Moos and Moa-hunters. 129 



The niimber of Moa-bones gathered by the scientific men 

 or by simple amateurs inhabiting New Zealand is very con- 

 siderable, and it is only just to acknowledge the generosity 

 with which these scientific treasures have been communi- 

 cated to those whom they might interest, and even divided 

 among the naturalists of the whole world. All the great 

 museums of Europe and America now possess more or less 

 complete specimens of these strange birds. Mr. Mantell, 

 who was one of the first to interest himself in the question, 

 has sent to Sir Richard Owen more than 1000 specimens *. 



When the learned geologist of the ' Novara,' M. Hoch- 

 stetter, wished to dig for himself in the marshes and bone- 

 caves, he found everywhere the most earnest cooperation. It 

 has been the same with our countryman, M. Filhol f. 



It is to the kindness and liberality of our New-Zealand 

 confrhresj and especially of MM. Haast and Hutton, that we 



but instead of accepting the Malay Archipelago as the starting-point of 

 the race, he makes Polynesian man originate in New Zealand. He thus 

 reverts to the old doctrine of autochthonism, of which the magnificent 

 work of Mr. Hale had already demonstrated the untrustworthiness, and 

 at the same time he places the cradle of the Polynesian islanders upon 

 the land which affords least support to any hypothesis of this kind. I 

 have ah'eady briefly examined M. Lesson's theory, and indicated how, 

 independently of the data furnished by the study of the faunas, the his- 

 torical documents which we owe in part to that author himself, but 

 principally to Sir George Grey, Thomson, Shortlaud, &c., do not allow 

 of our accepting it {' Hommes fossiles et hommes sauvages,' p. 483). I 

 shall return to this subject when M. Lesson's work is completed. 



* Hochstetter, he. cit. p. 182. 



t MM. Filhol and de L'Isle were attached as naturalists in 1874 to the 

 expeditions sent out to observe the transit of Venus at St. Paul and 

 Campbell Islands, under the command of Admiral Mouchez and M. Bou- 

 quet de Lagrye. Both of them brought back impoi'tant collections. But 

 Si. de risle, being prevented by illness, could not realize all that was 

 promised by his known zeal. More fortimate, M. Filhol fulfilled his 

 mission in a remarkable manner. After having thoroughly explored 

 Campbell Island, he went twice to New Zealand, of which he traversed 

 the principal provinces. He afterwards visited the Fiji Islands, New 

 Caledonia, and the Sandwich Islands, and returned to France by San 

 Francisco. From wherever he went he brouglit back remarkable collec- 

 tions and most interesting observations. Prof. Hutton, Director of the 

 Museum of Otago, gave M. Filhol for our museum numerous bones of 

 Moas and two complete skeletons, one of Palapteryx elephantopus, the 

 other of P. crassus (" Rapport,'" kc, he. cit.). 



On his part Dr. Haast has sent us, besides a great number of separate 

 bones, four nearly complete skeletons, which could bo mounted, namely 

 of Dinornis crassus, giganteus, elephantopus, and didiformis. 



The museum also possesses a model in plaster of the magnificent 

 Dinornis inyens, collected and reconstructed by Hochstetter and figured in 

 his book, pp. 187 and 188. 



