28 Transactions. — Zoology. 



Finally, Mr. Stack, considered by his colleagues a very com- 

 petent judge, has adopted an intermediate opinion. He regards 

 the belief of the recent extermination of the moa as inadmis- 

 sible, without wishing, however, to throw it back into a too- 

 remote past.f 8 ) 



To show how the question has been elucidated, and in 

 order to justify the opinion at which I have arrived, I must go 

 into further particulars. 



Moa-bones have been met with in deposits of very different 

 kinds. Sometimes they are to be found lying on the surface, 

 or are scarcely even covered with a few inches of sand;( 39 ) 

 but generally one finds them buried at variable depths in the 

 sand on the sea-coast, in alluvial deposits from rivers, in 

 swamps, and also in caves. The quantity of these remains, 

 and their accumulation on limited spaces, is sometimes very 

 remarkable. 



In digging watercourses for draining a swamp at Glen- 

 mark, the workmen extracted the remains of 144 adult birds 

 and of twenty-seven young ones.( 40 ) I could quote many other 

 examples, but I limit myself to recapitulating the details given 

 by Mr. Booth on the discovery made by him at Hamilton 

 in a little lagoon almost dried up.( 41 ) Apprised of the dis- 

 covery of some bones, he had a pit opened measuring 4ft. 

 square, and took out of it fifty-six femora, with a proportionate 

 number of other bones. Regular excavations were then 

 organized. It was proved that the place explored formed a 

 sort of irregular crescent, measuring 40ft. from one end to the 



of New Zealand by Mr. Walter Mantell, of Wellington," by Gideon 

 Algernon Mantell, Esq., LL.D., F.R.S. (" Quarterly Journal of the Geo- 

 logical Society of London," vol. iv., p. 225, 1848). " Address on the 

 Moas" (extracts), by W. B. Mantell (Transactions, vol. i., p. 18, 1S69 ; 

 ■with two plates). Nevertheless, in this last paper Mr. Mantell seems dis- 

 posed to place farther back the time of the moa's extinction, relying on 

 the obscure traditions which he collected on this subject. Mr. White's 

 letter, which I have already quoted, and to which 1 shall soon return, 

 responds plainly to this objection. 



(38.) " Some Observations on the Annual Address of the President," 

 by the Rev. J. W. Stack (Transactions, vol. iv., p. 107). 



(39.) Dr. Hector, loc. cit., p. 115 ; Haast, loc. cit., p. 103 ; Stack, 

 loc. cit., p. 109 ; the Rev. R. Taylor (Transactions, vol. v., p. 97). These 

 bones, which were seen in great quantities scattered over the ground, 

 have rapidly disappeared. Mr. Stack explains their permanence during 

 centuries by saying that the Maoris carefully preserved the woods, while 

 the European colonists did their best to destroy them. The latter, in 

 destroying this shelter, facilitated the action of the atmospheric agents, 

 and brought about the disappearance of these bones, which up till then 

 had remained intact. I think it is useless to point out how ill-founded 

 this interpretation of facts is, and how opposed to daily experience. 



(40.) Haast, loc. cit., p. 89. 



(41.) " Description of the Moa-swamp at Hamilton," by B. S. Booth 

 (Transactions, vol. vii., p. 123, pi. v.). 



