The 1860s saw the start of systematic investigation and surveying of Aotearoa’s geology, flora and fauna. Leading this was the Austrian geo9logist Ferdinand Ritter von Hochstetter, who turned up in Auckland in December 1858, a little disappointed with the size of the volcanoes, a day after the arrival of the German geologist Julius von Haast. They met, became long-term friends, and together over the next two years surveyed the geology of the Auckland and central North Island regions, then Nelson. Hochstetter returned to Vienna with samples, notes and a couple of frogs. He went on to write a scientific , and travel, account of his explorations in New Zealand, published in 1863 and translated in 1867. And his name is attached to one of Aotearoa’s rarest animals, the Hochstetter frog.  Here is a piece on his book.