Mair. — On the Disapiicarance of the Moa. 78 



iiioa did exist in that region there can be no doubt, for part 

 ■of a femur was found in 1869 on the bank of the Eangitaiki 

 Eiver, in the face of a cHff of pumice-gravel, and in the year 

 following some broken bones were revealed by a landslip at 

 Maungapowhatu. An Uriwera chief wrote to me about the 

 find, and even forwarded a sketch of the specimens, for which 

 the discoverer expected to receive a large price ; but, as 

 he could not find a purchaser, the bones were worked up 

 into poriokaka (rings for the legs of pet parrots) and aurrl 

 (pins for fastening the mat over the shoulder). I may men- 

 tion that the aurei were often worn in bunches hanging in 

 front of the right shoulder : they were made from sperm 

 whale's teeth, and in recent times from boar-tusks. I have in 

 my possession a very beautiful aurei, which is perhaps unique. 

 It was given to me by an Uriwera chief upon his coming out 

 to the coast to make peace in 1866. He said that it had been 

 •" in the possession of his family for twelve generations, and 

 that it was an iwl moa." An old Whakatohea woman told me 

 that her grandmother had seen moa-plumes adorning the head 

 of a great chief, and that they were " coloured like the rain- 

 bow." When I asked the Uriwera what the moa was like 

 they said it was a tlpua (a mythical creature) that could 

 change its form at will to a tree, or stone, or any other object, 

 but its favourite transformation was to a kaponga (ferii- 

 tree) . 



When 1 became acquainted with the Ngatimaniapoto 

 people, in 1871, I asked some of them to tell me what they 

 knew of the moa; and the answer was, " W^e do not know 

 Anything about it, but perhaps our ancestors did." I said, 

 " Why, you helped Von Hochstetter to dig up bones at Puke- 

 mapau and other places." And they replied readily, "Oh, 

 yes ! we knew of the bones, but we did not know what the crea- 

 ture was like until the doctor told us it was a great bird taller 

 than a man or a horse. "'•■ This is all that I have been able to 

 gather from the Maoris about the moa, and I will state now 

 what I have not been able to gather. 



For many years I have been, I may say, recording Maori 

 history : I mean the history of their land-claims as given in 

 ■our Native Land Courts. In the interior of this island there 

 are great tracts of forest, plain, and mountain country, which 



* Since writing the above I have heard another story about tlie ex- 

 tinction of the moa. Mr. L. Fraser, the caretaker of the Waitomo Caves, 

 informs me that Tutawa, an old Ngatimaniapoto chief, who lives at the 

 caves, told him that when Ngatoroairangi, who came in the Arawa 

 canoe, received the sacred fire brought by his sisters from Hawaiki, lie 

 ■ applied it to the bush about Taupe, and the country became covered by 

 flames and smoke, and the moas, seeking refuge in the caves, perished in 

 -great numbers. 



