miles till we came to the edge of one of the high terraces common to
New Zealand scenery: here we all got out; the gentlemen unharnessed
and tethered the horses, so that they could feed about comfortably,
and then we scrambled down the deep slope, at the bottom of which
ran a wide shallow creek. It was no easy matter to get the basket
down here, I assure you; we ladies were only permitted to load
ourselves, one with a little kettle, and the other with a tea-pot,
but this was quite enough, as crossing the creek by a series of
jumps from one wet stone to another is not easy for a beginner.

Mr. L--- brought a large dog with him, a kangaroo-hound (not unlike
a lurcher in appearance), to hunt the wekas. I had heard at night
the peculiar cry or call of these birds, but had not seen one until
to-day. "Fly" put up several, one after another, and soon ran them
down. At first I thought it very cruel to destroy such a tame and
apparently harmless creature, but I am assured that they are most
mischievous, and that it would be useless to turn out the pheasants
and partridges which Mr. L--- has brought from England, until the
numbers of the wekas are considerably reduced. They are very like a
hen pheasant without the long tail feathers, and until you examine
them you cannot tell they have no wings, though there is a sort of
small pinion among the feathers, with a claw at the end of it. They
run very swiftly, availing themselves cleverly of the least bit of
cover; but when you hear a short sharp cry, it is a sign that the
poor weka is nearly done, and the next thing you see is Fly shaking
a bundle of brown feathers vehemently. All the dogs are trained to
hunt these birds, as they are a great torment, sucking eggs and
killing chickens; but still I could not help feeling sorry when Fly,
having disposed of the mother, returned to the flax-bush out of
which he had started her, and killed several baby-wekas by