by the discoverers who first visited the new land, and on returning to Hawaiki organized the emigration of their friends who became the ancestors of the present Maori of New Zealand.

I will adopt for my purpose the view of Sir. Best, whose authority on all matters concerning the Maoris and their traditions is hardly to be questioned.

Before Columbus sailed on his famous voyage to discover a New "World, a certain tribe, probably in Rarotonga, found itself conquered in war and in danger of extermination. In desperation they counseled as to how to escape utter destruction, and one heroic chief proposed to his friend that they sail away in their big canoes, or two of them lashed together, into the vast unknown of the South Pacific, away to the West and South in the path of the setting sun. The annual migrations of certain birds, notably the godwit, suggested that there was an unknown land in that direction, but no one knew how many hundreds or thousands of miles away.

So this small band of adventurers said good-bye to their families and friends and set their course in the path of the setting sun. Long study and the experience gained in numerous shorter voyages had made them familiar with the steady trade winds of that ocean world, and they knew much about the stars and their courses.

Day after day they sailed over the blue sea; or, the wind failing, took to their paddles and plodded wearily onward. The days multiplied into weeks, perhaps months. They suffered hunger and thirst, heat by day and cold by night as the Southern Cross rose steadily towards the zenith in the heavens. Their boats were simply two big canoes lashed together, entirely shelterless from the rain-squalls and blinding spray in stormy weather. Hope long deferred had sickened their hearts as, reduced almost to skeletons, they plied their paddles and the scoop-shaped bailers.

At last they sighted land, a veritable paradise it must have

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seemed, and found a harbor free from the pounding surf. And this was the first landing in New Zealand by the men now known as Maoris or aborigines of that new world!

They found nature bountiful beyond their fondest hopes. Mighty forests of kauri from which hundred-man canoes could be built, strange edible plants, flowers, cold pure water from the lofty mountains, edible ferns and tubers, fish, oysters, crabs and other sea foods. They found flax from which serviceable garments could be woven, wonderful greenstone from which weapons and ornaments could be fashioned. Gigantic wingless birds were there, twice as high as man, helpless and too inexperienced to be shy, with flesh sufficient to feast a score of men. They found another but smaller bird, the kiwi, also wingless, whose close-set thatch of feathers furnished warm clothes; mutton birds with much fat for winter consumption, and fur seals with coats warm enough for the bitterest cold of of the antipodes.

After partly exploring this El Dorado of the South the adventurers again took council together and said, “This wonderful land which we have discovered is of little avail to us unless women and children of our own race can share it and help us develop our new world and found a new nation in peace.” What we have done can be done again! We will return to Hawaiki our native land, get such of our tribe as are still alive, with their household treasures, and bring them with us to this, our new home.”

So they repaired their big canoes, embarked again with samples of the riches of the new land, and set their faces once more to the wide expanse of the South Pacific, utilizing the trade wind which, with the changing season, was now favorable on the opposite course and again steadily at their backs. With the genius of born navigators, helped by the winds, the stars, the sun and the currents they actually retraced their course of nearly three thousand miles, and found the remnant of their people which through some marvelous Providence had escaped extermination. As men risen from the dead they were received with rejoicing, which was turned to amazement when they told their story and exhibited the samples from their new world. Slowly incredulity turned to belief.

Generations passed and the exploit of this Maori Columbus and his friends lingered only as a tradition; but finally from some cause which is not made plain by the authorities I have consulted, a much larger number of descendants of the original explorers

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and their friends and relatives decided to abandon their home in Hawaiki and found a new race in the land so vividly described by the returning wanderers of some twelve generations before. Even former enemies were induced to join them in the great adventure.

Their canoes, sixty or eighty feet long, hollowed out of mighty logs, their sides elevated by ponderous sideboards, thwarts skillfully bound in with sennit, sails of closely woven mats, ropes of fibers from their native plants and painted with iron oxide mixed with shark’s oil, were carefully overhauled.

And so from Rarotonga and neighboring islands a noble fleet of perhaps a dozen double canoes able to accommodate a thousand persons assembled for the great migration from Hawaiki. In them they placed their women and children, seeds and roots of their most valued plants, coconut, taro and yam, berries, edible gourds and plantain; wild fowl and dogs, their only animal food in those days, perhaps even the island rats to eke out the supply.

At last all was ready; sacrifices had been made to propitiate their gods, and strange incantations by their medicine men had revealed the omens favorable to success. Surely the like of this migration can hardly be duplicated in all history, an undertaking of unparalleled audacity which resulted in the birth of a nation!

Each canoe had one, sometimes two, professional star-gazers to lend the aid of their knowledge of navigation. It is said that they knew and had names for at least three hundred stars, and used them to mark the seasons and to guide them over the trackless waste of the broad South Seas.

Again following the path of the setting sun, which at that season was southwest, by day, and the stars and familiar constellations by night, this epoch-making odyssey passed over the loneliest sea on earth. (We passed over the same track and saw but one lone ship during the whole voyage!) A few flying-fish sprang up now and then before the on-rushing prows of the canoes; now and then a shark, or perhaps a school of porpoises accompanied them; now and then a lonely albatross, or a few petrels. The tropic clouds hung low on the horizon by day, and the splendor of the southern stars hung over them by night. There were many days of steady calm which gives the Pacific its name, a few, perhaps of storm with mighty billows thundering up from the Antarctic, home of the wildest seas in all the world!

These people were but savages according to our notions, cannibals according to tradition; but they were men of splendid

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bodies, unsurpassed bravery, abounding faith in themselves and their gods, risking all that they held dear in this one heroic adventure that they might find a home in a hitherto unpeopled land. What a theme for the inspired poet and painter is this! A story unsurpassed, it seems to me, in all that stirs the blood and inflames the imagination!

At last, reduced almost to utter starvation, exhausted to the limit of human endurance, they landed in the home of their dreams and took possession of the promised land.

All Maoris trace their lineage to one or other of the great canoes whose names are to them what the Mayflower is to the New Englander. Each family has a “genealogical stick” with prominent projections on one side, each of which stands for a generation. Every true Maori can name his forefathers as represented by the projections, beginning with his own father and going back as many as twenty-six generations, ending with the name of a great canoe, one of the brave fleet which sailed away from Hawaiki some six hundred years before.

The immigrants prospered in this new world, the original settlers separated, each family or clan having abundant choice of location, and spread over a good portion of North Island; later they crossed Cook’s Strait to South Island. As the clans grew stronger they came into conflict with each other and war arose with pillage and reprisal. They quickly overcame the weaker Moriori whom they encountered here and there and reduced them to servitude although they seem to have intermarried freely.

Thus they lived and multiplied for several centuries, and developed the surprising art which was in abundant evidence when the first whites came to New Zealand, an art which amazes every visitor to the museums in the New Zealand of the present.

It seems that Abel Tasman was the first European to reach this country, arriving in 1642. He anchored near Tasman Bay in the west coast of South Island where the town of Nelson is now, but he appears to have sailed away without landing. It was not until 127 years later that the famous navigator, Captain Cook, anchored in Poverty Bay, North Island. The natives, however, were suspicious and his attempts to establish contact with them met with no success. He then spent some six months in surveying the entire coast of both North and South Island, and met the natives on various occasions, learning a good deal about them, as a perusal of his published narrative shows. He gave them some pigs which

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ran wild and increased rapidly in numbers, thus providing a valuable meat supply. He also introduced the potato, turnip, cabbage and other useful vegetables and fruits. In 1779 Captain Cook revisited New Zealand, when some of his men got into trouble with the Maoris and killed a number of them, but friendly relations seemed afterwards to have been established. He doubtless could have conquered the whole country by allying himself with some of the more powerful chiefs, but refrained on humanitarian grounds.

There followed a period in which the French attempted to obtain control of this great prize of the South Seas. One of the first of these was Captain Marion du Fresne who, with a number of his men, was treacherously murdered by the Maoris, for which his Lieutenant Crozet inflicted a terrible reprisal, killing a large number of the natives. This misadventure resulted in the French giving up their designs against New Zealand for a time at least.

Ever since the visit of Captain Cook, British whalers had occasionally visited the country. Early in the nineteenth century trade was established between them and the natives, and this resulted in scattered settlements, often founded by the rough and ready sailors of the time. Quarrels, massacres and reprisals marked the history of the early adventurers.

Later came Samuel Marsdan, a missionary, followed by a number of others who, in spite of enormous difficulties, did much to pave the way for a better understanding between the white settlers and the Maoris. By the Peace of 1814 the British obtained recognition of rights of sovereignty in New Zealand.

At one time a ghastly trade in human heads preserved by a sort of smoking process by which they were permanently mummified, was quite flourishing and doubtless was responsible for numerous murders among the Maoris.

The main cause for much of the trouble between the whites and the natives was a mutual misunderstanding regarding the transfer of land. The Maoris, is seems, regarded it as almost unthinkable that they should actually sell their land, and when the whites claimed a purchase the Maoris declared that they had only leased the land to the settlers. It was a long time before these differences were finally adjusted. At one time a tract of forty thousand acres was said to have been purchased from the natives for thirtysix axes! 3

3 See "New Zealand" by Reginald Horsley, p. 123.

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Various schemes for extensive colonization were attempted, but it was not until 1840 that a British governor proclaimed the sovereignty of Queen Victoria over the whole of New Zealand, which was regarded as a sort of dependency administered by the government of Australia. In 1841, however, New Zealand was declared an Independent Colony, and in 1907, by proclamation of King Edward, its status became that of a Dominion.

At present theree are 52,751 Maoris (including half-castes) in New Zealand. Unlike the Fijians they have shown little reluctance about racial admixture with the whites and I was told that there are now very few if any who can claim to be of absolutely pure Maori stock. Hence the race is becoming rapidly assimilated and thus will not be destroyed, but absorbed; a fate surely preferable to extinction which threatens so many of the Polynesian peoples. A number of the Colonials now have more or less Maori blood and are not ashamed of their descent.

Although there have been prolonged wars between the Maoris and the colonists in the past, it seems that a good many of the native tribes were not hostile to the whites, and it is doubtful if there were more than half of them at war with the colonials at any one time. Indeed a considerable portion of them sided with the conquering race on each occasion when war was waged.

Maori political status seems quite satisfactory at present as they are given the ballot and have their own representative in Parliament. Indeed the Hon. Sir M. Pomare, apparently a fullblooded Maori and a strikingly handsome man, is a member of the Executive Council of New Zealand and representative of the native race. This is in accord with the universal practice in the British Colonial possessions and seems to work well. Of course here as elsewhere there have been grievous injustices and sometimes cruelties, in times past, but present relations between the races are entire amicable. There seems to be little of the sharp color line so much emphasized between the black and white races in the United States and so the intermixture of Maoris and whites goes on almost insensibly with little of the unfortunate effect which we associate with the idea. The fact that the Maoris do not wear their original native garb, except for picture post-card purposes, also helps to do away with racial antipathies. The two peoples seem to enter with enthusiasm into the matter of athletic sports, one of the strong points with the British the world over.

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During race week while I was at Christchurch there were several serious accidents, although I heard of no fatal results.

Aquatic sports also attract much attention, especially in the summer time. Canoe races are” said to be very spirited events and the canoe hurdle races are particular exciting. This race involves the taking of the canoes over a hurdle in the shape of a log lying across the course and requires great skill and agility such as delights the active and athletic Maoris. The men run the prow of their canoe as far up on the smooth log or spar as possible, then leap out on the hurdle, drag the canoe over, jump in and paddle away. Of course there are a good many spills which only add to the fun.

Occasionally the Maoris at Rotorua in the thermal region indulge in a “Haki” or old-time dance in native costume, which consists of a dancing skirt reaching from waist to knee. It seems originally to have been a war dance with much brandishing of spears and clubs and loud yelling.

The Governor General, Lord Jellicoe, has greatly enhanced his popularity by his democratic interest in various forms of sport, and mixes freely with his people much to his enjoyment and their satisfaction.

CHAPTER XVI

ORNITHOLOGICAL AND ENTOMOLOGICAL EXPERIENCES IN NEW ZEALAND

Dayton Stoner

Our exodus from tropical Fiji occurred on July 3. After four days on a storm-tossed sea aboard the R. M. S. Makura, where I experienced all the horrible (I believe they are never fatal) vicissitudes of mal-dt-nier, due, in part, to what I termed the “Makurawiggle,” we arrived in the quiet waters of Auckland Harbor, New Zealand, at 4:00 P. M. July 7. After medical inspection and certain other formalities which are always associated with leaving ship, we made our way to lodgings which had been arranged for us in Auckland, a considerable part of which is made up of suburbs meandering between and around hills and old volcanic craters. More than fifty of the latter are in the immediate vicinity. Shortly after our arrival in Auckland, through the kindness of Mr. T. E. Cheeseman, Curator of the Auckland Institute and Museum, and his assistant, Mr. L. T. Griffin, our party was given laboratory space and working quarters as well as library facilities. These courtesies greatly aided our efforts during the three weeks we were in the city. To Mr. Griffin, in particular, I am indebted for many helpful suggestions, for specimens, and for enthusiastic cooperation in other ways.

Also, in addition to the persons specifically mentioned in the succeeding pages, I am under obligation to the following for assistance in one way or another: Mr. Cleland, caretaker at the Auckland Institute and Museum; Mr. W. H. Cobbledick, Forest Service Department, Rotorua; Mr. R. Falla, Devonport; Professor H. B. Kirk, Wellington; Mr. A. W. B. Powell, Auckland; and Mr. D. Miller, Department of Agriculture, Wellington. To Professor H. P. Wickham of the State University of lowa, I am indebted for the determination of certain beetles mentioned in this paper.

With Auckland as a base, excursions w'ere made to various localities for the purpose of collecting birds and insects. In the heart of the city itself, the well-kept Albert Park, with its beauti-

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ful landscape gardens, offered opportunity for ornithological observation and we often went there to take advantage of the warm sunshine and to see the birds.

At one side of the park is a large cement building which houses the excellent library, with reading rooms, lending and childrens’ departments making available its more than 50,000 volumes. The building is inadequately warmed, a single small electric heater affording the warmth for the large reading room; many of the patrons were sitting in their great-coats.

One wing of this building is given over to a display of paintings in oil and water-colors, as well as of documents and articles which have historic interest and value so far as New Zealand is concerned. An unusually fine collection of oil paintings depicting Maori life and famous Maoris is exhibited. One in particular, shows the departure of six outrigger sailing canoes from Rarotonga ; another of the series shows a sick and half-starved member of this band of bold sailors sighting the shores of New Zealand from one of the canoes, thus conveying the impression to the observer that the Maoris originally came from Rarotonga.

In the vicinity of Auckland are numerous small volcanic islands on some of which ancient craters, though long since inactive, remain more or less extant. On July 13, through the courtesy of the Auckland Harbor Board and as guests of the city engineer, Mr. Povey, some of the members of our party enjoyed a launch trip to one of these craters, Mt. Rangitoto, about twelve miles from the city. The island mountain is over 900 feet high. Volcanic scoria is everywhere, old lava flows crumpled and twisted and thrown about make walking difficult. The vegetation is sparse, hard and stunted and of a xerophytic nature; it is but slightly rooted in the small amount of loose soil on the surface and between the lava blocks. Pohutukawas flourish better than any other tree. Neither birds nor insects are plentiful. Of the former only a few white-eyes and fantails greeted us. Opossums, rabbits and wallabies have been introduced from Australia and appear to thrive. At the side of the trail I came sufficiently close to one of these wallabies (Petrogale penicillata ) to secure a photograph at fifteen feet.

At the summit of the crater, a magnificent view of Auckland, Auckland Harbor, Hauraki Gulf and the island of Moto Tapu was displayed before us. The old crater itself, two hundred feet deep, with precipitous, bracken-covered sides and a very symmetrical

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rim almost a half-mile in circumference, gave evidence of the mighty upheaval which had occurred in past ages. It was very cold and windy at the summit and w T e did not tarry there long.

Near Auckland one of the most interesting places in which to collect insects was a hilly preserve of 217 acres known as “The Domain” in which both native and introduced trees abound. Among the latter are many oaks whose fallen leaves covered the ground thickly. But for the green native trees and tree ferns we might have thought ourselves enjoying the late October days in Iowa. Numerous trails lead here and there through the harsh grasses. Rotten logs and stumps offer retreat for many kinds of insects. The ground is always moist in the denser parts of the preserve.

Another day I visited Mt. Eden and One Tree Hill, two volcanic craters near Auckland; both are maintained as preserves. The former is about five hundred feet high and from its summit a fine view of the city, harbor and surroundings is presented. Its very symmetrical crater is about five hundred feet across, one hundred fifty feet deep, and the grassy sides are very steep. We climbed and slid down into this ancient pit, the bottom of which is covered with scoria and “bombs,” some of which we overturned in search of terrestrial arthropods; millipedes, centipedes and spiders were common.

One Tree Hill, some two miles away, bears on its crest not a single tree as its name suggests, but five trees. A series of broad grassy terraces leads to the summit from which an excellent view of the surrounding country may be obtained. Here also is buried the donor of this preserve, Sir John Logan Campbell, who died June 22, 1912. His grave is covered by a marble slab and surrounded by an iron fence. Although the crater is larger than the one at Mt. Eden it is not so symmetrical. At one side, a deep flat valley leads away from it as if the ancient lava flow might have occurred there.

Never have I seen earth phenomena better illustrated than in these two huge craters and their surroundings; terraces, valleys, slight depressions, great flat tables, scoria, bombs, —all give evidence of the mighty activities of vuleanism.

Triangulation stations have been erecctd on the summits of many of these old craters.

Still another point of interest and a plaee where we found good collecting was Kauri Gully, a forest preserve of sixty acres, across

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the bay from Auckland, near Northcote, one of its suburbs. The region is very hilly. An exceedingly profuse growth of vegetation excludes sunlight in many places, and in such shaded situations the ground is continually moist. Tree ferns and bracken grow luxuriantly; conifers and hardwoods are common; here we saw some fine examples of the famous New Zealand kauri trees. Indeed, the home of the kauri is a little farther north in the Auckland Provincial District. A beautiful clear stream flows through the Gully and offers suitable habitats for various kinds of aquatic and semi-aquatic insects and other forms of animal life.

Onehunga, a suburb of Auckland, forty-five minutes by tram from the heart of the city, lies at the head of Manukau Harbor on the west coast. North Island at this point is but a mile in width. Extensive beaches and mud flats here offer suitable habitats for many kinds of shore birds. On our return to Auckland by tram I was interested in a placard which I saw advertising for sale a bit of real estate; it had a distinctly ornithological tone and read as follows: ‘ ‘ This lot for sale: See Gosling and Fowler. ’ ’

A trip on the government-owned narrow gauge railroad to Helensville, thirty-eight miles north of Auckland, proved profitable. The hot sulphur springs located there are attractive to those afflicted with rheumatism and kindred ailments. Much of the country is low, boggy grazing land. We saw many fine herds of dairy cattle, and cooperative creameries seem to flourish in the region. Birds which are more characteristic of open country are found here, such as the New Zealand quail and pipit; it was here also that I first encountered the far-famed European skylark which has been introduced into the Dominion.

Previous to our arrival in the Dominion we had made an effort to secure a Government permit to collect birds for the Zoological Museum at the University of Iowa; however, owing to the unusually rigorous and strictly enforced laws relating to the protection and conservation of New Zealand birds, considerable difficulty was experienced in obtaining official permission to take them. After some correspondence with the Minister of Internal Affairs, the matter of granting a permit was delegated to the Dominion Museum at Wellington through whose offices a perfectly amicable and satisfactory arrangement was consummated. While I personally was never actually given a permit to kill birds, the Dominion Museum sent one of its staff, Mr. Harold Hamilton, who was furnished with such a document, to accompany me wherever I might

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wish to go and to assist me in taking, with a few restrictions, whatever birds I desired. This was a most generous and gracious concession and I found Mr. Hamilton a very enjoyable and skillful field companion; a large measure of whatever success came to me in collecting birds during the two weeks that we spent together was due to his efforts.

Before undertaking any active collecting it was necessary to register my shotgun, an Iver Johnson, 410 gauge, No. 85921, Fitchburg, Mass., with the police in Auckland. Incidentally I may say that this little gun most happily surprised me with its excellent shooting qualities.

After about three weeks in and about Auckland. Mrs. Stoncr, Mr. Hamilton and I boarded the train for Rotorua, in the heart oC the thermal district, 170 miles to the southeast. Rotorua, a town of some two thousand inhabitants, exclusive of the tourists, is principally a summer resort famous for the curative properties of its hot springs and mud baths, most of which are under government supervision. It is one thousand feet above sea level and we found the temperature even lower here than at Auckland; the lowest record during our stay of four days was 18° F. Home of the baths bear peculiar and more or less attractive names; before leaving the region I enjoyed a plunge in the "Duchess" bath, which at a temperature of 99° F. gave me a most comfortable even though fleeting feeling of warmth.

Immediately upon his arrival at Rotorua the visitor is greeted by evidences of thermal and volcanic activity. Strong sulphurous fumes are particularly noticeable and from time to time various areas toward the outskirts of the town are enshrouded by escaping steam from the hot springs. All the streets are paved with a fine white volcanic ash. The minute particles are very irritating to one’s eyes as they are blown about by the winds.

From Rotorua as a base we made two exceedingly productive side trips to collect birds and insects. Through the courtesy of Mr. D. W. Morehouse, the Government Fish Agent, who tendered the use of his six-cylinder Buick touring ear, we were able to visit Lake Roto Ehu twenty-three miles northeast of Rotorua. A rough and tortuous road led us through the villages of Tikitere and Roto Iti to some fine native bush known as Hongi’s Track at the south end of Lake Roto Iti. Most of the trees are remu, thickly intertwined with the tough, pliant stems of supple-jack. En route we passed boiling springs and hot lakes; several times we stopped to

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

look for birds and insects; at one halt we shot a bell bird which was feeding on the reddish-brown berries of a shrubby tree (Panax sp.). In the dense bush, fantails were common and very tame, allowing one to approach within three or four feet of them. Small flocks of tuias or parson-birds were seen in the tops of the tall trees. Tomtits, silver-eyes and gray warblers were fairly common. A shot was taken at a morepork owl but the bird escaped.

The Mamaku bush, seventeen miles northwest of Rotorua by rail, and 1885 feet above sea level, afforded the best example I saw of a typical New Zealand forest. Magnificent miro, tawa and remu trees, many of them over a hundred feet high and covered with mosses and lichens, were being cut down by expert choppers. Remu wood is much in demand for building purposes in the colony, and tawa proves to be valuable for butter boxes since it imparts no odor to the butter.

After a tree is felled, one or two men trim it up and cut away the surrounding small trees and brush. The huge log is then “snaked out” to the logging train a half-mile away by a donkeyengine. Considerable ingenuity is demanded on the part of the woodsmen in meeting new situations which arise in dragging out the logs. It is unfortunate that so much of the finest woods in the Dominion is being thus sacrificed to commercial enterprise.

Naturally, one expects to find birds plentiful in such a region. Silver-eyes, white-heads, tomtits and fantails are abundant and tame. Mr. Hamilton captured one silver-eye in his hand. Our Rest finds of the day were a wood pigeon and the rare North Island robin.

Toward the northwest side of Rotorua, and facing Lake Rotorua, is the picturesque native village of Ohinemutu. Here, a great deal of the old Maori life survives. Most of the houses are painted red and have galvanized iron roofs. Many of the lintels, cornices and fronts of the houses are elaborately carved with the characteristic scroll-like figures so common in Maori art.

Two fine examples of Maori handiwork are the historic meeting house, Tama-te-Kapua, and the near-by artistic and partly reconstructed Anglican church with its surrounding burial ground. At the meeting house a native “Tangi” was going on. After a death has occurred in a family it is the custom among the Maoris for the friends and relatives of the deceased to congregate for a period of mutual condolence and sorrow, expressed by loud wailing and moaning; sometimes these tangis last for several hours,

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the mourners sitting or standing as they choose; after a longer or shorter period of mourning a feast takes place. This particular tangi was well under way when we entered the village; it continued during our stay of over an hour and lasted for I know not how long after our departure. We found that it was being held in honor of some relative who had died more than a year previously.

At numerous places in the village hot and boiling water continually issues from the ground and flows into Lake Rotorua. The Maoris have taken advantage of some of these boiling pools and have placed boxes and barrels in the sand around them; by covering these over with gunny sacks or tarpaulins, natural steam cookers are had right at their doors. Here and there at the margins of the hot pools may be seen the unmistakable signs of feathers from domestic fowls; plucking and broiling are accomplished at the same cooker.

Another tribe of Maoris lives at the village of Whakarewarewa, locally known as ''Whaka," two miles south of Rotorua. Here also mist, steam and sulphurous fumes fill the air; mud geysers, smoke-pots and paint-pots contribute to the malodorous condition of the region. Great geysers formerly played here, one of them to a height of 1500 feet, but only their miniatures now remain to perform to a height of ten or fifteen feet. Some of the geysers have been "soaped to death," great quantities of soap having been poured into them at one time and another, to force them to play on special occasions.

Remnants of the old geysers, notable among which was Wairoa geyser, now consist solely of great white or pinkish terraces discolored by the sulphurous fumes which issue from the boiling and gurgling waters far beneath. In some places the rocks are hot while two feet away they may be cold. It would be interesting. although perhaps somewhat alarming, to know what is taking place in the earth under Whaka.

One evening we attended a Maori concert of twenty numbers made up largely of singing and dancing supervised by Guide Georgina, one of the twin sisters whom we had met the day before at Whaka where they were acting as guides. Both these women had been in San Francisco at the time of the World's Fair there; they could speak English fairly well and when not dressed in native costume could wear the silk dresses and high-heeled shoes of

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America and Europe with as good grace as any belle of either country.

The dancing was done by both men and women in native costume and consisted of the "Haka" or war dance with some variations. The performance was accompanied by queer facial grimaces and much yelling. The graceful "Poi dance" was performed entirely by women to the accompaniment of vocal and instrumental music. The pois are ovate bags about three inches in diameter and covered with the bark of raupo, a kind of native reed or rush. The dancers hold a poi in each hand by a plaited raupo cord and tap them together or against the back or palm of the hand in fime to the music. Encores were freely given even though the theatre was very cold and we sat in blankets and overcoats.

Our schedule called for departure from Rotorua on the afternoon of July 31 and, accordingly, we booked passage for Wellington, 275 miles to the south, on the Xew Zealand Government Railways.

These railroads are narrow-gauge with small but very powerful engines which draw express trains from Auckland to Wellington, a distance of 426 miles, in sixteen hours. New Zealand railroad crossings bear the sign, "Look out for the Engine," which is. it seems to me, more appropriate than our own well-known warning legend. Both first class and second class accommodations may be had. First class fare is a little more than four cents per mile. The carriages are fairly comfortable but are cold in winter since they lack proper heating facilities. Accessory heating appliances in the form of rectangular metal containers for sodium salycilate which have been warmed by immersion in boiling water are distributed in the carriages farthest from the engine.

The names of the stations are not called and passengers know of their arrival at the proper destination only from the lingo yellows-lettered signs on the station platforms. About eleven o'clock the train stops at some station where passengers as well as train hands indulge in morning tea; afternoon tea may be hail at Ihe proper time as well. Good food is to be obtained at certain stations along the line from a well organized system of restaurants.

The sleeping carriages are divided into compartments with two or four berths placed crosswise in the ear; mattresses are not furnished. On cold nights the porter comes through the train making inquiry as to the number of passengers who wish hoi water-bottles for additional warmth.

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Many of the experiences on the trip were new to us but they afforded a good idea of certain habits and customs of the people and we should have missed much without them.

Wellington, the capital of the Dominion, is a lively city where the homes of more than 90,000 people are distributed over the steep hills that encircle the harbor. These windy heights rising from five to six hundred feet above the sea have earned for the city the sobriquet, “Windy Wellington.” The deep and almost completely land-locked harbor is visited by ocean-going steamers more frequently than any other in the Colony. Great ocean liners can dock within three hundred yards of the General Post Office.

One of the finest buildings in Wellington and one of which New Zealand is justly proud is the new, steam-heated Parliament Building constructed of New Zealand marble. It occupies a commanding position near the business part of the city. We were privileged, on several occasions, to attend sessions of the House, and to hear discussions not unlike those which occur in our own House of Representatives at Washington, D.C.

Shortly after our arrival in Wellington, Mrs. Stoner and I found satisfactory lodgings at Caulfield House, a select boarding house near the Parliament Building. A number of the members of Parliament resided there while that legislative body was in session, and it was our privilege to enjoy the acquaintance of some of them.

One of the interesting persons whom we met at this place was Mr. Hector Macquarrie, the author of “Tahiti Days.” Mr. Macquarrie was in New Zealand for the purpose of securing material and local color for another volume.

Through the courtesy of the Acting Director of the Dominion Museum, Mr. J. McDonald, laboratory and desk space were given our party in that building. Besides Mr. Hamilton, several other members of the museum staff aided me by giving suggestions, advice, and in collecting specimens. Not the least of Mr. Hamilton’s efforts were directed toward conveying me to collecting grounds and other places of interest on his American-made “Indian” motorcycle equipped with side-car.

Mrs. Stoner and I spent two weeks in Wellington but I was able to occupy only half the time to advantage owing to illness. However, before I was compelled to take to my bed with an attack of jaundice, superinduced by a hard cold which I contracted just a week before we were to sail from New Zealand, I enjoyed several

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collecting and observation trips to points about the city and surrounding country.

One day, in company with Messrs. J. G. Myers and E. H. Atkinson of the Government Biological Laboratory, Mr. W. R. B. Oliver of the Dominion Museum and Professor Wylie, I visited the “rain forest” in Gollins Valley.

After a heavy up-hill climb from the beach at Rona Bay, we descended into the Valley, following a little stream. The ground was wet and muddy. Again, remu, tawa, rata, beech and tree ferns predominated. Birds were not so plentiful as in the bush farther north, although for the most part, the same species were represented. Mt. Marshall, fifteen miles away, could be made out as it reared its snow-capped peak fifteen thousand feet above sea level.

One of the most enjoyable trips which I made from Wellington included a visit to the well-kept zoological park.

“A twenty-five minute ride on the tramcar through Newtown brings one to the zoological park, a preserve of seventy and onehalf acres where the natural conditions have been modified as little as is consistent with the safe keeping of the many forms of animal life contained therein. Trees, flowers and miscellaneous vegetation, streams and ponds and other natural topographic features, even the hills themselves, are utilized to the greatest degree in working out the arrangement and construction of dens, paddocks and other details connected with the proper housing of the animals.

“Ponds have been constructed for the aquatic birds and mammals; hilly fields have been enclosed for the Himalayan goats, Indian swamp buffalo and other ungulates; cages have been built along the banks for lions, tigers and other carnivors; the everattractive monkey and bird houses are set in the open near the entrance to the park and away from the trees where the sun may reach them.

“The park is maintained partly through taxation and partly through fees which are collected at the gate on certain days; on other days admissioin to the park is free. Numerous helpers are employed and a curator, skilled in the handling and care of mammals, birds and reptiles is in constant attendance.

“Naturally enough, many Australian species of birds and marsupials are on exhibition. One of the finest appearing and liveliest members of the lot, a dingo or wild dog was offered me by

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Mr. Langdridge, the keeper, if I would pay its transportation to America. Unfortunately I was obliged to refuse the proffered gift.

“One of the most interesting features of the park is a series of eighteen terraria and aquaria which have been built into one side of a hill, walled completely over with brick and fitted with glass fronts so that the occupants may be viewed by the frequent visitors at this popular resort. Here are exhibited many kinds of fish and some turtles and lizards. Among the latter are two living tuataras. These animals form a link between the ancient saurians and modern reptiles and are the only species in the order. They are indigenous to New Zealand where the few remaining individuals occupy a number of rocky islets near the main land. The tuatara now receives government protection and it is unlawful to take a specimen without special permission from the Minister of Internal Affairs.

"A large cage is given over to the parrots and their allies among which are several species of cockatoos; one individual has the habit of greeting approaching visitors with its guttural 'Hello.' In the cage also are examples of the remarkable New Zealand kca or mountain parrot which, under natural conditions, has departed from an insect and fruit diet and has acquired the depraved habit of feeding upon the kidney fat of living sheep. . .

"Another large enclosure is given over to the kiwi or apteryx. . . . Examples of the morepork, the native owl, and of the pukeko which is allied to the extinct Notornis are also to be found in the park as well as other singular and unusual birds, some of which have become much reduced in numbers.

"Altogether, an exceedingly interesting assemblage of animals is contained in this reserve and Wellington is to be congratulated in its effort to uphold and foster an interest in the animal life of the Dominion. Such effort along lines of conservation and education is to be commended most heartily and many cities in our own country could profit by this example in the distant south seas." 1

BIRDS

The following items which characterize the New Zealand avi fauna are worthy of consideration.

1. Both in point of number of species and comparative abus

i Stoner, Dayton, A Zoological Park in New Zealand, Proceedings lowa Academy of Science, XXX, 143-145, 1924.

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dance of individuals, New Zealand is far ahead of Fiji so far as birds are concerned. About two hundred and thirty forms have been recorded from the Dominion and surrounding seas. A relatively large proportion of these is maritime.

In all the seas adjacent to New Zealand, petrels, gulls, penguins and their allies form a conspicuous part of the avifauna making up approximately one-third the total number of species represented.

2. The affinities of New Zealand birds seem to lie with the Antarctic and South American forms. Perhaps former land connections permitted ready access of birds between what are now widely separated land areas. It is a well-known fact that a large number of the maritime birds of the Dominion are closely related to present-day Antarctic species. May it not be true, also, that Malaya has contributed something toward the development of this peculiar bird fauna as exhibited by the moas and their descendants?

3. A large proportion of the genera in both Carinate and Ratitffi are peculiar to New Zealand. Of the approximately seventy genera recognized, thirty are endemic.

4. The small number of raptorial birds —only a half-dozen species—is here again brought to one’s attention. During my stay in the colony I observed only four or five hawks and but a single example of the curious morepork owl (Spiloglaux novce-zealandiw).

5. Woodpeckers (Pici) are lacking and the visitor is rather amazed to find that native sparrows (Fringillid®) are also entirely absent. The several representatives of this family which do occur here have all been introduced.

G. Few species of migratory birds occur in New Zealand. Extended migrations are the exception rather than the rule among the birds of the Dominion, and most species may be classed as permanent residents. One of the most notable of these migrants is the godwit (Limosa nova-zealandim) which frequents the coasts of North Island. During June and July it breeds in Eastern Siberia, then crossing wide expanses of land and sea. arrives in New Zealand in November and December, not to leave until the following April. The regularity and periodicity of this migratory movement is remarkable.

7. The present existence of the flightless kiwi or apteryx (Apteryx sp.) which has been designated as "the most, un-bird-like of feathered creatures." is worthy of special mention. At one time twenty-three species of flightless birds existed in New

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Zealand but all have now become extinct except the apteryx, of which only four or five forms are generally recognized.

8. The former existence of gigantic and flightless moas, of which perhaps nine or ten species occurred, is one of the outstanding features of New Zealand ornithology. “About three or four hundred years ago a group of large flightless birds, some as much as ten to eleven feet high, roamed over the volcanic hills of this land. The aborigines of the country pursued these great moas, as they were called, destroying them for food and perhaps also making use of some other parts of the body. So persistently were these giant birds persecuted that to-day not one exists and we know of them only through legends and the remains that have been found. However, their miniatures, in certain respects, are represented in the present fauna of the islands by the vanishing kiwi.” 2

A unique and interesting feature in connection with the flightless birds of the Dominion is illustrated by the fact that while the subclass Ratitas contains some forty species of modern birds included in five orders, two of these orders, Apteryges and Dinornithes, contain more than one-half of the species belonging to the subclass and are absolutely confined to New Zealand.

9. There is present a considerable number of introduced forms, principally from Europe and Australia, and most of them seem to be very successful in maintaining themselves.

Since a goodly number of birds can not be observed without more time and better facilities than I had at my disposal, I shall refer only to the commoner and most conspicuous forms on the island and adjacent seas and shall confine myself to a detailed account of but one or two collecting trips.

As the steamer approaches Auckland great numbers of redbilled gulls (Larus scopulinus) and black-backed gulls ( Lotus dominicanus) follow the vessel looking for any waste food that may be thrown overboard. The water about the wharf and the roofs of the wharf-buildings themselves are often thickly dotted with these birds, particularly the former species. Occasionally it goes inland for some distance, visiting parks and other places where food may be had. Such inland visits are said to immediately precede a rainy period.

Immediately upon landing in Auckland I was surprised and interested to find an old friend, or enemy, the übiquituous, saucy,

• Stoner, Dayton, The Bcientinc Monthly, XVII, No. 2, 182, 1923.

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belligerent and adaptive European house sparrow, Passer domesticus. It is present in some numbers and looks for all the world like lowa examples of the species. While its presence is not confined to the cities it is, I believe, more common there than in the country districts.

Another introduced form which I came upon frequently in and about Auckland, in the bush at Rotorua and again in the vicinity of Wellington, was the Australian yellow-hammer. This yellowish, sparrow-like bird is fairly common.

Among other introduced forms should be mentioned the European starling (Stwrnus vulgaris) the mynah ( Acridotheres tristis) and the European skylark {Alaiula arvensis). The latter was found commonly in open, grassy fields about Helensville and Onehunga, a suburb of Auckland. Its oft-described, characteristic method of rising from the ground and flying in a circle uttering the while a delicate continuous trill or warble is a never-failing source of delight. The only other bird with which it might be confused is the native pipit (Anthm nova-zealandim) which occurs in the same situations and, with its streaked brownish plumage and white outer tail feathers, reminds me of our vesper sparrow.

Regarding the further importation of birds into New Zealand, Mir. J. G. Myers, a very active member of the Biology Division of the Dominion Department of Agriculture, and a gentleman whom it is a pleasure to know personally, makes the following comment: "Of the 130 species of foreign birds brought to New Zealand by private or official effort, only twenty-six have become thoroughly established in any considerable area. Of these, some, among which are numbered most of the more destructive species, are so nearly übiquitous that their ultimate survival seems assured ; while others are present in such small numbers, or inhabit such restricted areas that, were it not for fresh importations, they would probably die out altogether." 3

Some time after arriving in New Zealand I went on a three days' collecting trip among the coastal bays and islands near Cowe's Bay, twenty-five miles north of Auckland. As is the case in such situations everywhere within a radius of fifty miles of Auckland, the black-fronted tern (Sterna albistriata) is common and breeds. Here, too, I encountered another well known and

3 New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology, VI, No. 1, 40 1923.

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widely distributed member of the Larin®, the New Zealand Caspian tern ( Sterna caspia oliveri ) which differs but slightly from our own caspia.

In the rocky bays and coves both the black shag ( Garbo c. steadi) and the more abundant pied shag ( Hypoleucus v. varius) breed. The mating season of the latter had just begun (July 23). These birds nest in colonies, usually on the branches of pahutokawa trees overhanging the water, and in such places scores of them could be seen engaging in various types of mating antics. This trip also included a visit to Gannet Island, a small bit of coastal volcanic rock of perhaps 12,500 square yards area where several pairs of New Zealand gannets {Sula serrator ) had built or were building their crude nests on the bare and precipitous slopes.

Only a half dozen forms of Anseres are recorded for the Dominion, of which the brown duck (Elasmoneita cMorotis) is the most common. I saw scores of individuals on Lake Rotorua, a considerable body of fresh water 170 miles southeast of Auckland. The grey duck (Anas supcrciliosa) and the New Zealand shoveller (Spatula rhynclwtis) occur not infrequently, the latter often in ;i semi-domesticated condition.

Of the existing Paludicolte the most notable is the beautiful blue pukeko (Porphyrio melanonotus). In general appearance it is something like our purple gallinule but larger; it is not uncommon in marshy places. Certain recent observations seem to confirm the belief that the endemic notornis (Notornis hochstettcri), which has been thought to be extinct, may still exist in at least one remote part of the Dominion.

Although comparatively few migratory birds occur in New Zealand it is among the members of the order Limieola? that the Largest number of migratory forms is found. It is interesting to note that North America is included in the range of the following: knot. (Tringa canutus), turnstone (Arenaria mterpres), golden plover {Oharadrius dominicus) and the red phalarope (Phalaropus fvlicarius). I did not see any of these, the only representative of the order which T was privileged to view being the oystercatcher (Hcemaiopus wnicolor) along the shores near Onehunga. Of Columbiformes, the only representative which occurs in the nonunion is the Xew Zealand pigeon (Hemiphaga nova-zealan-dm) now confined to the mure isolated and inaccessible bush. It is very shy and keeps well to the tops of the tall trees.

[ saw only four or five examples of raptorial birds during my

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five weeks’ stay in North Island. In the dense and little frequented bush about Roto Bhu one example of the curious morepork owl (Spiloglaux novce-zealandice) was surprised by our collecting party. This bird is about twelve inches in length, strictly nocturnal and during the day usually retires to the thick bush. At night it conies out to feed on mice, rats, insects and other small nocturnal animals.

Several interesting representatives of the Psittaei occur in the Dominion although they, too, have been forced to the back country and remnants of native bush. Perhaps the best known form is the kea (Nestor iwtabilis) which has acquired a taste for the kidney fat of sheep. It boldly attacks lambs and even adult sheep with its sharp, curved beak and strong claws, often injuring or even killing these animals. On this account a continuous warfare has been waged against it until the species is now found only in the more inaccessible mountainous districts of South Island. The Government has aided in the destruction of the kea by offering a bounty of two shillings for each bird killed. Captive individuals may be seen in some of the zoological parks. I was permitted to photograph those in the park at Wellington. The peculiar kakapo {Stringops habroptilus) , sole representative of the family, has been much reduced in numbers and is now seldom seen.

The commonest member of the Coccyges is the New Zealand kingfisher (Halcyon vagans) which is much like the Fijian form. Two cuckoos, both of which are migratory, occur in New Zealand. The shining cuckoo (Lamprococcyx lucidus) winters in noil hern Australia and New Guinea and arrives in New Zealand for She summer about October; the long-tailed cuckoo (Urodynamis lath usis) winters in islands to the north.

Only about forty species of passerine birds occur in the Dominion of which less than a dozen can be considered common, Some are peculiar to the region.

I suppose that the active and beautiful little white-eye (Zostcrops lateralis) is the most abundant native land bird in New Zealand. Since first appearing in the country near Wellington in 1856 it has spread over both islands and has proved so valuable as an insect destroyer that it has become a great favorite. It frequents gardens, orchards and other cultivated areas, generally in flocks of some size. In the deep woods of the Mamaku bush, near Rotorua and Wellington, as well as in the Domain at Auckland, and even in Albert Park in the center of the latter city,

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this active and energetic bird with its olive-green head and tail, gray back and pale under parts and the ring of white feathers around the eye is of never-failing interest to the ornithologist.

The smallest and one of the most peculiar birds of the island is the rifleman ( Acanthidositta Moris), a shy and active arboreal bird only three inches long, possessing some of the habits and appearance, except for color, of our winter wren. It is found only in the denser beech forests where it runs up the trunks of trees in a spiral manner something like a creeper. I saw this bird only in Gollins Valley near Wellington.

The family Meliphagidae is represented by five species, two of which, the tui or parson bird {Prosthemadera novcE-zealandue) and the bell bird ( Anthornis melanura) are the sweetest songsters in the New Zealand forests. The parson bird, so called because of the shining black plumage, and in the male, the presence of two fluffy feathers depending from the throat, possesses a clear, flutelike note and has considerable, imitative ability. It is fairly plentiful in the less frequented and wooded portions of the Dominion. During the course of an afternoon I came upon several small flocks high up in the trees near Lake Roto Ehu. The bell bird has a great variety of sweet, musical notes, one series of which is responsible for the common name. This bird, too, is a lover of the more remote forested areas.

One of the rarest birds in New Zealand is a muscicapid known as the North Island robin ( Miro longipes), a blackish bird about 5 y 2 inches in length and in general appearance quite unlike our own robin. It was my good fortune to see three individuals of this species in the Mamaku bush and Mr. Hamilton, a colonial, who had done a great deal of collecting in the Dominion, also had at this time, his first view of the species in the flesh. They are quiet birds keeping close to the ground where they feed upon grubs and insects.

The family Muscicapidse boasts of three commoner representatives, the tomtit (Myiomoira ioitoi). the grey warbler (Maorigerygone igata), and the pied fantail (Rhipidura flabellifera). All of these are more or less familiar in cultivated areas where, on account of their almost exclusively insectivorous diet, they are highly beneficial.

The fantail with something of the habits of the swallows, which latter are altogether absent in the Dominion, takes their place largely as destroyers of insect pests. Among low. shrubby bushes

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along the outskirts of the forests and in cleared areas therein, this tame and familiar bird flits about with broadly expanded tail in search of flying insects. Although often found in pairs, numbers of the birds usually frequent wooded areas and I have often called several of them close to me by rapidly kissing the back of my hand to which sound they respond as readily as does our chickadee or tufted titmouse.

“Long may the Pied Fantail thrive and prosper, in the face of cats, owls, naturalists, and the whole race of depredators; for without it our w r oods would lack one of their prettiest attractions, and our fauna its gentlest representative.” 4

The tit, a small black and white bird (about five inches), with a much shorter tail, frequents wooded areas also. However, it feeds in a different manner from the fantail in that it flits quickly from perch to perch, resting for an instant, then darts quickly to the ground or trunk of a tree where it feeds principally on small insects and their larvae.

The plain-plumaged grey warbler (four and one-half inches) frequents gardens, parks and forests indiscriminately, though it has become markedly adapted to conditions of settled areas.

It is of interest to conservationists to know that all the native land birds and most of the above-mentioned water birds except the shags have been placed on the protected list by the Dominion Government. And very rigid protection these birds receive, for even permission to take specimens for scientific purposes is seldom granted either to visiting or local scientists. Hunting areas are much restricted, all firearms must be registered with the police and other precautions are taken in an effort to give the birds a chance for their lives.

In an attempt to protect and preserve the rarer native birds the Government has set aside certain off-shore islands and mainland reserves as sanctuaries where birds may breed more or less undisturbed. Little Barrier Island in Hauraki Gulf (North Island), Resolution Island southwest of South Island, the National Park in Otago (South Island) are examples of this type. One of the reasons for the effectiveness of these sanctuaries is their inaccessibility. In a conversation with one of the scientists of the Dominion he said that he had attempted a landing at Little Barrier on three different occasions within a year and was unsuccessful

* Buller, W. L. A History of the Birds of New Zealand, 145, 1873.

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each time. On a smaller scale may be mentioned the Domain at Auckland, a partly native preserve of two hundred seventeen acres and Wilton’s Bush at Wellington, a beautiful preserve of some sixty acres where almost natural conditions have been allowed to prevail.

A number of the endemic birds of New Zealand have become extinct within comparatively recent times, witness the moas (Dinornis sp.). Others including the huia {Neomorpha acutirostris), the blue-wattled crow ( Callaas wilsoni) , saddle-back (Creadion carunculatus) and apteryx ( Apteryx mantelli) have been much reduced in numbers. Of these I was privileged to view only the latter, in captivity at the Wellington Zoological Park.

“Only a few of these birds are left in the hills and more or less inaccessible bush of North Island, South Island, and Stewart Island. Of late an endeavor has been made to protect the species all over the Dominion and efforts toward conservation are being effected. Some of the zoological parks are so fortunate as to possess a specimen or two, the individual described in this article being, at the present moment, a captive in the well-kept park at Wellington. It is an example of the North Island kiwi, Apteryx mantelli.

"One morning, in company with the keeper and Mr. Harold Hamilton of the Dominion Jluseum staff, I visited the portion of the park reserved for this curious bird. Along one side of the low shaded enclosure flowed a small creek; near the middle of the area was a heap of sticks and brush, but nowhere was the kiwi to be seen. Entering the wire-netted compound and kicking at the pile of sticks the rather bedraggled and forlorn appearing occupant was soon dislodged and with reluctant and awkward gait it made off toward a shady comer, where it remained for a time quite motionless and apparently dazed by the bright rays of the sun.

"One is at once struck by the strange appearance of this tailless and all but wingless creature. It is about the size of a domestic fowl; it has a rounded and compact body; the neck is short, but the bill is long and slender; the legs are short and powerful. Add to this the much reduced wing, totally useless as an organ of flight, and the body covering of long, "stringy," hair-like feathers of a brownish or grayish-brown east and the appearance of this singular bird is rendered s.ill more tin-bird-like. Indeed the North Island kiwi can scarcely be considered beautiful.

PLATE XLVII

Some New Zealand l.irtls ( S.-e page 269) Penpatiu (See lmce 276) (After Sedgwick) Ne« Zealand weeyila, male and female (See pace 2SO) Weta, a strange New Zealand insect (See page 278)

Gymnosperm toreat near Ohakune, New Zealand (See pagi Gymnosperm rorest, after lumbering (See page 291) (Photoa b] W'ylie)

PLATE XLVIII

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326

"The kiwi may truthfully be said to have the longest 'nose' of any known bird, for the slit-like, vent rally placed nostrils are located near the Up of the six-inch, semi-cylindrical bill, a condition which prevails in no other bird. Numerous stiff, bristlelike feathers cover the face and base of the bill.

"The lower leg is covered with irregular, horny scales, and the three long, strong front toes are furnished with heavy, sharplypointed claws. A small first or hind toe is also present. "When handled, our zoological park kiwi showed resentment by hissing and kicking— not backward as much as forward—and with sufficient force to cut one's flesh deeply. It offered no resistance with the formidable-looking bill.

"Kiwis are hardy, nocturnal birds which hide in holes or dark places during the day and come out at night to feed mainly upon earthworms and also, to some extent, upon vegetable material.

"Under natural conditions a hole in a bank or under the roots of a tree is chosen as a nesting site and, in a burrow, partly natural, partly excavated by the female, the one or perhaps two white eggs are laid. In proportion to its size the kiwi lays the largest egg of any living bird, a female twenty-five inches in length producing an egg five inches long and three inches broad. The birds will breed in captivity, the individual under discussion having laid eggs which, unfortunately, were destroyed before hatching by the flood waters of the adjacent stream.

"Contrary to the general rule among birds, the male incubates the eggs and after a period of about six weeks the helpless young are hatched. They acquire strength rapidly and in a few days are able to join the parents in searching for food.

"A very well-executed habitat group, showing one egg, three young and four adults of the North Island kiwi, is exhibited in the Auckland Institute and Museum.

"It is to be hoped that such satisfactory protective measures for the kiwi may be taken by the New Zealand government that it will be in no danger of the fate that has befallen its even more remarkable precursors, the moas. " 5

Except for man's interference, in the way of reckless slaughter which has now been curtailed, and the cutting down of a great deal of the native bush which has resulted in a diminution of the

= Stoner, Dayton. A Flightless New Zealand Bird, The Scientific Monthly XVII, No. 2, 182-184, 1923. •

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number of safe retreats, I know of no good reason why most birds should not flourish in New Zealand. Mongooses, snakes, and native carnivorous mammals are all absent. Pigs, weasels, rats, and stoats have been introduced and while they cause some loss among the bird population, various agencies contribute toward holding them in cheek.

Due to protective measures, it is possible that at least some of the birds will “come back.” New Zealand has learned her lesson. Conservation is now the watchword, and laudable efforts are being made to inform and educate the people along these lines. The Dominion is still entitled to be called, “The most interesting ornithological province in the world.”

TERRESTRIAL ARTHROPODS

In conformity with the plan which has been followed in discussing the terrestrial arthropods of Fiji, it may be appropriate here to enumerate some of the general characteristics of the New Zealand forms, along with certain items pertaining to their habits and occurrence as well as our experiences in taking a number of the more striking and interesting members. Since North Island is much larger than Yitilevu and possesses an abundant and varied fauna, a correspondingly greater part of it must be omitted from this discussion owing to the physical impossibility of becoming acquainted with much of it in the four working weeks I enjoyed in the Dominion.

From an entomological standpoint, our visit to New Zealand was ill-timed, for July and August are the mid-winter months there and many of the insects are in hibernation at that season. It was only on the warm, sunny days when they were flying that we enjoyed any success in sweeping the vegetation; even then our catches were confined to the smaller and less conspicuous forms. Most of our specimens were taken by turning over stones, logs and leaves and by digging into the earth and decaying down timber.

With respect to the affinities of New Zealand insects, it seems likely that the North Island fauna has been derived largely from that of the South Island, for often only subspecific differences obtain in forms found on the two islands. Possibly the South Island fauna has been derived, in turn, either wholly or in part, from South America and Australia; at any rate, as a general proposition, it seems to be of a more primitive type than the North Island fauna.

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Proportionately, a considerable number of exotic forms of terrestrial arthropods are found in New Zealand, more than two hundred species of European and Australian origin having been introduced into the Dominion at one time and another. A fair number of cosmopolitan species is also present. Since several of the New Zealand cities are ports of call for ships from all parts of the world, it is probable that the vessels and their contents are disseminators of many kinds of insect life in spite of the precautions taken to prevent it.

"If we review the noxious insect fauna of New Zealand it will be found that of the approximate total of species already recorded, the indigenous element equals only eighteen per cent. The countries of origin of the exotic eighty-two per cent, are Europe, Australia, North America, Pacific islands and South Africa. The European element is by far the most prominent, making up about sixty-eight per cent.; of the others, the Australian accounts for approximately nine per cent., the North American two per cent., and the Pacific islands, South African, and cosmopolitan one per cent. each. The most pronounced elements, therefore, of our destructive insect fauna are the European and the indigenous, but in proportion the latter is hardly one-fifth of the former, although there is every likelihood of additional native forms becoming injurious." 6

Although some large forms occur in the Dominion, the number of conspicuously colored representatives is few. A miscellaneous collection of New Zealand insects, such as I saw in the Dominion Museum at Wellington, has a peculiar, "old-fashioned" appearance about it. There is a scarcely definable something that savors of the long ago; the curious shades and combinations of colors give the observer the notion that their wearers have long since passed on.

Back of the high hills which surround Wellington, and one and one-half miles northwest of the city, about sixty acres of native forest, known as Wilton's Bush, have been set aside as a government preserve. Hills and deep valleys, woods of remu, tawa and matai, partly cleared and burned-over areas with huge decaying limbs and trunks of trees, here and there a stalk of prickly, yellow-flowered gorse adding a touch of color to the scene, and below, a beautiful clear stream winding its way among this riot of

» Miller, David. The Status of Entomology in the Economy of the Domin ion, N.Z. Journ. Science and Tech., 11. Nos. 4 and 5, 270, (July) 1919.

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329

plant growth—such is the setting in which the naturalist here finds himself.

Before we left the University I had hoped to be able to secure for our collections some examples of that peculiar and aberrant, slug-like arthropod called Peripatus. The time of our departure from New Zealand was but a few days away and still I had not captured any of the animals, although I had been informed that they were to be found in Wilton’s Bush. Here, then, was my last chance. So, armed with a heavy collecting knife, I began to attack the multitude of stumps and logs in an effort to discover the object of my search, Peripatus novee-zealandiee.

After some minutes, down within the damp, well-rotted interior of an old remu log, I uncovered a cylindrical, caterpillar-like, velvety-black creature an inch and a half in length—the longsought Peripatus.

Peripatus has been known to zoologists for about one hundred years. Something like fifty species are known, principally from South America, Africa and the Australasian region. It has engaged the attention of scientists because it has seemed to be a sort of “missing link” between certain worms, on the one hand, and the air-breathing arthropods on the other. However, it may be nearer the truth to regard Peripatus as an offshoot —one of the lower branches —from the base of the arthropodan family tree.

The skin of the New Zealand species is deeply pigmented above, and thickly spotted with reddish brown. It is not jointed but is thrown into a multitude of fine transverse wrinkles. Although abundantly supplied with legs, fifteen pairs in all, each of which is furnished with two claws, my find moved very slowly and deliberately with a kind of undulatory motion similar to that of a caterpillar. Neither the dark surroundings nor the nocturnal habits of Peripatus demand keen eyesight, and accordingly, it possesses but a single pair of simple eyes which are able to distinguish only between light and darkness.

Its acquaintance with the outer world is gained largely through impressions received by a pair of extremely sensitive antennae which are in constant motion. On the under side of the head the elongate-oval mouth is surrounded by a swollen lip which is raised into a series of conical papillae. Within the mouth is a pair of horny jaws which assist in masticating the various kinds of animal matter which serve as food.

Possibly the most striking external feature is exhibited when

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the animal is disturbed. On such occasions Peripatus raises the anterior part of the body and, from a blunt, hollow, wart-like projection on either side of the head, ejects with considerable force, a harmless but very sticky substance which is the product of the slime glands within the body. This secretion is also of use to the animal in entangling its prey.

"After leaving the oral papillae the clear fluid hardens into a series of viscous stands bearing, at fairly regular intervals, minute droplets. Although harmless, it is very sticky, coming away easily from the animal itself but adhering tenaciously to other objects including one's fingers. I can not agree with Hutton's statement (Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., XVIII, 362, 1876) that "This viscid fluid is for offensive and not defensive purposes," for in my experience it was certainly used in a defensive capacity. And Ido not doubt that a spray of this fluid would, to say the least, prove very disconcerting to any enemy such as spiders or predaceous beetles, both of which live in the same situations as Peripatus. In 95% alcohol the slime collects in the form of a flocculent mass." 7

Of the several interesting internal structures which particularly relate Peripafvs to the insects, the most important is the system of tubules or trachea; which open to the exterior through minute pores scattered irregularly over the skin. These tubules carry air directly to the different parts of the animal's interior.

Possibly in his search the collector will now and then come across a little grayish fellow one-fourth to one-half inch long, an exact miniature of the adult animal. This young one, along with perhaps fifteen or twenty brothers and sisters, had been brought forth alive a few weeks previously by a sleek and well-fed female.

With the assistance of Mr. Hamilton and Miss Castle of the Dominion Museum and of Mrs. Stoner I was able to secure, in two one-half day trips to Wilton's Bush, over one hundred specimens of Peripatus; and since it is not the good fortune of many people to see the animal, which is a never-failing source of interest to the layman as well as to the naturalist, this lot is of more than passing concern.

In the Orthoptera more than seventy-five species are recorded from the Dominion. One finds the usual number of grasshoppers, locustids, crickets and stick-insects included in the list.

The large, black, braehyelytrous cockroach {Blatta forticeps)

7 Stoner, Dayton, collecting Peripatus in New Zealand, Science, LVIII, No 1505, 342, 1923.

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with its offensive, odoriferous qualities, and known locally as the

‘ ‘ Maori bug, ’ ’ is common in the wooded regions under the bark of dead and decaying trees. Another member of the family (Blatta conjuncta), a pale form with long wings, is an inhabitant of the beech forests in Gollins Valley and elsewhere.

One of the most striking though not abundant groups of orthopterans occurring in New Zealand is the family Stenopelmatid®. Certain of its members look something like overgrown grasshoppers devoid of wings. These insects are commonly knowm by their Maori name of “weta. ” While they are distributed throughout most of the warmer parts of the globe, they appear to be most numerous in New Zealand where they usually frequent the forests, climbing trees or hiding under loose bark; sometimes they inhabit fallen and decaying wood; a few species are subterranean and some live under stones. They are nocturnal insects and most are solitary in their habits; their food consists of vegetable material. All are good climbers, but the larger species, in spite of their elongate and muscular hind legs, the tibiae of which are furnished with long, sharp spines, are poor jumpers; the smaller forms can hop and run swiftly. Tegmina and wings are lacking in the New Zealand representatives. In coloration they are usually some shade of brown.

At Wilton’s Bush we frequently came across one form, {Hemideina megacephala) in the moist, decaying remu logs where we were hunting for Peripatus. The head of the adult male is very large, the face is long and flattened and the elongate jaws give the possessor an exceedingly formidable appearance. A few measurements of a male and a female in my collection will give some idea of the peculiar and unusual proportions of this insect:

Male Female

Length of body 51mm. 51 mm. (exclusive of ovipositor)

Length of head 33 "15 "

Length of mandible 18" 7"

Width of head at the

widest part 17 " 9 '

Length of hind leg 65 " 71 "

The males of Deinacrida rugosa, another less common though larger and more robust form, lack the facial expanse of this species.

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

332

Other and smaller forms were taken in the beech forest at Gollins Valley and under moss at the roots of trees in Kauri Gully near Auckland.

In the order Dermaptera the family Forficulidse is represented by a few forms among which is the common earwig, Anisolahis littorea; especially fine and large examples were taken from decayed logs at Helensville. At Gannet Island, in Cowe’s Bay, all stages were abundant in debris under the nests of the New Zealand gannet (Sula serrator). No doubt the insects perform a valuable service so far as the birds are concerned, in the removal of waste and decaying materials.

Of the Neuroptera (nerve-winged insects), about eighty species are described from the Dominion. One of the entomological problems still awaiting investigation there, is the value of the aquatic insect fauna as fish food; and among these aquatic forms the larvae of Neuroptera as well as of Trichoptera (caddis-flies) and Ephemerida (may-flies) make up a considerable proportion.

The proportionately small number of true bugs (Hemiptera) described from the Colony is striking; exclusive of the aphids, scales and psyllids, slightly over one hundred species have been recorded. Only nine species of stink-bugs (Pentetomoidea) are included in this list. One of the largest and gaudiest of these is the greenish Australian form {Glaucias amyoti) an example of which I took in Kauri Gully. It is closely allied to the cosmopolitan southern green plant bug (Xezara viridula) which also occurs in the Colony.

One of the commonest New Zealand plant bugs (Rhopalimorplia obscura) is included in this group. It is an elongate linear species something like our Mecidea longula and can be recognized by the pale, mid-dorsal line. I found examples of this form hibernating in the grass at Wilton's Bush.

Of the Homoptera, the family Cicadida? is one of the largest, containing thirteen forms, all of which are included in a single genus. The Cicadellidffl (leaf-hoppers) and the Fulgorida: (plant-hoppers) are represented by fifteen species each. There are no endemic plant-lice (Aphididaa) but about twenty forms have been introduced.

Apparently much remains to be done in making known the hemipterous fauna of the islands and at the present time the frequent papers of Mr. J. G. Myers, of the Department of Agriculture, are of much value in this connection.

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The beetles (Coleoptera) make up by far the largest proportion of insects so far as number of species is concerned; the families Carabidse and Elaterida; are particularly well represented while a surprisingly large number of weevils (Rhynchophora) is recorded.

Of the latter, only two will be mentioned; one, a small, brownish form, four mm. long, (Stephanorhynchus attelahoides) , covered with scales and with a slender, elongate prothorax has a prominent ridge on each regularly punctate elytron. The long slender femora are markedly club-shaped, the posterior ones being furnished distally with a low, sharp tubercle in addition. The other form (Lasiorhynchus barhicornis) exhibits an unusual sexual dimorphism so far as size is concerned; a male in my collection has a total length of 81 mm. of which the beak alone makes up 41 mm., while in the female, with a total length of 50 mm., the beak makes up but 17 mm.

Several species of tiger-beetles are found in the Dominion, the commonest and most elusive one being Cicindela tuberculata.

At Helensville we found a large brownish click-beetle (Lacon variabilis, family Elaterida;) in some numbers. Often three or four individuals were grouped together in a decaying log; sometimes only a male and a female were together, the latter almost invariably resting on the back of the male.

In the beech forest in Gollins Valley we secured several fine stag-beetles (Lissotes reticulatus) some of which bore small mites; these beetles seem to associate together in much the same manner as do the elaterids.

Along the shores of Rokino Island, under an old gasoline tin partly filled with crushed rock, I found a great mass—perhaps a good-sized handful—of a large, brownish darkling beetle (family Tenebrionida;) in hibernation. This peculiar method of association during the winter months seems to be shared by these forms also. Another tenebrionid (probably Vloma sp.) was common at Wellington.

In the moist, moss-covered earth at Mamaku bush a beautiful searabfeid (Odontria sp.), thickly covered with fine yellowish pile was taken. The several species of this genus, the larva; of which are commonly called “grass-grubs,” are of considerable economic importance; for, as the native bush is cut down and cultivated land takes its place, the grubs advance upon the more succulent vegetation where they cause considerable damage to the roots.

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One is at once struck by the paucity of butterflies (Rhopalocera) in New Zealand, not more than about twenty-five species having been recorded from the Dominion; among these the most conspicuous is Vanessa gonerilla which is closely allied to our red admiral (V. atalanta) ; the thistle butterfly (7. cardui), of almost world-wide distribution, also occurs in the Colony as does the monarch (Anosia plexippus).

On the other hand, moths (Heterocera) are unusually abundant, something like seven hundred species being included in the faunal lists. A cosmopolitan representative of the group is the army worm, Leucania unipundata.

New Zealand possesses a dipterous fauna of considerable magnitude; it is remarkable for the proportionately large number of crane-flies (Tipuloidea) represented, for about three hundred fifty species have been recorded. An abundance of wet banks along small streams, as well as a large amount of moist, decaying vegetation, offers favorable breeding-places for these insects.

At Rotorua I found the fork-tailed larva; of Ephydra in the hot pools as well as adults on the surface and near the margins of the hot water. A slimy, dark green vegetable growth covers the margins and the bottoms of most of the streams and serves as food for several other species.

Two of the most frequent visitors at this place were flies (Diptera). A small blackish form was very abundant. Another large, black species fed greedily on the algal growths. Sometimes the flies rested on the water while feeding but if immersed in it they quickly succumbed. A species of crane fly was also discovered about these pools.

Two species of Hemiptera were als? taken here One was a small water strider which glided rapidly over the surface of the hot water and apparently suffered no inconvenience from it. In addition a species of small hydrophilid beetle (Coleoptera) and its larvffi were found in the water.

Among the familiar forms, the drone-fly (Eristalis tenax), the blue-bottle fly (Calliphora erythrocephala) , the house-fly (Musca domestica) and the stable fly (Stomoxys adcitrans) are pretty generally distributed.

Something like two hundred species of Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps, etc.) have been recorded from the Dominion but only a small proportion of these are ants. Some writers believe that the ant fauna of New Zealand is a remnant of an Australian fauna,

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and that it became disseminated by submersion and climatic changes incident to the ice age. The most typical New Zealand ants are found on North Island; it is said that very few species occur on South Island.

Spiders (Arachnida) and their near allies are common, upwards of three hundred species having been recorded. About Auckland a few were swept from vegetation but most were found in decaying stumps and under bark, sticks and logs. Everywhere on the open rolling lands which are of poor quality and on the sandy flats near Rotorua the shrubby manuka or tea-tree {Leptospermum. scoparium) grows abundantly, and on this spiders seemed to be particularly common.

Few poisonous or venomous animals inhabit New Zealand. However, one of the small spiders, known locally as the katipo (Latrodectus hasselti), although no longer of frequent occurrence, falls under this group. The general black coloration and red abdominal band serve to distinguish it.

We found another and larger spider with yellowish-brown cephalothorax, (Porrolhcle anlipodiana) in "Wilton's Bush. So far as individuals are concerned, myriopods are common. Although large centipedes, some as much as seven to nine inches in length, are sometimes found, most of the representatives of the group (C'hilopoda) are much smaller. At Mt. Eden and One Tree Hill we found good myriopod collecting under pieces of lava lying in the bottom of the old volcanic craters. A long and exceedingly slender form was frequently discovered in decaying logs.

Millipedes (Chilognatha) occur widely in damp situations. In Kauri Gully a small form with protruding eyes was taken at the base of kauri trees and also in sweepings from vegetation. A black species witli red spots along the sides was abundant in the Mamakn bush; on July 29, numbers of these millipedes were found in copula.

In conclusion, it seems to me that one of the most important acquisitions which comes to the participants of such a trip as ours, is the enlargement of one's horizon and one's outlook upon life for having had these new experiences in new places and under conditions which are out of the daily routine. And. too. the establishment of professional contact with workers and institutions is an important factor in such an enterprise. The least service that we now can render is to share these experiences with others through written and spoken word.

CHAPTER XVII

EXPERIENCES OF A BOTANIST IN NEW ZEALAND

Robert B. Wylie

The sturdy Navua which carried me from Fiji to New Zealand was reported to have been the smallest British vessel in transport service during the Great War. She was a very easy-riding boat, however, and the four-day journey, following the strenuous weeks in Suva, was most enjoyable. Life on board was simple and very restful in contrast to the formality of the Niagara. The Navua was returning from her trip out to Samoa and carried many New Zealanders who were making a midwinter excursion to the tropics. A number of Scotch from the region of Dunedin were aboard and were about the friendliest people I have encountered; their sincere "good morning" salutations sounded most cheerful to one who had been much alone for weeks. Mr. and Mrs. Ashbel Welch, of Philadelphia, whom we had met on the trip down to Fiji and who had meanwhile journeyed out to Samoa, were already on board and had kindly made reservation for me at their table. They were experienced travelers and contributed much to the pleasure of this voyage.

It was an interesting experience to ride southward from Fiji, each day bringing cooler and cooler weather. The ship's officers and stewards soon changed from white to blue uniforms, and towards the end of the journey we encountered cold July winds sweeping down from the south. The morning of July 7 found the Navua resting at anchor in the beautiful land-locked harbor of Auckland. After inspection when we ran in to the pier I was pleased to find Professor Nutting on the wharf, and he soon conducted me to headquarters, the others having reached New Zealand ten days earlier.

The lowa party was established near the Auckland Museum where ample working space had kindly been assigned to our group. The late Professor T. F. Cheeseman, Director of the Museum, and his associate, Mr. C. J. Griffin, showed us every courtesy, and

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their efforts were deeply appreciated. Professor Cheeseman, who was the outstanding systematic botanist of the Dominion, was then in rather delicate health but was able to be of great service to all of us, but especially to me. We were all grieved to leam of his death a few months ago. He gave helpful advice about reaching the more interesting regions near Auckland and determined for us the plants brought in from day to day. Since most of their larger plants were in vegetative condition at that season of the year identification was doubly difficult and a mere morphologist deeply appreciated the help Dr. Cheeseman was so well qualified and so willing to give.

The three principal islands constituting the Dominion of New Zealand extend in a north and south direction from 34° to 48° South latitude. This would correspond to that portion of our eastern coast from Wilmington to Newfoundland. Or, compared with the interior of our country, these islands would extend from near Little Rock, Arkansas, to Grand Forks, North Dakota, which is about 120 miles north of Duluth. North Island is 515 miles long, and has an area of 44,000 square miles. It is separated by Cook Strait from South Island which is somewhat larger. The southernmost is Stewart Island which w r as not visited by any of our party.

The proximity of all parts of these islands to the sea gives them an oceanic climate with diminished extremes of temperature and insures relatively high humidity. The rain fall of North Island averages about fifty inches with considerable variations in parts due to topography, especially about the higher mountains. The distribution of precipitation throughout the year is fairly uniform with an increase during their autumn and winter months. North of Auckland conditions are more nearly subtropical. The central part of North Island is considerably wider and interior portions show greater daily and seasonal range. There freezing temperatures frequently prevail at night. While it was midwinter during our visit there in July and August not even the cooler end of North Island had snow though the mountains were white on their sides.

One must not gather from these statements too optimistic an opinion of the delights of a New Zealand winter, however moderate the descriptions may sound. Accustomed to the rigors of our lowa climate we anticipated weather like our early autumn but found something quite different from our Indian Summer. Though

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the weather in North Island was not severe there was a nagging chill in the air which proved quite disturbing to all of us. Perhaps our real difficulty was not the cold of outdoors so much as the cold indoors due to the inadequate heating facilities. The New Zealanders’ aversion to fire in all forms is most marked! Their cold hotels, cold stores, cold trains, and cold dwellings rather “got on our nerves” and threatened our health. While the New Zealand friends professed to enjoy the English tradition with respect to low room temperature we noticed that they crowded about a good fire on those rare occasions when burning wood was seen.

However uncomfortable this winter climate for people, it is not so unfavorable for plants. Even though the major portion of these islands has a south temperate position corresponding to that of lowa in north latitude, their vegetation is practically evergreen. Trees on North Island with very few exceptions retain their foliage throughout the year, though introduced forms, such as the oaks, follow their traditional habit. The forests, and fields as well, must present a remarkably uniform aspect throughout the year. Of South Island I can not speak from personal experience, but both latitude and altitude conspire to give it a much more rigorous climate as a whole. There are local exceptions where mountains shelter favored and fruitful areas such as that at Nelson at the north end of this island.

Due to these expressions of its ocean climate, mild winters and high humidity, the plants of North Island are mostly of the thick leaved evergreen type. Through modification of texture and stomata their leaves are able to function throughout the year without undue hazard to the plant. Compared with our deciduous foliage these leaves are much thicker and tougher, with multiplied epidermal layers, heavy mechanical tissues, greatly thickened cuticle, and numerous trichomes. In these respects they are comparable to the strand vegetation seen in Fiji. As will be noted later the strategy of New Zealand’s agriculture grows out of a climate permitting evergreen vegetation. On cultivated land this means favorable pasturage throughout the entire year, with lessened need for hay and grain.

The flora of New Zealand presents an interesting group of plants about which much has been written. With a great diversily of habitat ranging from ocean-shore through coastal formations and uplands to mountains of considerable height, the narrow

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limits of the country afford contrasts and transition areas usually much farther dissociated. Perhaps for this reasan the country has been termed, by some travelers from larger continents, an area of “samples” but without extensive development of the various types because of the small size of the islands. This diversity insures a rich flora both as regards individuals and species. A considerable proportion of the higher plants is endemic. Dr. Cockayne estimates that 74% of the vascular plants is restricted to New Zealand. Or, if the more readily distributed ferns and monocotyledons are disregarded, the proportion of endemic species among the dicotyledons and gymnosperms rises to 85%. Superimposed upon a primitive New Zealand flora, probably that of an ancient Antarctic land mass, are its derivatives together with later migrants from the neighboring land areas, —Australian, Malayan, etc., as well as others with kinships reaching out much farther.

In comparison with our north temperate flora one finds little in common. For instance their great coniferous forests are mainly taxids including the splendid Dacrydium, Podocarpus, Agathis, Araucaria, etc., while our conifers include the pine, spruce, fir, and hemlock types.

The northern part of North Island is the home of the kauri pine, one of the noble but vanishing trees of the world. Running out from Auckland I saw considerable groves of them, but was unable at that season of the year to get north to the regions where lumbering operations are now being carried on. This tree, Agathis australis, is a southern hemisphere gymnosperm of unique appearance. The lower branches are shed as the tree grows, their detachment being achieved by a regular abscission-layer which smoothly cuts off the limbs at the base. The higher branches are spread out abruptly into a more or less rounded top which crowns the long, smooth and unbranched axis. This log is so smooth and symmetrical that it looks as though it had been turned out with a lathe. Agathis has quite large leaves which are two or three inches long and three-fourths of an inch wide. We saw another species of this genus in Fiji, Agathis vitiensis.

It is from the secretions of this tree that the noted kauri gum is secured. This resinous substance is formed within cavities of the trunk in considerable masses. The museum in Auckland has several fine specimens of many pounds weight looking like high grade resin and taking a beautiful polish. Naturally this stable substance does not decay with the decomposition of fallen logs

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but is left in the soil or on the ground of areas once covered by forests of this species. Some such regions are now open country or even under the sea margin. A considerable number of “gumdiggers” gain a livelihood by excavating resin from the regions of former forests. They explore the ground with long pointed rods by means of which they find even deeply buried masses of resin. New Zealand exports annually great quantities of this gum which is used as an ingredient of varnishes.

The forests of North Island are given a tropical aspect by the great numbers of perching and climbing plants as well as by the numerous fern-trees throughout this island. The perching-lilies ( Astelia) are conspicuous on the branches of larger trees together with epiphytic ferns and lycopods. Climbing plants of the most varied forms abound, ranging from climbing ferns to the supplejack, Rhipogonum scandens, whose slender stems are almost unbreakable.

The ferns in general are varied and abundant. They spread out everywhere in a great variety of forms. The delicate filmy ferns, Hymenophyllum and Trichomanes, are common in the rainforests. Most conspicuous are the beautiful tree-ferns which grow commonly to a height of twenty to thirty feet, and in favored places nearly twice that high. They belong to three genera, Cyathea, Hemitelia, and Dicksonia, and Cockayne reports six of their species as endemic. Related groups include the numerous lycopods and the rare Tmesipteris which grows sparingly on the trunks of tree ferns.

Certain introduced plants, here as in Fiji, seem to offer a problem. For example, considerable areas of northern New Zealand were possessed by the gorse and it would be difficult to imagine a more unfavorable visitor. Its thorny stems form such dense growth that grazing is nearly impossible. It may be recalled by some that it was this plant which, when first seen by the great Linnsus, caused him to fall on his knees in admiration of its beauty. An apoehryphal story has it that when his knees struck the thorns of some of the stems lying on the ground he forthwith sprang up in a less devotional mood.

The Auckland district has a number of small extinct volcanic cones, some of them quite low and but a few hundred feet above the level of the ocean. One of the higher and most symmetrical of these is Rangitoto, a mountain-island approximately one thousand feet in height which stands in the edge of Hauraki gulf, which

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is the outer harbor of the city. It sides are still largely covered by rough lava only partially possessed by vegetation.

On the ferry boat when I was running over to this island I noted an alert old gentleman who with three or four companions was evidently to spend the day on the mountain. I had planned to return to Auckland on the noon ferry and wishing to get some advice about the place before these visitors scattered, I spoke to this old gentleman and asked about the large seaweeds on the rocks about the pier. He looked at me keenly for a moment, then said, “You are a stranger here, you are interested in plants, and you are going to spend the day with me on the mountain.” I told him of my plan to return on the noon boat but he brushed aside my objections, assured me that he had plenty of lunch for two, sent his companions on ahead, and remained behind to pilot me up the mountain. A trail has been constructed making a good path to the summit over the rough lava rocks.

I was indeed privileged to have such a guide and companion for the day. Mr. Wilson is a business man who first climbed Rangitota fifty years ago. Deeply interested in both plants and animals he has been a weekly visitor to the island for half a century. He was one of those who fostered the plan, which happily succeeded, to have the mountain converted into a park with conservation of its plant and animal life.

We journeyed leisurely up the trail with many pauses and side excursions noting the interesting transitions from black, naked lava to forested areas nearer the top. A pioneer arborescent form is the beautiful “Christmas tree” of New Zealand, Metrosideros tomentosa. Trees of this species stand singly or in groups among the black blocks of scoria. At a higher elevation there are well developed forests of moderate sized trees. Botanists have reported 180 vascular plants for this lava island which is one of the most interesting of ecological areas, being now in transition from naked rock to mixed vegetation.

At noon Mr. Wilson left the main trail and led the way to a shack hidden among the trees not far from the summit. First unlocking the door he brought out camp equipment and after heating water, from the nearby spring, he scalded the dishes and cooking utensils. He then proceeded to make tea and served the lunch.

In the afternoon we climbed to the top, looked over into the grassy cup of the crater at the tip of the cone, and enjoyed for

PLATE XLIX

iiiaea antaretiea, » large fucoid sea-weed, near Wellington (See page 295) piiir.tia, <i antaretiea growing on rocks < See page 295] (Photos bj Wylie)

ilttrotidem tonuntota growing on lava, Rangitoto Mt Dear Auckland I See page 288) Looking lows the lava slope oi Rangitoto Mt. and over harbor of Uckland I See page 288 I i Photoe by Wylie)

PLATE I

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an hour the splendid view from the summit. The blue waters of llauraki Gulf with its seemingly motionless ships spread out before us. and in the distance to the right were the various suburbs of the city of Auckland. Below was the rugged face of the mountain, much of it barren and broken as if lava had recently poured out. But. a vigorous plant life is slowly subduing its surface and changing the bleak bareness to living green. My host parted from me at one of the suburbs touched by the ferry. As we separated, knowing we should probably never meet again, I tried to thank him for his courtesies. He touched his hat and was gone, but not forgotten, for many men whom I have known all my life have never impressed me as did this fine gentleman with whom I tramped but a day.

Through the courtesy of Professor Thomas L. Lancaster, of Auckland University College, I was given the privilege of meeting Mr. E. Leßoy and opportunity to visit his private park in one of the suburbs of Auckland. This park is a tract of thirty or forty acres of abrupt hills and deep valleys, the whole clothed with luxuriant rain-forest vegetation. Mr. Leßoy is a business man who has studied the plants purely as an amateur but is nevertheless not only an enthusiastic but also a competent botanist. Indeed he is typical of those wonderful New Zealanders, many of whom seem to be so versatile. Aside from all fields of information relating to the vocations they constantly surprised one by the breadth of their knowledge and attainments and seemed almost equally at home in many fields. So while Mr. Leßoy offered apology for his lack of professional training in botany he need not have done so for hj« is a skilled naturalist, one who knows his native plants and thoroughly understands the vegetation of this region.

With Mr. Leßoy and Professor Lancaster I traveled for hours along the numerous paths which Mr. LeKoy has a 1 considerable expense established through his tract, making it easy for one to reach all parts of his park. One noticed also that large tiling has been placed in certain gullies to carry the drainage and lessen erosion, and that the flood plain below had been easily modified into a series of shallow ponds within which were many aquatic plants. To all of this Mr. Leßoy invites the public with the request that the plants be left undisturbed. But he told me. in response to my questions, that he found it very difficult to control the park which is wholly without police or protection. Though

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many people violated the courtesies, cutting, carrying off and otherwise destroying the plants, he said he was hoping to continue the plan as he wished the people of Auckland to enjoy all that he had as long as possible. Within this preserve are many fine specimens of the species of major forest trees and a great wealth of small woody plants including shrubs, twiners and also certain perching plants. The forest floor had a wealth of mosses and liverworts and a luxuriant growth of ferns; the most noble of these were the huge tree ferns Cyathea medullaris in the borders of the stream valley, some of which were over fifty feet in height. Mr. Leßoy assured me that this was a measured and not an estimated height.

Late afternoon took us up past his home but he walked a mile with us down to the ferry-landing from which we took the boat back to Auckland. As we were walking to the ferry, I thoughtlessly expressed to Mr. Leßoy my hope that he had sons who could enjoy what he had built up and carry his public spirit into the next generation. lie did not reply for a moment and then said, ''-My only son entered the war and was lost." This illustrated to us again the tragedy of the Great War to New Zealand and all other parts of the British Empire, where apparently every able bodied man of anywhere near military age was in the service. You never asked a young man, "Were you in the war?" If you mentioned it at all you simply asked. "What was your service?" It ill-becomes us of this "great and friendly nation." as they described our America, to talk much about the war. We can never explain to these friends our tardy entrance into the conflict nor our hasty withdrawal following its close.

Leaving Auckland on a very early train the next morning I was surprised and pleased to find Mr. Leßoy searching through the train to find me. He had taken the earliest ferry on that chilly winter morning in order that he might place in my hands a number of fine steroscopic views of his park. I have used these with all of my classes since my return and the students have greatly enjoyed the fine pictures of Mr. Leßoy's preserve and its great fern trees.

Late in July I moved from Auckland to Wellington at the southern end of North Island and traveled the entire distance of over four hundred miles by daylight. In this way I was able to study a trans-section of the island noting the general aspects of

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the natural vegetation and the agricultural development as well On this trip short visits were made at Ohakune and Palmerston.

The two days at Ohakune gave a good opportunity to see the mixed taxid association as there were fine Podocarpus and Dacrydium trees in this region. North Island, New Zealand, was originally quite largely forested with what might be classified as a temperate rain forest. The settlement of the country and lumbering operations have, however, greatly reduced the undisturbed area of timber land. Like our country New Zealand has suffered from the exploitation of her timber with little concern over the conservation of forest resources. The generation that struggles with the problems relating to the clearing of land naturally thinks in terms of the present rather than the future. The large lumbering concerns have meanwhile used the opportunities to exploit the natural resources of the Dominion. The undisturbed forests of this region stand seventy-five to one hundred feet in height and there is a luxuriant, growth of ferns and mosses on the forest floor. Tree ferns are common but of smaller size.

The Ohakune district is one of the few points on the main line having at the present time considerable areas of native timber. At one side of the town there are excellent standing forests while on the other side of the railroad are vast stretches of stumpage with hundreds of standing and fallen trees decaying where they grew. The choicer logs lumbered out, the remainder with the detritus is burned, sheep are turned in, and in a short time the forest is a pasture.

This trip afforded opportunity for noting the agriculture of North Island, which offers sharp contrast to that of parts of our country of corresponding latitude. The climatic factors discussed above were shown to favor foliage parts of plants. The evergreen habit is a resultant of such conditions and has dominated their agriculture. In the first place the principal plant product of New Zealand is leaves, though it is chiefly those on herbaceous plants, and takes the form called pasturage. In going from Auckland to Wellington, a distance of four hundred twenty-five miles, I traveled only by day-time trains in order that I might see the country better. I believe my notes give something between stations all the way down to North Farmington and in reviewing these I find mention of one tiny area of corn, one setting of grain, a few fields of pumpkins and numerous fields of turnips. Other than these and excepting of course the limited forests that are

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seen from the train, the whole country is one pasture, and why not ? Recalling that the winters are mild and that the fields can be grazed twelve months in the year, why put up hay at great expense of time and labor when the cattle can better eat fresh grass in the fields? Or why struggle through the summer season producing corn or grain when the animals can do their own harvesting in the pasture any day or night in the year? In other words the grazing lands are the chief agricultural asset of North Island, and this explains why the meat and tallow, butter, hides, and mutton from New Zealand are pushing into every market in the world. It would seem as if these products could be produced much cheaper here than in any competitive land where the climate compels the feeding of live stock during the winter months with hay or grain produced at so great expense.

This relation has been an important factor in the destruction of forests and the conversion of "bush" into pasture. In Ohakune one sees the process now being carried out. Here to-day is a magnificent forest; the lumbermen go through and cut what they wish to take; the slash and forest detritus is burned, destroying the forest floor vegetation and all but the large logs of the fallen trees; then sheep and cattle are turned in and in a short time the forest has become pasture. No special harm is done if twenty years are required for a stump to decay, since this does not interfere with grazing and occupies a relatively small part of the ground. Here again you have a sharp contrast with our ways of clearing forest land, involving the grubbing or blasting of stumps at tremendous expense of labor and money. I was interested to learn that farm values in this part of New Zealand compare favorably with those of the upper Mississippi Valley, their land running up to as much as one hundred pounds per acre.

While there we noted also that the blight which has fallen upon agriculture the world over in recent years had not spared New Zealand. There, as here, the fanners, who are after all the only real producers of material in the world, were suffering greatly in comparison with those engaged in other lines. New Zealand, however, has been more helpful to her farmers than we have been in the United States. By fixing the price of wheat for example, the Government has stabilized the price of this important product and insured a minimum return to the farmer. Meanwhile the government protects itself by its tariff law which prevents other countries from dumping wheat into New Zealand. In other words

Ferns and epiphytes In gymnosperm forest, Ohakune. New Zealand (See page 291) (Photo by Wylie)

PLATE LI

PLATE 1,11

Hot springs in park nt Rotorua furnishing water for the hotel (See page Large American gold dredge ;it Hokitika (See page 824) Coal cars jusl from the mine, Westport harbor (See page 828) (Photos by Thomas)

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the combination of a tariff and a minimum-price guarantee is operated to the satisfaction of the agricultural producer afid through this bettered condition, business in general prospers.

The climax experiences of our trip in certain respects were encountered at Wellington at the southern end of North Island. This city which is the seat of the Dominion Government is beautifully located on Cook Strait across which may be seen the mountains of South Island. The town is pressed in by low mountains reminding one of the situation at Juneau, Alaska, where the mountains threaten to push the town into the ocean. This restricted land area promises to be a serious problem as room for expansion seems limited. The broad harbor is large and makes junction between bold headlands with the open waters of the Strait.

As the capital city Wellington has numerous institutions and a considerable group of scientific men in the various fields of government service. AVe received much help and many courtesies from officials of the government who took great interest in our program. Others have expressed this appreciation but I must mention at least two, Hon. J. Hislop, Under Secretary of Internal Affairs, and Mr. AVilliam McDonald, Acting Director of the Museum. Through their invitation we were given laboratory quarters in the Museum building. Only when one is away from home and divorced from all the conveniences of his own laboratory can he appreciate the real help afforded by the use of rooms suitable for looking over and caring for material. AVe were doubly fortunate here, as we had been also at Suva, and at Auckland, in that we were not only given the comforts of a building but the assistance as well of trained scientists who were fully familiar with the region.

I found a considerable group of botanists associated with the various scientific institutions about Wellington. In the Government Museum, which employs a number of men, is an excellent botanist, Mr. AV. R. B. Oliver; Victoria College has Professor Kirk; with the Government Experiment Station are Dr. A. H. Cockayne, Mr. Esmond Atkinson and Mr. G. H. Cunningham; while near AYellington lives Dr. L. Cockayne, the most prominent botanist of the Dominion, particularly in the field of ecology and plant distribution. His latest volume on the “Vegetation of New Zealand” appeared just before we sailed and is indispensable to any one who is interested in the interpretation of the New Zealand

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flora. Hon. G. M. Thomson who has recently published a scholarly volume on the "Naturalization of Animals and Plants in New Zealand" was at the capitol as a member of the legislature then in session. In addition to these one should mention Mr. B. C. A-ton. a botanist of achievement, though he would disclaim such distinction, and others connected with forest service of the Dominion, of whom I saw little during my stay because of my limited time while there.

Mr. Cunningham is one of the rising young mycologists of the southern hemisphere, and his colleague in the Experiment Station, Mr. Atkinson, in addition to taxonomie work, uses his artistic skill in making drawings of plants; he is now associated with Dr. L. Cockayne in his studies on the genus Noihofagus. Dr. A. H. Cockayne in charge of the Experiment Station is an aggressive botanist and extended many courtesies in my behalf, as did Professor Kirk of the local college. The Acting Director of the Museum, Mr. William McDonald, is not only in close sympathy with botanical work but has a keen and broad understanding of plant life, and through his studies and photographs of plant formations has contributed not a little.

Since my headquarters while in Wellington were in the Museum building I saw much of both Mr. McDonald and Mr. Oliver and shall never forget the many courtesies of these men. Mr. McDonald was untiring in his efforts in our behalf. I prize highly a number of choice photographs of New Zealand plants and plant formations which he kindly gave to me. "While a guest in his home I saw several of his paintings, for he is a skilled artist of thorough training. As botanist of the Museum staff Mr. Oliver courteously shared his laboratory with me. offered valuable advice as to the best use of my time, and named the plants brought in from day to day.

Prom the Museum as a base, numerous excursions were made into the surrounding region. On these trips I was usually forttmate enough to have as companion some one, or more, of the local botanists, and in this way was privileged to get information Easter indeed than I could possibly assimilate the facts and names relating to their plants.

Two trips to Lyall Bay. one with Mr. Oliver and another with Mr. L. Cockayne afforded contact with shore conditions. There was a remarkable surf pounding in from the straits and breaking in great masses of foam on the rocks. In the very midst of these

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waves were many specimens of their Durvillaea antarctica. This alga gets to be nearly ten feet long and presents massive and leathery thalli to the pounding waves. Strangely enough it belongs to the Fucoids rather than to the Laminaria group. The shore was strewn with the dried remains of Lessonia plants, many of them very large and strong. Mr. Oliver is at present engaged on some interesting ecological studies involving both animals and plants of the shore margin. His familiarity with both classes of organisms peculiarly fits him for this type of investigation.

Through the invitation of Mr. McDonald of the "Wellington Museum I was privileged to enjoy a visit in his company to the home of Sir Pomare, a prominent New Zealand physician and citizen of Maori extraction who studied in America, completing his medical training at Chicago. While a student here he lectured extensively in Chautauqua circuits over the interior of our country. When he learned we were from the Hawkeye state he spoke of his lowa associations and showed a surprisingly accurate memory of many of the towns in which he had spoken as a young man.

Dr. Wi Maui Pomare has been active as a Dominion Director of medical service with the Maori people of New Zealand, and because of these public services and his activities during the war he was knighted. On this Sunday afternoon Lady Pomare, assisted by her daughter, was pouring tea for a number of their friends who had dropped in for a visit. They showed us many interesting Maori souvenirs and heirlooms so much in evidence about their home. Outwardly a fine modern house the interior is in part decorated with Maori designs of their own painting, and certain rooms are papered with tapa cloth given to Sir Pomare when on a visit in Fiji. Most interesting to me was the fine display of native weapons which had been inherited by Dr. Pomare from his chieftain forebears who had been members of the ruling group in these islands. "When Mr. McDonald, a Scotchman, informed Dr. Pomare that I was also of Scotch descent, Sir Pomare, who is of course a Maori chieftain, immediately remarked that he too had Scotch blood in his veins. In explanation he said that according to a legend a century or so ago his immediate ancestors had been around the family board when a Scotch missionary was the central feature of the feast and so he said by inference he must have Scotch blood gained through that experience.

I spent one day as the guest of Mr. Atkinson in the "bush" opposite Wellington. I had wished to see something of these for-

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ests in which the Nothofagus is prominent and accepted the kind invitation of Mr. Atkinson to spend the day on his extensive tract of timber land running from tide water up over hills to a height of several hundred feet and overlooking the outer harbor. With Mr. Cunningham of the Experiment Station I crossed over on the early morning ferry. "We were met at the pier by Mr. Atkinson who lives on that side and we were hospitably welcomed by Mrs. Atkinson to their beautiful home which stands near the border of the forest and on a slight elevation affording a fine view across the water to Wellington. It seems that after the fashion of Americans I had been complaining about some of the things experienced in New Zealand, one of them the total lack of drinkable coffee. They have oceans of tea but no real coffee, so while we were warming ourselves for a moment by the fireside Mrs. Atkinson brought in real coffee which I enjoyed very much.

Thus fortified we then set out up the steep slopes of the lowmountain bordering the harbor. Passing up a deep valley with many fern trees and various evergreens we found the beech formation at an elevation of a few hundred feet. This was my first contact with the New Zealand Nothofagus, one of the few deciduous trees of North Island. This interesting genus is represented by various species occupying the southern end of North Island and extending all over South Island and Stewart Island. The black trunk is suggestive of our beech and the branching and foliage reminds one also of our Fagus, so that their kinship is quite evident.

Late in the forenoon as we worked down the slopes we found Mrs. Atkinson by a comfortable camp fire in the valley. Swinging from a metal tripod was a coffee kettle and in the big basket were the other factors of our fine noon time lunch. "With the sun's rays shining warmly into the notch between the forested hills we were so comfortable that we could quite forget that it was midwinter. Indeed with fern trees and evergreen vegetation all around us it was difficult to discover by the eye, at least, that it was not midsummer.

Following the descent we spent a pleasant hour with the Atkinsons in their home, and noticing the many beautiful pictures I complimented him on the decoration of his walls. Noticing over the fire-place a large cam-as which was obviously none other than a picture showing the surrender of the German ilect, I suddenly turned on Mr. Atkinson and said, "You painted that picture, and

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the others as well, didn't you?" Only then did I learn that he himself was the artist. The further deduction was easy; Mr. Atkinson had been a member of the British navy and I later learned that he had been an officer on duty on the morning of the surrender and had gotten the inspiration and the preliminary sketches on that occasion which later made possible his fine painting. Again illustrating the versatility of those New Zealanders.

In fact the most remarkable feature of New Zealand is its people. An almost pure Anglo-Saxon stock, mainly English and Scotch with some Welch and a slight admixture of Irish they constitute as fine an assemblage of folks as can be found in the world. An officer of the government said that he knew of but one person in the Dominion who did not speak English and that one was the mother of a state employee, an expert in some field, recently brought from Europe for a special service. I frequently made excuse to be on the streets when the schools were dismissed in the afternoon, just to see the flood of beautiful young children thronging those thoroughfares. The streets were crowded with a pure Anglo-Saxon stock such as is no longer seen in America except intermingled in the crowds from all other parts of Europe.

Any one who visits these British Possessions is impressed by their practice of developing botanical gardens, though this term is entirely too narrow to cover the range of their services. In connection with the larger cities they usually maintain more or less formal gardens with many trees, shrubs, flowers and decorative plants. But of greater importance is the fact that through these preserves they seek to protect and cultivate their native vegetation growing either undisturbed or in natural habitat relations. For instance at Suva, in addition to the well planted grounds around the Government buildings, there was an extensive botanical garden carrying a representative display of tropical plants. At Auckland, in addition to the smaller city parks, there was the broad "Domain" of several hundred acres with a wide range of forest forms and associated plants. Their new Museum building is to be erected in the border of this area.

So at Wellington one was not surprised to find a very large tract of land near the center of the city, which was far more than a park, in that it was primarily a place for the cultivation and protection of considerable stretches of natural vegetation. Certain portions are devoted to cultivated plants of various kinds and of course such parts are distinctly artificial and primarily intended

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to display the ornamental plants. These botanical gardens in Wellington have plant houses, offices, etc., and are in charge of a man trained at Kew gardens. I am quite sure that these well developed preserves, parks, and gardens are a very important educational factor in these countries and that we might well develop much more extensive institutions of this kind in our own land.

I seemed to sense in New Zealand a sympathetic interest in America. They are close students of our institutions, and are generously disposed to forgive some things they can not understand. In other words they judge us by our spirit and intent rather than to hold us too strictly to account at all times. If one came to know one of these islanders well there would come a time when with perfect politeness and yet with keenest interest he would ask, "Why did you so long delay your entry into the Great War?" and then, "Why did you turn your back on a needy world as soon as peace was declared?" They feel there must be somewhere sufficient answers, but I, for one, could not make reply to them, for all about me there were wounded men, broken homecircles, and everywhere the sears of their sacrifices.

On the evening of August 15 we sailed out on the Tahiti. I stood on the upper deck until the headlands at the harbor's entrance were dimming in the twilight. Then with an unseen salute to those wonderful New Zealanders I went below and joined Professor Nutting in the stateroom which was to be our home for most of a month. "We had good times together and no small part of the value of the summer to me was my close and pleasant associations with the distinguished head of our Department of Zoology.

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CHAPTER XVIII

A GEOLOGIST'S IMPRESSIONS OF NEW ZEALAND

A. 0. Thomas

The Dominion of New Zealand with an area of 104,471 square miles, is composed of two large, narrow islands and a number of smaller ones the most important of which is Stewart Island at the southernmost extremity. The distance from North Cape to South Cape is almost a thousand miles yet no point of land is over seventy-five miles from the sea. The islands lie in the open Pacific; their northern extremity, in latitude 34 degrees north, is subtropical, while the southern extremity has long, cold, and wet winters. Invercargill, at the lower end of South Island, with a population 18,000 is the most southerly town in the world having hotels, street railways, parks, and similar improvements. The islands not only have a wide range of climate but have a great variation in altitude extending from marshy lowlands at sea level to the peaks of the southern Alps, some ten or twelve thousand feet high. Rainfall is likewise variable, but nowhere too light for abundant vegetation; in certain sections, as on the west face of the southern Alps, whose crests lie athwart the path of the prevailing northwester lies, the rainfall is very heavy. A visit in July and August, the winter months, impresses one with the chilly, damp, cloudy weather, a condition that is more prevalent the farther south one goes. In the Dunedin region dwellings are usually provided with stoves, and some provision is made for wintering sheep and cattle. Complaints were heard here of a constant tendency of the population to shift northward to the Auckland district where the winters are more genial.

Geographically, New Zealand is separated by some twelve hundred miles of water from Australia, the nearest land mass. A bathymetric map, based on the soundings of the Challenger and other vessels shows that a large area of land covered by less than one thousand fathoms of water extends for hundreds of miles to the south and east of South Island. On this, for example, lie the Auckland Islands in latitude 50 degrees and 40 minutes south

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and some two hundred miles from the New Zealand shores. An uplift of twelve hundred feet would connect them with the mainland. There is a similar but narrower shoal west of New Zealand from which a long submarine ridge extends north by west for nearly two thousand miles toward New Guinea. This ridge is less than one thousand fathoms in depth. Between the New Zealand land mass and Australia the sea reaches a depth of over two thousand fathoms.

Geologically, New Zealand is a continent in miniature. Though some of its rocks are very old there is little evidence of its having been a land above the sea before the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Since then the area has experienced elevations and subsidences, faulting and folding, mountain-making and vulcanism, erosion by waves, rivers and ice, all of which make a history whose complexity and interest approach that of the greater continental units. Despite the prevailing opinion that the plant and animal life suggest a strong Australian affinity, the absence of the eucalypti and acacias among the plants and of the marsupials among the mammals oppose this hypothesis in part. The various theories based on geological and biological evidences regarding past land connections are many and complicated. Their discussion does not fall within the scope of this chapter.

Auckland, the largest city of the Dominion, offered our first introduction to New Zealand. Together with its suburbs it has a population of fully 158,000. It is located at the head of Waitemata harbor whose mouth is guarded by the volcanic island, Rangitoto. Outside is Hauraki Gulf protected by Great Barrier island and the Coromandel peninsula. The topography permits the location of several beautifully situated suburbs among which are Devonport, Takapuna, and Birkenhead, the latter being the home of the plant of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company whose activities are so important in Fiji. Auckland proper is on a narrow neck of land where North Island is nearly cut in two. Onehunga, one of the suburbs, is located on Manukau harbor on the opposite side of the isthmus. It is said that a canal could be readily constructed across the isthmus but for the fact that the tides on either side are not synchronous, and the result would be an irregular and disastrous ebb and flow in the canal.

The much-indented coast-line of the harbor is due to the erosion of the region into ridges and broad valleys at a time when the

PLATE LIII

Volcanic ash mantling hills after the eruption of Waimangn, the world'a larmsl ... , ~ S«y»«' (See page 308) Hie Kemarkaiiles; looking serosa the Domain (See page 335) A road cut through deep loess at Oamaru (See page 334) (Photos by Thomas)

Wellington harbor from the hilli (See page 815) Rock arch near Lyall Bay, Wellington, on an uplifted platform follow ing Lhe earthqaake of 1 855 I Bee page 816) Water gap of the Grey river at Greyraoutn (See page 822) (Photos by Thomas*

PLATE LIV

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land stood higher above the sea than it does to-day. Since then the area has been beneath the sea and a very thick veneer consisting of a succession of alternating beds of soft sandstone, and tough blue clays have been laid down as an estuarine or slack water deposit. Later the region was uplifted but not to its former elevation. As a result Auckland and its environs are located on a region of sharp relief which has been softened and masked by the later deposit known by the Maori as the “papa” rock and by geologists as the Waitemata beds. A knowledge and appreciation of these simple geological relations have greatly modified the general work of harbor development and the reclamation of the low land about the end of Queens street. The “papa” rock is the origin of the fine soils of much of the Auckland peninsula justly famous for its agriculture, dairying, and stock breeding.

In places the Waitemata series is abundantly fossiliferous. Dredgings from the bottom of the harbor excavations yield quantities of molluscan remains which are very well preserved. A small but representative series was collected. Some thin layers are more or less calcareous and contain a wealth of foraminifera. These and other fossils of the “papa” rock have been made famous in a monograph by the Austrian paleontologists, Zittel, Karrer and Staehe, of the “Novara” expedition of 1864.

The most obvious geological phenomenon of the Auckland area is the numerous cones of small extinct volcanoes. Rangitoto is the largest of over sixty which occur in the district. The streets and town lots of Auckland have been laid out with reference to these natural features, and much of the landscape effect incident to the arrangement of homes and gardens in the residence districts is due to the cones, lava slopes and ridges of volcanic origin. A pretty eminence of this kind in the southern part of the city is Mt. Eden. At its top is a large crater partly filled with reddish clinkery scoria. Its slopes are a succession of lava-flow terraces. At one point on its flank is an artificial opening whence are removed great quantities of scoria for road metal. The one hundred foot face of the workings shows well the nature of the extrusive material which in certain layers is much like slag. Occasional dikes and sheets of solidified lava tell another side of the volcanic story. In the debris were picked up examples of volcanic bombs of the size and shape of small hand grenades.

On one of the lava-flow terraces in the residence district we

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dropped into an opening in a lawn and entered an irregular tunnel four to ten feet high. This is but one of many subterranean passage-ways which underlie sections of the city. They are the result of the forward movement of the liquid lava after a crust had formed by cooling on the surface of the flow. In places the floor showed ropy lava, and on it here and there our candles lighted up “whirls” of rudely circular ridges. In one place the floor crust had turned over while yet viscous, in another slow solidification had partly blocked the tunnel, and in still another the roof had fallen permitting a later flow to enter and join the viscous mass below. Prom the roof hung lava pendants which one learns to avoid after bumping into them once or twice.

Rangitoto, mentioned above, is the largest and apparently the freshest of the Auckland volcanoes. A visit to the cone was made possible through the kindness of Mr. Hamer, chief engineer of the Harbor Board. A fast launch with Mr. Povey as guide quickly negotiated the nine miles of water. The cone rises out of the bay forming a nearly circular island eight to nine miles in diameter and 920 feet high. Approach to the shore is difficult since the jagged edges of the successive lava flows make an irregular sawtooth coast-line which lacks sheltered bays. From a strongly built wharf a path leads up to the summit. The surface is a succession of strong, clinkery, pressure ridges of broken, porous lava blocks standing at all angles and presenting an all but impassable terrane. In spite of heavy rainfall, vegetation has only a precarious foothold on the unweathered lava. In places large areas of the surface are quite barren, and the black lava, from a distance, resembles a freshly plowed field. On the more abrupt central part the scoria slope offers a more hospitable habitat, and vegetation is more abundant but not dense. On the south slope are two small parasitic cones. Between them and the main cone is a depression, wooded and sheltered; these together with the 200 foot crater, are the main retreats of the nearly wild sheep and wallabies introduced on the island some years ago. The summit yields a good birdseye view of Auckland, its harbor, and suburbs. At the east end of Rangitoto the Harbor Board has established a quarry and a stone crusher for obtaining stone for making moles and for crushed rock in cement work. Sand and gravel are negligible in amount about Auckland, and the “papa” rock, described above, is far too soft for construction purposes. For this reason

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the Rangitoto quarry is operated on an extensive scale. The face is three hundred to four hundred feet long and twenty to thirty feet high. The hardened flows are vesicular basalt rich in olivene. Intermingled with these are scoria, slag, and clinker. The latter are crushed and screened and yield a filler for concrete, thought to be superior to gravel. More than one hundred men are employed working eight-hour days. They are paid from one shilling tenpence to two shillings sixpence per hour depending on the kind of work they do.

The volcanic rock toward the edges of Rangitoto is quite thin as may be seen at the quarry whose main building is supported on piling driven into the “papa” rock at the water’s edge. Apparently the period of volcanic activity is considerably later than the laying down of the “papa” rock although a considerable amount of volcanic ash is interbedded with the clays and sands of that formation. In places its evenly laid strata are sharply folded and occasionally faulted by the thrust of the penetrating lavas.

Across a shallow narrow strait from the Harbor Board Quarry is the island of Motutapu composed almost entirely of a pile of the Waitemata beds left as an erosion remnant. In a rubbly fossil-bearing zone near the water level is found the remains of a giant Tertiary cirripede, known as Scalpellum aucklandicum. We were fortunate in securing a few of the plates of this rare barnacle.

THE ROTORUA LAKE DISTRICT

On July 15, my aide, Mr. Clock, and I left for the hot lakes and geyser district at Rotorua. Through Mr. Wallnut of the Government Tourist Bureau we had purchased transportation good on all railroads, lake boats, and mail-carrying automobiles connecting or extending rail terminals. These tickets, costing £l6-5-0 each, were good for sixty days, first class. They proved a great convenience for as we were in a sense guests of the government, our movements were anticipated, and we found someone at every point ready to receive us and direct us how to make the best connections, find suitable hotels, or see such geological phenomena as we had come to study.

The Waikato valley south of Auckland is a rich district in which dairying, grazing, and the growing of small crops are the

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chief industries. Butter, cheese, and other milk products from this valley form a goodly part of the six million pounds’ worth annually exported from the Dominion. Milking is largely done by machinery and the products are collected in large lorries daily. At Hamilton there is an extensive Agricultural Experiment Station which compares favorably with those in the States The divide between the Waikato and Thames is in places a low intractable peaty marsh overgrown with ti trees. The higher land is being cleared of native timber for grazing. Here and there the Australian gum trees have become established in place of the short tree-ferns and rimu, while many clearings are overrun by the Scotch gorse, a thrifty yellow-flowered shrub, which makes impenetrable thickets. This fast-growing invader is becoming a pest. It is said that the first bushes brought from the mother country were planted with religious ceremony by the homesick settlers! The lava plateau is reached at Mamaku although considerable volcanic ash is apparent in railroad cuttings on the way up.

Rotorua is situated on the shore of a lake of the same name in the midst of a region filled with hot springs, fumaroles, boiling mud pools, and small geysers. The air is noticeably charged with hydrogen sulphide; one's watch ease turns black, and even coins in one's pocket lose their luster. Some of the thermal springs are particularly rich in minerals, and well-equipped, curative baths are extensively patronized by those seeking relief from various ills. The sanitarium and spa buildings are attractive and well constructed. The Maori villagers of Ohinemutu on the shore of the lake cook their food and wash their clothes over natural steam holes. In a little cemetery near by a vigorous hissing steam vent issues out of a tile set between two graves. It is hoped that the situation casts no reflection on the departed. King George V Hospital is situated on a ridge near by. It was here that many convalescent soldiers were so beneficially treated by the hot mineral waters during the late war.

Whakarewarewa, or just Whaka for short, is the site of an old crater basin about a mile out of the city. This area is tilled with hoi pools, hissing steam vents, and boiling mud pots. This was the home of a very vigorous geyser, WaiHte, which became inactive twenty years ago except for one dying eruption a few months previous to our visit. Its terraced cone of grayish white

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sinter intermingled with yellow sulphur still harbors a series of hissing, sputtering steam vents. Pohutu, Wairoa, and Papakura are other geysers of greater or lesser reputation. The place is crowded with solfataric action of every sort.

Lake Rotorua, six or seven miles in diameter, is but one of a dozen of more large lakes in the district which occupy old explosion craters or depressions dammed by lava flows. Near the center of the lake rises the conical island of Mokoia which reminded us of Wizard island in our Crater Lake and its origin is doubtless similar. Besides the water-filled craters there are several rim-broken, drained depressions—doubtless old craters—and also many hills of volcanic origin culminating in Moerangi (2440 feet) and Ngongotaha (2554 feet).

THE TARAWERA ERUPTIONS

Fifteen miles from Rotorua there is another much visited region made famous by the eruption of Mt. Tarawera (3770 feet) on the morning of June 10, 1886. This flat-topped eminence standing some 2500 feet above Lake Tarawera near its base had never shown any signs of activity. A few miles to the southwest of the sleeping giant lay a geyser basin larger than that at Whakarewarewa and justly famous for its magnificent Pink and White Terraces similar to those of our Yellowstone Park. On the night referred to after a few premonitory rumblings and earthquakes, the mountain split in two, the fissure continuing down its southwest face through Lakes Rotomakariri and Rotomahana to the geyser basin. The rent was eight and three-fourths miles long with an average width of forty rods and a depth from nearly a thousand feet in the mountain to some three hundred feet at the south. The fissure, still largely open, is the most awesome on the face of the earth. During the eruption an enormous quantity of fragmentary material was ejected mainly in the form of fine dust, but in the vicinity of the fissure there was much coarse material, the heaviest blocks weighing as much as eighty tons. The roar of the explosion was terrific, and the steam was lifted nearly three miles into the air. The result was a large pit over 500 feet in depth at whose bottom was a violently boiling lakelet. Since then the pit has filled with water, making the present Lake Rotomahana, four miles long and two miles wide. It is 520 feet in depth and covers not only the area of the two small lakes men-

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tioned above, but also the sites of the beautiful Pink and White Terraces, now far below the surface, and much of the former solfataric basin. Many hot springs and geysers issue beneath the lake near its northeast shore, and the whole side of the Rotomahana crater in this area is alive with roaring steam vents. The lake water has a greenish color and in places is too hot for the hand. The surface of Lake Rotomahana is 148 feet above that of Lake Tarawera. and the two are separated by a narrow strip of land. Our Maori guide, Patiti, suggested the possibility of draining the former into the latter at least to the extent that the sites of the terraces be exposed hoping thereby to uncover them by hydraulicking, in case they were not destroyed by the original eruption. Moore and others, however, report that fragments of terrace sinter occur with the coarser e.jeetamenta of the vicinity. This Patiti strongly denies. In our opinion the removal of the water load from the solfataric area of the lake is frought with dangers from new explosions which might well be of disastrous extent. The balance is delicate as will be seen later on. The eruption of Tarawera lasted for several hours; in fact the general disturbance lasted for several days. Hector and Park who visited the scene on the 13th and 14th mapped no less than seventeen points of active eruption along the fissure. A strong wind from the southwest scattered the finer debris over the country and out into the Bay of Plenty. It covered an area of some 6.000 square miles, one-fourth of which was damaged for agriculture. Moore estimates that from 520.000,000 to G20,000.000 cubic yards Were thrown out. All inhabitants within four miles of the mountain were killed. In all some 130 persons were lost, most of whom were natives. Several villages were completely buried by the fine gray blanket which destroyed all life and covered the immediate region with upwards of fifty feet of ash and scoria. This depth rapidly grew less away from the foci of eruption until at a distance of a few miles, vegetation was able to re-establish itself promptly; but in the nearby area it was some years before trees and ferns gained a foothold, and even now there are large barren tracts in spite of the abundant rainfall. The layers of ash mask the original surface on which they rest. In [dares rain has eroded these into deep sharp-sided gullies and ridges, revealing here and there the old soil and charred wood below. Much of the debris has been washed to lower levels and into the lakes. We were told

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that this sediment plus that which fell into Lake Tarawera raised its surface permanently forty-two feet at the same time adding much to its area by overflow of the bordering low lands. Apparently all life in the lake was killed, but it is now abundantly stocked with trout.

Professor Park, mentioned above, and who was our genial hosl at Dunedin, has written most interestingly about the grea! eruption of the latter stages of which he was an eye witness. Liberty is taken of quoting a few passages.

"The premonitory signs of the coining disaster consisted of subterranean rumblings and earth tremors lasting several hours; but whether these of such a nature as to cause anxiety or alarm to those living near Rotomahana and Tarawera is unknown, since all the native villages within a radius of four miles were destroyed, not a soul escaping. It is, however, certain from the evidence of the survivors at Te Wairoa, situated on the west side of Lake Tarawera. that the titanic outburst which split Mount Tarawera in twain from end to end and opened the yawning fissure that stretched southward for miles over the low plateau near Rotomahana, took place with appalling suddenness. For a space of four hours, the craters situated on the line of the newly formed rent poured out piles of asli that ovcrwhi the whole country, which, as far as the eye could reach, was converted into a weird gray-draped smoking desert.

"After this, the violence abated; and at the time of the author's visits the vents on Mount Tarawera, at Rotomahana, Black Crater, and Echo Crater were centers of great activity, from which clouds of andesite boulders were projected high into the air, some being shot over the craterrim, where they were piled up into confused masses, others, and apparently the majority, falling back into the throats of the vents, where they were churned up by the escaping steam until again tossed out. The steam issued from the vents with a terrific continuous roar; and the descending blocks of rock struck the ascending masses with shattering violence, the united effect being stupefying and overpowering. At short intervals that rarely exceeded twelve minutes, there took place, heavy underground bumps-such as might be caused by subterranean explosions. These were instantly followed by short, sharp earthquakes of such violence that it was, after a time, deemed advisable to withdraw to the vicinity of Black Crater "The effect produced on those witnessing this grand display of plutonie force at short range was diverse. At first some became hysterical, but in time all relapsed into a subdued mood of indifference followed by a stupefying languor. It is not improbable that the stupor was caused by the presence of carbon monoxide in the gaseous emanations of the craters" (James Park, The Geology of New Zealand, 1910).

Our Maori guide, Patiti, who has lived in the region all his life, was a young man at the time of the eruption. He is an intelligent, unassuming gentleman. His English name is Warbrick. His home is on the shore of Lake Tarawera opposite the now sleeping mountain. He showed us the site of several of the overwhelmed villages, in one of which he lived in 1886. Fortunately he was acting as puide to some hunters, and at the time of the eruption they were camped in a slab hut a few miles away but in

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full view of the mountain. His story of the event is here given, much as it was taken down while we were crossing Lake Rotomahana in his fine launch.

"We were awakened about 2 A. M. by a tremendous roaring noise. Outside was a weird light from the reflection of the steam cloud lighted up by the hot rocks in the cleft. The cloud looked like a pillar of steam. The roaring and rumbling became ceaseless, '['he earth swayed and vibrated, while the most vivid and unearthly lightning Hashes lighted up the great pillar and bellows of incessant thunder of deafening power mingled with the mountain explosions. Ashes began to fall and now and then a heavier thud on the roof could be heard above the din. But it was mostly a quiet shower due to the grander and more terrific display a iew miles away. Breathing gradually became difficult due to the dust and gases. It was necessary to keep hold of something to be able to stand; death seemed imminent. "We four lived in the hut on some scanty provisions for three days, finally escaping through the roof. Eleven feet of ashes had fallen and only the incessant rain during the first thirty-one hours which had packed the ash, made it possible to get away.

THE WAIMANGU AND TAI'PO BASINS

At the west end of Lake Rotomahana is a valley leading up to the famous Waimangu Basin. Its entire course for about a mile is a succession of fumaroles, hot springs, and "dry-mouthed" geysers. The fumaroles emit a variety of gases, some of them dangerously hot. Such local names as Paddlewheel geyser. Devil's Kitchen, the Inferno, and similar designations indicate the character of the place. In the midst of this thermal aggregation, there broke out in 1900 a world famous giant geyser called Waimangu. It played more or less intermittently until in 1908. sending at intervals an enormous column of water and mud to a height of fully 1200 feet. From the floor of the mud pool, it erupted first at one end and then at the other generally straight up into the air but at times obliquely and at any angle; at such eruptions it plastered the hillsides with mud. sand, and even boulders. This made close approach dangerous. The hills in the vicinity arc still gray and but little covered with vegetation due to these strange bombardments and others to be mentioned later. Rain has carved the hill slopes into an elaborate network of gullies extending from top to bottom.

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Above the site of Waimangu is an area known as Frying Pan Flats, so called because by hydrothermal action iron sulphide is deposited on loose stones as a bright yellow film. The upper part of the flats is occupied by a deep hot pool, which originated at the time of a violent eruption in 1917 which destroyed without warning this part of the Frying Pan only a few hours after a party had leisurely walked over its floor. At the time enormous quantities of brownish mud were thrown over the nearby hills, and the concussion blew the roof off the Accommodation House several hundred yards away. Unrestored parts of the house are still weighted down with tons of mud. Two persons taking refuge in the house were so badly gassed and injured that they died a few days later. This explosion left a small lake above the site of old Waimangu. In 1919, Mr. Warbriek, our Maori guide at Tarawera, blasted away the outlet of the new lake hoping that by lowering the water he might start a geyser at the lake site. The result w T as a terrific explosion at the upper end of the basin as the water drew off. Mr. Warbriek luckily escaped injury. Mud, this time of a gray color, was thrown out in large quantities, covering a part of the brown mud of 1917. In places gullies have cut through both revealing the Waimangu muds of 1900 to 1908. The view from Accommodation House past sleeping Waimangu and the Paddlewheel across Rotomahana Lake to the heights of Tarawera is an imposing one. Here is a strip five miles long studded with thermal activity and in it a chasm in places 1000 feet deep. It extends beyond the mountain three and one-half miles more, making it, as said before, the greatest cleft of its kind in the earth’s surface.

Forty miles from Waimangu is Lake Taupo the largest body of fresh water in New Zealand. It lies in an old volcanic crater, or in a combination of craters, and there is a region of hydrothermal activity at Wairakei near its outlet. At the time of our visit in 1922, a series of perceptible earthquakes lasting for several weeks shook the region. Beyond Lake Taupo and in a line with Rotorua lies Tongariro National Park in which are located the volcanic cones of Ruapehu, Ngaurohoe, and Tongariro. The first is a quiescent volcano of imposing proportions; its snow-clad summit rises a full mile out of the plain; its ice-filled crater one mile in diameter is dwarfed when compared with its circular base, forty miles in circumference. The second is a perfectly symmetrical

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cone rising 7500 feet above the sea and it is in more or less constant volcanic activity. Its products, however, are harmless ash showers and great clouds of steam and sulphurous gases. The third, Tongariro, is lower than the others and is in fact but the stump of a once much higher cone whose top has been violently blown off.

Out in the Bay of Plenty, far to the northeast, lies White Island, the summit of a very active volcano. A line drawn from White Island to Ruapehu passes through Rotorua, Tarawera, Waimangu, Taupo, and Ngauruhoe. This is the line of the ’great Whakatane fault. Activities such as the Tarawera eruption are accompanied more or less by sympathetic activities along its entire course. It has been called “the safety-valve of New Zealand”, and at intervals for hundreds of thousands of years, volcanic phenomena like those described at Tarawera have been going on along this line of weakness. At times they eclipsed even that majestic display when in addition to paroxysmal outbursts on a titanic scale great sheets of lava were extruded one after another.

WANGANUI AND THE PLIOCENE FOSSILS

Wanganni, located on the west coast one hundred miles directly north of Wellington, is a progressive city of some sixteen or eighteen thousand people. It claims to be the fifth largest city of the Dominion. It is situated near the mouth of the Wanganni river which is scarcely deep enough for ocean-going vessels, but navigable by lighters to large steamers; a brisk export trade in wool, frozen meats, butter and other dairy products is carried on. Efforts to deepen and enlarge the harbor are in progress. The city is built on a low plain, quite above tide, on which are remnants of a terrace. The business district on the right bank is substantially built and has paving and electric tram lines. A number of well constructed bridges give access to the left bank which is higher ground occupied by a very beautiful residence section. The highest part, known as Durie's Hill, is reached by a lift in a shaft 21fi feet high which is at the inner end of an electrically lighted concrete tunnel over 700 feet long, opened at the level of the main bridge, from a tower at the top of the lift one gets a fine view of the river and city. A clear sky and a field glass permit a view of Ruapehu to the north, Bgmont to the northwest, the Taraura range near Wellington to the south, and

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DT'rville Island across Wanganui Bight, eighty miles away. At a commanding point on the right bank and on a remnant of a higher terrace is located Ihc Sargent Art Gallery, said to be the best in New Zealand. There is a small but well kept museum, fine schools, an astronomical observatory, and the town boasts a philosophical society with a very creditable list of publications.

West of Wanganui along Mm coast are a number of outcrops of highly fossiliferous Pliocene beds. The publications on these are well known, and the writer's hope of making collections of the fossils was not in vain. In company with Mr. R. Murdoch, a local geologist of some repute two of the outcrops were visited. At Castlecliff the beds are gray to bluish in color, fine-grained, pumiceous, and slightly micaceous. They are quite soft and as a result the shells can be removed with a strong knife blade. The beds dip to the southeast and the 75-foot "cliff" is at the landward edge of a wave-cut terrace. Huge blocks of the formation are undermined and later destroyed by the waves. These are the bonanzas from which scores of fine shells were dug. The fauna has a high percentage of modern species, but to the northwest as older beds rise the proportion of extinct species is greater and greater. The fauna is largely molluscan but there are a few brachiopods, bryozoa, barnacles, and sand-dollars. The shells are very brittle but by leaving them in the matrix and packing carefully they withstood their long journey remarkably well. They preserve the most delicate markings and make a fine group for study. At Kai-Iwi, farther north, is a higher cliff than at Castlecliff, and the fauna is slightly different. A busy day here with Mr. Murdoch yielded a lot of fine specimens to which our genial guide added several from his own collections, a number of which were not found by us at either locality.

On top of the Pliocene bluffs and separated by an uneonfomiity are from four to ten feet or more of a peaty deposit thought to be of Pleistocene age. Landward from the cliff are at least three series of terraces and remnants of a fourth which tell of the upward movements of the region, and there are evidences such as the Pleistocene peat bogs and others to show opposite movements at times. The shore in places is a mass of shifting dunes whose sands are derived from the easily destroyed Kai-Iwi beds. Some of the shore drifl sand is black and is derived from the Egniont lavas, ground by the waves and drifted along by the prevailing

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northwesterlies. The shore cliff continues northward, shutting off the towns of Patea. llawera, and others from easy access to the sea.

MOUNT EGMONT

Rising sheer out of the Taranaki Plain and dominating the region is Mt. Egmont, an extinct volcanic cone 8,260 feet high. Its symmetry rivals the famous Fujiyama of Japan and like it is beautifully simple in form and all the more striking to behold because of its isolation. In winter Mt. Egmont is coated with snow and makes a most beautiful sight visible from long distances an ! from far out at sea. The foot of the mountain is heavily forested with ratas and pines while the undergrowth of ferns "and other cryptogams is extremely dense, and the branches and trunks are loaded with numerous epiphytes and delicate filmy ferns. Foot paths and drives in the lower forest from which an occasional glimpse may be had of the snow-clad mountain are very charming. Above the forest is a belt of scrub, then one of tussock and finally moss. Above the 5000-foot line reddish scoria and black lavas continue to the summit, but they were quite covered with snow at the time of our visit.

We reached Dawson Falls House, an accommodation hotel maintained by the government at the foot of the mountain, by motor from Stratford, eighteen or twenty miles away. It was July 21 and 22, the weather was decidedly cold, and there was a chill damp wind blowing in from the sea. On our first day the mountain was swathed in clouds, and dense mist forbade our going beyond the established track through the wet brush. However, we leached the black scoria of Manganui Gully and made a side trip onto a sharp ridge designated ".Magnificent View" hoping the mist might lift, but except for the feeling of being in a dense drifting cloud through which we could seldom see fifty feet, the climb was fruitless. An excellent hot supper and an evening by a roaring fire revived our spirits.

The next morning broke brighl and clear. The air was crisp and frosty, and there was no wind. The east was crimson, wine, and sold, and the view of the dazzling white mountain reflecting the rays of the rising sun was unutterably glorious. It reminded me of a similar sight over the Pitons of St. Lucia in the Wesl Indies four years before. The white-rohed Egmont, however, was

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more luminous than the dark-green Pitons, but the sky effect surrounding the latter was more colorful. After a light breakfast, and armed with Swiss ice-axes, smoked glasses and Alpine ropes, we struck the trail. Occasional glimpses of the mountain, now crowned at times with a halo of wispy mist, reassured us that the morning would continue clear. Once when going through the scrub, a cloud closed in about us with the accompanying halos and "spotlights", and a little later a stratum of clouds closed in below us shutting off the forest and plain and leaving us alone with the mountain. Climbing over the scoria was tiresome, but the snow was hard and firm. In a few places steps were cut with the ice-axes largely as a matter of precaution and lest the mountain become engulfed in clouds and fog, a few landmarks were thrown up at intervals as possible guideposts on our return. Three hours after Ihe start we reached Fantham's Peak, a parasitic cone, some distance below the summit. Progress beyond this point was deemed unwise, for there was above us a heavy fall of loose snow. With our glasses we could see the snow drifting about the dazzlingly white crest from which protruded the black "Shark's Tooth", a bit of the edge of the crater's rim, silhouetted against the blue sky.

A view of Ruapehu and his companions on the Waimarino plain nearly one hundred miles away was clear and distinct; through the field glass, the darker gullies on the slopes of Xgauruhoe simulated great flows of fresh lava. Just below, the plain of Taranaki dotted with farmsteads and villages was a pretty sight and alone well worth the climb.

Egmont 's base is broad and its flows extend far out on the plain and to the sea on three sides. They have added perceptibly to the land area of North Island and the weathered andesite rock makes a fertile soil. Geologically, Egmont like Kuapehu dates back to the late Pliocene, and both are older than the lava cones about Auckland. The low Pouakai Range on the northwest flank of Egmont is thought to be more or less contemporaneous with its latest eruptions, but the Kaitaki Range of hills between Pouakai and the coast is considerably older and is correlated in age with the striking Sugar-loaf hills of New Plymouth. The immediate vicinity of Mount Egmont is directly exposed to the moisture-bearing winds, and it receives a rainfall of close to one hundred inches annually. The numerous streams radiating down

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from the mountain attest this heavy precipitation, and since they are fed by the melting snow a high percentage of them is permanent. However, little or no snow is carried over from year to year.

It is gratifying to know that the Egmont area has been made a reservation with hotels and guides for tourists under government supervision, and a wise policy of conservation of its natural beauty, we were told, has been adopted. With the mountain top as a center, a circle with a radius of six miles has been drawn, and along this circumference, a road has been established; several well kept roads lead from this periphery to convenient points and rest houses nearer the base of the cone whence ascent is begun on foot.

The Taranaki district because of its heavy rainfall is better adapted for dairying than for sheep farming. Dairy factories arc numerous, and their products are famous. The land is nearly all in small holdings, and large sheep runs common elsewhere are absent. This makes for a denser population with the accompanying advantages; one of them worthy of special mention is the fine roads of the district partially maintained by a system of tolls collected every few miles along the way. These remarks are not meant to cast any reflection on roads elsewhere in New Zealand; in fact, it was a source of constant surprise to find such uniformly good roads in so new a country with an average population density of only ten or twelve per square mile.

WELLINGTON AND ITS ENVIRONS

Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, is located at the southern extremity of North Island. Its latitude, 41M7'. is almost the same as that of lowa City except that one is south and ihe other is north. It has a population of about 103.000. and besides being the seat of government it is the location of Victoria College, beautifully situated on the hills overlooking the city and harbor. The new Parliament building is architecturally attractive, being constructed of very pleasing types of granite and marble transported from the north end of South Island, just across Cook Strait. The Town Hall is another fine edifice, and the business district is substantial and handsome. The place has an air of prosperity, ami there is a large volume of business. Lai Quay, the main street, is no longer the quay but is now separated

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from the harbor by a considerable area of ground made by filling in the shallower water of the harbor. This new ground has become the source of considerable revenue to the Harbor Board, since on it are built many of the city’s fine business blocks. The residence district is spread over a series of steep-sided hills which rise rather abruptly from the strip of shore on which is built the business district. This hilly situation has required the development of interesting engineering undertakings in connection with city water supply, sewage disposal, tunnels for roads and railways, cable tramways, and many other features. A very fine wharf of reinforced concrete, a patent slip for vessels, and many other harbor developments are worthy of notice.

To the geologist, the most interesting feature of Wellington is its famous land-locked harbor and its origin. The harbor, known as Port Nicholson, is a body of water with an area of twenty-five to thirty square miles whose maximum depth is about one hundred feet. It is entered through a neck four or five miles long and but one mile wide at its narrowest point. On all but one side it has many sheltered bays, of which Lambton Harbor and Evans Bay, about which Wellington is built, are the finest. The total shoreline inside of Point Dorsett is here estimated at fully forty miles. There is but one island of any consequence within it. It has been frequently said that all the navies of the world could easily anchor in Port Nicholson and the statement is fully justified.

Port Nicholson is the result of local subsidence, the northwest side of the depression being a fault scarp and almost a straight line. The history of the movements and the development of the resulting shore features have been worked out so masterfully and in such elaborate detail in several papers by Doctor Cotton of Victoria College that only the more apparent features are noted here.

The city of Wellington is located along the southwest shore of the depression, and the southwest end of the fault dies out in the hills back of the city, while its northeast extremity extends far up the Ilutt valley. The embayed cliffs along the southeast shore of Port Nicholson converge toward the fault scarp al such an angle as to intercept it at Upper Ilutt or thereabout some eight or ten miles above the upper end of the harbor. This narrow triangular fault valley with its apex at Upper Hutt and its base at Petone

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has been aggraded by the slow encroachment of the Hutt delta. A considerable amount of sediment doubtless covers the entire floor of the harbor mantling and smoothing the warped-down surface, which is thought to have had considerable relief. A contour map of the bottom shows a rapid drop to deep Water along the escarpment of the northwest shore, and as a rule a much more gently sloping floor elsewhere.

Evidences of tilting into the depression are many and interesting. The general structure of the "Wellington peninsula runs north-northeast, and the major streams are adjusted to it. As a result, the streams east of the Port Nicholson depression lie in valleys which are more or less parallel to the axis of movement. However, the headwater tributaries which enter the Wainui-o-mata from the west and northwest show remarkable aggradational effects due to headward tilting. Moreover, the streams entering the sea between Cape Turakirae and the harbor entrance are progressively more and more drowned at their mouths as the harbor region is approached. Indeed, there is a small lake at the mouth of each of the two major streams nearest the entrance. The headlands on this strip of coast retain a series of benches which are the remnants of elevated wave-cut rock platforms. These benches tilt toward the Port Nicholson depression at the rate of about 175 feet per mile. If this endwise tilt is a measure of the amount of warping, and if the area involved extends from the fault scarp across Port Nicholson to the valley of the Orongorongo river—a distance of ten miles—then the maximum downwarp should be in the neighborhood of 1750 feet. Doctor Cotton has placed it at fully fifteen hundred feet.

lii 1855, there occurred a remarkable uplift in the Wellington area. It was accompanied by a severe earthquake such as would be highly disastrous were it to occur in the same region now. "While the amount of uplift was not .sufficient to change the shorelines materially, minor effects and the subsequent changes they have suffered due to the various agents of erosion can be accurately studied under conditions where the lime element is known.

A few of the more obvious ones studied during Ihe brief time available to us may be mentioned. The shores south and southwest of Wellington previous to the uplift were cliffed. and broad wave-cut platforms had been developed. The latter are now exposed; on them are several stacks out of reach of the -present

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waves, and at the bases of the eliffs are ancient sea eaves and arches. The narrow isthmus separating Evans and Lyall Bays is a low strip of sand tying Miramar peninsula /-that was Miramar Island” previous to 1855) to the mainland. Raised beaches well out of reach of storm waves are common, and the streams flowing down the steep fault scarp were quickened, and some of them now empty out of small hanging valleys.

The country northeast of Wellington is reached by a railroad which passes up the Hutt valley through the thriving town of Petone, where we had an opportunity of visiting the large w'oolen mills. Over four hundred persons are employed, and the chief products are blankets, tweed cloth, and rugs. The Hutt delta plain, on which Petone is located, is the largest area of flat land bordering on Port Nicholson. In early days the pioneers contemplated establishing the harbor town on this level area. But the strong northwest winds swept the upper end of the bay and the sailing vessels were forced to seek shelter in the coves which are now Lambton Harbor, thus determining the site of the future capital. The railroad continues up the Hutt valley and across the Rimutaka range over which the winds sweep so fiercely that shelter sheds have been erected over the road for protection. Trains are drawn Over this part of the line by two powerful engines using a third rail where the incline for three miles is one in fifteen. Here we entered the rich Wairarapa district, one of the wealthiest sections tributary to Wellington, and beyond it is the famous “Forty Mile Bush”, a prosperous dairying and grazing area with tremendous future possibilities, for when placed under intensive cultivation it will support a dense population.

COOK STRAIT AND NELSON

A night’s voyage in a crowded two-hundred-ton boat, the Nikau, brought us from Wellington to Nelson at the head of Tasman Bay in South Island. The trip was decidedly rough, and there was little sleep. It is scarcely twenty miles from land to land in direct line but to reach Nelson it is necessary to go into the open sea and to enter French Pass between D ’Urville Island and the mainland. Cook strait is proverbially windy for it lies in the path of the westerlies, or the “roaring forties” of the seaman, and the neck of the strait is at the apex of a great funnel whose mouth is between Cape Farewell and Cape Egmont.

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A favorable morning tide bore us into the harbor while Orion was still brilliant in the northeastern sky and the Southern Cross hung inverted in the west.

Cook Strait is on the line of one of the major faults of New Zealand, and not only has there been a depression and a remarkable dislocation along the straits region but, according to Dr. Park, "North Island has been thrust eastward some distance relatively to the South Island." At nearly right angles to this fault extend the Whakatane fault, mentioned in connection with the volcanic phenomena of North Island, and the Wairarapa fault along which earth-rents could be traced for many miles on both sides of the strait during the earthquakes of the fifties. At Nelson the southern end of the Whakatane fault has brought the coal-bearing Miocene beds against the Triassic.

Nelson is an attractive town of ten thousand inhabitants. The surrounding region is noted for fruit-growing, and we saw here some of the largest orchards and berry patches in New Zealand. The place is famous for its jams and preserves which find a ready market throughout the Dominion. The climate of the region is remarkably mild with a rainfall of close to thirty-six inches and an average of three hundred sunny days per year. The harbor, Nelson Haven, lies behind a natural mole of coarse gravel and boulders. The material is of glacial origin heaped up as a result of the opposing action of strong heavily laden post-glacial streams and powerful ocean currents driven into the bay by the prevailing winds. This Nelson Boulder Bank, as it is called, is a very conspicuous physiographic feature, especially at low tide.

GENERAL FEATURES OF SOUTH ISLAM)

South Island has an area of 58.525 square miles, beinpr a fourth larger than North Island and a little larger than the state of lowa. Its length is close to five hundred miles, and its mean width is about one hundred miles. Its population—close to half a million—is but about two-thirds that of the warmer North Island.

The greal Southern Alps extending parallel to the western coast from Tasman Bay to the fiords of Otago are a magnifieenl chain of mountains ranging from six to ten thousand feel in height. They form a narrow snow-clad harrier for four hundred

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miles and in places are as sharp as a tent ridge for scores of miles. West of Canterbury for over 'two hundred miles the crest is barely thirty miles from the sea. .Many streams flowing down the well-watered, western slope have an average gradient of approximately three hundred feet per mile. Scores of towering peaks culminate in Mt. Cook (12,345 ft.), Mt. Tasman (11,400 ft.), Malte Bran (10,400 ft.) and Mt. Sefton (10,300 .ft.). To the south are Mt. Earnslaw (9,100 ft.) and Mt. Aspiring (9,900 ft.). In the vicinity of the latter peak in latitude 44"'JO' the main divide breaks up into a number of ridges which spread fan-wise to the south and southwest. On the plains east of the Alpine chain are a number of parallel ridges much lower and more worn. The boldest of these are the Kaikoura ranges of -Marlborough, averaging eight thousand feet in height and are apparently a continuation of the Taraura range which forms a part of the main divide of North Island. The subsidiary ranges of the plains as well as the Southern Alps are made up of folded rocks of late Paleozoic and of Mesozoie age.

West of Dunedin in Otago is a broken plain made up of a series of gigantic worn-down block mountains. They show excellent examples of horst and graben structure, the uplifted portions being broad plateaus and the sunken areas making Hat-bottomed basins, some of the latter being filled-np lake basins. The block mountains arc thought by Park to be "uplifted portions of a maritime base-level of erosion."

The Canterbury plain south of the Kaikouras comprises the hinterland of the city of Christchurch. It is alluvial in origin and covers an area parallel to the coast, roughly forty miles wide by one hundred and fifty miles long, and slopes gradually to the sea from a height of fifteen hundred feet at its western edge. This plain is very valuable farming and grazing land, and it supports a prosperous people.

The so-called cold water lakes of the southwestern part of South Island lie in overdeepened valleys souped out to great depth by former glaciers and whose outlets have in some eases been blocked by glacial moraine dams. Their floors in many instances have been cut below sea-level while their surfaces are upwards of a thousand feet or more above the sea. Their depths in proportion to their other dimensions are therefore exceptionally great. In shape each tends to be linear and corresponds to that segment of the valley whose deeply gouged bed it occupies.

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Good examples are Lakes Wakatipu. Manapouri, Te Anau and Monowai. The famous fiords of the same part of South Island occupy deep, steep-sided valleys whose lower reaches during the Ice Age were gouged far below sea-level, thus permitting arms of the ocean to enter for some distance into these deep narrow embayments. So abundant and picturesque are the fiords of the reu„,n that the place is spoken of as Fiordland, and its rugged scenery vies in grandeur with that of the fiord coasts of Norway or Alaska. Milford Sound is one of the best examples It is fully one thousand feet deep and its walls are sheer precipices two or three thousand feet high. Into these sounds leap waterfalls plunging several hundred feet from the mouths of han-in-valleys on the sides. Waterfalls of other origin occur in the region among which may be mentioned Sutherland Falls, near Lake A,la. whose waters drop a distance of 1,904 feet, making it one of the highest in the world.

THE BULLER GORGE

At Nelson we boarded a twelve-passenger Cadillac for Westport, nearly one hundred and fifty miles away. This all-day drive through winding valleys set. in primeval forests and flanked by bold hills and farther back by snow-capped mountains is one of the finest imaginable. For many miles there is a steady climb past the Nelson orchards and through sheep runs. The roadbed is well kept but is narrow; in places there are sharp hair-pin turns with a drop of hundreds of feet on the outside of the curve: in others there are great cuttings through coarse boulder ridges and edges of terraces in which the unusually coarse gravel and boulders tell of the powerful currents of the glacial and post-glacial streams. In places valley walls rise to two thousand feet at a slope of eighty degrees, but half this height and a slope of thirty to fifty degrees is more nearly the average. Frequent bridges over turbulent tributaries, immense overhanging rock masses, shelves cut into the living rock just wide enough for a narrow road bed. and the deep Ei here and there scarred by a swath-cutting landslide, contribute thrills and variety to this remarkable forest road. This is the gorge of the Buller river, an antecedent stream which has its remarkable canyon through recently uplifted mountain blocks. Between the blocks there are miles of flatter land where the valley widens and where man has made small settlements.

PLATE L\

Highly fossiliferous Pliocene beds on sea beach near Wanganui (See page 311) Looking down the valley from surface of Franz Josef glacier (See page 329) The ‘‘Open Bible,” a delta deposit near upper end of Lake Wakatipu (See page 335) (Photos by Thomas)

PLATE LVI

I aptafn AJtweU at the 'Tahiti" I See page l Deck billlarda on the "Tahiti" (See page 849) A race on deck (See page 340)

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In places there are thousands of acres of burnt-off land. These desolate areas are expressive of man's waste of valuable timber and it seems a pity that these fine forests or at least the lumber they contain cannot be preserved.

At a big bend in the river we pass through the old town of Lyell built upon and surrounded by enormous gravel terraces which in the sixties were washed for gold. Lyell then boasted ten to fifteen thousand inhabitants. The whole region was sluiced thoroughly for its gold but only rotting dredges and tumbled shacks on abandoned claims remain to tell of the time when the region yielded the biggest gold nugget ever found in New Zealand and of the struggles of gold-crazed men in the pathless forest penetrated only by the raging Buller.

Placer mining has largely ceased but not until hundreds of thousands of ounces of gold had been recovered in this region alone. Today lode-mining is extensively carried on, and we had the good fortune to see something of the diggings at Reefton which is located on the Inangahua river some miles above its junction with the Buller. At this gold mining center the cyanide process is employed for recovery of the metal. The main mines are at Crushington where the quartz is pulverized. Some of the underground workings are miles in length and penetrate the mountain from one side to the other. There is plenty of available water for all purposes diverted from the numerous mountain streams. Hydroelectric plants furnish an abundance of cheap electric power. We were told that the production of gold to date in the Reefton area is upwards of £5,000,000.

Below Inangahua Junction the Buller valley again narrows into a remarkable gorge. We passed the famous Fern Arch and stopped to get a snapshot of Hawk's Crag which is a notch cut into the side of the rock wall of the valley in such a way that there is rock below, on one side of. and above the car; the unprotected side looks down hundreds of feet to the stream below. The forest is again very dense, and the bush contains in addition to the ordinary trees an abundance of tree ferns, "Kin<i" ferns, and many others. It is a wonderland for a botanist. For a hundred miles the vegetation is massed together along this drive exhibiting an endless variety which to our northern eyes is strange and novel. One longs for a tramp through the thickets, to the foot of some towering rimu and on to the slopes of the distant mountains whose dense forests appear and re-

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appear in the clouds driven in from the sea. A railway line is being started up this valley; the first six or seven miles is one series of tunnels, bridges, and fills. It must be an expensive project, and we wondered how it can ever replace the motor lorries and busses now in operation. New Zealand railways, it should be remembered, are owned by the government and are not built as competing lines but to give service to the communities through which they pass.

THE MAIN TOWNS OF THE WEST COAST

Westport at the mouth of the Buller river is a thriving town of four thousand inhabitants. It has a good bar harbor and is the chief coal port of New Zealand. Nearly a million tons are exported annually to other parts of the Dominion and to other countries. The coal is bituminous and cokes well. The Mount Rochfort coal-field contains two seams, the upper is one to sixteen feet in thickness, and the lower is three to thirty feet thick. The Mokihinui field also has two seams; the larger, according to Park, maintains a thickness of sixteen to twenty feet over a considerable area. The estimated quantity of available coal in the Buller district is close to 150.000.000 tons. New Zealand has an abundance of coal, and it is well distributed throughout both islands. In kind it varies from semi-anthracite to lignite. The coal mines of the Dominion employ some 4000 men, and over one hundred mines are in operation. The coals of the Westport district rank among the best of the bituminous kind and are well known bunker coals.

Greymouth at the mouth of the Grey river is the chief port and largest town of Westland. It has a population of over 8,000, including the Grey valley boroughs. It is the center of the state-owned collieries which produce some half a million tons of coal annually. The river’s mouth has been converted into a safe harbor by moans of a large breakwater over onehalf mile long, but the minimum depth over the bar is only twelve feet. The walls are built of local Tertiary limestone as attested by the cehinoids and other fossils seen in the rock. The Grey river enters the ocean by way of a narrow but conspicuous watergap cut through a high ridge which is close to the shore and parallel to the coast. The gap makes the town very windy but serves as the only outlet for roads and railroads to the

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hinterland. The coast in the (I ivy mouth region is open, and the waves attack it with groat violence. Old beaches above the present one and some distance inland seem to suggest slow uplift. Between them in places are sand dunes which are more or less established. From the end of the breakwater looking southwest we caught our first glimpse of the great snowclad peaks of the Southern Alps. The Mt. Cook group, nearly one hundred miles away, stood out majestically as the early morning sun was reflected from their snowy sides and summits.

The coal-loading facilities at the docks both here and at Westport are well worthy of comment. Great steam cranes lift the loaded cars bodily off their trucks and swing them over the bunkers of waiting vessels where they are automatically dumped and then swung back into place, the whole process taking but a few moments.

In connection with these notes on the coals of this region, brief attention should be called to the extensive iron deposits of the Golden Bay district near Nelson. Here is located the largest and most valuable iron deposit in Australasia. Indeed it is said to be the largest on the vast Pacific seaboard in either hemisphere. That this great deposit of limonite ore, as yet practically untouched, should lie within a relatively short distance of the Westland coal mines is very significant in connection with the future manufacturing activities of the Dominion. Hokitika is a small town of two thousand inhabitants near the mouth of a small stream of the same name. It has no harbor at present since the cost of keeping the river mouth free of shifting sand is prohibitive. Lumbering is the chief industry although agricultural and dairy products are sent away by rail. In the spring of the year (September to November) enormous numbers of whitebait, a small delectable food-fish, enter the river. Several canneries do a brisk business during seasons when the runs are good.

The town site is a low sandy tract barely above high tide. During great storms the place is often flooded. At the time of our stay the sea was relatively quiet, yet the thunder of the waves night and day on the unprotected shore was very disconcerting. Hokitika of today is but the ghost of its former self. In the gold rush of 1864 when the rich gold-bearing deposits of gravel were discovered, the region became the mecca of gold hunters. During the boom, Hokitika's population ran

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to tens of thousands; even Ross, ten miles away and now an obscure village of a few hundred people, had a population of over ten thousand. Little by little the available gravels were washed out, the population dwindled, and the shacks crumbled. Hundreds of acres formerly covered with magnificent forests were left strewn with unsightly heaps and ridges of workedover gravels. Even the famous placer, Mount d'Oro, is desolate in the extreme. However, much of the gravel was too coarse for the equipment of the gold-seekers to handle, and they only scratched the surface. In addition, this great gravel bed of fluvial, fluvio-glacial, and marine origin is at least fifty feet thick back of Hokitika. Any opening made into it immediately fills with water since its surface is but a few feet above sea level a condition with which the pioneer gold digger could not cope. After several failures at handling this coarse, heterogeneous deposit it remained for the Rimu Gold Dredging Company to solve the problem. The company is a New York concern whose local manager, Mr. Cranston, received us most kindly and showed us the entire plant. The dredge is a floating dredge of the Brusies type and cuts a trench fifty-one feet deep to solid rock and two hundred feet wide. Forty feet of the gravel is under water. The floating part of the dredge is 116 feet long; the bucket line has 73 buckets, each carrying about ten cubic feet when full. Its capacity runs into hundreds of cubic yards per hour. The dredge is held in place by two struts which serve as anchors. When necessary to move forward, one strut is lifted and the outfit "walks" ahead. The stacker is 125 feet long. There are three decks for washing, and the mercury process is used for recovery. The gold is in the form of very tiny flakes, the occurence being known as beach lead. The dredge handles boulders up to two or three tons with ease. The 350 horse power used is hydroelectric and is developed at the Lake Kanieri power plant some ten miles away. Work goes on day and night and the recovery is "highly satisfactory". One eleven-day period netted 1105 ounces. The company owns twelve hundred acres, and at the rate of dredging for their first nine months it will take them thirty-five years to work out the claim. Mr. Cranston returned to America with us on the Tahiti. A new dredge with double the capacity of the first is in contemplation, and there arc thousands upon thousands of acres of gravels untouched except for the surface washing al-

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luded to above. Two hundred million dollars in gold is a conservative estimate of the region’s yield since the sixties. Fully twice that amount, we were told, awaits the giant dredges backed by capital and operated by the skill and courage of men like Lewis, the Yankee dredge boss.

WESTLAND

The district of Westland lies between the Southern Alps and the ocean. It is one of the narrowest and longest geographical units of its kind anywhere. It is close to two hundred miles long and from fifteen to thirty miles wide. The habitable area is still narrower since the width just given is from the crest of the Alps to the sea. In places the flat lowland strip barely exceeds a width of five miles and ten or fifteen may be considered an average.

There is one good road lacking several bridges running close to half its length. When the torrential streams are fordable a government motor carrying mail makes semi-weekly trips from Hokitika down to a point below Fox Glacier. Beyond this the mail goes by pack horse. On the morning of July 30 we boarded this ear for Waiho ninety miles away. The weather was frosty and clear and all wore heavy wraps, gloves and laprobes. A ton of mail and eight or ten passengers with their baggage gave the Studebaker a heavy load. In Westland temperature is measured by blankets. We heard our fellow passengers remark that it was “a blanket cooler today than yesterday”, and that a certain part of Westland was “two blankets warmer” than another. In winter every New Zealander carries a large woolen blanket, a sort of glorified steamer rug, and he is “rugged up” when aboard the train, or in a coach, or even when seated in a hotel lobby. The hotel keeper expects his guest to have one and to add it to his bed if needed.

The road winds in and out past old placer dumps, over raging creeks, and occasionally over splendid bridges all of which are unusually long for such small streams due to the fact that these streams overflow widely after a rain but subside rapidly. Innocent looking gravel bars wholly dry may suddenly become the sites of raging torrents lasting an hour or two. Our driver pointed out where a ear had been overturned and a man drowned at a place where he had crossed on dry ground a few hours before. It rains in Westland to the extent of more than one

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hundred inches annually. The more permanent streams are fed by the melting snows and glaciers of the high Alps. We passed many swamps and occasional lakes of great beauty. The village of Ross, mentioned before, is a place whose glory has departed. When gold failed to pay and men moved on there was left behind a mongrel population. Some of it is but the backwash of the great gold rush, but happily most of the people are a sturdy, vigorous, self-reliant and kindly folk who make the best of a difficult situation. An old one-armed man and a score of bent rheumatic and grizzly veterans of the sixties line up for the mail. It is their only diversion. They announce that Nick, the Irish wanderer, is back after a spree up the coast that cost him fifty pounds. To the near-by “pub” they go to devour the mail. A “pub” is a public house which dispenses liquor, and there are pubs and publicans a-plenty at every village and even at some cross-roads.

The settlers were scattered or gathered in groups on an area of flat land or about a saw mill. Lumbering on a large scale was going on at some points. We hoped it was being done scientifically for nothing so imperils this district as a wholesale deforestation that would permit unchecked erosion of the unprotected slopes. We passed by several areas of burned-over forest land.

Again and again as we glided through the forest we caught a glimpse of the snowy Alps or as we wound in and out among the placer dumps and abandoned sluices we caught a suggestion of the activities of this hundred-mile-long Gold Coast of New Zealand a half century ago. The tens of millions recovered helped make the Dominion but did little for Westland.

Tins rough broken strip of coastland is dotted with huge hills and ridges of extremely eoarse gravel borne from the mountains. Some of the hills attain a height of several hundred feet, are steep-sided and elose to the mountains; they take on a foothills character and are locally known as sugarloaf hills. Mt. Hercules is fully a thousand feet high. These irregularities as well as the more level tracts are softened by a covering of dense bush which as we proceed southward has as yet been little touched by the ax. Giant trees of rimu. kahikatea. and matai up to three or four feet in diameter stand straight and clean: ti. manuka, cracker bush and others form the lower shrubs while black ferns (Lomaria), king ferns (Cynthia), Prince of

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Wales feather (Todea), and a host of other ferns crowd in beneath. Wild blackberry, gorse, and bracken overrun the clearings. Clumps of tree ferns arrest the attention at intervals. Masses of an epiphyte called guji load down limbs and trunks with a besom of long aralia-like leaves. Lichens, liverworts, and mosses cling to tree trunks and moist slopes. Lycopods crowd every available space. It is winter, and hence there are no flowers except on a species of climbing rata; the only fruit is the "supple jack'' whose rich red berry clusters hang quite out of reach. It must be glorious in the full green of early summer when the manuka is a blaze of white bloom. The swamps support a wealth of hydrophytes, among them a plant called rapa which resembles our American cat-tails. It must be remembered that this is an evergreen forest and that the netted-veined leaves remain green and on the trees throughout the winter.

South of Ferguson's on a strip of relatively flat land the road passes through the finest part of the forest. One hundred feet above the branches close overhead, and one passes for several miles under an arch of indescribable beauty. The light is subdued, and the driver who goes over the road every few days slows up the car. Everyone is silent. The underbrush and ferns are coated with a heavy white frost, the accumulation of many days untouched by the sun's winter rays which are unable to penetrate to the floor of the forest.

Fortunately this great forest is still crown land and may be saved from the ax and the fire. We sincerely hope that the people of Xew Zealand will preserve a part of this incomparable woodland of the great piedmont rainbelt. From the standpoint of its strange trees and the associated cryptogams, the perfectly developed straight and well-spaced trunks, sixty to eighty feet long, and its matchless beauty the forest should be preserved. For generations untold, men will come from all parts of the earth to visit this unique assemblage of trees whose strange features and primeval grandeur in their insular setting will appeal to their wonder and admiration, for there are no others like them on the face of the earth.

We had the pleasure of meeting in Westland Mr. Arnold Hansson of the Dominion Forest Service and to see something of his work in eonneetion with the conservation and planting of the crown land forests. He was educated for forestry work first at Christiania, Norway, then later at the Yale School of For-

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Toll' We l " do l ng a / rCat SerVke eSpCCially in the reclamation work Yve owe him for many fine photos of New Zealand trees Spartmenr "»" »» ™ k ° f the «T

The isolation of Westland is a tremendous handicap. On one side , a .ell nigh impassable mountain range and on the othe an mhospitable sea without a single safe harbor. From \r thurs Pass (3,038 ft.) at the north end to Haast Pass (1 800 ft) at the extreme south end there is not a place to cross the mountains except by way of high and dangerous passes negotiable only by experienced alpinists. Cattle and produce must be sent to market by one or the other of these long'routes or v rail from Hokitika. The telephone and the mail car have done much .t° relieve this extremely long and linear neighborhood for neighbors they are. A woman runs out to post a letter and -quires about Mrs. Blank who lives thirty or forty miles up the road and sends a dozen eggs to another some twenty miles farther on. Floods which render roads impassable complet their isolation at times. At the larger settlements there are pood schools and town halls for neighborhood gatherings V public nm-se looks after cases of illness while the nearest doctor 18 fifty to a hundred miles away. The people hope for a railway, and the lme has been extended to Ross but the track between the latter place and Hokitika is little used. Durin- the tourist season there is considerable motor travel when the roads and weather are favorable.

FRANZ JOSEF GLACIER

Our journey ended at Waiho where there is a commodious tourist hotel about four miles below the terminus of Franz Josef glacier. The approach through the bush is very attractive as now and again a glimpse is caught of the glacier face A suspension foot bridge over the tumultuous Waiho river, turbid with fresh glacial debris, carries us across to another bush which covers a senes of morainic hillocks directly in line with the glacier but still two miles or more away. The Tourist Path has een well selected with a view of bringing out effectively the setting of the glacier. At one point we catch a brief outline of t ip steep-walled valley in which its lower reaches lie, at another a survey of the lofty snowfields, and from a mound among the

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trees the whole setting seems framed and stereoscopic, while from a tiny placid pool the picture is reflected as from a mirror. A carpet of ferns heavy with hoar-frost lines the path. In addition to the large species noted in the Ferguson bush are small umbrella and kidney ferns and there is a wealth of lycopods, mosses, and epiphytes everywhere. A clump of tree ferns stands within a mile of the ice, and horses and sheep find excellent grazing within, a stone's throw of the fresh terminal moraine. Abundant vegetation close to a glacier is contrary to the general opinion that glaciers occupy only cold and barren areas. Fiftyeight species of ferns, an azolla, and eight species of lycopods have been listed from the immediate vicinity of this glacier. Of the entire flora consisting of two hundred and eighty-eight species twenty-six of them, according to Cockayne, are alpine or semi-alpine in character—a remarkable condition in view of the low elevation.

The ice-front is steep and faces the north; in places it is vertical or overhanging and fully two hundred feet in height. The elevation of the lowest ice exposed is 692 feet above sea level. The glacier originates in a great snowfield or series of mowfields among which arc Geikie, Davis, Salisbury, and Cbamberlin Snowfields, ranging from seven to eight thousand feet in elevation. The glacier proper has a length of seven and onehalf to eight miles. It thus has a fall of close to one thousand feet per mile. The snowfields are dotted with numerous nunataks and the precipitation in the snowfield area is in the neighborhood of about one hundred and twenty inches annually. From a great cave in the ice-front issues a swift stream, the head waters of the Waiho. The cave at the time of our visit was some thirty feet in height and extended back for about an equal distance. Considerable water trickled from its roof and the ice was quite leaky toward midday. In places there are great volumes of debris along the ice-front ranging from rock flour to boulders ten or fifteen feet in diameter. The pebbles and boulders are chiefly schists with a few pieces of slate aad greenstone. All the. pieces are flat, their shapes being due more to the structure of the rock than to wear by the ice. We looked in vain for glacially striated pebbles but scratches were common on the roches rtwwbonne.es at the foot of the ice cliff. The largest of these knobs. Sentinel Rock, towers quite to the top of the ice cliff. Strauchon Rock and Barron Rock are other prominent ice-

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shorn domes while Park Rock and Harper Rock stand half buried in the ice front. Due to these prominent rock masses the icefront has a more or less lobate aspect, but this character, the position of the subglacial cave, and other features are constantly shifting. The rate of flow of the ice is variously reported, Park gives sixteen feet per day, and Bell in the government geographical report cites a much smaller figure.

After a difficult climb up the northwest comer we reached the surface from which there is a magnificent view both up ami down the valley. The rock walls of the valley show smoothing by ice for hundreds of feet above the present ice surface. The ice is highest in the center of the glacier whence the surface slopes gently down the sides which, however, are not in contact with the rock wall in the' lower part of the glacier but end in a steep broken ice cliff. The surface ice was granular and much pitted but footing was not difficult except on the steeper slopes where sun cups helped materially. These are dish-shaped, concave depressions, six to twelve inches across and deepest beneath the lower edge.

There is very little surface moraine due to its having been swallowed up by the numerous crevasses. The latter in most cases extend longitudinally along the center of the ice but out near the margins they run more or less diagonally. The crevasses range from a few inches to two or three feet across, most of them being less than a foot. Since they extend mainly in a north and south direction, their width is affected to some extent by the sun's rays. In length they vary from a few feet up to hundreds of feet, and in depth they also vary. Some are full of quiet clear water, in others the water is in motion, others are dry. In a few of them water could be heard but not seen, and pebbles dropped into the larger dry ones rattled for several seconds before coming to rest. In places there are small welllike depressions eight or ten inches across and of unknown depth. Into one of these much surface water gathered and fell with eonsiderable noise. Doubtless had our visit been made six months later the surface of the ice would have been much wetter. Dust wells were common and small pebbles were seen at bottoms of holes much too deep for the sun's oblique rays to penetrate.

At a distance, of about a mile above the terminus, the ice surface rises abruptly 150 to 200 feet. This results in a fine ice cascade in which the ice is fissured, cracked, and broken into

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such fantastic blocks and yawning crevasses that to ascend is well-nigh impossible. By use of the ice-axe a knife edge ridge among the seracs and pinnacles was finally scaled. From this vantage point there were several magnificent/ views, the finest of which was the impressive U-shaped valley seen in looking down the glacier. In order to get into position for a photo of this, it was necessary to turn about and in doing so the ice-ax slipped off into a thirty foot depression at the bottom of which was a narrow crevasse. Clock was out of sight exploring the east face for a place to descend to the ground, hoping thereby to ascend above the ice fall by climbing along the valley wall. The descent and recovery of the ax were accomplished but not without the greatest thrill of the whole trip. Clock gave up his attempt and we learned later that the best way to attain the surface above the lower ice fall was to go up a path along the valley wall without first ascending the frontal face.

At a point four miles above the terminus is the Great lee-fall. Here the “ice falls over a thousand feet between colossal precipices on either side.” Along this abrupt slope and at its foot the ice is riven into a forest of slender pinnacles, and the sight is said to be one of the most imposing in the Southern Alps. From this point to the lower ice-fall the surface is everywhere rough, uneven, and in places very steep.

Individually, Franz Josef glacier has several remarkable features. The low elevation of its terminus in latitude 43°26' is unusual and may be accounted for by the heavy precipitation of the west coast, the steepness of the descent, the large contributing snowfields and the precipitous confining walls on either side. On the date of our visit the sun did not strike the lower ice before 9:30 A.M. and not all of it before 10:00 A.M. At 3:00 P.M. the ice was again in the shadow of the cliffs although the sun did not set for nearly two hours. This means that the total number of effective melting hours is greatly reduced at least during several months of the year. Again the region is one of considerable cloudiness as the high precipitation would suggest. Another unusual feature is the absence of surface moraines and glacier tables due, as pointed out above, to the highly broken character of the ice. The strong cascades, the multitudinous crevasses, and the scarcity of striated pebbles are other more or less individual characteristics. Generically the

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glacier conforms to the valley type with a strong terminal moraine, subglacial stream, and broad U-shaped valley.

Fox glacier, fifteen or twenty miles farther south, has many of the features of Franz Josef, and its terminus is fully twenty feet nearer sea level. However, the terminus of the eighteen-mile-long Tasman glacier on the other side of the Alps opposite Franz Josef is 2,354 feet above the sea, that of Mueller glacier is 2,550 feet and of Hooker glacier 2,882 feet. This difference of nearly 2000 feet in favor of the less sunny side of the mountains is to be explained by a lighter precipitation and by a much more gentle slope on the eastern side of the Alps.

Gallery Gorge near Waiho is an illustration of one of the scores of valleys of the region carved by wild mountain streams capable of being harnessed for the development of considerable power. Some very successful hydroelectric plants are being developed on a small scale. Near the footbridge over Gallery Gorge is a fine, hot, sulphurous spring where a bath house has been erected. This is one of the very few hot springs of South Island.

We cannot leave the glaciers of the Southern Alps without a few remarks about their extent during the Pleistocene or Ice Age. The present glaciers are but the feeble remnants of a tremendous ice sheet that covered nearly all of South Island and reached quite to the sea on both coasts. The bold peaks of the high Alps stood out as low nunataks above this ice sheet thousands of feet in thickness. Franz Josef, for example, extended several miles below its present, terminus where it spread out and united with other valley glaciers into one common ice sheet of the piedmont type extending to the sea. In their wake they left an enormous amount of debris to be handled and sorted by fluvio-glacial streams giving rise to the extensive gold-bearing gravels so widely distributed on both coasts. Wherever the glaciers have disappeared from areas where they were vigorous eroding agents all the physiographic features made by strong glaciers in regions of high relief are developed on a scale rarely excelled in the world.

ARTHUR’S PASS AND THE OTIRA GORGE

Retracing our drive to Hokitika we left by rail for the Otira gorge. On the way we passed near Arahura river beyond which is one of the chief localities where the Maoris and later the

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Europeans have obtained the famous pounamu or greenstone from which the Maoris fashion many of their highly prized and elaborately carved war clubs or meres and many articles of personal adornment. The trip up the Otira gorge and over the l'ass is one of the sights of New Zealand, and it is made in a coach drawn by six horses "trained to a hair" to gallop around sharp curves and along steep precipices with ease. Cliff glaciers on the sides of towering snowclad mountains lie half hidden in the clouds; steep-sided, heavily forested valleys are far below; and awesome rockslides and tumbling waterfalls lend variety to the scenery. The Pass is 3,038 feet above the sea, but Mt. Rollaston and other eminences on either side are close to 2000 feet higher. The descent into the valleys of Bealey creek and Waimakariri river to Arthur's Pass station is fully as steep as the climb up the gorge but is less picturesque. The Otira railway tunnel through the mountain was opened soon following our visit. This tunnel is five and one-half miles long, and its completion overcomes one of the factors of Westland's isolation. The picturesque coaches, it is hoped, will continue to go over the Pass during the tourist season.

The eastern foothills are quite rough, and the region is given over to grazing. We saw flocks containing thousands of sheep and great herds of cattle. Canterbury plain between the foothills and the sea with its well-stocked and prosperous farms is a delightful change from the mountain topography.

('UIiISTCHUECH AND DUNEDIN

At Christchurch we met Professor Nutting whom we had not seen since we left Auckland. He visit ed the splendid museums and college and these are described elsewhere by him.

Christchurch was founded as a model Church of England settlement and is more English than any other part of the Dominion. It is rapidly becoming a commercial and educational center, and due to cheap electric power considerable manufacturing is carried on. The site of the city is so flat that it is known, as the “City of the Plains.” One seldom sees so many bicycles and motors as travel its level streets.

In company with Professor Speight of the Museum we visited Banks Peninsula, a volcanic eminence between the city and the sea. This pile of rhyolites and agglomerates capped by flows of basalt makes a conspicuous eminence from the top of which

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the city looks like a flat checker-board, and out on the western horizon the snowy Alps stretch as far as the eye can see. Lyttelton, the port town, is seven miles distant from Christchurch and is built around an old sunken crater through one side of which there is access to the sea. From this place there is a tunnel one and one-half miles long on the way to Christchurch.

The distance from Christchurch to Dunedin is about two hundred miles, and there is very good express train service. A day's stop at Oamaru gave opportunity to see the famous shell beds at Target Gully and the hills of loess north of town. This loess, seen in a road cutting, is twenty-five feet thick and is as typical loess as that near lowa City. Its origin is apparently similar, it being an eolian deposit blown from the dry glacial flats toward the sea during the closing stages of the lee Age.

Dunedin is a prosperous substantial city settled largely by Scotch immigrants. It is picturesquely located on a group of hills at the head of a long inlet known as Otago Harbor. Its wharves, however, can be reached only at high tide by large vessels. Here are the main offices of the Union Steamship Company, and there are numerous thriving factories. The railways of the Otago district center here, and the port is the outlet of a rich farming and grazing district as well as of coal and gold ore. Dunedin is the site of University College and has schools of Medicine and Dentistry. There is a fine museum and a well known School of Mines of which Professor James Park is the director.

LAKE WAKATIPU AND THE REMARKABLES

From Dunedin we made a rapid side trip up into western Otago to see famous Lake "Wakatipu nestling at the foot of the Remarkables and other bold mountain ranges which deploy out of the Southern Alps. The railway passes through a prosperous country and through many attractive and busy towns and villages. Balclutha, latitude 46°17', was approximately the southernmost point we touched. As we approached the drier foothills we saw considerable evidence of damage to agriculture by rabbits. Systematic "rabbiting" has kept this pest pretty well in check over all New Zealand, but it was a revelation to see wagon-loads of rabbit skins going to market and scores of pelts drying on fences and bushes about the country homes.

The plains of Otago arc a series of long slopes which end

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abruptly against subdued escarpments. They are worn down fault blocks as described on a previous page.

Kingston is the railway terminus and is at the south end of Lake Wakatipu. This lake is in a deep ice-gouged valley fully fifty miles long, S-shaped, and 1200 feet deep. At Kingston a strong moraine dams the valley, and the lake has found an outlet near its mid-length at Queenstown by way of Kawarau Falls into a river system other than that to which its drainage area originally belonged. Beyond Kingston travel is entirely by boat, and the journey from this point to Queenstown hy moonlight with the rising moon dodging in and out among the peaks of the ice-covered mountains was a sight of rare beauty and charm.

The Kemarkables are all that the name suggests. The crest of the range is well over 7000 feet high and only three or four miles from the lake whose surface is but a little more than a thousand feet above the sea. Obviously the slope from the lake shore to the crest is decidedly steep. The summit of the Kemarkables towered above the thick ice of the Pleistocene while their sides for thousands of feet above the lake were smoothed and worn by ice action. This makes their tops appear very rough and saw-toothed by contrast, and when covered with snow and ice they are a beautiful sight. The Richardson, Eyre, and Humboldt ranges enclose other sides and segments of the lake. All these mountains have been glaciated, and they record the results of ice sculpturing on a grand scale. Glock remained at Queenstown and climbed the high eminences in the vicinity of Ben Lomond and Bowen Peak gaining a glorious panorama of the Kemarkables an,d adjoining mountains. The writer proceeded up to the end of the lake to see Dart valley which leads up to Paradise and to Mt. Earnslaw (9165 ft.) on which is a good sized glacier. The Dart river has built an extensive delta which encroaches upon the upper end of the lake for some miles above Kinloeh and Glenorehy. A strong stream rising in the Richardson mountains near the north end of the lake built an enormous delta into glacial lake Wakatipu when its surface due to ice dams and other obstructions was much higher than it is today. When the lake level subsided the Glenorehy delta was left above the level of the present lake. Valleys subsequently cut through the delta reveal its structure unusually well. Locally this dissected delta is called the “Open Bible.”

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A few words of acknowledgment are due our many New S Prof vp ° hClped the gUolo^ists in countless ways, o 1 rofessor 1. G. Morgan, director of the Geological Survey :;: d °~ h , S geUeroSity in fumishi *g indispensable maps and a nearly complete set of the Survey Bulletins. His associates Messrs. Marwick, Ferar, Henderson, and others, aided us great y with advice concerning localities to be visited, routes to be followed and other points so valuable to strangers in a new

Professor Bartrum accompanied us to places of interest about Auckland and presented us with several valuable papers and specimens. Professor Speight guided us over the Bants Peninsula with which he is so familiar. Professor Park took us in hand at Dunedin and gave us much of his valuable time We shall not soon forget an evening with him discussing the broader aspects of the geology of Australasia. Several fine specimens among them some bones of the moa, were given us from his own collections. Dr. C. A. Cotton of Wellington piloted us over the region surrounding the Port Nicholson depression We w-ere much impressed with his mastery of the geomorphology of the area, and we owe much to him for many kindnesses shown OS when at Wellington. The Hon. Mr. Thomson of the Legislative Assembly gave us considerable valuable information drawn from his wide knowledge of the natural history of both islands He presented a set of papers by his son, Dr. J. Alan Thomson' who, we regret, was quite ill at the time. These gentlemen and many others whom space forbids mentioning by name have our most grateful acknowledgments of their assistance

We look back upon Now Zealand with keen pleasure and harbor a hope that some clay we may again see her glaciers and geysers, her eold lakes and hot springs, her mountains and Plains and best of all her sturdy, hospitable and broadminded people.

PLATE LVII

The Ciink monument on Tahiti (See page 348) Harbor of Pa] te, Tahiti i Bee page 345) A pile of coconuts at Rarotonga These furnish the copra of commerce, the main export from this island (See page :S4l)

PLATE LVTII

The four Tu atari or Sphtnodons photographed after their long Journey from New Zealand u> Um ■ Cit] I Bee page A tingle Sphenodon (See page 850)

CHAPTER XIX

HOMEWARD BOUND OVER A LONELY OCEAN

August 15 was sailing day and of course a busy one for all of us. Bills had to be paid and the innumerable “last things” attended to. I went early to see Stoner and found him better but still very weak. It was fortunate that Mrs. Stoner with the training of a professional nurse was with us to look after him. I was very anxious to get him safely aboard the Tahiti as it would have been hard to leave one of our little party behind and on the sick list.

It rained during the morning, but in showers, not a continuous down-pour. We put all our collections, including the cage with the four tuatara, or sphenodons, that were to travel in my charge, on a government lorry and took them to the dock. The police stopped us at the entrance to the wharf and were inclined to make trouble about the sphenodons but were finally convinced after some argument that these animals were important passengers consigned to the State University of lowa by the Dominion Government which had also given me a formal permit duly signed, sealed and delivered to export them from New Zealand.

I then hunted up the ship’s butcher in whose charge they were to be placed in accordance with instructions from the steamship company. He was asleep and not very amiable at first, but finally undertook the responsibility for a consideration. When we took the cage containing the lizard-like creatures to the butcher’s quarters some of the crew objected. “I say, Mister, we don’t eat those things!”

I went back to the hotel for lunch and sent a cable to President Jessup: “Starting home, well, successful,” which I knew would be welcome news to our friends at home; then I took a taxi and transported my baggage down to the wharf.

There seemed to be no system about getting luggage aboard as the stewards, it appears, do not handle it except on the ship; but I finally induced one of them to take my things up the gangway and to the stateroom which I was to share with my old “hankie” Wylie. Then I took a place at the rail and watched our collec-

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tions and equipment hoisted aboard and lowered into the hold Stoner who usually attended to such matters and Thomas who was supposed to be transportation agent, not yet having put in an appearance. I cheeked off the fifteen boxes and tanks and the big packing case containing gifts from the Dominion Museum to the State University of lowa and found them all accounted for accordmg to our list. As they were to be transported as ba-gage by an agreement with the Union Line, no invoice was made out' and this made trouble for us later on.

Finally, to my immense relief. I saw Dr. and Mrs. Stoner come up the gang plank, although the poor fellow looked quite weak and pale.

Mr. and Mrs. Hislop and several other friends came to see us off He is the "man who docs things" here and proved an invaluable friend to us. His was the last face I could distinguish as we slowly steamed away from the dock, his hal waving above the crowd, a last good-bye from our best New Zealand friend

On going below, however, I found a farewell letter from him also a letter from my wife written June 16, two months before!

As on all previous expeditions of which I have been in charge, the moment of sailing for home, with all the party safely on board and the collections stored away in the hold, was one of the happiest of all my experiences. No matter how smoothly things go or how little there has been to worry about, the responsibility of being the leader of a party in foreign lands is greater than would be imagined by any one who has not had that particular experience. Each time I have had the feeling that there must be an end to the extraordinary run of good luck which had attended former undertakings of this sort, and that it could not forever be my good fortune to report “All well. Expedition successful” at the beginning of the homeward bound vovage.

W yhe and I had a very comfortable deck cabin for which each of us would normally pay .$20.00 extra, and the others were equally well accommodated. Across our tickets was printed in red ink "No extra charge is to be made for this cabin. Orders Headquarters." We believe that we owe this courtesy to Mr Iron, General Agent for the Canadian Australasian Line at Vancouver' Each berth had an electric light like those on our Pullman ears, and a number of other welcome conveniences.

The morning after sailing we enjoyed smooth water and bright sunny weather. There was a very large and open upper deck

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where we could bask in the sunshine or engage in deck sports. Stoner appeared at the table but seemed to have little appetite. All the others of our party were well and happy. Wylie welcomed the long rest of the homeward voyage. He surprised me the other day by presenting me with a very handsome Fiji war-club. He knew that I wanted one, but as I did not go into the interior of Yitilevu. I had no opportunity of securing one as the others had, and I was secretly quite envious. Wylie secured the one he gave me, at Wellington, from the estate of the famous Bullar family, in whose possession it had been for several generations; it was undoubtedly genuine and not made for the tourist trade.

The Tahiti was a great deal smaller than the Niagara but more comfortable and ''homey." It was not at all crowded and had a comfortable lounge and smoking room besides a reading room with an electrie stove which was not needed after the first few days. We were quite prepared to appreciate warm weather again after the chill of New Zealand.

The four sphenodons wove quite contented in their cage on the lower deck in charge of the butcher, who said he would get them through in good shape if possible. He had had considerable experience in caring for animals on long voyages, and remarked that he once had a couple of lions on a trip. The animals seemed more lively in their new surroundings than I had seen them before. They were to have their water tank filled with fresh water every day and to have fresh beef twice a week.

Mr. and Mrs. Welch, our companions on the Niagara and the trip to Bau in Fiji, sat at our table. They had been to Australia since we had seen them last and seemed glad to be with Americans again.

We lost a Sunday on our voyage to Fiji, but we made up for it by having two Wednesdays on our return voyage on the Tahiti. Wednesday No. 2, came on August 16. We were sleeping well and all were having a most welcome rest. It was rapidly getting warmer as we went north toward tropical seas. We met our skipper Captain Altwell, who said that he had had instructions to take care of our party and would do all in his power to make us comfortable. The sphenodons were doing finely and seemed to be brighter colored, perhaps owing to more ample bathing facilities. That day was the longest in my life, for we passed forty-eight hours under one date on account of traversing the 180 th degree of longitude, eastward bound.

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August 17 was another bright day but with more sea running and a chilly wind from the south. Our first stop was to be at Rarotonga, eighteen hundred miles out from Wellington. This is one of the longest voyages taken by any regular passenger steamer in the world without putting in anywhere for fuel or provisions, the entire trip being 6,090 miles, traversing nearly 60° of longitude and 80° of latitude, more than a third of the distance around the globe. The ship’s doctor saw Stoner that morning and diagnosed his case as a not very severe attack of jaundice.

Those were indeed lonely seas, a few gulls and petrels being the only birds seen. We were getting acquainted with our fellow passengers and Thomas, the best mixer in our party, went in for various deck sports and met more people, and enjoyed them more than any of the others.

We received daily marconigrams and were in touch with the world all the way across. That day they indicated a better prospect for settling the coal strike in the United States, but little favorable news regarding the great railroad strike about which much disquieting comment appeared in the New Zealand papers.

August 18 the ship was settling down to the routine of a long voyage and life was mainly a matter of eating, sleeping, smoking and talking. Awnings stretched over the upper deck one morning, indicated that we were approaching the tropics.

Stoner had been ordered to keep to his berth for a few days, much to his disgust. The doctor intimated that he feared complications and a possible operation which he very much dreaded with the facilities at his disposal on the Tahiti.

On August 19 I read up on Rarotonga and Tahiti beforehand so as to save time while in port at these places and on the morning of the 20th we were anchored off Avaruna, the capital of the Cook Island group, situated on Rarotonga, the largest and most important of the islands, with a circumference of about twenty miles. It is quite mountainous and the early morning view from our anchorage was exquisitely beautiful; the town nestled down between the mountains and the sea; there was the iisual fringe of palms, and, beyond, the rugged mountain peaks, some of which were three thousand feet high. They w'ere tinted with red from the rising sun and thrown into sharp relief against the purple and blue of the lower slopes. Two wrecked hulks

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were going to pieces on the shore, one a steamer, the other a sailing ship.

There were no formalities about going ashore, and we were towed in rowboats by a small tug.

Mr. and Mrs. Welch. Mrs. Stoner and I took a delightful twenty-mile auto drive around the Island. The road lay along the shore for the most part, in the dense shade of palms and other tropical trees. We noticed between the road and the seabeach numerous graves made of cement with tops like the sloping roofs of houses, and with a small shed roofed with corrugated iron over each. It looked as though every family had its private cemetery in its yard, and the effect was rather gruesome.

The native houses were much like those of tropical islands everywhere, light frames, wattled walls and thatched roofs; but were often quite picturesque and comfortable looking. The whites had better houses, usually of wood and with wide cool verandas. It was Sunday and we passed several churches, usually of the Congregational faith, and groups of people dressed in their Sunday best. The children were quite pretty, often beautiful, and the young men and women often strikingly handsome; but they seemed given to too much avoirdupois in middle age, and beyond that they quickly became aged and lost all their good looks.

Returning to the town we looked in on some of the curio stores, whieh are open on steamer day even if it is Sunday, where there are all sorts of fancy mats, hats, fans, shell work, picture post-cards etc., to tempt the traveler. I took a number of photographs myself during the ride and about the town and among other things I "shot" a large pile of coconuts whose meats furnish the "copra" of commerce used mainly for the extraction of oil, and form the principle article of export from those Islands. The Cook Island group is now a dependency of New Zealand and Sir Maui Pomare, of Wellington, is the official administrator. He is a Maori gentleman and tradition says that Rarontonga is one of the Islands from which his ancestors came; and so by a strange turn of fate a descendant of one of these refuges from Rarontonga now rules that island which has become a dependency of the new world discovered by the wanderers of something like six centuries ago.

After writing some letters to New Zealand friends and putting

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them in the mail we returned to the Tahiti which already seemed like home.

August 21 brought pleasant weather with nothing to vary the monotony of the daily routine on ship-board, as follows: 7:00 A.M. "Bawth, Sir;" 7:15, "Tea, Sir;" 8:00, walk a mile on deck, usually with Wylie; 8:30, breakfast; 9:00, read or write in smoking room; 10:00 to 12:00, sit and chat on upper deck; 1:00, lunch; 2:00 to 3:00, take a nap; 3:00 to 4:00, write up notes; 4:00 to 6:00, recreation on deck; 6:30, dinner, for which a good many passengers "dress;" 7:00, coffee and cigars in smoking room often with the Welches; 8:00 to 9:30, social hour; 10:00 P.M.. turn in below for a sound sleep until "Bawth, Sir" the next morning. I met a number of pleasant people but none to whom I was so drawn as to some on the Niagara, going out. In the evening we were invited to a concert given by second class passengers, on the forward deck.

The next day, August 22, was decidedly warmer and the officials and stewards all appeared in white uniforms again; that meant tropical weather.

Just before noon a third class cabin woman of ample proportions and a huge yellow jacket (she had been known as "Quarantine") was taken with her four or five children to the "brig" or ship's hospital on the after deck. One of the children had developed a case of mumps, and without avail she used much language in protesting against this outrage.

At lunch time we were approaching Moorea, one of the Tahiti group, its huge mountains looming up on the horizon. At two o'clock we were coasting along the shore of Tahiti which looks a good deal like Dominica, one of the British West Indies, its lofty mountains hiding their heads in the lowering clouds. Papeete, the capital city was reached about two-thirty. It is a very picturesque town with many fine shade-trees along its streets and quaint French-looking houses peeping from between them. There were numerous pretty white schooners almost poking their bows into the trees.

There was no formality at all about going ashore, not even a medical inspection or a call for passports. The ship tied up at the wharf and we simply walked down the gangway without being requested to secure a "gangway pass." We took a stroll along the water front where it was eool and shady and found Mir town very different from others we had seen in the South

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Seas. Of course this might have been expected as Tahiti is a French possession and Papeete is one of the oldest settlements in the South Pacific. The houses were mostly wooden and typically French in architecture with "French blinds" and a good deal of filigree work about them; many of them being embowered in tropical trees and flowering plants. Back of the street along the water front are others parallel to it, all of them very well shaded and giving the impression of somnolent coolness.

The people are much like those of Rarotonga, but with a considerable admixture of Chinese and European blood. Some of the native men are strikingly handsome and the children are often beautiful. Occasionally one sees a really pretty woman. Not so many of them were given to over-weight as those we met at Rarotonga. The people have the dolce far niente air that reminds one of southern Italy.

We returned to the steamer about six o'clock in the evening just in time to see an exquisite sunset over the placid harbor and the peaks of Moorea beyond. It was a scene comparable with a gorgeous sunrise we saw off the island of St. Vincent in the West Indies four years before; a picture never to be forgotten. In the evening some of us went ashore to engage in the metropolitan whirl of night-life in Papeete but found it not so very exciting after all. We were interested in noting that the American ice cream cone had made its appearance in this far away island.

The law requires the steamers of the Union Line to remain at Papeete at least twenty-four hours, so we had almost all of the next day, August 23, for adventures ashore on this island, perhaps the most beautiful in the vast expanse of the South Pacific. Certainly it is the most written about and is pictured more frequently than any of the others. And indeed it deserves its reputation as nothing that I have seen could surpass its loveliness of high purple mountains, deep gorges, wealth of vegetation and encircling coral reel's beyond which roared the breakers; and still further out the deep calm of the blue sea. Mr. and Mrs. Welch and I hired an auto for an aronnd-the-island ride which afforded many entrancing vistas.

We saw Cook's Monument marking the spot where that great navigator took observations of the transit of Venus in 1769. This illustrates the influenee of the stars on terrestrial affairs, for it was at the instance of the Royal Astronomical Society that

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Cook made his famous voyage, the immediate object being observations on the transit of Venus. Incidentally he fixed the names of many groups of islands in the South Pacific, Cook Island, which we visited but a few days ago, the Society Islands, one of which is Tahiti, named in honor of the Royal Society under whose auspices Cook sailed, and a number of others.

On this ride I met with the only serious personal loss of the entire trip. Of course I had my camera along and took a number of photographs and in some way dropped my book containing notes and records of exposures and other photographic matter. I imagine it occurred while I was walking about in the brush trying to get a good picture of Venus Point lighthouse; at any rate I never saw it again, although I left notice of reward to the finder. Fortunately my negatives were all serially numbered and most of the subjects noted in my daily journal ko that I was able afterwards to recognize and properly designate all of the photographs.

That evening while the Tahiti was still tied up to the dock, I noticed a Chinese man and boy paddling a small canoe along the side of the ship picking up stray bits of bread thrown from the cook's galley. These were deftly skimmed from the surface on a paddle blade and put in the shallow basket in the bow of the canoe. I suppose no people in the world are more scrupulous about salvaging every particle of food than are the Chinese, which doubtless accounts for their thrift the world over.

At Papeete we were joined by a motion picture outfit that had been making a film at Tahiti, utilizing the magnificent scenery of that tropical wonderland to make a blood-and-thunder picture of the South Seas. Some of the outfit came aboard more than “half-seas over” and proceeded to make a “rough-house” of our peaceful vessel much to the disquiet of the Americans of our party, as it was an American company of course. One big brute of a fellow who was doubtless the heavy villain of the story, made himself particularly obnoxious, roaring like a mad bull at the stewards and using a vocabulary that I have seldom heard surpassed in profanity and indecency. I believe the company included some thirty people all told, and the prospect of being shipmates with them for two weeks was not alluring.

The Society Islands, the main one of which is Tahiti in S. Lat. 18°, W. Long. 160°, were discovered by Captain Cook in 1769 and have a population of eleven thousand, about one-tenth

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of which is European, mostly French. Papeete, the capital, has a population of three thousand six hundred. The main products are oranges, copra, pearls, vanilla, bcchc-de-mcr (big holothurians) cotton, fungus and phosphate, according to my notes taken from "Stewart's Handbook of the Pacific." Cook said that "the natives surpass all others in physical beauty." The islands have been described by many writers from Captain Cook down to Frederick O'Brien and pictured by many artists.

Impressions of Tahiti from the ship's deck: Pretty white schooners against the dark green of the trees and deep shadows of the water front. Bad smells from the huge piles of copra stored in the wharf ware-houses. French idlers along the water front with long pallid faces. Chinaman with his family in a two-wheeled cart. Native men with magnificent physiques, more alert looking than at Rarotonga. The women also beautiful, with lustrous eyes and skin almost of our University color "old gold." All degrees of racial admixtures, but the people generally a light brownish yellow or golden tan. Pretty houses embowered in flowers and over-shadowed by palms of various sorts. A water cart laying the dust and cooling the streets along the water front.

While ashore we visited the cemetery of neat graves, ornaments of fancy bead-work wreaths, crosses and hemispheres of glass enclosing flowers often reduced to dust. There was but one American buried there, so far as we saw, a sailor from a I'nited States vessel. It was very hot in the sun but the streets were cool and quiet everywhere. We saw a number of white babies with Tahitian nurses, often quite neat and attractive looking women.

Looking back towards the wharf we could see the S. S. Tahiti, our floating home, standing out clear in the sunshine, the fantastic peaks of Moorea purple in the distance across the intense lilue of the ocean. Further inland we saw very populous Chinese houses with prosperous looking truck gardens. Native homes were thatched with palms and walled with reeds. People everywhere greeted us courteously. The Island of Oahu may be as pretty as Tahiti, but it has been too much modernized by the American hotels and various enterprises to retain its original charm; there is much more bustle and feverish movement than at Tahiti, where the ever-lasting calm of the real sleepy tropical island is unspoiled as yet by the turbulent world.

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On the dock there was a dense crowd to see the motion picture people off. Chinese women in black silk trousers and sack-like coats were carrying little babies, and the motion picture camera was "shooting" the crowd and embarking company. There were many good-byes and some tears, for these invaders from America had spent several months and much money in Tahiti.

We sailed out of the lovely harbor of Papeete at five P.M. to begin the last and longest leg of our voyage, three thousand six hundred miles to San Francisco.

August 25 we slept well with a cool breeze in our stateroom. 1 had been anxious about the tuataras fearing their sudden introduction into the tropical heat from the winter cold of Xew Zealand, but they all seemed all right and they appeared to enjoy the voyage in an undemonstrative way, particularly appreciating the frequent douches of cold water administered by the butcher who was determined to do his duty by them.

Stoner was not allowed to go ashore at Tahiti, but saw what he could from the ship's deck and visited the island vicariously through his wife who saw a great deal and got a number of photographs and other mementos.

August 25 was the first rainy day of the voyage which was then just half over. There were two men on board bound for the Mayo Clinic at Rochester, Minn. The nurse finding that I had been there, asked me to do what I could to cheer them up a bit.

Our wireless received reports from the world every day and we found a copy of the mimeographed miniature newspaper at our place each morning at breakfast. The news of a great railroad strike was disquieting.

As we neared the Equator there were more living things to be seen at sea. Small schools of flying fish rose from the ship's bows every now and then, pursued their dipping flight for a hundred yards or so and plunged back into the blue. A shark and some dolphins were seen. We crossed the line again about 8:15 in the morning of August '27 and felt that being again in our proper northern hemisphere we were Hearing home; we greeted the North Star as an old and valued friend. Stoner and the tuataras were doing well. The latter were probably the most distinguished passengers on board the Tahiti. Many people asked pel-mission to visit them in their quarters on the lower deck near the butcher's stateroom. They were more lively as

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the weather grew warmer and really seemed to enjoy their frequent baths.

Deck sports were on nearly all day. A good many passengers indulged in them even on Sunday. Services were conducted in the lounge, a missionary being in charge. The singing was very good as these Colonials are apt to know more about vocal music than we Americans do. There was a good deal of drinking in the smoking room; I noticed two of the motion picture young women drinking a good many cocktails during the course of the day and particularly in the evening. The camera man of the company played the flute very effectively at the Sunday evening service, and was quite an artist with the pencil. He said they exposed ninety thousand feet of film in making their Tahiti picture but only seven thousand feet appeared in the completed production, which I afterwards saw at lowa City; it was regarded as a very beautiful picture so far as the scenic effect was concerned. Another man, the star of the company, we all admired greatly.

We had not passed a single ship at sea since leaving Wellington but were daily exchanging wireless messages with several of them.

A ministerial looking, tall, well built man with a high, gray pompadour and intellectual face and head turned out to be a Pinkerton detective bringing home a man charged with absconding with the funds of a bank in Honolulu. The prisoner was a young fellow, quiet and continually reading in the smoking room. For a while I suspected that he was a theological student or returning missionary. He made the fatal mistake of supposing that he could lose himself in an out of the way place and fled to the interior of Tahiti. A moment’s consideration would have shown him that a stranger is marked by every one in such places and all the natives knew just where he could be found. So the detectives had no trouble whatever in locating their man. He sat between two of them at the table not far from us and if he got up was at once followed by one or the other of them.

On August 29 we were in the doldrums or belt of calms, but struck the northeast trades late in the afternoon. I was much interested in what the camera man of the motion picture outfit told me of the complexity of combining several different scenes to make one picture. For instance, the director wanted a certain type of house with certain shrubbery plants in the fore ground

lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

and palms behind it with mountains rising beyond, also a moon and drifting clouds. He made separate pictures for the house, shrubbery, palms, mountains, clouds and moon. These were afterwards superimposed so as to make a picture that satisfied the demands of the director.

The man who was brought on board on a stretcher at Papeete was a general favorite, called “Pat.” He was said to have had more hairbreath escapes than any one else on the ship. He had been shipwrecked three times, in one of which his entire family was lost; had fallen five hundred feet from an aeroplane besides having numerous other thrilling adventures. He was a quiet, unassuming sort of fellow.

One day all passengers were required to make declarations for the United States customs, so it looked as if we were nearing port. Another sign of nearing home was the reappearance of the Great Bear above the northern horizon.

There was considerable gaiety on board in the evenings, including dancing on deck, some of the womens’ costumes being apparently quite up to, or down to, the reputation of the much advertised Hollywood crowed. But among them was a dear little girl about ten years old, called “Mary Jane.” She was perfectly naive and unspoiled and had most charming manners. We were told that she was paid an enormous salary but her mother, who accompanied her, was evidently a woman of sound principles and good sense and had succeeded in keeping her artless and unspoiled in spite of unfavorable surroundings.

On August 31 we entered the North temperate zone. The long climb from the bottom of the “track chart” posted near the dining saloon added a step in our progress for each day. Commencing down near 41° South Latitude we had traversed a good deal of the south temperate zone, the south and north tropical zones and were reaching our destination in the north temperate. On all this long voyage there had been nothing like a storm or even really rough seas. There had been occasional showers, but not a day without sunshine. It had been comfortable every day in our staterooms without using the electric fans. We had traveled over twelve thousand miles at sea since leaving Vancouver and, except in the vicinity of ports, had seen but two vessels during the whole time and these were companion ships going in the opposite direction, one on the outward voyage and

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one while homeward bound. We had seen few birds, few fishes excepting flying fish and practically no phosphorescence.

Friday September 1 was considerably cooler and I was still feeling anxious on account of lack of news from home. One of the nurses summoned me to see a sick man in the second cabin who was on his way to Mayo clinic as a last hope, after many years of intense suffering. His ease was pronounced hopeless by his physicians at home. He was a fine manly fellow, able to be about but with years of frightful suffering behind him. I hope I was able to cheer him up a bit, as courage is one's best asset.

Stoner and the four tuataras were all doing well. In the deck sports there was an exciting tug of war between selected teams from the British and American passengers, the Americans winning both times. Wylie. who was a heavy-weight athlete in his college days and still a formidable man where weight counts, won considerable glory in this event. Glock was one of the championship couple in the deck quoits tournament. These deck sports are a prominent feature on all British ships and do much to vary the monotony of long voyages and serve also to keep the passengers in good physical condition.

The next morning, September 2, I was seated at the breakfast table when a steward brought me a marconigram from my daughter at Detroit, Michigan, saying that all was well at home. It was interesting to note that the message was received several hours before it was sent, which of course was due to the difference in longitude of the sending and receiving stations.

The sea became rather "lumpy" as we neared the American coast. There was much drinking on board as the passengers were taking advantage of their last chance before reaching prohibition territory. There seemed to be little effort to restrain them and they kept up a veritable "rough house" nearly all night with a good deal of profane and even indecent language.

September 3 was our last Sunday at sea. The services were poorly attended as a number of passengers were suffering from the "morning after" effects. We packed our trunks for the last time before reaching home as we were but two hundred miles from San Francisco.

Dr. Stoner was a good deal better. The poor fellow had not been off the ship since leaving Wellington and missed landing at both Rarotonga and Tahiti, but the sea voyage with its rest and medical attention had doubtless been a good thing for him.

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September 4 was a busy day. We took on our pilot at 3:15 A.M., and were up shortly after five in the morning to find the ship anchored at quarantine and the engines at last at rest. The medical inspection took place in the chilly dawn and consisted chiefly in our passing in review before the Inspector as our names were called. Passports were not even looked at. We had breakfast on board and were allowed to land at about 7:30, the ship then being tied up at her dock.

The tuataras had stood the voyage well and the butcher had earned his tip. When my strange pets were taken to the customs house they were the object of excited attention but were passed without trouble by the customs officials. My personal baggage was opened but not disturbed,

Thomas was introduced to the chief official and acted as our transportation agent in getting collections and equipment through.

Our party separated at the customs house, Wylie and I being the only ones who intended going right through to lowa City as quickly as possible. My chief duty was to get the four tuataras through as quickly and safely as practicable; no mean responsibility. As it was Labor Day we expected trouble in getting off that evening, but the railway officials put through our change of routing very quickly and had arranged for our Pullman accommodations on the night train.

After passing customs Wylie and I took a taxi to the ferry wharf and wired our safe arrival to President Jessup and our families.

I had a great time arranging for the transportation overland of our distinguished companions, the tuataras. It was exceedingly important that I be on the same train with them throughout the trip so as to be able to attend to their wants in the way of food and water at proper intervals. It was therefore necessary to have them sent as baggage if possible; but the baggage man promptly vowed that it couldn't be done, never having been done (which was strictly true) and that it was therefore unthinkable. I demanded an interview with the baggage master himself and he. being a man of wisdom and resource, looked the strange creatures over and said. "Those are mud puppies. Puppies are dogs. Dogs are domestic pets. We will send them through as baggage billed as domestic pets!" The really great mind can always find a solution for even the most perplexing

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situations and so by paying a fee of $6.50 we secured a baggage check for the tuataras as "domestic pets." Probably this was this first time in history that these strange "living fossils" of the Antipodes were ever called by that name.

All of our business having been attended to, we took a ride in a "rubber-neck" auto to Golden Gate Park and around by the Presidio. Things have changed since I was there nearly twenty years ago and the region of the Cliff House looked a good deal like Coney Island. After a light supper at the Ferry building we took the boat to Oakland and our train. After arriving there I inspected the precious tuataras in the baggage car and interviewed the baggage man who was to have them in charge, the interview including a very reasonable tip. He promised to care for them and to bespeak the good offices of the man at Ogden who would see them still further on their way. And so we started on the last leg of our long journey in excellent spirits and with no thought of future trouble; but the next day brought new anxieties regarding our fellow travelers, the tuataras.

After a comfortable night's rest and breakfast. I went a little before noon to inspect my pets in the baggage car, taking along some fresh beef procured from the dining car steward. Imagine my dismay when I found that the baggage car had been set out from the train somewhere back in the Nevada desert on account of a defect probably due to the activities of the shopmen, who were then conducting their famous strike of September 1922! No one could give me any information as to when that baggage car or its contents would be sent on. I was told, however, that the baggage man I had interviewed at Oakland remained with his car until it reached Ogden and so I had to content myself with trusting to him and to Providence to see the tuataras safely through. I also wrote full instructions to the baggage master at Ogden, impressing him with the unique value of the specimens. We reached Omaha about 6 A.M. on September 7, where I left another letter with the baggage master about the tuataras and just caught our train for lowa City. At Des Moines we stopped for about two hours and called on the Des Moines Register to report our safe return. It was certainly a "grand and glorious feeling" when we reached home and families that evening and found all well.

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lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

The tuataras came the next day as well and hearty as when 1 last saw them at Oakland, California. They certainly had been well cared for and there was enough raw beef poked in their box to last them for months; also a lot of sticks, lead pencils etc., which had been used by inquisitive people for the purpose of stirring them up. Letters were received from several of the baggage men who had them in charge on different runs from California to lowa City asking if they got through all right and telling how they had been taken care of on the way.

The collections arrived safely after considerable delay at the Customs House at Des Moines. I was called upon to exhibit bills-of-lading, although it had been impossible to obtain them, there being no American Consular officer at Fiji and, by arrangements with the Union Line at Wellington, the collections were shipped as baggage and hence no bills-of-lading were forthcoming either from Fiji or New Zealand.

When I visited Des Moines to see them through the customs I was required to tile a heavy bond on account of not being able to produce the bills-of-lading. The fact that the collections were the property of the State of lowa seemed to cut no figure at all. I was told that if, after an interval of several months. I was unable to obtain the bills-of-lading, and stated why, on oath, the bonds would be released. I protested that these reasons were known to me just as well then as they would be after a lapse of months and gave them, asking if the explanation was satisfactory. The official said that it was, but that the bonds would have to be furnished just the same and an application for their release, with reasons given on oath, at the end of the required period would be necessary. Great and mysterious and beyond comprehension are the ways of customs officials in the United States!

But all these irritating delays passed at last, and the collection, including the priceless gifts from the museum at 'Wellington is safely stored in the museum at the State University of lowa, where it will interest the public and be used by students for years to come.

In closing this narrative I wish to express my high appreciation of the services of my comrades, Wylie, Thomas. Stoner and Clock for their fine work in carrying out the objectives of the Expedition, and to -Mrs. Stoner who so efficiently helped with the commissary department while we were at Makuluva. Fiji.

INDEX

Abalone shells, 184

Aboriginal clothing, 216

Acacias, 300

Acanthidositta chloris, 270

Accommodation House, 309

Acridiid, 188

Acridotheres tristis, 129, *267

Acropora, 41, 55, 56, 65, 86; alcicornU, 85; palmata, 85

AcUea tomentosa, 65

Adamson, Rev., 95

Afzelis bijuga, 144

Agaricea, 41, 55

Agassiz, Alexander, 18

Agathis, 286: australis, 286; vitiensis, 144, 153, 286

Agglomerates, 333

Agricultural College at Lincoln, 235

Agricultural Station, 304

Agriculture in Fiji, 144; in North Island, 291

Alauda arvensis, 267

Albatross, Hawaiian Cruise of, 9

Albatrosses, 30, 249

Albert Park, 254, 255, 269

Alcohol, Transportation of, 15

Alcyonacese, 56, 82

Alcyonaria, 55

Alcyonarian. 41, 209; with r»tr*otile branches, 83

Aleurites triloba, 153

Alfred, Fijian boatman, 39, 40, 41, 45, 46, 52, 61, 105

Algfe on coral terraces, 145

Allison, Mr., chief of ferry service, 186, 188, 195

Alluvial deposits, 144

Alps, 334

Alsophila lnnulata, 150

AltwE-11, Captain, 6, 839

America, 298

American Consulate, 213

Americans on shipboard, 169

American Hydroids, 211

Amphineura, 205

Amundsen, 238

Anas superciliosa, 268

Anderson, Mr., 220

Andi Viti, Government Launch, 52

Andi Keva, a steamer, 163

Anemones of Makuluva, 44, 86, 199, 209

Angel-fish, 201

Angiopteris, 151

Anglo-Saxon stock, 297

Anisolabis littorea, 279

Anomuran, 202

Anosia plexippus, 281

Antarctic birds and mammals, 22<>

Anthornis niehuiura, 270

An thus novre-zealandia l , 267

Antipodes Islands, 241

Antipatharian coral, 199, 207, 208

Ants, 282

Anzacs, 228

Aphididlß, 279

Apteryx, 181, 187, 261, 2<;.'>, 272

A(|iiaria, 264

Aquarium at Honolulu, 28

Arachnida, 134, 281

Arahura river, 332

Araucaria, 286

Areas, 157, 158

Archaster, 56, 207

Archey, Gilbert, Canterbury College, 7, 230, 238, 240, 241

Arctocephalus forsteri, 241

Arenaria interpres, 268

Around the Island steamers, 101

Artamna mentnlis, 1:12

Arthur's Pass, 328, 332, 333

Ail Museum in Auckland, 189

Ascidians, 199

Aspidodiadema, 41

Astelia, 887

Asterias, 56

Asteroidea, 79, 207

Aaton, Mr. B. C, 294

Astraliom, 74

Astrocnida, 208

Astronomical knowledge of the Maori. 246

Astronomical observatory, 311

Astrophytidre, 208

Atkinson, Mr. E. H., 263, 293. 294, 295. 296. 297

Atkinson, Mrs., 296

Auckland, 144, 177, 187, 189, 191, 196, 200, 201, 202, 209, 212, 225, 231] 235, 254, 267, 289, 297, 301, 33:;.

336; Harbor, 172, 174, 283; Harbor

Board, 255; Islands, 241, 299; Museum,

_ , . i ...„..^. J , -**., wo , -M 11 111 176, 181, 183, 187, 273: population of,

177; Trawler, 14; Weekly News, 226

417

lOWA STUDIES IX NATURAL HISTORY

Austrnlasia, 336

Australia, 144, 300; affinity, 300; diamond bird, 131; gum trees, 304; yell'iwhammer, 267

Avaruna, 340

Avon River, 230, 237

Azolla, 329

Baggage, 20, 338

Bnilcy, Mr. A. E., District commissioner, 166, 168

Bahama Expedition, Narrative and Report of, 5

Baker, Rev., Wesleyan Missionary, 98, 116

Baker Memorial Hall, 98, 116

Balanoglossus, 215

Bnlclutha, 334

Balistapus, 60

Balistidse or trigger fishes, 60, 61

Bananas, 144, 145, 180

Banks Peninsula, 333, 336

Banyan tree, 158

Barbados-Antigiia, Narrative and Report of, 5, 7

Barnacles, 188, 203, 204, 311

Barracuda, 201

Barrier reef, 164

Barron Rock, 329

Bartruin, Prof., 336

Bartsch, Dr. Paul, U. 8. National Museum, 17, 20, 51, 205

Basalt, 333

Basket-fish, 189, 207, 208, 209

Bathing-beach on Makuluva, 49

Bathymetric map, 299

Ban, Island of, 91, 94, 108, 339

Bay of Plenty, 310

Bealey creek, 333

Bache-de-mer, 345

Beetles, 280

Bell birds, (Panax sp.) 259, 270

Best, Elsdon, Dominion Museum Wellington, 7, 216, 224, 232, 243, 24.' 246, 247

Bicycles, 333

Bills-of-lading, 352

Binandere, 112

Birds of Fiji, 128; of New Zealand, 237, 2fi4, 265; of Oahu, 29

Birgus Intro, 66, 67, 70

Birkenhead, 174, 300

Birth and death rates, 235, 236

Birthday celebration, 25

Bishop Museum, 28

Biting lice, 130

Black ant, 141

Black-backed gulls, 266

Black ferns, 326

Black-fronted tern, 267

Black shag, 268

Blatta conjuncta, 278; forticeps, 277

Blattida:, 134

Block, Mr., 6, 19

Block mountains, 319

Bluebottle fly, 281

Blue heron, 128

Blue moth, 44

Blue-wattled crow, 272

Boat Drill on Niagara, 32

Boiling pools, 260

Bond, 352

Boobook owl, 132

Boston, 352

Botanical Gardens, Suva, 102, 225, 297, 298

Botanists, of New Zealand, 293

Bounty Islands, 241

Bowen Peak, 335

Brachiopod, 198, 199, 203, 208, 311

Brachylybus variegatus, 136

Brachyplatys pacificus, 137

Brachyurans, 41

Bracken, 327

Breadfruit trees, 148, 158

Bridges, 320

British, Ambassador, 212; Empire, 290; Colleges, 212; Colonials, 238; Columbia, 21; West Indies, 342

Brown duck, 268

Bryozoa, 203, 311

Bryozoons, 198

Bubonic plague, 174

Burgman, Dr., Botanist. Univ. of Hawaii, 26

Bugula, 209

Bulla. 75

Buller family, 339; gorge, 320; river, 322; valley, 321

Bureau of Fisheries, 20

Bush, near Wellington, 295

Butterflies, 281

Butterfly-fish, 201

Butterfly trees, 46

Caddis-flies, 279

Cadet system, 113

Cakobau, King of Fiji, 91, 95, 96

Callocalia spondiopygia, 132

Calla?as wilsoni, 272

Calliphora eyrthrocephala, 2SI

Calophyllum burmanni, 144; linophyllum, 146

Cambridge Natural History, on mollusca, 204

Cameo, 74

Camera man, 16, 347

Cainpanularians, 211

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

Campbell Island. 241

Campbell, Sir John Logan, 256

Canadian-Australasian Royal Mail Line, 11

Canadian-Pacific Railroad, 20

Canadian Rockies, 20

Candlenut tree, 153

Caultield house, 262

Cannibalism, 112, 115, 116

Cannibals, 95, 96

Canoes, 247, 249, 250, 253, 255

Canterbury, 319; Museum at Christ-

church, 229, 233; Plains, 228, 230, 238, 239, 319, 333, 335

Cape Colville, 202, 207, 209, 210

Cape Egmont, 317

Cape Farewell, 317

Cape Turakirae, 316

Cook, Captain, 167

Carabida?, 280

Carbo c. steadi, 268

Carbon tetrachloride, 146

Carcharius melanopterus or Devil Shark, 57

Carcharodon, Tertiary shark, 157

Cardium, 157, 204

Carica papaya, 146

Carpilius convexa, 64

Carved ivory boxes, 190

Cascades, 331

Cassava, 145

Cassowary, 187

Castlecliff, 311

Casnarines, 165

Caterpillar-shrike, 131

Cathedral, 230

Catharina group, 211

Cattle, 328

Cave, 329

Cemetery, 304, 345

Centipedes, 123, 126, 135

Cephalopoda, 11

Cerithium, 41, 75, 158

Cerratulidse, 208

Cetacea, 216

Chtetodon, 61

Challenger, 204, 210

Chamberlin Snowfields, 329

Chant, Professor, 170

Chaplet, 224

Chapman, Dr. Frank M., 121

Chappie, Major W. A., 93, 112, 113, 119

Charadrius dominicus, 268

Cheeseman, Thomas E., Curator Auckland Museum, 7, 181, 191, 231, 254, 283, 284

Chief Savage, 213, 214, 222

viiitji ravage, 6±o, 6LI, 6£& Children of New Zealand, 297

Chilognatha, 282

Chilopoda, 282

418

Chilton, Dr., Rector of Canterbury College, 7, 229, 237, 234, 240, 241

Chilton, Mrs., 230, 237 ni,; nn „ o«o vij nip.

Chinese, 343, 344, 345; women, 346

Chitons, 75, 198, 205, 206, 215

Christchurch, South Island, 214, 218, 220, 226, 228, 230, 235, 238, 239, 319, 333, 334

Christmas tree, 288

Chrysoenas luteovirens, 132

Chrysopa sanvitoresi, 135

Church of England, 333

CicadellidK, 279

Cicadida?, 279

Cicindela tuberculata, 280; vitiensis, 123

Cidaris, 56

Cirripedia, 71

City of the Plains, 333

Cleland, Mr., caretaker, 254

Click beetle, 280

Clidemia hirta, 123

Cliff glaciers, 333

Climbing rata, 327

Clothing, 18, 178

Coal, 322; loading facilities, 323; strike, 340

Coast line, 300

Cobbledick. Mr. W. H., 254

Coccyges, 269

Cockatoos, 264

Cockayne. Dr. A. H., 241, 286, 294

Cockroach, 135, 277

Cocoa, 145

Coconuts. 14 1

Coconut moth, 137

Coconut palms, 43, 46

Coalenterata, 41, 209

Ccenobita diogenes, 70

Coffee, 145

Coge or barking dove, 132

Cold in New Zealand, 176; on British vessels, 23

Cold water lakes, 319

Coleoptera, 280; of Fiji, 134

Collections, 100, 337, 352

Collecting at Rnngitoto, 185; in the rain, 127; outfit, 17; tanks, 189

Collins, Mr., Government official, 192

Colii Suva, 136

Colembola, 13;

Coloboeentrotus, 7;

Colonial and Dominion Governments, 12

Colonial Department of Agriculture of Fiji, 131

Colonial flag of Fiji, 104

Colonial Government, 99, 109, 114, 120; of Fiji, 12

Colonials, 106, 192, 193, 204, 228, 235, 240

356

lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

Colonial Sugar Refining Company, 300

Colors of fishes at Makuluva, 60, 61

Columba vitiensis, 132

Colville Island, 210

Comatulid crinoids, 159

Communes, 112

Compound Anemones, 41

Concert, 342

Conida?, 74

Coniferous forests, 286

Conocephalid, 135

Conservation, 274; of forests, 291

Consulate, 216

Consul General, 213

Conus, 41, 55, 74

Cook on Cowan, 194, 195, 220, 250, 251 344, 345

Cook Island group, 340, 341, 344

Cook Strait, 284, 293, 317, 318

Cooke, Rev. A. H., 204

Cook's Monument, 343

Copra, 144, 341, 345

Coral, 36, 41, 44, 56, 159, 198, 203

Coral reefs, 143, 145, 154, 159,' 201

Corallines, 145

Corn, 291

Coromandel peninsula, 300

Coronation stone, 96

Cotton, Dr., 144, 145, 315, 316, 336

Council Room, 222

Cowan, a trawler, 186, 194, 196, 200, 201, 204

Cowes Bay, 267

Crabs, 198, 199

Crab-eating seal, 229

Cracker bush, 326

Crane-flies, 281

Cranston, Mr., 324

Crater of Rangitoto, 255

Craters, 305

Crawford, Mr., Chief engineer of Cowan, 194, 195, 197

Creadion carunculatus, 272

Crepidnla, 41

Crested Terns, 128

Cretaceous, 300

Crevasses, 330, 331

Crickets, 136

Cricket Club of Ban, 91

Crinoid, 56, 199, 208

Crop and fruit plants of Fiji, 144

Crompton, Mrs., 32

Crossing the line, 346

Crushington, 321

Crustacea, 41, 55, 202, 235

Crustacea from the North Pacific Exploring Expedition, 202; of Makuluva, 64

Crustaceans, :"'

Cryptozonia, 207

Cumberland Bay, 210

Cunningham, Mr. G. H., 293, 294, 296

Curio stores, 341

Customs house, 350, 352

Customs officials, 353

Cyanide process, 321

Cyathea, 287; medullaris, 290

Cynthia, 326

Cyphastrea ocellina, 86

Cyprrea, 41, 55

Cypraea moneta or cowry shell, 74

Dabui Levu, 124

Dacrydium, 153, 286, 291; elatum, 144

Dairy cattle, 257

Dances, 261

Dardanus guttatus, 66

Dart river, 335; valley, 335

Davis, 329

Davison, Sr. Charles, Chief Justice of Fiji, 105

Dawson Falls House, 312

Day, 223

Day, lost, 33

Day, Mr. A. Cecil, official Sec'y, to Governor of New Zealand, 12, 105, 212

Deck cabin, 338

Deck sports, 31, 169, 339, 347, 349

Declarations, 348

Defense Force of Fiji, 101, 102

Deforestation, 326

Deighton, Mr., Manager of Municipal Council's Fish Market, 185, 186

Deinacrida rugosa, 278

Delailasakau, 163

Delta, 33;

Delta plains, 144

Demiegretta sacra, 128

DeMouncey, Mr. Clarence, sec'y, Fiji Club, 146

DeMouncey, Mrs., 146

Dendrophyllia manni. 210

Departure of party, 20

Dermaptera, 136, 279

Des Moines, 351, 352

Developing films on Makuluva, 47

Divide between Waikite and Thames, 304

Devil House, 96

Devil Worship, 46

Devil's Kitchen, 308

Devonport, 174, 300

Diadema. 55, 76

Diamond Head, near Honolulu, 26

Dicksonia, 287

Dingo or wild dog, 263

Dinornis s]v. 272

Diodontklne or porcupine fishes, 59

Dipters, LBB, 881

Dire samu, 124

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

420

Disbrowe, Mr., 168

Distichopora, 88

District Commissioner of Ra, 166

Doldrums, 347

Dollohogiouns, 215

Dolphins, 346

Domain. 256. 269, 272, 297

Domestic pets, 351

Dominica, 342

Dominion, 204, 333

Dominion Government, 24, 178, 187, 220,

232, 293, 337, 338

Dominion Museum, 215, 218, 221, 224,

229, 233, 238, 257, 275, 338

Dragon flies, 135

Dredge, 324

Dredging, 14

Drc«, Mr. H. T. 8., Publicity officer, Wellington, 7, 13, 214, 227

Drinking, 347, 349

Drone-fly, 281

Dry dock, 185

Drymispermum buraettianum, 146

Dunedin, 229, 235, 299, 307, 319, 333, 334, 336

Dune's Hill, 310

Durvilljea antarctica, 295

D'Urville Island, 311, 317

Dust wells, 330

Dutch East Indies, 208

Dysdercus insularis, 137

Eagle, 230

Earthquakes, 309, 316

Earwig, 136

Echidna trossula, 58

Echinodermata, 206

Echinoderms, 56; of Makuluva, 55, 75

Echinoidea, 206

Echinoids, 322

Echinometra, 55, 75; lucunter, 40, 55, 77

Echinoneus semilunaris, 78

Echinothrix, 77

Edible oysters, 203 1 J T-\_ n TJ T OR OQ

Edmondson, Dr. C. H., 7, 26, 28

Educational system of New Zealand, 226

Edwards, Mr., Foreman, 157

Egmont, 310, 313

Egmont lavas, 311

Egyptology, 190

Elasmonetta chlorotis, 268

Elateridse, 280

Elephantiasis, 100

Elephant seal, 231

Ellington, 165

Kmily Place, No. 4, 176, 177, 189

Emperor penguins, 229

Empire Day, 25

Empire Hotel in Wellington, 189, 193, 212, 225

Emu, 187

Endemic species of plants, 286

Engine rooms of Niagara, 24

English sparrow, 114, 179

Epeiras, 134

Erhemcrida, 279

Ephydra, 281

Epinephelus, 59

Epiphyte, 327, 329

Equipment, 16, 20

Eristalis tenax, 281

Erosion, 163

Erythrura pealei, 131

Escarpment, 316

Esile, our Fiji boy, 45, 46, 52, 64

Esplanade, 225

Ethnological exhibit, 231

Euapta. 56, 76; lappa, 76

Eucalypti, 300

Eugenia effusa, 144 ■C ~ 1 * O QQ9

Europeans, 142, 333

European skylark, 267

Eurynome, 202

Eurystopus, 132

Evans Bay, 315, 317

Executive Council of Fiji, 109

Experiences on Cowan, 197

Exposure of films, 17

Eyre range, 335

Face carving, 184 244

Fagus, 296

Falco lunulatns, 132

Falla, Mr. R., 254

Fantails, 255, 259

Fanning, Miss, 25

Fantham's Peak, 313

Fault scarp, 315

Fauna of fossiliferous beds, 311

Fauna of Makuluva flats, 40; of Makuluva reefs, 55

Fell, Hon. T. E., C. M. G., Colonial Sec'y. Fiji, 7, 10, 12, 15, 30, 32, 33, 34, 38, 47, 52, 89, 97, 98, 99, 100, 104, 105, 118, 142, 147, 149, 155, 160, 163, 167

Ferar, Mr., 336

Ferguson bush, 329

Ferns, 287, 329

Fern arch. 321

Fern forests, 150

Forn trees, 287, 296

Fevkes, 211 i —» i oc . *>,>..,;•.,.-.-. 11(1

Fijian costume, 126; furniture, 110; homes, 151; insects, affinities of, 133; kauri, 144; Oxford scholar, 49; Yosemite, origin of, 163

421

lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

Fijians, 90, 97, 98, 100, 101, 106, 108, 109, 110, 112, 125, 128, 133, 142

Fijians, compared with Africans, 100

Fijians at landing in Suva, 53

Fiji Club, 53, 89, 97, 103, 146, 155, 168

Fiji Islands, 106, 142, 143, 154, 162, 163, 187

Fiji Museum, 103

Fiji-New Zealand Expedition, 121 142

Fiji village, 127

Fiordland, 320

Fish in trawl, 196

Fish-moth, 135

Fishermen, 96

Fishes of Makuluva, 57

Flabellum, 210

Fleas, 126

Flocks, 33!

Flora of New Zealand, 285

Fluvio-glacial streams, 332

Flying fish, 30, 249, 346

Flying foxes, 46

Football game at Auckland, 179

Foraminifera, 301

Forest, 327; on Mount Egmont, 312

Forficulida?, 279

Foothills, 333

Forty Mile Bush, 317

rossilifei-ous rocks, 301

Foster, skipper of Mavis, 188

Fovites, 55, 86

Fox glacier, 325, 332

Franz Josef glacier, 328, 331, 332

Gigi, 327

Girls' College, 218

Glaciers, 319, 329, 332, 336 Cl :__ ._ <,„«

Glancias amyota, 279

Glenorchy, 335

Glock, Mr. Waldo, 11, 13, 16, 23, 24, 39, 40, 47, 54, 97, 101, 147, 151,'155,' 163, 184, 188, 191, 221, 223, 229, 303, 331, 335, 349, 353

Gobiidffi, 63

Godwit, Limosa novie-zealandiie, 265

Gold, 324, 326

Gold-bearing gravels, 332

Gold coast, 326

Gold mines, 321

Gold nugget, 321

Gold rush of 1864, 323

Golden Bay district, 323

Golden Gate Park, 351

Golden plover, 268

Gollins Valley, 270, 278, 279, 280

Gonodactylus chiragra, 70, 71

Gorgonaceie, 56, 82

Gorgonians, 56, 207

Gorgonida?, 209

Gorse, a noxious weed, 239, 287, 327

Government permit, 257

Government Tourist Bureau, 175, 191, 303

Governor, 219

Governor General, 219

Grand Pacific Hotel, Suva, 33, 34, 99, 122, 155

Freight on Niagara, 21

Grapsida?, 65

Freight rates, 14, 15

Grapsoid crab, 202

French pass, 317

Grapstis, 65

Fringillida?, 265

Grasshop|iers, 135

Frost-fish, 201

Gravel, bed, 324; terraces, 321

Frying Pan Flats, 309

Fujiyama, 312

Fulgoridse, 279

Fumaroles, 308

Fungia, 210

Furniture in Fijian house, 126

Fur-seal, 241

Gallery Gorge, 332

Gallipoli campaign, 228

Gangetic dolphin, 231

Gurnet Island, 268, 279

Garden, 99, 123

Gastropods, 204, 205; of Makuluva, 74

Gates of Namosi, 162

Geike, 329

Geneological stick, 250

Germalus pucificus, 137

Geysers, 260, 305, 306, 336

Geyser basin, 305

Giant trees, 326

Graves, 341

Gray warblers, 259, 270, 271

Grazing lands, 292

Great Barrier Island, 172, 300

Great Bear, 348

Great Ice-fall, 331

Great War, 298; in Hew Zealand, 290

Gregory, Dr. H. E., of Bishop Museum, Honolulu. 7, 26, 28

Grey duck. 368

Greymouth, 323

Grey river, 322

Grey Valley boroughs, 322

Griffin, L. T, F. Z. S., Auckland Museum, 7, 183, 186, 187, 189, 190, 191, 232, 254, 283

Griffin, Mrs. L. T., 190

Grouse locusts, 135

Gryllus Oceanians, ISO

Guava bugs, 136

Guest house, 181

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

Gulls, 265, 340

vi una, .uj, O-iU Gymnothorax, 57; pictus, 58; nuttingi, 57

Haast Pass, 328

Hair dressing in Fiji, 102

Halcyon sacra, 132: vagans. 269

Halecium robustum Allman

Haliotis, 55, 75

Hall, Bishop Museum, 26

Hamer, Mr., Harbor master at Auckland, 184, 302

Hamilton, Mr. Harold, Dominion Museum, Wellington, 7, 188, 190, 217, 223, 232, 257, 258, 259, 262, 270, 272, 277

Hamilton town, 304

Hammerhead sharks, 201

Hansson, Mr. Arnold, 327

Harbor, 315; of Wanganui, 310

Harj>er Rock, 330

Harriman Alaska Expedition

Hiematopus unicolor, 268

Hauraki Gulf, 172, 188, 194, 201, 206, 207, 287, 289, 300

Hawaiki. the original home of the Maori, 189, 216, 245

Hawaiian corals, 210

Hawaiian Group, 26

Hawaiian Islands, people of, 28

Hawera, 312

Hawk's crag, 321

Health of party, 18

Hebella, 211

Hector, Dr., 234

Helensville, 257, 267, 279

Hemideina megacephala, 278

Hemiphaga novfe-zealandiie, 268

Hemiptera, 279, 281

Hemitelia, 287

Henderson, Mr. John 8., 10, 72, 336

Hermit crab, 74, 136

Hernandia peltata, 146

Herons, 46

Heteroptera, 133

Heterocentrotus, 75

Il'-terorera, 281

Hindus 125, 128, 142, 156

Hipponoe, 56

Hislop, Mr. J, Under Sec'y. of Internal Affairs, 7, 188, 193, 212, 213, 214, 216, 217, 218, 221, 222, 223, 224, 238, 293, 338

Hislop, Mrs., 217, 222, 338

Huia, 272

Hokitika, 323, 328, 332

Hocken, Dr. T. M., 234

Holder, Mr., 187

Ilolothuria, 56

Holothnrians, 41, 43, 75

Homoptera, 279

422

Hongi's Track, 258

Honolulu, 26; day in, 27

Hoodless, Mr., Acting Supt. of Schools, Fiji, 98

Hookworm, 100

Hooker glacier, 332

Horsley, Reginald, 247

Horst and grabeu structure, 319

Hospital, 304

Hotels in New Zealand, 285

Hot pools, 304

Hot Sulphur Springs, 257, 306, 332, 336

House-fly, 281

House of Representatives, 222

Howard, Dr. C. P., 18

Hydrobatida, 137

Hydrocorallines, 198, 210

Hydroelectric plants, 321

Hydrogen sulphide, 304

Hydroid, plumularian, 200

Hydroids, 56, 199, 202, 203, 210

Hydrophytes, 827

Hydrophilid beetle, 281

Hydromedu&te, 8 i

Hymenophyllum, 287

Hymenoptera, 134, 281

Hypoleucus v. varius, 268

Hughes, Sec'y. of State, 12

Human heads, 251

Humboldt range, 335

Hutt Valley, 315

Button, Miss, 25

Hutton, Prof., F.R.S., 234

Ice, age, 320, 334; axe, 331; cascadi 330; flow, 330; fruit, 329

lowa City, 142, 221, 334, 352

Immigration laws, 174

Immortality, belief in, 245

Impressions of Tahiti, 345

Inangahua, junction, 321; river, 321

Indians, 34, 89, 97, 100, 106, 113, 114, 119, 133

Inferno, 308

Insects, affinities of, 274; peculiar to Fiji, 133

Introduced plants In New Zealand, 287

Envercargill, 299

Iron deposits, 323

Irons, Mr. J. A., General Agent, Canadian Australasian Mail Line, 6, 21, 184, 338

Irritating fluid ejected by a cockroach, 136

Island Bay, 215, 225

Islam Road, 236

Jade or greenstone, 182

Jellicoe, Viscount, Governor General of

423

New Zealand, 7, 212, 214, 216, 219, 223, 253

Jellicoe, Viscountess, 214, 219

Jennings, Edwin, 234

Jessup, Pres. Walter A., 6, 10, 12, 13, 337, 350

Johnston, 211

Judd, Mr., Chairman Trustees Bishop Museum, 26

July 4th at sea, 169

Juneau, Alaska, 293

Jungle, 149

Jurassic, 300

Jute, 145

Lake Te Anau, 320

Lake Wakatipu, 320, 334, 335

Lalage pacifica, 131

Lali, a Fiji dram, 94, 127

Lambert, Dr. S. M., 146, 147

Lambton, harbor, 317; quay, 225, 314

Lamellibranchs, of Makuluva, 72

Lamprococcus lucidus, 269

Lamprophara bifasciata, 137

Lancaster, Prof. Thomas L., 289

Landing at Makuluva, 39

Land slides, 320

Langridge, Mr., 264

Lantana, 124

lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

Jutland, battle of, 223

Lage, Mr. Harold of Napier, New Zealand, 13

Kai-Iwi, 311

Lams dominicanus, 266; scopulinus, 266

Lasiorhynchus barbicornis, 280

Kaikoura range, 319

Latrodectus hasselti, 282

Kaitaki Range, 313

Lava, 301, 302, 304, 310, 312, 313

Kahikatea, 326

Kakapo, 269

Launch Bervice, 38

Kalidin, the cook, 39, 40, 43, 54

Karo Sea, 154

Karrer, 301

Kauri, 153

Kauri Gully, 256, 279

Kauri, gum, 286, 287; pine, 286; trees, 257

Kava, 92, 111, 122, 148

Kawarau Falls, 335

Kea, 264, 269

Kent, P. \V., University Photographer, 7

Kerguelen Island, 210

Kenyon, Senator Win, S., 6, 12

Kidney ferns, 329

Kindergarten, 98

King ferns, 321, 326

Kingfisher, 132

Laurence, Captain Alan, 147, 151

Leafhopper, 137, 279

Leaf insects, 136

Leave-taking custom, 105

Leis, bestowed on party, 29

LeLean, Mrs., 99

LeLean, Rev., 98, 99

Leucania unipunctata, 281

Leodice longicirrata, 80

Leodicida, 81

Lepisma saccharina, 13H

Leptocorisa acuta, 136

Lepioria, 55, 86

Leptospermum hasselti, 282

Leßoy, Mr. E., 289, 290

Lessonia, 295

Leucozonia, 41, 75

Kingston, 335

Kinloch, 335

Kirk, Prof. H. B , Victoria College, 7, 212, 213, 214, 241, 254, 293

Kitchen midden, 157

Kiwi, 232, 237, 240, 265, 27;

Koehler, Rene, 208

Korombasambasanga range, 161, 162

Koster's curse, 131

Kunkel, Dr., Pathologist of Honolulu, 26

Lace wing, 135

Lacon variabilis, 280

Lafoea, 211

Lakes, 886

Lake, Ada, 320

Lake Kanieri power plant, 824

Lake Manapouri, 320

Lake Monowai, 320

Lake Roto Ehu, 258

Lake Roto Iti, 258

Levuka, 164

Library, 255; of Auckland Museum, 181

iicnens, 185, 327

Life on Niagara, 23

Lima, 74

Limes, 145

Limonite ore, 323

Limpets, 215

Linckia, 55, 56; guildingi, SO; laevigata, 79

Linnseus, 2-1

Limicol*, 268

LisßOtes retieulntus, 280

ijithodomus, 78 t...i T-. ._•_. T_i._a mo ne\f\ OA", OTI

Little Barrier I,land. 198, 200, 205, 271

Livorworts, 327

l.ivia. 7fi

Lisard, 46

Lode Mining, 321

Lomaria. 826

Loess, 334

424

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

Lomond, Ben, 335

Longicorn beetle, 14 1

Long-tailed cuckoo, 269

Loss of notebook, 344

Lui. 124, 125, 127

Luidia, 207

Lumbering, 323, 326

Lulu, 132

Lyall Bay, 294, 317

Lycopods, 327, 329

Lyell, 321

Lyman, Mr., 208

Lyon, Dr., of Experiment Station Honolulu, 26, 27

Lytocarpus, 211; formosus, 211

Lyttelton, port of Christchurch, 228, 237, 240, 241, 334

Mac Donald, Rev., 101

Mac Donald Hotel, Suva, 53

Macoma, 157

Macquarie Island, 241

Macquarrie, Mr. Hector, 262

Macruran, 41, 71

MacYitty, Mr. K. de G., U. S. Consul, 187, 189, 212

Magellania, 208; lenticularis, 208

Magnificent View, 312

Mahogany Island, 144

Makoia Island, 30:

Makuluva flats, 158

Makuluva Island of, 10, 18, 36, 104, 124, 130, 136, 141, 142, 145, 146, 158, 186, 355

Makura, steamship, 31, 104, 169, 171, 174, 254

Malaria, 100

Malte Brun, 319

Mamaku bush, 259, 269, 270, 280, 282, 304

Manganui Gully, 312

Mangrove swamps, 164

Manukau Harbor, 257, 300

Manuka, 326, 327

Marwiek, Mr., 336

Mary Jane, 348

Masked ball on Niagara, 32

Master of Ceremonies, 219

Matai, 326

Mavis, a launch, 188

Maw, Dr. W. M., 133

Mawson's, Sir Dougles Antarctica Ex-

pedition, 190, 224, 229, 238

~, . 11. i.. 11, ±n May-flies, 279

Mayor, Dr. Alfred G., 30

McDonald, Mr. J., Acting Director of Dominion Museum, 7, 217, 218, 220, 221, 223, 224, 229, 232, 243, 262, 294, 295

McGee, Mr., 238

McKay, Captain, skipper of Cowan, 186, 194, 195, 197

McLean, Miss, 218

McVffley, Mr. B. W., 191

Meandrina, 41, 86, 158

Mecidea longula, 2■ 9

Meconia scandens, 123

Mccuisela, a Wesleyan preacher, 126, 127, 218

Medical inspection, 173, 342, 350

Medusa, on Makuluva flats, 87

Meke, or dance, 111, 127

Melanesia, 245

Meliphagidaa, 270

Mercury Bay, 209

Mere, a spatulate club, 182, 333

Mesozoic, 319

Methodist, church, 95, 101; mission, 98

Metrosideros tomentosa, 288

Mantis shrimps, 41

Migrations of birds, 247

Migratory birds, 268

Mile-a-minute, 123

Milford sound, 320

Milking by machinery, 304

Millepora, 87

Millipeds, 134, 282

Mimosa, 123, 124

Miocene beds, 318

Miramar peninsula, 317

Miro longipes, 270

Maori, 116, 181, 189, 204, 216, 217, 220, 231, 232, 245, 250, 251, 252, 253, 255, 259, 260, 332, 333, 341; bugs, 136, 278; concert, 260; carvings, 181, 183, 221; designs, 217; gifts, 223

Missionaries at Ban, 95

Missions, 99

Maorigeryjrone igata, 270

Mitra. 75

Maoris of New Zealand, 243

Moa, 280, 232, 233, 266, 336; material, in Auckland Museum 187

Marattia, 151

Mareonigrams, 340, 349

Model of Maori village 216

Marine Laboratory, 28

Mo. rang. 305

Marion du Fresne, 251

Mokihinui coalfield, 322

Market fishes, 201

Mollusca of Makuluva, 71, 202

Marlborough, 319

Molluscs, 36, 41, 55

Marsden, Samuel, 251

Mullusks, 55, 198, 199

Marsupials, 300

Money, 15, 16

lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

Mongoose. 183, 271

Monographs of the Dominion Museum, 245

Monkton, Capt , 112, 116

Moorca, 342, 848, 845

Morals of Fijian-. 111

Moran, Mr., Vice Consul, 213

Morays or Eels, 45; spotted, 201

Morehouse, Mr. D. W., 258

Morepork, 132, 264, 269; Owl (Spiloglaux novse-zealandue), 259, 265

Morgan, Prof. P. G., Director of Geological Survey, 336

Moriori, 215, 250

Mosquitoes, 48, 100, 124, 164

Mosses, 327, 329

Motion pictures, 16, 224; company, 344

Motors, 333

Motutapi

Mountains, 336

Mt. Aspiring, 319

Mt. Cook, 319, 323

Mt. d'Oro, 324

Mt. Earnslaw, 319, 335

Mt. Eden, 256, 301

Mt. Egmont, 312

Mt. Fell, 162, 163

Mt. Hercules, 326

Mt. Marshall, 263

Mt. Namosi, 162

Mt. Roehfort coalfields, 322

Mt. Rollaston, 333

Mt. Sifton, 319

Mt. Tarawera, 305

Mt. Tasman. 319

Mt. Voma, 150

Mud pots, 304

Mueller glacier, 332

Mula-mnla tree, 137

Mullin, Miss Catharine, 80

Municipal Council's fleet. 200

Municipal Quarries, 185

Murex, 55, 74

Murdoch, Mr. R., 311

Mursßnidflß, 57

Musca domestic!. 281

Musricapida?, 270

Muscicapids. 132

Museum, 293, 311, 353

Music on Makura, 172

Myers. Mr. J. G., 263, 267, 279

Myiagra, sp., 132

Mynah bird, 46, 114, 129, 130, 267

Myriopods, 282

Myiomoira toitoi, 270

Mytilus, 204

Myzomela jugularis, 132

Naduruloulou, Fijian village, 125

Nakuavu, village, 147

Namosi gorge, 161; hot springs near, 163; village of, 150, 151, 152, 162, 163

Namuamua, village, 148, 161

Naituku passage, 154

Natica, 41, 55, 75

National Antarctic expedition, 231

National Park, Otoga, 271

Native, houses, 341; pipit, 267; timber, 291; weapons, 295

Natives of Tahiti, 343

Natural steam cookers, 260

Nausori, 124

Navua, 123, 135, 147, 148, 149, 159, 162, ]<7

Navua River, 147, 160, 161

Navua, steamer, 153, 283

Nelson, 226. 250, 317, 318, 323

Nelson Boulder Bank, 318

Nelson Haven, 318

Neuroptera, 279

Neomorj ha acutirostris, 272

Nepthyidas, 83

Nereis, 41, 208

Nestor notabilis, 269

New Guinea, 217, 300

New Guinea, cannibal tribes of, 116

New Hebrides, 217

New Zealand, 11, 116, 144, 145, 169, 188, 190, 191, 201, 203, 204, 208, 210, 212, 216, 222. 223, 225, 227. 245. 247, 248, 250, 252. 255. 274. 292, 299, 300, 309, 333, 334, 336, 341

New Zealand Alps, 223; Caspian tern, 268; Exhibition in 1865, 234; fishes, 198, 232; forest. 259: gen nets, 268; Institute, 243; kingfisher, 269; people of. 175, 189, 193; pigeon, 268; pipit, 257: quail. 257: railways, 322; shoes of, 186; shoveller, 268

Nezara viridula, 279

Ngaurohoe, 309, 310

Ngoagotaha, 305

Niagara, steamship, 19, 100, 142, 192, 339, 342

Nikau steamer, 317

Ninox, 132

North Farmington, 291

North Island. 172, 218, 257, 284, 28; 293, 318

North Island, fauna, 274; robin, 258, 871

North New Zealand, 172

North star. S 16

North temperate zone, 348

Nothofagus, 294, 296

Notomls, 264. 268; hochstetteri, 268

Novara Expedition, 801

Noxious insect fauna. 27."

Nudibranch. 41, 47, 57, 75

Nudibranehiata, colors of, 72

425

426

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

Nukulau, Island of, 37, 39, 124, 146, 158

Nutting, Prof. C. 0, 142, 145, 283, 298, 333

Oahu, Island of, 346

Oaks, 256

Onmaru, 334

Objectives of party, 13, 14

O'Brien, Frederick, 99, 119, 120, 345

Observation Hill, Wellington, 217, 225

Oceanica, 115

Octopus, 41, 75

Oculina, 210

Ocypoda ceratophthalma, 65

Odonata, 135, 280

Officials, 342

Ogden, 351

Paintings, 255; in art museum in Auckland, 189

Paleozoic, 319

Pali Pass, 27

Palms, 180

Paludicolffi, 268

Pamera sp., 137

Pandanus trees, 146, 158

Papa, rock, 301, 302, 303

Papaya tree, 146

Papeete, 342, 343, 345; harbor, 346

Papuan fans, 187

Paradise, 335

Para grass, 125

Parakeets, 237

Parasites on mynahs, 130

Pardalotus, 131

Ohakune, 291, 292

Ohinemutu village, 259, 304

Oliva, 75, 158

Oliver, W. R. 8., F.Z.S. Dominion Mu-

scum, 7, 212, 215, 216, 224, 232, 263, 293, 294, 295

Omaha, 351

Onehunga, 257, 267, 268, 300

One Tree Hill, 256

Open Bible, 335

Ophiocoma, 41, 55, 75, 79, 207; cchinata, 78

Ophiocreas, 207

Ophiothrix, 55, 79; demersa, 78; longipeda, 78

Ophiozoma, 207

Ophiuroidea, 78

Ophiura, 56, 78; cinerea, 78

Opossums, 255

Oranges, 145, 345

Park, Prof, James, 234, 307, 318, 334, 336

Parker & Haswell's Textbook of Zoology, 208, 226

Park Rock, 330

Parks, 178

Parliament Building, 217, 222, 233, 262, 314

Parrot fish, 43

Parrots, 237, 264

Parson birds, 259

Passer domesticus, 267

Passports. 13, 174, 342, 350

Patella, 75, 205, 312

Patellidie. 205

Patiti, Maori guide, 306

Pawpaw- tree, 46

Peaks of Southern Alps, 332

Pearls, 345

Peaty deposit, 311

Fecten, 73, 198, 199, 202, 203, 208 irradians, 202

Orbicella, 44, 45, 86, 158

Oreaater, 56

Organ-pipe coral, 42

Pedata, colors of, 76

Ornithological and Entomological Experiences in Fiji, 121

Penang, 165; sugar company, 165; valley, 186, 167

Orongorongo river, 316

Penguins, 231, 265

Orthoptera, 135, 277

Pennatulacea?, 82

Ostrea, 157, 203

Pentatomoidea, 137, 279

Ostrich, 187

Perching lilies, 287

Otago, 334; district, 334; fiords of, 318; Harbor, 334; Institute, 241; University at Dunedin, 231, 234

Percnon planissimus or sally light-foot, 65

Peripatus, 212, 213, 276, 277

Periophthalmus, 61, 62, 64, 90

Otira, Gorge, 332, 333; tunnel, 333

Perna, 157

Ovalau Island, 164

Petone, 317

Owl flies, 130

Petrels, 265, 340

Oxyspirura, 130

Petrogale penicillata, 255

Oyster-catcher, 268

Phaethon pethereus. 128

Phalaropus fulicarius, 268

Pacific, 208

Phasmidas, 136

Pacific seaboard, 323

Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 241

Packing corals, 50; of outfit, 19

Philosophical society, 311

Paddlewheel geyser, 308

Photographs, 96, 183, 294, 328, 341, 344

427

lOWA STUDIES IN NATUEAL HISTORY

Pied fantail, 270, 271

Piedmont rainbelt, 327

Pied shag, 268

Pigs, 250, 274

Pilling, Mr. H. C, Assistant Colonial Sec'y., Fiji, 7, 33, 36, 38, 53, 155

Pilling, Mrs., 49

Pineapples, 145

Pinna, 203

Piper methysticum, 148

Piper sp., 136

" 'l~* Of., A Pitons, 312

Plains, 336

Plantain, 110

Plant hoppers, 279

Plant lice, 279

Pleistocene, 335

Pleistocene Age, 332; fossils, 310

Plenty, Bay of, 306

Pliocene, 311, 313

Plumularia catharina, 211

Plunder, 189

Pocillopora, 41, 55, 86, 158

Podargus, 132

Podocarpus, 286, 291

Pohutukawas, 255

Point Dorsctt, 315

Poisonous fish, experience with, 45; seeds 46

Police, 337

Police Station at Auckland, 181

PolychaHa, 80

Polynesia, 120, 217

Polynesians, 108, 115, 232

Pomacentridaj or Demoiselles, 60

Pomare, Hon. Sir M., 252, 295, 341

Pomare, Lady, 295

Porcupine fish, 201

Porites, 55, 86, 158

Porphyrio melanotus, 268

Porpoises, 249

Porrothele, antipodiana, 282

Prohibition, 170, 179, 180; in America 226

Prosthemadera novaa-zealandiaa, 270

Psammocora, 87

Psittaci, 269

Pteroceros, 55, 74, 158

Ptilotis procerior, 132

Ptylosarcus, 83

Pub, 326

Puff fish, 47, 201

Pukeko, 268

Pulmonate, 205

Pumpkins, 291

Quarantine Station, 124, 130, 342

Quarry, 302, 303

Quarters, on Makuluva, 36, 37

*(„>>,,,,.5, un .uanuiuvu, ao, Queen street, 176, 177, 301

Queenstown, 235

Quelch, John J., 85

Rakino Island, 28, 186, 188, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 208, 209

Rainfall, in Fiji, 143, 299, 325

Railways in Hew Zealand, 191, 192, 261, 317, 322, 334, 340

Raised beaches, 317

Rakiraki range, 166, 167

Rangitoto Island, 184, 186, 209, 255, 300 301, 302

Rangitoto Volcano, 177

Ransom, Dr. B. H., 130

Rapa, 327

Rabbits, 239, 255, 344

Rarotonga, 111, 217, 246, 247, 249, 340, 341, 343

Rate of ice flow, 330

Rathbun, Dr. Mary J., 64, 202

Ratu Pope, 7, 89, 91, 92, 93, 108, 109

Ratu Sukuna, Fijian Oxford scholar 49 111

Rats, 133, 274

Port Hills, near Lyttleton, 238, 240

Port Nicholson, 315, 316, 336

Pouakai Range, 313

Pounamu or greenstone, 333

Poverty Bay, 250

Povey, Mr., 255, 302

Precipitation on Mt. Egmont, 314

Predaceous mammals, absence of in Fiji, 133

Pre-Maori, 217

Preserved human heads, 184

*.icoci,v-,i iiiiiu.in iie»us, LO-i President of United States, 219

Pressure ridges, 302

Rawson, Senator Chas. A., 6

Recreation on deck, 342

Recruiting system or indenture, 118

Red-billed gulls, 266

Red Phalarope, 268

Reef collecting, 42, 52, 189; corals, 210; costumes, 40; fauna, 209; fishes, 42, 201

Reef ton, 321

Remarknhlcs, 884, 335

Rennie, Miss, 123

Residence district. Wellington, 315

Resolution Island, 271

Prince of Wales feather, 327

Restaurants. 177, 361

Private cemetery, 341

Rem delta, 163

Private park, near Auckland, 289

Kewa River, 90, 97, 124, 152, 158

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

428

Revolutionary War, 238

Rhipidura flabellifera, 270; layardi, 132

Rhipogonum scandens, 287

Rhodes Scholars. 230

Rhododendrons, 237

Rhopalimorpha obscura, 279

Rhopalocera, 281

Rhynchophora, 280

Khyolites, 333

Rice, 123, 145

Richardson range, 335

Rifleman, 270

Rimu, 326; Gold Dredging Company, 324

Rimutaki range, 317

Roads. 56, 156, 301, 314, 320, 325

Roaring forties, 317

Rockefeller International Health Board, 146

Roches mountonees, 329

Rodwell, Sir Cecil Hunter, K.C.N.G., Governor of Fiji, 7, 103

Rodwell, Lady, 49

Rolls, Capt. J. T., of the Niagara, 6, 23

Rona Bay, 263

Rona, wreck of, 173, 185, 199

Rotorua, 258, 267, 281, 282, 303, 304, 310

Rotorua Lake, 268, 305

Roto Ehu, 269

Rotomahana Crater, 306

Rotomahana Lake, 309

Rotomakana, 305

Rotomakariri, 305

Riss, 238, 326

Ross' seal

Ross, village, 324

Round worm, 130

Royal Academy, 190

Ruapehu, 309, 310, 313

Rubber, 145

Russell, Dr. Frank, 5

Sadler, J. W., care-taker, 37, 38, 39, 43,

47, 50, 52, 53, 124, 158

Saddle-back, 272

Safety valve of New Zealand, 310

Sailing for home, 338

Salisbury, 329

Sanctuaries, for birds, 271

Sand-dollars, 311

Sand dunes, 323

Sanders, Mr. S. F., Constabulary officer,

165, 166, 167, 168

Sargent Art Gallery, 311

Savage club, 213, 214, 216, 222

Savou, Clerk to Secretary Fell, 102

Sealpellum aucklandicum, 303

Schmitt, Dr. Waldo, 64

School, of Dentistry, 334; of Medicine,

334; of Mines, 334

Schooners, 342

Scoria, 312, 313

Scoria slope, 302

Scorrxcnidie, or Scorpion fishes, 59

Scorpions, 123, 126, 134

Scotch gorse, 304 c<.~K n0.it.,;,, OQ7 o<K

Scott, Captain, 237, 238

Scott College, a Presbyterian institution, 218

Sea cucumbers, 199

Sea mussel, 204

Sea-scorpion, 158

Sea-urchin, 45, 206

Seashore, Dean Carl E., 6, 10

Seasickness, 23

Sebastapistes laotale, a poisonous fish, 59

Sediment, 316

Sedimentary rocks, 161

Seeley, Mr., Engineer, 156

Seeman & Horn, 150

Senate chamber, 222

Sennit, 109

Sentinel Rock, 329

Serpent-stars, 198, 199, 200, 207, 212, 215

Serpula vermieularis, 208

Sertularclla, 210, 211

Sette of Annelids, 45

Shag River, 234

Shackleton, 238

Shaddock, 148

Shark, 43, 346 Shark's Tooth, 313

Shell beds, 334

Shining cuckoo, 209

Ship's doctor, 340; hospital, 342

Shops of Auckland, 178

Siboga Expedition, 208

Siderastrsea, 41, 55

Signal station, 157

SUver-eyes, 259

Simmonds, Mr. H. W., Acting Entomol-

ogist for Fiji, 122

Simms, Admiral, 220

Singing festiyal in Fiji, 149

Sisal hemp, 145

Sanford, Mr., 192

Skinner, Mr. H. D., 234

Sanford company, 200

Skylark, 257

San Francisco, 220

Sladen, 207

Sanitarium, 304

Sleeping carriages. 2til

Sarcophyton, 82, 83

Smoothy, Mr. Andy, 38, 39, 159

Sargassum, 145

Smith, S. Percy, 216

429

lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY

Snakes, 274; absence of in Fiji, 132

Snappers, 178, 201

Snares, 241

Snowy Alps, 326

Snowy petrel, 229

Society Islands, 344

Sogi dina, 132

Sonc, 124

Southern Alps, 228, 239, 318, 319, 322,

331, 334

Southern cross, 31, 48, 318

South Island, 221, 274, 284, 285, 293,

299, 318, 332

South seas, 121, 220, 231, 343

Spatula rhynchotis, 268

Speaker of House, 222

Spearing fish, 43

Speight, Prof. Robert, 238, 241, 333, 336

Sphenodon, 218, 221, 339, 352

Spicules of sponges, 45

Spiders, 134, 282

Spiloglaux novae-zealandiae, 269

Spiral designs, 184, 244

Spondylus, 41, 75, 157

Sponges, 42, 198, 202, 205

Spotted shag, 232

Spring-tails, 135

Squilla, 71

Stable fly, 281

Stache, 301

Stag beetles, 280

Stanley Park, Vancouver, 21

Star fish, 41, 189, 199, 206, 215

Star-gazers, 249

Starting, 267

Staterooms on Niagara, 22

State University of lowa, 214, 238, 337,

338

Stead, Mr., 236, 237

Stead, Mrs., 237

Steamer day, 21, 100

St. Elmo hotel, 229

Stenopelmatid:< . 21 6

Stephanorhynchus attelaboides, 280

Sterna albistriata, 267

Sterna caspia oliveri, 268; Vergil, 128

Stern-posts, 244

Stewards, 337, 342

Stewart's Handbook of Pacific, 345

rt, Hon. Wm. Downie, Minister

Internal Affairs of New Zealand, 7,

212, 222, 224

144, 347

Stewart Island, 204, 284, 299

Stewart, Mr. Secretary of Native Affair:

339, 345

Fiji, 89, 152, 168

Stewart, Prof. G. \\\, 6, 14

Stichopus, 56

Stink-bugs, 279

Stoats, 274

Tangi, 269

Stomoxys calcitrans, 281

Stoner, Dr. Dayton, 10, 13, 17, 23, 25,

39, 46, 51, 53, 79, 97, 104, 105, 184

187, 188, 189, 204, 209, 213, 217 220

221, 222, 223, 224, 254, 339, 340, 346

349, 353

Stoner, Mrs. Dayton, 11, 38, 39, 47, 50,

52, 121, 123, 124, 127, 187, 217, 221

224, 258, 262, 277, 337, 341, 353

Storm at sea, 171

Strauchon Rock, 329

Strand vegetation, 145

Stratford, 312

St. Regis Hotel, 21

Stringops habroptilis, 269

Strix lulu, 132

Strombus, 158

Strongylocentrotus, 77

Stubbs, Mr. L., 183

Sturnus vulgaris, 267

Start, Mr., 168

Sub-Antarctic Islands of New Zealand,

.,..,., VA _, c ,> £,eaianu, 241

Subterranean passage-ways, 302

Sugar cane, 144

Sugar-loaf Hills, 313

Suicide of an Indian, 50

Suicide Rock, 166, 167

Sula serrator, 268, 279

Sulu, 108

Supple Jack, 287, 327

Sunday, 101, 339, 341, 347, 349; at

Auckland, 179; at Bau, 95; on Maku-

luva, 45; in New Zealand, 180, 196

Sunrise on Makuluva, 48

Sunset at Papeete, 343

Superstitions of Fijians, 46

Surface ice, 330; moraine, 330

Surf at Makuluva, 40

Sutherland Falls, 320

Survey Bulletins. 336

Suva, 97, 119, 120, 142, 143, 145, 146,

153, 155, 156, 163; Climate of, 103:

Harbor, 18, 33, 128

Switzerland, 217

Swordfish. 231

Synapta beselii, 76

Synthecinm sp., 210

Tabu, 111. 117

Tahiti. 111, 217. 223. 246, 340, 342, 343,

Tahiti, steamship, 184, 220, 298, 337, 342.

Takapuna, 300

Tamarinds, 158

Tamavua, 137, 141. 152; quarry, 123.

184; River, 134: rond, 156

Tanks, galvanized iron, 19

Tapa cloth, 295

Taranaki plain, 133, 312, 314

Tarawera, 309, 310; eruptions, 305;

Lake, 306, 307

Target Gully, 334

Taro, 110, 124, 145

Tasman, Abel, 250

Tasman Bay, 250, 317, 318; Seas, 192

Taupo, 308, 309, 310

Tectocoris lineola, 137

Tenebrionidte, 280

Terminalia eatappa, 146; litoralis, 146

Terminal moraine, 329

Terminus, 330

Terraces, 305, 306, 311; Pink and White

306

Terrestrial Arthropods, 133, 274

Tertiary limestone, 322

Tetraodontidie or Puff fishes, 58

Tetraodon, 58; acrostaticus, 58

Thermal springs, 304

Tholoisuva, 152

Thomas, Prof. A. 0., 10, 11, 13, 16, 17,

19, 21, 25, 40, 47, 54, 63, 72, 97, 101,

104, 147, 151, 154, 170, 179, 184, 188,

191, 221, 222, 223, 224, 229, 338, 340,

350, 353

Thompson, Hon. Geo. Malcolm, Wellington,

7, 221, 224, 294, 336

Thomson, Dr. J. Allen, 233, 336

Thread worms, 130

Ti, 326

430

Trie ferns, 256, 287, 290, 321, 329

Triangulation Stations, 256

Triassic, 318

Trichomaiu's, '2S7

Trichoptera, 279

Tridacna or Giant Clam, 41, 44, 55,

73, 157, 158

Trigger fishes, 201

Tringa canutus, 268

Triton, 55, 74

Trochus, 74, 158

Tropic bird, 128

Tuataras, 221, 337, 346, 349, 350, 3!

352

Tube dwelling worms, 203, 204

Tubipora, 85

Tug of war, 349

Tui, a Parson bird, 270

Tunnel, 310

Turbo, 41, 55, 158

Turnips, 251, 291

Turnstone, 268

Uloma sp., 280

Umbrella ferns, 329

Union Line S.S. company, 184, 334, 3i

343, 352

l". S. National Museum, 205

United States, 213, 214, 219, 220, 22

223

riiivt-rsity of lowa, 142

University Colleges, location of, 190, 22

235, 334

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

Tide pools, 36

Tiger beetles, 123, 280

Tiki, a Maori charm, 182

Tilloko, a climbing fish, 165

Tilting, evidence of, 316

Tipuloidea, 281

Tit, 271

Tmesipteris, 287

Tobacco, 145

Todea, 327

Tomtits, 259, 270

Tomy, a launch, 125, 128

Tongariro National Park, 309

Topography of Auckland, 177

Tourist Path, 328

Tournefortia argentea, 146

210

Tova Peak, 165

Town Hall, 314

Toxopneustes, 56

Track chart, 348

Tram-cars, 179

Transfer of land, 251

Transit of Venus Expedition, 170, 243

Trapezia digitalis, 65

i .i-J -■ I.i a 'ii_u.lJl>, ui) Trawl on Cowan, 195, 196, 206

Trawler, 206, 208

Uplift, 316, 32;

Upper Hutt, 315

Urapteiygiiu, 58

Urodynamis taitensis, 269

Qttley, Dr., 218

Vancouver Club, 21

Vanessa atalanta, 281; cardui, 281; gon-

erilla, 281

Vanilla, 345

Vanualevu Island, 154

Vascular plants, 286

Vases, from Japan, 190; from China, 190

Vatuvula, village of, 153

Vaughan, Dr. Wayland, 18, 85, 86, 87,

Vegetation, 144; in Bullcr Valley, 321;

on Rangitoto, 302

Venerida?, 204

Venus Point lighthouse, 344

Verrill, 210

Vesi, 144

Vice Consul, 216

Victoria College, 225, 226, 293, 314

Victoria, Vancouver Island, 22

Victoria Parade, Suva, 102, 129

431

lOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL DISTORT

Villages, in Fiji, 97

West Indian, 207, 208

Viria, 124, 127, 134

West Indies, 208, 209

Visit from Governor of Fiji, 49

Westland, 322, 325, 326, 327, 328; coal-

Vitilevu, Fiji, 44, 89, 97, 101, 104, 108,

fields, 323

128, 136, 142, 143, 150, 155, 165

Westport, 320, 322, 323

Voivoi, a vine, 166

Weta, 278

Volcanic ash, 303, 304; bombs, 301

Whakarewarewa village, 260, 304, 305

cones, 287, 301; islands, 255; rock, 303

Whakatane fault, 310, 318

Vulcanism in Fiji, 153

Whale, 231

Whale boat, 42

Waidina River, 149, 152

Wheeler, Prof. Ruth, dietitian, 18

Waiheke, Island of, 194

Whitebait, 323

Waiho, 320, 325, 328, 332

White-eye, 132, 255, 269

Waikato valley, 303

White Island, 310

Waikiki, Beach, Oahu, 27

White people of Suva, 155

Waikite geyser, 304

Whites, 341; in Fiji, 106, 117, 118

Waimakariri river, 333

White-throated night-jar, 131

Waimangu, 300, 309, 310; basin, 308,

, Wickham, Prof. H. F., 254

309; River, 152, 153

Wild blackberry, 327

Waimarino, 313

Wild pig, 133, 167

Wainibokasa passage, 164

Wilkes Expedition, 91, 108, 117

Waindina River, 149, 152, 159

Willis street in Wellington, 225

Waineki Island, 204

Wills, Captain, 170

Wainikoroiluva River, 148

Wilson, Mr., Manager of Government

Wainui-o-mata, 316

Tourist Bureau, 217, 236

Wilson, Prof, of University College, 190

Wainukovo, 161

Wairarapa, 317, 318

Wilton's Bush, Wellington, 271, 275, 278,

Wairakei, 309

279, 282

Wairoa geyser, 260

Wiltshire, wreck of, 172

• 'ai.ua mi , tt\j\i Waitemata beds, 301, 303; harbor, 300

Winklemann, Mr. Henry, expert photo-

Wall, Mr. T. J., Agent Canadian-Pacific

grapher, 183

R. R., 6, 19

Winter, in New Zealand, 284

Wallabies, 185, 255, 302

Wireless, 346

Wallnutt, Mr., Manager of Government

Wood, Dr. Casey A., 131

Tourist Bureau, Auckland, 175, 189, 303

Woodpeckers, 128, 132, 265

Wood pigeon, 259

Walu Bay, 123, 134, 157

Wood swallow, 132

Wanganui, 310, 311

Woolen mills, 317

Warbrick, Mr., 309

World War, 240

Worms, 208; Makuluva, 80; tubes, 188,

War canoe, 182

War club, 339

208

Waterfalls, 320

Wragge, Mr. Clement L., 13, 175, 180

Water strider, 124, 137, 281

Wragge Institute, 180 nr_i_v.i t»_ tt ii r> r* t /.u

Wavo-cut platforms, 316

Wright, Dr. Harold C, Government Chem-

Weasels, 274

ist of Fiji, 7, 13, 104, 122, 131, 143,

Weather forecasting in New Zealand, 175

152, 153, 167

Weevils, 280

Wright k Studer, 85

Wel.li, Mr. Ashbel, 89, 94, 127, 283, 339,

Wylie, Prof. R. 8., 10, 12, 16, 23, 39,

341, 343

43, 47, 51, 54, 97, 101, 104, 105, 142,

Welch, Mrs., 124, 339, 341, 342, 343

159, 187, 188, 190, 213, 218, 221, 222,

Wellington, New Zealand, 144, 188, 189,

224, 263, 337, 338, 339, 342, 349, 350,

190, 191, 192, 214, 215, 217, 222, 223,

353

224, 226, 227, 232, 235, 241, 242, 262,

267, 269, 290, 293, 295, 297, 314, 315,

Xanthium strumarium, 165

336, 341

Xeniidae, 84

Wesleyan Mission, visit to, 109

Xenophora, 199, 204

Weatgato, Dr., Director I". S. Experiment

Station, Honolulu, 26

Yaka. 144

Yams, 110, 14!

West coast, 322

FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION

369

Yangona, 92, 136

Zoanthidea, 87

Yasi, 144

Zoological park, 263

Zosterops flaviceps, 132; lateralis, 269

Yellow metal, 157

Zozimus »neus, 64

Zittel, 301

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