A CONCHOLOGIST’S ELYSIUM.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LII, Issue 8616, 13 June 1924, Page 7 (Supplement)

A CONCHOLOGIST’S ELYSIUM.

I . II (Contributed by Dr. C. E. R. Bucknili, who has now in the hands of the printer a very valuable publication entitled “ Marine Sheila of New Zealand.”) ©PLEASANT little trip across the harbour by ferry from Tauranga wharf takes the visitor to Maunganui, a delightful summer resort resting at the foot of that picturesque sugar-loaf, locally known as the Mount, which rises some seven hundred and sixty odd feet almost abruptly from the waters of the Pacific. It is not my intention now to dilate upon the claims of the place as a Mecca for the valetudinarian, neither is there any need for me to empahasize the splendid beach which attracts such crowds for its safe and unrivalled bathing. Here, for the greater part of the year, we live beneath Italian skies, breathe the purest of air, and bask in such sunshine as our kinsfolk in the northern hemisphere can only hope to enjoy at the expense of much time and money. Apart from these good things with which nature has blessed this charming spot, it is as a happy hunting ground for the naturalist, wherein lies its chicfest lure to some. Nor are the thrills of adventure and discovery confined to the serious scientist who sallies forth with his collecting paraphernalia in the quest of new species of absorbing interest. Young and old alike take delight in hailing acquaintance with even the humblest denizens of the seashore, which share in common with us that mysterious vital touch that makes the whole world kin. If we regard with an abiding hate, the common or garden snail, it is only because he has no respect for our choicest delphiniums, and gratifies his lordly palate on our beloved sweet peas in preference to the satisfying and abounding dock. Yet let him bo habited in a shell of a different hue, and though his ravages be ever so predatory in the gardens of the rock and the wave, wc greet him with so much joy as we should a long-lost friend, extol his beauty and native dignity, and end by taking him home with us to occupy an honoured place among our cherished household gods. In writing a sketch of this kind, and making it presentable to the public eye, one is permitted, as a matter of courtesy, the usual poetic latitude of the scribe. Truth is embellished with tropes and such like figments of the brain necessary to attain that end, but I can, from personal knowledge affirm that Mount Maunganui, and its immediate vicinity, holds pride of place among conchologists as the richest field of research in the whole Dominion. That this statement is no mere idle boast can be amply proved by reference to authentic records and the inspection of well-known private collections. From the host of beautiful shells collected here, it is invidious to make a selection, but a few may be mentioned that hold a warm place in popular esteem, such as Venus’s Looking Glass, the Circular Saw shell, the lemon and purple Frilly Cockle, the dainty white Curlies, the gorgeously painted Fans, the pretty little Cowries, the beautiful Rose petals and the rare Lanthorn Shells. One must not forget the small, delicate Ram’s Horns, and the exquisite Paper Nautilus, both intrepid argonauts of the ocean, which like the Violet Sea Snails, live and cruise upon thie open sea, and never come to land until they make their last voyage, Then there are the lovely Butterfly shell —erroneously supposed to be peculiar to the Mount —and about two dozen more of the same order of Chitons or Mail Shells, some rare, some quaint, and all interesting. As for the edible varieties, there are at least fourteen different kinds, most of them easily procured. The univalves, or those molluscs furnished with a single shell, are represented by a great profusion of species. The bivalves on the other hand, are, nowhere in the world, very rich in species by comparison, but as an offset to their more limited variation, they arc marvellously reproductive and may be gathered in huge quantities on any of the pipi or cockle banks. It has been suggested recently that the Toheroa should be introduced here as an article of food. Now that particular mollusc does occur here, and I have collected at odd times possibly a couple of dozen living specimens during the course of at least three years; but the peculiar condition of beach formation necessary for them to thrive in, is not present here, at least not in large enough areas to make a trial of their culture worth while. Deep sand clean and free from mud, at least a foot in depth is required for their welfare, and their is one bank of that nature about a mile to the south of Moturiki. Here reside safely four rare species of bivalves, at and below extreme low water mark. It extends for about two hundred yards in a line with the beach, but so deeply do the animals burrow into the sand —some as far down as eighteen inches —that nothing less than a violently raging sea, such as providentially happens only once in about ten years, can plough them up from their bed and cast them out on the upper beach. All these four dwell harmoniously together in other localities besides the ■Mount, and it is curious to note this, selective communal life among crertures born without even a head. Other shellfish have.been observed to show’ like preferences and antipathies—not, it would seem, so much a case of “ I do not love thee, Dr. Fell,” but on quite valid grounds not altogether unconnected with the state of the larder. Volumes might be written on this fascinating topic, but time presses, and words and space both cry a halt, so we will conclude by paraphrasing a few lines from the prince of sonneteers : If.l could write the beauty of these shells, And in fresh numbers, number all their graces, Readers would say ‘ surely this fellow lies, No earthly gems deserve such heav’nly praises.’