186 
NATURE 
[Fuly 6, 1871 

human agency, are so abundant in the same place, never- 
theless the fact of a similar association occurring far in 
the interior affords strong presumptive evidence on this 
point, as the finely-finished implements must have been 
carried inland and to the same spots where the Moa re- 
mains occur, to be used at native feasts, of which these 
bones are the only other existing evidences. 
So far I have been dealing with evidence gathered in 
the South Island of New Zealand of the recent co-exist- 
ence of Man and the Moa, but in the North Island there 
is no lack of similar proofs. During the summer of 
1866, H.E. Sir George Grey, K.C.B., made a fine collec- 
tion at Waingongoro on the west coast of this island, 
being the same Jocality from which Mantell gathered the 
magnificent series of bones which he forwarded to Europe 
in 1847. At this place, along with the bones of the Moa 
and other extinct birds, were found those of dogs, seals, 
and many species of birds that are common at the pre- 
sent day, such as the albatross, penguin, nestor, and 
porphyris, and notably the notornis, a gigantic rail, which 
tilla comparatively recent date, was supposed, like the 
Moa, to be extinct, and of which as yet only two living 
examples have been obtained. Associated withtheseremains 
Sir George Grey obtained artificially formed stone fiakes of 
avery peculiar kind, being chips from rolled boulders of hard 
crystalline sandstone, produced by.a single blow, probably 
when the stone was heated and quenched in water. The 
stones from which these chips were obtained had evi- 
dently been used, in the first instance, for cooking, as the 
ancient Umus, or cooking-ovens, are chiefly formed of 
them ; and, indeed, in the sandy tracts on the west coast, 
where stones are rare, the identical stones that in former 
days were used for cooking Moas are still in use by the 
natives of the district for cooking pigs and shell-fish. 
Here again we find that the same necessity and circum- 
stance which suggested the use of the chert flakes in the 
South, gave origin to a similar adaptation of the chips 
from the sandstone boulders. It is of some interest to 
find that native tradition points to the sandy flat at 
Waingongora, called Te Rangatapu, as the spot where the 
first Maori immigrants to the district originally settled ; 
and there appears to be nothing in the abundant traces 
which they have left of these great feasts, which we must 
refer to that period, that would indicate any difference in 
their domestic habits from those of the Maoris now ex- 
isting, and who, no doubt, are their direct descendants. 
What has been advanced affords strong presumptive 
evidence that the Moas, although belonging probably to 
a race that was expiring from natural causes, was finally 
exterminated through human agency ; and on this subject 
Mr. Murison has suggested how infallibly the wholesale 
consumption of the eggs, which were evidently highly prized 
as an article of food, must have led totheir rapid extinction, 
without its being necessary that the birds themselves 
should have been actually destroyed. That wide-spread- 
ing fires contributed, in some instances, to the destruction 
of these wingless birds, is rendered probable from the 
occurrence of little heaps of bones, in spots where flocks 
of them would be overtaken when fleeing before the 
destroying element. At the south-west extremity of a 
triangular plain, by the side of the Wakatipu Lake, in 
1862, I counted thirty-seven of such distinct skeleton- 
heaps, where the steep rocky slope of the mountain, 
covered with fallen blocks and tangled shrubs, meets 
the lake, and would, therefore, stop the progress of the 
fugitives in that direction. From what we know of habits 
of birds akin to the Moas, we may fairly infer that they 
did not frequent heavily-timbered country, but roamed 
over coppice-covered plains and mountain slopes. This 
view is supported by the comparative rarity of Moa 
remains in forests, the few exceptions being easily accounted 
for. 
The whole of the eastern district of the South Island of 
New Zealand back to the Southern Alps was completely 

surveyed and mapped as early as 1862, and had been 
thoroughly explored at least ten years before that date, 
without any of these gigantic birds being met with ; but 
there is a large area of rugged mountainous country, 
especially in the south-west district of Otago, which even 
to the present time is only imperfectly known. The moun- 
tain sides in this region are clothed with open forest, in 
which Kiwis, Kakapos, and other expiring forms of 
apterous birds are still to be found in comparative abun- 
dance, but where we could scarcely expect to meet with 
the larger species. Nevertheless, owing to the lofty tabular 
configuration of this district, the mountains afford very 
extensive areas above the forest limit—which are covered 
with Alpine shrubs and grasses—where it is not impossible 
that a remnant of this giant race may have remained to 
very recent times. The exploration, however, to which 
the country has been subjected during the last few years, 
by parties of diggers prospecting for gold, forbids any 
reasonable hope that any still exist. I may here mention 
that on one of the flat-topped mountains near Jackson’s 
Bay, visited in January 1863, I observed, at an altitude of 
4,000 feet, numerous well-beaten tracks about sixteen 
inches wide intersecting the dense scrub in all directions, 
and which, owing to the height of the scrub (two to four 
feet) could only been formed in the first instance by the 
frequent passage of a much larger bird than either the 
Kiwi or Kakapo, which, judging from the droppings, were 
the only birds that now resorted to them. On the 
sides of the tracks, especially near the upper confines of 
the forest, are shallow excavations, 2ft. to 3ft. in diameter, 
that have much the appearance of having been scraped 
for nests. No pigs or any other introduced animals having 
penetrated to this part of the country, it appears manifest 
that these were the tracks of some large indigenous 
animal, but from the nature of the vegetation it is pro- 
bable that such tracks may have been for a very long 
period in disuse, except by the smaller ground birds, with- 
out becoming obliterated. 
The above facts and arguments in support of the view 
that the Moa survived to very recent times, are similar to 
those advanced at an early period after the settlement of 
the colony, by Walter Mantell, who had the advantage of 
direct information on the subject froma generation of natives 
that has now passed away. As the first explorer of the 
artificial Moa beds, his opinion is entitled to great weight. 
Similar conclusions were also drawn by Butler, who is per- 
sonally familiar with the facts derived from the North Is- 
lands, in an article which appeared inthe Zoo/og7stfor 1864. 
The fresh discovery therefore of well-preserved remains of 
the Moa only tends to confirm and establish these views ; 
and it would have been unnecessary to enlarge on the 
subject by the publication of the foregoing notes, which 
for the most part were written several years ago, but for 
the entirely opposite conclusions advanced by Dr. Haast 
in a recent address, which, from the large amount of in- 
teresting and novel matter it contains, will doubtless have 
a wide circulation. JAMES HECTOR 

ON THE GASEOUS AND LIQUID STATES OF 
MATTER 
DISCOURSE was delivered on Friday evening, 
June 2, at the Royal Institution in Albemarle 
Street, by Dr. Andrews on the “Gaseous and 
Liquid States of Matter,” from which we make the fol- 
lowing extracts :—“ The liquid state of matter forms a 
link between the solid and gaseous states. This link is, 
however, often suppressed, and the solid passes directly 
into the gaseous or vaporous form. In the intense cold 
of an arctic winter, hard ice will gradually change into 
transparent vapour without previously assuming the form 
of water. Carbonic acid snow passes rapidly into gas 
when exposed to the air, and can with difficulty be 
liquefied in open tubes, Its boiling point, as Faraday has 
