HuTTON.— 0;j the Moas of New Zealand. 161 



killed one and went back to Hawa-iki and told the inhabi- 

 tants of that land that he had discovered a country without 

 humau_ mhabitants, but where there was greenstone to be 

 found. - A httle further on the moa is said to have been 

 killed near the Wai-rere waterfall at Arahura [nearHokitikal 

 apd that Ngahue carried it away in a calabash. Major Mair 

 gives another story about a man named Hape, who pursued a 

 moa to the top of a hill in the Eotorua district. When tryintx 

 to catch It the moa struck out and hurled him back into the 



Ifii J' -^'t- ^f "'f ^ ';*a"gata atua " [god-man] , he was not 

 killed, and liis|^heel, striking against a rock, split it, and caused 

 the water of the Tarawera Eiver to flow in its present subter- 

 ranean channel at Te Tatau-a-Hape.f The only other pub- 

 lished story about the moa is the well-known one of the bird 

 supposed 10 be living in a cave on Whakapunake Mountain 

 guarded by a dragon, but seen by none.] 



Li discussions on this subject much has been said about 

 positive and negative evidence. It has been even affirmed 

 that the testimony of a man who had actually seen and eaten 

 tlie moa was worth ten thousand legends and traditions " 

 ±}ut there is here I think, a misconception, for the relative 

 value otthe two kinds of evidence depends altogether on the 

 apphcation We beheve impHcitly many things on negative 

 evidence alone. For instance, we' believe thSt there afe no 

 snakes in New Zealand entirely on negative evidence. We 

 believe this because we feel sure that if there were snakes in 

 JNew Zealand some would have been found before now ^^nd 

 so far as the North Island is concerned, I am compelled tJ 

 believe that the moas were exterminated many years aao be- 

 cause I feel sure that if it were not so we should find as°manv 



b r^ri'p ? '^^^/r *^ '' ^^'^ P°^*^'y ^^ '''^ ^^-^^ ^11 tlie other 

 buds, beasts, and fishes that were of interest to the natives. 



Ihe question really hmges on the rehabilitv of the evidence 

 ,Tpi?ill f''''* ''i ""^^^^^^^ or positive."' In this case the 

 ^vf f ^ I J "'if '' *^'' '''°'^ ''^^^^^^^' f°^- it is unbiassed, and 

 existed before the question was raised. But the positive evi- 

 dence is not all on one side. The very earliest statement of 

 the Maoris to Mr. Polack was that " in times long past they 

 receivedthe tradition that very large birds had exifted;" and 

 the saymg, " Ka ngaro i te ngaro a te moa," is positive 

 evidence that the Maoris who i^ecited it believed the moa To 

 have been lost or exterminated when this very ancient poem 

 was composed. This appears to me to be conclusive proof 

 that the moa was exterminated rapidly, soon after the anival 



* Anc. Hist, of the Maori, vol. ii., p. 187. 



t Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. xxii., p. 72. 



: Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. xii., p. 67, and vol. xxii., p. 72. 



