1773.
April.
in need of. We were surprised to see the young black dog in the boat with them, which ran away from us on the 2d instant; and were told, that, taking their station near the shore, at day-break they had heard a very piteous howling on the next point, and had found the dog, which came into the boat very readily as soon as they put in shore. Though this animal had been in the woods during a fortnight, yet it was by no means famished, but on the contrary looked well fed and very sleek. A large species of rails, which we called water-hens, and which are very numerous in this part of New Zeeland, with perhaps some shell-fish on the rocks, or some dead fish thrown up by the sea, had in all probability afforded it sufficient support. We may from hence conclude, that as there is abundance of food for carnivorous animals in New Zeeland, they would probably be very numerous if they existed there at all, and especially if they were endowed with any degree of sagacity, like the fox, or cat tribes. In that case they could not have escaped the notice of our numerous parties, nor of the natives, and the latter would certainly have preserved their furrs, as a valuable article of dress in their moist and raw climate, for want of which they now wear the skins of dogs and of birds. The question, whether New Zeeland contained any wild quadrupeds, had engaged our attention from our first arrival there. One of our people, strongly per-suaded
