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Otaki Mail, 9 April 1923, Page 4

In the Wairarawa and Builer Lakes" the eels of the puhi and liau variety r, re slightly longer than elsewhere, and are distinguished by the peculiarly high crown of the head. Wairaiavva also Is peculiar in that it is aiji'eu by thi., - r jeies only, ald.,mg:i iiiC-ie is apparently no reason why the others should not be present, except that in the remote age when eels were evolved, the original ancestors of the papaka, pehi pelii and no go tailed to enter it. Aouougli ecis would appear to go to .a a tilt: age oi live years or i ereabouis, and, having bred, never iettmi, apparently dying as soon as t its lima! act in their liie-history has i '-i tec riomca, ihe evidence again-:. ...... . .my the limit of -a o ■. ni.;U n,. .- runj att.un is outt-1 elusive m, ,ne or. the. old ion- ", a >; m see... .1 '■ , . . ■ .viih no can i .r, oile r n.n. wacor ai 1 1. . . cdi'i r - '■ ad ip a a \cl i igo, ;. ja . a a,. ,g ■- i si, -!ci.kcu " : . using 1. ■ cue common mb, Winch \von;d Xa.de I he bait, <oi the purpose In my lime ' the eeis were sushi in Horowitem a ami carried across oti horseback in split-sack saddlebags, to be liberated jin the hikes. Prior :o ihe uuveu; "i I the Pukelia they wme transported in I eel-baskets. In connection with their libei a lieu in their new home a pecu- ! Jiar cuemony was gone through. A 1 piece of lem along the bank ui the 1 lake would be buna, and 111 the light huffy ashes the ecus were rolled, the - .Maoris claiming that this cleaned them i and made them of better quality. | These eels were caught in the oubj.i;;uy -itinaki" m the take, and at the time of being liberated, would be up I to a- foot in length, so that they ai- [ | ready must have been more thou hah-, j grown. Nevertheless they were never • { imbed for until six years had elapsed,; when tiie Maoris would careluily [ count the ones they took out, and ai- j ways got the tally pretty nearly correct. An even more remarkable ilius-' nation ui tins diet is offered by the. ease oi Lake ilakaujiamama, which , lies about a mile i.j the south ul tire j 1 1 okio stream, and which, within my j j memory, was connected with the sea 1 !by a creek. Owing to the sancl-drii 1, j this creek, together with part oi the lake, has been lilied up, the final j blocking taking place at least ;!5 year ago. Now, although eel., have been known to cross dry land, they are ab solutely helpless in sand, yet there an • still eeis iu the lake, ami oi enormous size. They are of the puhi and ban variety, which explains the fa a that they hove not been caught, this \aricty, as has been explained, not taking the bait: and, whereas before the blocking ol she creek they were of the same size as. those caught in the othei lakes, tie v im v ocet si mally are speared up to twenty pounds in j weight, which would seem to prove j that ago is not responsible for the i death of the eel so much as the ftmt.

that. having completed its life-work iiy breeding, Nature has no further lor n. It was no fiuuni a knowledge of Unfad Jean -oil from tin Maoris—-that, 'he eel having gone to sea never re- ' timed that made. soin- of the old what; rs assert that conger eeis ■v ;<• coo iy hn or. ivi>l- ■ I tig ani. aal tnigratioji.