HOME OF THE TUATARA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15521, 31 January 1914, Page 1 (Supplement)

HOME OF THE TUATARA.

BY. R. W. EEID.

The Bay of Plenty, among numerous attractions—scenic, thermal, and others contains Karewa, where the tuataras" dwell. The island is small, and viewed from Tauranga seems but a solitary rock jutting somewhat abruptly from the waters of the Pacific. Owing to a peculiar reflection of light or some similar natural cause, the island presents the appearance of being afloat. The name Karewa, the writer is informed, means " floating," and has been given by reason of this interesting phenomenon. Very few bays in New Zealand—or anywhere else for that matter—are so rich in historic and scientific interest as the Bay of Plenty. Not far from Karewa is Tuhua, better known to the white population as Mayor Island. Here once a great volcano roared and blazed, nightly reddening the sky doubtless for miles around. To-day the fires are dead, or are slumbering far beneath the surface, and peace reigns. The walls of the crater stand black and dazzling above the dark silent lake. These walls consist of the beautiful greenish-black obsidian called b" the Maoris tuhua, whence the native name of the island is derived. There are many islands within the Bay, every one possessing its own characteristic features. Motiti, for example, is comparatively t low-lying, is clothed with grass, its shores fringed generally with pohutnkawa. Cattle and horses are there by the score, and there is one fairly large native settlement. The island seems to be the- abode of peace. But to the east -a very different scene is met with. That is Whakari, or White Island, "the "safety-valve of the North Island." On it all is . throbbing turmoil. Steam is hissing from the ground and from cracks in the perpendicular rocks; a hot sulphurous lake Tolls oilily and menacingly near; a ■ geyser is steaming uneasily. At. times volumes of white emoke ami steam issue, ■ at intervals, rocks are tossed high in the air, and the material •. ejected v and flung hundreds of feet high is . black and forbidding. No contrast could be greater than that between these two Bay islands, Motiti and Whakari. »But we must return to Karewa, and its principal inhabitants—the wonderful tuatara lizards.

The tuataras find a safe home on Karewa. Their one enemy can be but the kingfisher. Visitors are, not numerous to the little islet, and none of the.number seeks ,to molest, far less carry off, the interesting old-world creatures.» A gentle man in Tauranga _ has 'had a number of tuataras in his garden for many years, brought from Karewa if I'mistake not, and long before their removal, was officially prohibited. "Reptilian life in New Zealand," says the official Year Book," "is restricted to ; about 15 species of lizards and to the . tuatara ' (Sprenodon punctatus). This is a lizard-like creature, the only surviving representative of the order Rynchocephalia. otherwise extinct. The tuatara is .found in no other/country. It's nearest ally is Hnmreosaiirus, whviiJ remains have been found"m .Jurassic rocks in Germany." The tuatara; it will j be) realised^: is a • creature -of■■ no small im-! portance.'' - In*, reality' it ? belongs to the j old, of living, things; To trace the life and the movements of "the tua-" taraß: down through- innumerable cycles of' years, from the reptilian ';' age, would mean inviting the most fascinating- ofchapters \';xn the [ ever-thralling annals sof j science. To-day, however,' the. chief concern is .with the present position of the tuataras" in-this the last corner of the globe in which they have been permitted to exist.. "* '•"> * ~ '' . ' '■'■-.' i .At one time, no doubt, the tuataras lived freely and safely in nearly all parts of New Zealand; but the arrival of Captain Cook and his presents of pigs ("Captain Cooks") to the Maoris were as the' sounding of , the death-knell of the tuataras on the mainland. ' The pigs evidently caught or rooted at the creatures and devoured them wholesale, with the result that now probably not a tuatara exists save on the outlying islands along the New Zealand "coast.. From a letter now before me, written to a Wellington newspaper some time ago by Mr. Henry Walton, of Waikanae, it would appear that the Maoris are not directly responsible for the slaughter of the innocents. Mr. Walton wrote to i say that, five years before, he and his son captured a tuatara on one of the low hills- on his property. He gives some • interesting in-, formation about his prisoner, including' the interesting item that the' Maoris were very much afraid to approach it, and that they seemed to dread the silent queerlooking creature. The Hon. H. D. Bell, Minister for, Internal Affairs, last year procured reports from lighthouse-keepers and others who had had facilities for observing the tuataras. These reports are of considerable scientific value, and none fails to touch upon some .point fully worthy of attention. Mr. T. F. Cheeseman, F.L.S., the well-known authority upon all subjects scientific, reports his belief that almost every one of the small rocky islands a little distance from the eastern shore of Auckland Province have tuataras on them in greater or smaller numbers. He has actually seen specimens from the small islands of Cape Karakara, and from the Poor Knights, the Hen and Chickens, Little Barrier, Red Mercury, the Aldermen, Shoe, "small islands off Mayor Islands" ,'meaning Karewa, Rurimu Rocks, and East Capo Island). Mr. Cheeseman does not ' think that the tuataras have decreased to any . great extent during the last ten years. He inclines to the belief that far too much importance has been assigned to the socalled difference in colouration. Much depends on age, the change of skin, and possibly -upon the breeding season. Nor has he any reason to conclude that the young ones are not at present in due proportion to the older fraternity. Tiritiri, at the great gateway to Auckland City, seems to be well adapted for the tuataras; but four reports coincide in the statement that for several years not a single specimen has been seen. Wild cats and hawks, which are reported as plentiful on the island, are indicted as the culprits to blame for their disappearance. Tuataras are, of course, tuataras irrespective of the island they occupy. Therefore, what is applicable .to them on, say, Stephen's Island, is applicable to them on Karewa. Several rather entertaining accounts are based on what has been witnessed on Stephen's Island, and they are none the less entertaining because they were prepared, obviously, with no thought of publication on the part of the writer. Just because of their naivete they are all the more vivid* Mr. Wilson, writing to the Under-Secretary for Internal Affairs at the end of September last year, is found stating: " The tuatara lizard is now over its winter sleep, and can be seen basking in the sun on various parts of the island, , but not in any great number. I took particular notice that they do not shift about, for lizards that I saw last year 1 are to be seen at the same place this, i That is, they occupy the same abode year after year. While working in my garden recently I noticed a full-grown lizard close by. Out of curiosity I got a large black spider that I happened to see, killed it. and threw is close to the lizard. I watched for fully 10 minutes to see if the lizard would eat the spider— no, not a move would it make. So I turned to go away, but looked round almost immediately. No spider or lizard was to be seen. The lizard must have seized the spider and darted to its hole the moment I turned. I was simply aston- ! ished at its quickness."

From Cuvier Island lighthouse (Mr. Geo. Mcpherson) comes regrets, with a decidedly indignant ring in them, touching the writer's inability to extirpate wild cats, rats, and wild goats. The cats hide by day in mutton-bird burrows, the k goats during daylight retire to the cliffs, and what mode of -protection the rats have, adopted is left to conjecture. Mr. McPherson is clearly both perplexed and angry, but he bravely concludes:—" I will continue to do my best to protect the lizard In every way, and destroy cats and rats at first opportuniy." The sins of the wild goats, it must be added, he looks upon as being venial rather than venal. Anothei reporter on Stephen's Island estimates the number of tuataras on the island at about 150. Here is an extract from the Brothers Lighthouse report, written by Mr. E. H. Tutt:— caught one or two, and on examining them found that their mouths were closed. I knew from this that they were • quite youpg. * The eggs take from 10 to 12 months' to hatch, and the mouths are closed quite, a little time after the tuatara leaves the egg. They, like the tortoise, always lay their eggs on the same date of the month year after, year. . . The young can always take care of themselves. The female after laying the eggs, puts them in a hole and packs earth between and around them. Then she blocks up the hole and never goes near them again. The only things required are heat and moisture. Fifteen minutes' exposure to the sun kills the eggs." Mr. Tutt also becomes wrathful, but about hji.wks. He has seen hawks swoop down, seize a tuatara, and carry it to a " good height," then drop it on the rocks. This drop is usually fatal, and the hawk devours the smashed-up body at his leisure. Such are the somnolent, inoffensive, antediluvian sort of creatures which have their home on Karewa, Bay of Plenty.