Insects are very rare.  Of these we only saw two sorts of dragon-flies, some butterflies, small grasshoppers, several sorts of spiders, some small black ants, and vast numbers of scorpion-flies, with whose chirping the woods resound.  The only noxious one is the sand-fly, very numerous here, and almost as troublesome as the musquitoe; for we found no reptile here, except two or three sorts of small harmless lizards.[148]

[Footnote 148:  In a separate memorandum-book, Mr Anderson mentions the monstrous animal of the lizard kind, described by the two boys after they left the island.—­D.]

It is remarkable, that, in this extensive land, there should not even be the traces of any quadruped, only excepting a few rats, and a sort of fox-dog, which is a domestic animal with the natives.

Neither is there any mineral worth notice, but a green, jasper or serpent-stone, of which the New Zealanders make their tools and ornaments.  This is esteemed a precious article by them; and they have some superstitious notions about the method of its generation, which we could not perfectly understand.  It is plain, however, that wherever it may be found, (which, they say, is in the channel of a large river far to the southward,) it is disposed in the earth, in thin layers, or perhaps in detached pieces, like our flints; for the edges of those pieces, which have not been cut, are covered with a whitish crust like these.  A piece of this sort was purchased, about eighteen inches long, a foot broad, and near two inches thick, which yet seemed to be only the fragment of a larger piece.

The natives do not exceed the common stature of Europeans; and, in general, are not so well made, especially about the limbs.  This is, perhaps, the effect of sitting, for the most part, on their hams, and of being confined, by the hilly disposition of the country, from using that sort of exercise which contributes to render the body straight and well-proportioned.  There are, however, several exceptions to this; and some are remarkable for their large bones and muscles, but few that I have seen are corpulent.

Their colour is of different casts, from a pretty deep black to a yellowish or olive tinge, and their features also are various, some resembling Europeans.  But, in general, their faces are round, with their lips full, and also their noses toward the point; though the first are not uncommonly thick, nor the last flat.  I do not, however, recollect to have seen an instance of the true aquiline nose amongst them.  Their teeth are commonly broad, white, and well set; and their eyes large, with a very free motion, which seems the effect of habit.  Their hair is black, straight, and strong, commonly cut short on the hind part, with the rest tied on the crown of the head:  but some have it of a curling disposition, or of a brown colour.  In the young, the countenance is generally free or open; but in many of the men it has a serious cast, and sometimes a sullenness or reserve, especially if they are strangers.  The women are, in general, smaller than the men; but have few peculiar graces, either in form or features, to distinguish them.