Scott. — Osteology of the Maori and Moriori. 5 



the object of possibly slightly modifying our knowledge on 

 some points, but rather with the idea of ascertaining the 

 craniometric expression of the differences wdiich exist between 

 certain tribes, and whether there is within the tribes them- 

 selves much individual variation in any of the more important 

 cranial features. We know the Maoris to be a mixed race, 

 the result of the mingling of a Polynesian and a IMelanesian 

 strain. The crania already examined leave no room for doubt 

 on this point. But such skulls were for the most part col- 

 lected either singly or in small groups from a very wide area 

 — the whole of New Zealand, practically. Few, therefore, come 

 from any one tribe, and, though their evidence as to the race- 

 type, and its variations in the people as a whole, is ample, 

 they tell us but little as to the characters of the smaller 

 groups or tribes. So far as I have been able to ascertain, 

 there has been but one contribution of any importance to the 

 tribal craniometry of the Maoris. Sir William Flower gives in 

 the Catalogue of the Museum of the College of Surgeons the 

 measm'ements of twenty skulls, nineteen of which are adult, 

 from near Whangarei. As these were found together in one 

 cave it is probable that they all belonged to one tribe. They 

 show considerable variety in form, but are, on the whole, 

 rather long and narrow. I shall frequently refer to them in 

 what follows. A much smaller group of six skulls found in a 

 cave on the Island of Kapiti, and now in the anatomical 

 museum of the University of Edinburgh, is described by Sir 

 William Turner in his "Challenger" report; and to these 

 may be added the two from the same island brought Home by 

 the " Astrolabe." Unfortunately two of the crania m Pro- 

 fessor Turner's small series are not full grown ; and the history 

 of the island must make us careful of accepting as of one tribe, 

 skulls collected at different times by difTerent people. 



With these objects in view, I have measured eighty-three 

 skulls, forty-five of which belong to a single tribe. These 

 last were all found in the South Island, in the Provinces of 

 Otago and Canterbury. Though this is a very large area, it 

 really supplies as satisfactory material for the study of varia- 

 tion within one tribe as can be got in New Zealand. A dis- 

 trict of corresponding size in the North Island would yield 

 individuals from several tribes, but in the South Island this 

 is not so. In this Island, if we except the northern end, there 

 is practically only one tribe, and skulls coming from widely- 

 separated districts may therefore be made use of. To make 

 this clear, I shall, following Mr. Stack's account,''' show how 

 the South Island was peopled. We have first a tradition of a 



* "Traditional History of the South Island Natives": Trans. N.Z. 

 Inst., vol. X., 1877. 



