Hill. — The Moa — Legendary, Historical, and Geological. 341 



sent by Rangi. The signs of the fire are still to be seen where red rocks 

 like red berries are found. The place is called Te Pua-o-te-roku, or the 

 Garden of Berries. The man that brought the moa to New Zealand was 

 Rua Kaponga. Tamatea was the son of Rongokako, and he married 

 Hine Maurea, or Muri Whenua. 



Knowing' that Colonel Porter, C.B., of Gisborne, had a wide acquaint- 

 ance with Maori history and legendary lore, I drew his attention to Urapeni 

 Puhara's account oi the moa, particularly with reference to Te Pua-o-te- 

 roku, and he replied to my letter thus : — 



Dear Mr. Hill, — Heatherlea, Gisborne, 25th July, 1912. 



Thanks for yours of the 18th ultimo. I quite appreciate the scientific interest 

 you take in Maori legendary. Re the old chief's statement, the word " manu," as you 

 know, means "bird," and some version of Rongokako says "his manu" ; then on 

 closer inquiry they say "like a kiwi, only bigger." None seem to have in niind the 

 moa. The old man's story about the pakeha having so named the moa recalls an amus- 

 ing story I heard on the train years ago between Napier and Wellington. An elderly 

 gentleman en tour was questioning a well-educated half-caste on the original of the name 

 " moa." The reply was, " Oh, the Maori had no name for it, only ' manu,'' and that it 

 was after the pakeha came and discovered the skeleton remains throughout the country 

 they exclaimed, ' More bones ! More bones ! ' Hence the name ' moa ' by the Maoris." 



I was highly amused, but did not intervene. It is strange that there is no authentic 

 record of the moa in song or legend ; only one proverb, " Ngaro a moa " — lost like the 

 moa. This tends to prove they had " the name," at all events. 



There is a piece of forest land on the Mata River, near Hikurangi, called Rua-o-te- 

 roku, noted for the redness of its rocks and berries ; in former days a great pigeon- 

 hunting ground. 



lie the embers destroying the moa, I did hear that theory among Ngaitahu in the 

 South Island, who said fires fell from heaven, set fire to and denuded the country of 

 forests, so destroying the moa, whose remains are found only in caves and swamps, 

 where they sought refuge. I have not heard any story of the kind in the North Island, 

 which has always been so forest-clad. — Yours, &c, P. Porter. 



The historical facts and legendary references already jnesented show — 

 (a) that fossil bones are first described as having been seen and subsequently 

 collected along the east coast of the North Island ; (b) that the first-known 

 fossil bone taken to England from New Zealand was taken by a Mr. Rule, 

 from the East Coast ; (c) that the Revs. William Williams and R. Taylor 

 early in 1839 obtained a bone in the vicinity of Waiapu, and that Colenso 

 obtained some imperfect bones about the same time from Native teachers 

 who were sent to th.e East Coast following the return of Messrs. W. Williams 

 and Colenso early in 1838 ; (d) that Mr. W. Colenso obtained numerous 

 bones on his second visit to the coast in 1841-42, and, reaching Poverty 

 Bay, found the Rev. William Williams (now Archdeacon) had commenced 

 to collect bones in order to send them to Dr. Buckland at Oxford ; (e) that 

 Mr. Colenso was certainly the first person in New Zealand who wrote a 

 scientific account of the moa, early in 1842 ; (/) that Professor Owen read 

 his first paper in 1839, and wrote a letter to Colenso in October, 1843, long 

 after Colenso's first paper was published in the " Tasmanian Journal of 

 Science," and before the publication of Owen's second paper ; (g) that the 

 legendary lore of the Natives, without exception, connects the moa through- 

 out the East Coast with atuas and Rongokako and Tamatea, who are 

 fabled ancestors of the Maoris ; (h) that not a single Maori known to the 

 missionaries and early settlers ever saw or heard of a moa, or of its having 

 been seen by any of their ancestors ; (i) that Polack's statement as to the 

 great antiquity of the " fossil ossifications " has stood the test against every 

 theory, palaeontological or otherwise, of moas being possibly living in 

 recesses of mountains or forests in one or other of the Islands of New 

 Zealand. 



