TRACTS FOR THE TIMES.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 2, Issue 70, 22 January 1859, Page 3

TRACTS FOR THE TIMES.

"Dare lucem et dare servem"

No. 10. — All Alive, -all axive ho !

Walk uji ladies and gentlemen, walk xtp ! The most wonderful collection of birdsisses and beastisses iver seen. — Here's the Chameleon wot changes his coat seven time 3 a day ;• and here's the beardless Monkey wot measures 41 inches from tlia tip of liis nose to the end of .his tail, and only 39 inches from the end of his tail to the tip of his nose! — Walk up, walk up, feeding ■ time close at

hand.

— Who among' us has not rejoiced in his boyish clays on heaving of the vans of wild beasts coming to his native town P Who, when a boy, has not run wild with.joy in beholding the docile Elephant the hiadsome'Panther and the majestic Liou ? ."Verily Natural History — whether in sixpenny or in 5-guinea volumes — whether in the assemblage ofliving creatures in the Zoological. Gardens, or In" the solitary white mouse,.dancing.bear,'dyessedup monkey, or dumb tortoise of the ! ltalian" hur-dy-gurdy grinder — Natural History, -from the time „of Father Adam down to our own day, has ever heen a fascinating science ; one which has never failsd to- draw out the hearty yearnings of the human soul both old and young.

Anciently 'twas said. — 'Africa is the fertile home of monsters :' modern times have been astonished at the very peculiar animals of Australia and New Zealand. Ofthose of Australia I shall not now say anything : of some of these of N. Zealand, (of j our adopted home,) ! I shall hazard a few remarks. Class 1. MAMMALIA. {Beasts.) This great division of the Animalr.Kingdom is but poorly represented in N. Zealand- we have but one or two terrestrial families belonging to the 3rd 6rder,~ Carjtaiua for Hats,) — one of which (Fespertiiio tuberculatus, Forster,) I shall briefly notice. The N. Zealand Bats are.ratb.er rare and only to'be seen flying at twilight. ■ For years there had been 'a long and wsiun controversy, as to the Bat being bird or beast; and. ..withcnjjfc j-lmiht,. .if partakes- of both. Hence it is a good natural type 'of a two-&ced person, of a changeling in politics, -of the- turncoat or rat : one whom self-interest or j theloavesand fishes have charmed; Such^n one never -works really well, not even with the ' party •who bought him ovcrj hence he (Bat-like) al- j ways- hovers in,the twilight, between the day and night, and having caught a few' foolish .flying j&oths (as stray sops,) he, hies, a^wav . to his 'cave in the earth' to digest his" nieal at 1 his leisure. Of the 9th order, CetaceA' (whales,) we 'have several genera j one of which is a species of the celebrated Dolphin (DelpHnus Zealiudiee, Quoy.) Ancient writers have written largely on the love of this creature for.m^n ; — of his coming to shore on being called to be fed — his delighting in music aad clours— and his carrying men on his back, : through the sea. .We, moderns, however, have "riot noticed these qualities'; " It-is probableenough that our N. Z.DolpMyt (like* many other beasts) ■«w.ould nbfe objecti^ { be,fe4 others, and would not rpjectraiusic and sweet 'scents ;! but 33 to hie carrying, men safely on his back through thaißeaaT-^tellithat- to v the, Marines.J^Being a}ao a voracious' crea'iiare, kfis .&• good natural tiypei of a pla?e-huttior.y-rQiiis w3io T^aata an easy' biliely-^Qjae.-

who promises- roundly and fairly^ smiling- aE t>rer his countenance. -But be timely warned ; don'fc trust him : at all events, get not on his back, (*># make him not a Provincial Councillor,) for assuredly you will find him a slippery customer, anditt a stormy sea you are not likely to have the lutikof old Arion.

Class 2.— AYES {Birds), Of this -world-admired class we have very interesting specimens; Of the glossyrpiumed Alceio family we have a species of the well-known Kingfisher (Halcyon nagans), called by the Mamies, Kotareiare. The ancients said, that there -wasinvariably never any stormy weather during tha time this bird .was making its nest, laying or sitting : hence, that period (about the winter solstice) was called 'the halcyon days,'— when the seas werecalm and navigable. Now our Kingfishers ar& very small "and" shy and dull plumaged; and though of. lat%- our times have been not a littlestormy, so tjfat halcyon days (or, in other words, peaceful and prosperous ones) would be highly acceptable, I fear we shall see but a small amount of them unless we get. that real good tried and. well-fledged Kingfisher from Nelson, of which we? have heard so much, through whom and hia experience in nest'luilding we might reasonably hopeto see haicyon t |d;aTS^ •■• ■ -- v Then there is/ths Wood-lien; (Obtfdromtis -Aus*trails, Strickland;)" or, Weka of the: Mabries— a bird belonging to the Bail family. This, bird is* worthy of notice, if it were..only on account of theNew Zealand proverb respecting it — l E hohi -rua ranei te weka hi te mahanga ?' (Will the Woodhen return twice to the snare ?) During the lasttwo years this proverb has often been thought on by me, and it seems as if we were fast nearing thetime when we should particularly remember- it,, and the effective moral it teaches ; and so avoid choosing men as. Provincial Councillors and Superintendent who would quickly take us back toa much worse snare than that from which we havebut lately been delivered.

But of all our New Zealand birds the KiwL {Apteryx Australis, Shaw,) is the most curious.. This bird, as is well known, is without real wings,, and its hairy feathers little resemble those of otherbirds. For a long time the existence of a wingless bird was doubted; it almost seemed a contradiction in tsrms. Kature, however, alwaysbalances her works : not so man. A bird, with. one wing or one leg, or a beast with one eye orthree legs, would indeed be unnatural, — but not a bird without wings, or an animal without eyes—such are now known to exist. Just so it hasseemed to me (when considering a late decision made. by a high legal authority — and its probable' consequences — respecting a Superintendent spending the public money unapplied and uncontrolled by the Provincial Council,) that the mere stripping away the 'Peacock's feathers' from a Superintendent, leaving him to squander as he pleases ■ the public cash, is equally as unnatural, underResponsible Government, as that of a bird with one wing or a beast with one eye. Either twowings or none : let us have no unnatural flutterings. Let the fact then of the Kiai, coupled withthe present state of a neighbouring province (not to mention the secret aspirations of a few' amongus), be to ua a powerful natural example,, warning us as to . whom we cfibbse. for our Superintendent.

Class 4.— PISCES (FisTies.) Just one real fish I give you in this collection,. — and that is a species of the famed Remora(Echeneis lineata, Menzies). This very curious, fish, though small, was believed by the Ancients to possess the power of staying the largest ship under' sail, by merely sticking to it, which it does by an. organ composed of transverse plates situate on thetop of its head. Remarkable and well-known instances of its ability are fully related by Pliny in his Natural History. "While, however,, we knownothing of its power to stay a ship, it is still used, to catch fish and turtle by the Indians on thecoast of Mozambique. A live one is madß fesfc by a ring to a cord, and is then let go into the sea r when he soon adheres to a fish or turtle, and both., are hauled up together into the canoe.. Now we should also learn a useful political lesson from the.little Remora t let us just put an unfit man intothe Superintendent's office, and we shall soon find,, that our ship won't sail — that we have got a Rein ora sticking to her keel, or (in other words,)- weare in a fix ! Choose then, Electors, true and honest men foryour Provincial Councillors; and so shew thatyou have not conned in vain a lesson of New Zealand Natural History. As far as lat present see,. I know of no better plan by which to avoid manyof the evils I have touched on in this Tract, thant by our endeavouring to secure the -well-known-, tried and experieaced Alfbed Domett as omv Superintendent. Wll. COIENSO.. . Waitangi,