Neither wagon or tent being available, they sought repose beneath some magnificent Norfolk Island pines. They had plenty of rugs which make good beds. Glenarvan took every possible precaution for the night. His companions and he, well armed, were to watch in turns, two and two, till daybreak. No fires were lighted. Barriers of fire are a potent preservation from wild beasts, but New Zealand has neither tiger, nor lion, nor bear, nor any wild animal, but the Maori adequately fills their place, and a fire would only have served to attract this two-footed jaguar.
The night passed pleasantly with the exception of the attack of the sand-flies, called by the natives, “ngamu,” and the visit of the audacious family of rats, who exercised their teeth on the provisions.
Next day, on the 8th of Feb
