Tregeak. — On the Extinction of the Moa. 417 



into a valley with a blow of his heel. By a fortunate coinci- 

 dence, Sir Walter is now President of this Society, and will be 

 able to give us particulars of the story. The bird spoken of 

 as the gigantic man-eating bird of the South Island was a 

 mythological winged bird — the pouakai, not the moa. I 

 think that we may dismiss as idle tales, told by persons loving 

 notoriety more than truth (whether white men or Maori), 

 those stories in which the narrators relate that they have 

 seen or hunted the moa in our own days. Even of those most 

 ancient words, the names of places, the incident seems to be 

 unknown, for, when reliable chiefs were asked (see Trans., 

 vol. xii., p. 97) the reason why certain place-names contained 

 the word "moa," they answered, "Our ancestors themselves 

 did not know, and so that want of knowledge has come down 

 to us, and is with us of the present day." 



I have endeavoured to give the main arguments used by 

 the naturalists and by the traditionalists. To turn to the philo- 

 logical view, this has not been utterly neglected. Mr. Colenso 

 long ago called attention to the fact that "moa" was the 

 name of the domestic fowl in Polynesia, and Professor Hutton 

 notices the point in a note (vol. xxiv., p. 157). But the sub- 

 ject calls for a great deal more consideration than a mere 

 reference. The question with which we have to deal is this : 

 When proverbs, place-names, and verses from old songs in 

 wdiich the word "moa" occurs are cited as evidence that the 

 Maoris knew the Dinomis, is it absolutely certain that they 

 were referring to the Dinomis in any way ? Not a single 

 quotation describes one peculiarity of the creature named, 

 and we are left to look elsewhere for evidence which may or 

 may not connect the moa with the Dinomis. This evidence 

 must be sought outside New Zealand. 



The philological evidence is doubtless very dry and techni- 

 cal, but I must try the patience of those interested in the 

 subject by treating it in an exhaustive manner, even if it 

 exhausts my audience. 



If moa means in Polynesia the domestic fowl (Gallus), 

 let us first inquire if it be the general name, or if there is any 

 other. In the dialects of New Guinea we find — in Bula'a, 

 kokoroko ; Nada, kokoreko ;* Sinaugolo, kokorogu ; Nala, 

 'o'oloko — all meaning the domestic fowl. In the Solomon 

 Islands — Guadalcanar, kokoroko ; New Georgia, kokorako ; 

 Bougainville, kekcleo — all meaning the common fowl. In the 

 Caroline Islands we find, at Eddystone Island, kokeraku, a 

 fowl. It may be that the variants of this word kokoreko, a 

 fowl, may be " sound-words," similar to the Malay of Macas- 



* I may mention that in the Paumotus reJco is " the voice," and 

 equals the Maori reo. 



27 



