Oct, 26, 1876] 



NATURE 



577 



seventh bed, or any below it, excepting those which the sea had 

 lodged in the marine sand, some of which were estuarine species, 

 and a very few valves of the common freshwater mussel {Unto 

 aucklattdicus), found near a " cooking oven" which had been 

 excavated in the same bed ; and the sixth and seventh beds were 

 separated by a sharp and constant line of demarcation. 



There can be no doubt that, omitting the "European bed," 

 the facts fully justify Dr. Haast's division of the deposits into two 

 distinct series— the " upper," or "shell-bed" series, consisting 

 of the sixth and all the beds above it ; and the " lower," of all 

 those below it. The sharp line of demarcation separating the 

 two sets of beds, as already stated, suggested to Dr. Haast that 

 there had been a protracted interval of time between their depo- 

 sition ; and this is strongly supported by the fact that in a section 

 at the entrance of the chamber a bed of drift sand, a foot thick, 

 Avas found to separate them. It was continuous for some distance 

 southward, but ultimately thinned out in that direction. 



The aggregate thickness of the beds of the upper series varied 

 in different sections from one foot to 7*5 feet, being thickest near 

 the entrance, and especially under the shelter of the fallen rock ; 

 whilst that of the lower series, exclusive of the marine sand, 

 fluctuated from 8 to 15 inches. The relative thickness of the 

 two sets varied considerably in different sections, the lower being 

 but 18 per cent, of the upper at the western end of the cross sec- 

 tion in the first excavation, whilst each was one foot thick at the 

 eastern end of the same section. From the data at hand it 

 appears that on the average the thickness of the lower series 

 was about 30 per cent, of that of the higher. 



Dr. Haast's " agglomeratic " bed consists of pieces of rock 

 fallen from the roof. Though this fall of fragments was not 

 actually restricted to any one period, inasmuch as all the beds 

 contain lumps and blocks of the kind, it seems to have been 

 peculiarly prevalent during the era represented by the agglome- 

 ratic bed. 



List of Objects found in the Lower Series of Deposits. 

 A. — Remains of Mammals. 



Bones of Man 



,, Ziphoid Whales 



,, '&&z.'Lx.o^2ixdL {Stenorynchus leptonyx) 



^ , , Fur Seal {Arctocephaltis lobatus (?» and A. cinereus) 



,, SivadXiFxir StoX (Gypsophoca subtropicalis) 



„ Dog 



,, Porpoise ... ... ... 



£, — Remains of Birds. 

 {a) Extinct Birds (Moas\ 



Bones of Dinornis rodusttts ... 



,, Palapteryx crassus ... 



,, Euryapteryx gravis 



„ £. r/ieides 



,, Meinornis casuarinus 



,, AL didiformis 



„ Aptornis defossor ... 



,, A. otidiformis 

 Fragments of bones of different species 

 Tracheal rings of Moas ... ... ... ... "... 



Trays of portions of eggshells of Moas 



(b) Recent Birds. 



Bones of Spotted Shag {Graculus punctatus) 



,, Black Shag (6^. farfo) ... 



,, Pied Shag \G. varius) 



„ White-throated Shag (G. brevirostris) ... 



,, Small Blue Penguin {Eudyptula undina) 



,, Grey Dack {Anas superciJiosa) ... 



,, H elly {Ossi/raga ^igantea) 



,, L,tirge Kiwi {Apteryx australis) 



,, ¥L3.ka. (JVestor meridiona/is) 



,, Ksikapo {Stringops /labropti/us) ... 



,, Tui, Gulls, Terns, and smaller birds 



Feathers of Kaka 



„ Nelly 



„ Spotted Shag ... 



,, lianier {Circus assimi/is) 



,, Undetermined ... 



C. — Remains of Fishes. 

 Bones of Hapuku {Oligorus gigas) 



I 



8 



39 



332 



27 



43 

 24 



13 

 ig 



35 



94 



17 



103 



I 



3 



51 



37 



3 



107 

 18 



■ IS 

 12 



67 



17 



6 



3 

 5 

 2 

 148 

 II 

 I 



39 

 I 



5 



39 



D. — Remains of Molluscs. 



Tray oi Unio aucklandicus ... 

 ,, Mesodestna cuneata ... 

 ,, Mactra discors 

 „ Artemis sub rosea 



E. — Objects of Human Workmanship. 

 (a) In Bone. 



Canine Tooth of Dog, bored at base 



Needle made of humerus of Nelly ... 



Awl „ tibia ,, 



{b) In Wood. 

 Apparatus for lighting fire, by circular motion, made of 



Pukatea {Atherosperma novce zealandicB) 

 Apparatus for lighting fire, by rubbing lengthwise,made of 



Komaku ( Ca rpodetes serratus) ... 

 Fork, made of Manuka {Leptospernium scoparium) 

 Portions of apparatus for lighting fire by rubbing length- 

 wise, made of Patete {Melicope ternata) ... 

 „ Spear, made of Nene {Dracophyllutn sp.) 

 ,, Pile, made of Totara {Podocarpus totara) 

 ,, Canoe (?), one made of Tawai {Fa§us menziesii), 



one made of Pukatea ... 

 „ Bird Spear (?) made of Tawa {Mesodaphne tawa), 

 a tree of the North Island only 

 Four pieces of Pukatea, and three chips of Totara 



{c) In Stone. 



Polished adze, perfect 



,, Implements, fragmentary, one resembling the 



point of a tool called Tamatau by the Maoris, 



formerly used by them to make fish-hooks 



" Cores " of agate, quartz, and chalcedony 



Chipped flint implements (ten cores, two spearheads, three 



knives, nineteen flakes) 

 Pieces of gritty sandstone, Taraiwaka of the Maoris, some 



with grooves for sharpening tools... ... 



Four pieces of Obsidian (Tuhua), two of pumice stone . . . 



17 

 4 



34 



4 

 6 



In addition to the objects just tabulated, three "cooking 

 ovens " belonging to the lower series of beds were met in the 

 First Chamber. After serving as ovens they were converted into 

 kitchen middens. 



Returning to the list of objects of interest : the human bone 

 was a portion of the right ramus of a lower jaw of an individual 

 probably not quite mature. It was found six inches deep in the 

 marine sand, and may have been carried in by the surf, as it lay 

 near the greater portion of the skeleton of a fur seal, which had 

 doubtless been washed in. 



The very few valves of the freshwater mussel already men- 

 tioned were the only indication that the men of the era of the 

 Lower Series of beds made use of molluscs or their shells. All the 

 other molluscous remains were without doubt washed in by the 

 waves of the sea, and lodged in the marine sand where they were 

 found. The favourite and chief food of the period was obviously 

 the Moa, of which at least eight species belonging to five genera 

 were thus utilised ; though, as the table distinctly shows, smaller 

 birds were by no means despised. As no portions of skulls were 

 found, with the exception of very small fragments, it has been 

 inferred that the brain of the Moa was considered a great deli- 

 cacy. The leg-bones were usually broken, some were calcined, 

 whdst others were in a splendid state of preservation. None of 

 them were gnawed, and even the smallest of them were, without 

 exception, quite intact, except such as had been cut or broken by 

 man ; a fact especially noteworthy, as the table shows that there 

 were contemporary dogs. Dr. Haast's earlier researches had 

 led him to the conclusion that the Moa hunters had chased the 

 dog for food, but had not domesticated it. There can be no 

 doubt that this view is considerably strengthened by his recent 

 labours. 



There is now satisfactory evidence that the men of the Lower 

 Series used polished stone tools as well as such as were merely 

 chipped. 



The bone needle was 4'2S inches long by '2 inch broad, and 

 is believed to have been used rather as a bodkin to carry a 

 thread through holes made by the awl. The perforated canine 

 of dog was no doubt worn as an ornament. 



Bones of Moas and of other birds presented themselves at very 

 slight depths in the marine sand in the second and third cham- 

 bers, mixed with ashes and other signs of human occupation. 



