EGG OF THE xlOA OR DINOMIS. 



Mr. J. C. STEVENS 



Has received instructions to offer for sale by Auction, 



At his &EEAT ROOM, No. 38 ZING STREET, COVENT &ARDEN, 

 On FRIDAY, the 24th day of NOVEMBER, 1865, 



AT TWO O CLOCK, 



A SPEGIIEN. NEARLY PERFECT, OF THIS VERT 



RARE & REMARKABLE EGG, 



The Bi7'd of ivliich is uoiv presumed to he quite extinct. 



The Qg^ has just arrived, per Ship Ravenscraig, and is probably the 



Dinornis ingens of Owen. 



The ^gg will be on view the Day prior and Morning of Sale. 



The following accotmt of the singular discovery of this Egg was published 



in the Wellington Papers. 



EXTRACT FROM WELLINGTON PAPERS. 



Discovery of a Moa s Egg at the Kai Koras. 



There is at ihe present time being exhibited at Messrs. Bethune & Humter's stores, for the benefit of the 

 curious, an object of no less interest than the egg of a Moa, another relic of the rara avis of New Zealand. 

 The egg is of itself an object of no common interest to ordinary people, but it must be still more so to those 

 who watch narrowly the development of natural history in its relations to this colony, and the circumstances 

 connected with the finding are calculated to lend a still greater, not to say a romantic, interest to it. It appears, 

 from what we learn from Captain Davidson, of the schooner Ruby, which trades between thi^^ port and the 

 Kai Koras, that a man in Mr. Fyffe's employment at the latter place was digging the foundation of a house, 

 and when on the side of a small mound he suddenly came upon the egg in question, and the skeleton of a man, 

 supposed of course to be a Maori. The body had evidently been buried in a sitting posture, and the egg must 

 have been placed in the hands, as when found the arms were extended in such a manner as to bring it im- 

 mediately opposite the mouth of the deceased. This, it is assumed, was in accordance with the Maori custom, 

 and was done for the purpose of giving the individual who was buried an opportunity of sustaining himself if 

 he thought proper, or ir, in the course of things, he required sustenance. Between the legs of the skeleton 

 were found numerous tools, cut from green stone, including a spear, axe, and several implements, which would 

 lead to the belief that the man to whom the bones belonged must have been, in some way or other, connected 

 with the wood trade — that is to say, if carpenters, cabinetmakers, &c., flourished in his time. All the bones 

 were in excellent preservation, one arm and hand being entirely without blemish. The skull bore evidence of 

 its proprietor having, at some time or the other, received some hard knocks, probably in the battle-field while 

 taking his part in some of those terrific encounters which are supposed to have taken place in ancient times. 

 Unfortunately, before the man who was digging discovered the natural treasure, the implement he was using 

 came in contact with the shell and broke a small piece out of the side of it,- but the fragments have been 

 carefully preserved, and might readily be fitted into the aperture. The egg itself is about ten inches in length, 

 and seven inches in breadth, the shell being of a dirty brownish color, and rather better than the thickness of a 

 shilling coin. The inside is perfectly clear and free from all traces of deraj'ed matter. From what Captain 

 Davidson tells us, we should sup-^ose that the ground where this relic was discovered must have been used as a 

 cemetary at some distant period of the past, as Mr. Fyffe had previously found some interesting Maori 

 emblems about the same place, but nonp of the natives about there — and some of them we are informed have 

 arrived at very mature ages — have the slightest recollection of even having heard, as a matter of history, that 

 any of their ancestors had found a final resting place in that particular locality. 



