CoLENSo. — On Moas and Moa-hnntcrs. 499 



this knowledge, as I shall show, I deem it a duty incumbent 

 on me to write this paper on behalf of my deceased friend, 

 to do his memory scant justice in this matter. Indeed, in my 

 adducing his own ipsissima verba on this subject, it may be 

 said of him, as of others before him, "^jcr illam defimcUis 

 adlmc loquitur." 



And here I cannot refrain from observing that this fresh 

 and uncalled-for move seems somewhat ungenerous on the 

 part of its promoters, as the gist of M. de Quatrefages' paper 

 was well known to be levelled against Sir Julius von Haast, 

 now no longer among us — a man who had so faithfully and 

 zealously served science, even beyond his natural powers ; and 

 so, like many others who have preceded him, in New Zealand 

 and in the South Pacific, given his life to her cause and to the 

 colony. 



The late Sir Julius von Haast and myself had long been cor- 

 respondents on very friendly terms, and in the early part of the 

 year 1885 he wrote to me respecting this very paper of M. de 

 Quatrefages', then lately republished in its English translation 

 in the August and September numbers (1884) of the serial men- 

 tioned, '■' informing me of it, and asking me to assist him in his 

 replying to it, which I promised to do. Unfortunately, this 

 was not carried out, through Sir Julius being appointed the 

 Commissioner for the New Zealand Exhibition in London, and 

 consequently having to leave New Zealand soon after, for which 

 duty, too, he had to make extensive preparation prior to his 

 leaving New Zealand ; and then his sudden premature death 

 at Christchurch so very soon after his return to the colony, f 

 I shall give verbatim copies of the notes and memoranda that 

 passed between us, so far as they relate to this subject. For- 

 tunately I kept copies of my replies to him : — 



Christchurch, 23rd March, 1885. 

 My dear Mr. Colenso, — 



. . . As I told you, Professor Quatrefages rather handles me 

 roughly ahout the Moa age. However, as I know I am on the right track, 

 I intend to answer his paper fully ; but, in order to do so, I want the help 

 of my friends. Enclosed I send you a few questions, to which I wish an 

 answer at your earliest convenience. It is only to strengthen my hands — 

 to show that all are not unanimous in believing that the Moa became 

 only extinct in the last hundred years, as I told you verbally. 



Ever faithfully yours, 



Julius von Haast. 

 The questions referred to : — 



1. Do j'ou know any reliable IMaori traditions about the Moa ? 



2. Do not all, or at least some, of these traditions appear to have 



* I cannot understand how this paper, then first published in an 

 English translation, could be known to Mr. Maskell so early as 3rd 

 September in that same year. 



t Returned to the colony 17th July, 1887, and died on the 16th 



August. 



