160 Transactions. — Zoology. 



with spears, which were so cut that they broke off and left 

 about 6in. or Sin. of spear in the bird. The birds were driven 

 from the water by one party of men, while another party lay 

 in ambush to spear them. 



Mr. Taylor gives a slightly different account of a moa- 

 hunt. He says that notice was given to neighbouring settle- 

 ments that a hunt was to take place. A large party spread 

 out to drive the birds from their haunts towards a lake or 

 swamp. As they approached the water the line of beaters 

 was gradually contracted, until at last a rush was made with 

 loud yells, and the frightened birds were driven into the water, 

 where they could be easily approached in canoes and de- 

 spatched without their being able to make any resistance. 

 According to Sir G. Grey, Mr. Stack, and Mr. "White, the 

 Maoris always used koromiko (Veronica salicifolia) for cooking 

 the flesh. They have a saying, " The koromiko is the tree 

 which roasted the moa." But Mr. Colenso has pointed out 

 that the wood of the koromiko is too small to heat a Maori 

 oven, and he suggests that the saying should perhaps be 

 translated " which burnt the moa." 



At first sight all this seems to be in direct conflict with 

 the opinions of Mr. Colenso, Mr. Mantell, and Major Mair ; 

 but we must remember that none of these traditions have 

 been published in Maori, and many of them may be nothing 

 but late deductions from the words and proverbial sayings 

 mentioned by Mr. Colenso, for it is evident that they were 

 not generally known among the Maoris. At any rate, it is 

 quite time that the evidence for these being ancient Maori 

 traditions should bo put upon record. 



But Sir Walter Buller has given a story of the pet moa of 

 the Ngatituwharetoa which cannot have been so derived. He 

 says that this bird was stolen by a man named Apa-hapai- 

 taketake, an ancestor of the Ngatiaj)a Tribe. A series of 

 fights ensued, in which the Ngatiapa came off worst, and were 

 driven south from the Bay of Plenty to Lake Taupo." I have 

 not been able to ascertain the probable time of this migration, 

 but I judge from the context that the Ngatiapa took up un- 

 occupied ground near Taupo, and if this be so Apa-haj)ai- 

 taketake must have been a very early ancestor. At the 

 present time the tribe lives on the West Coast, between 

 Wanganui and Otaki. In Mr. White's large work on the 

 " Ancient History of the Maori," I can only find two allusions 

 to the moa. One is about its extinction by fire in the South 

 Island, which is copied from Mr. Stack ; the other relates to 

 its first discovery. " Nga-hue was the first man who came to 

 these Islands, who at Te-wai-rere saw the bird moa, and 



Birds of N.Z., 2nd ed., vol. i., p. xxviii. 



