999 T'ransactions.—Müiscellaneous. 
I should mention that Mr. G. Roberts, the Government Surveyor, when 
lately engaged in making a traverse of this portion of the coast, noticed at 
many places among the sand-hills, and particularly on places from 
which the sand had been blown off, large quantities of stones, such as 
Maoris use for cooking food in their hangis. In company with these 
were considerable quantities of charcoal and a very large number of 
fragments of bone, mostly those of Moas, but some which he fancied 
were human. He further observed that in their vicinity were many 
of those little groups of white quartz pebbles which are supposed to have 
been swallowed by the Moas for digestive purposes, and the constant occur- 
renee of which in such groups of tolerably uniform size seems to indicate 
their having been emptied out of a bird's crop, or some similar receptacle. 
On closer inspection of these collections of cooking stores, he found among 
them some stone adzes, and observed a great many of the stone flakes such 
as savages use for knives, and for pointing arrows and spears. He likewise 
ascertained that the owners of the properties on which the stones were 
lying (or persons in their employ) had at different times picked up many 
articles of the above kinds at these places; and he, therefore, came to the 
conclusion that these deposits were of the same character as the kitchen 
middens of Europe, and might similarly repay the trouble of an examina- 
tion. He, therefore, mentioned the matter to myself and others whom he 
thought likely to take an interest in such questions; and thus Mr. M. V. 
Hodge and I were led to devote the whole of yesterday to an examination 
of the deposits. The first places which we examined were on the immediate 
banks of the Omapu stream, a locality 1n which Mr. Roberts had mentioned 
that there were some extensive deposits, which, however, we failed to discover, 
no doubt from want of sufficiently definite directions as to their site. We 
found here only a few hangis, and these apparently of quite recent date, and 
not accompanied by anything worthy of notice. About half a mile nearer to 
Wanganui, however, we found near the top of the cliff a very large quantity 
(certainly many thousands) of cooking stones, spread over an area of nearly 
a quarter of an acre in extent, and among them were various articles such 
as Mr. Roberts had described. We noticed that a good many of the larger 
stones appeared to have been arranged in circles, or ovals, of from two feet 
to three feet in diameter; but at first we did not take much note of this, as 
we supposed such rings merely marked the outline of old hangis; and 
though we examined some of these, and found within them stone knives 
and pieces of basaltie stone, some of them partially shaped, mixed with char- 
coal and pieces of bone, some of which were certainly Moa bones, while others 
were jaw bones of large fish, and one apparently that of some animal, yet, 
the idea that these were henyis was so strongly in our minds that we failed 
