8 Transactions.— Miscellaneous. 
though there is no doubt that the Middle Island is rich in a kind of 
Jade, or greenstone, which the Maoris prize highly, it is, by no 
means, the only place where this mineral is found.* Nor, indeed, 
do I see, in the writings of any of those persons, who, disbelieving 
the traditions of the natives, consider them of remote antiquity,t 
if not, autochthones, any proof, whatever, that the present people 
differ, in any essential respect, whether of manners or habits, from 
what has been discovered about the presumed elder races. Yet this 
would seem to be a matter it is incumbent on these theorists to prove.t 
Nor, and this is a more important point, in that it connects the Maoris 
more or less with their famous extinct bird, the Moa, can I say I have any 
more faith, in the arguments adduced to show that the Moa-hunters, the 
population that is, who were the chief agents in the destruction of the 
Dinornis, were themselves of a period so ancient as to have been con- 
temporary, as has been suggested, with the great European mammals of 
the Post-Pleiocene period ; still less that they dwelt in these Islands so long 
ago that it may well be doubted whether they have any connection with the 
present people. It is right, however, to add that, on this particular subject, 
there is no actual agreement among the holders of these extreme Views, as 
some maintain, like Dr. Haast, that the existing Maoris are descendants 
of these supposed most ancient Moa-hunters, while others deny this. || 
Now it has, of late years, been held, with tolerable unanimity, by 
European ethnologists, that the time of man’s existence on the earth 
admits of division into four principal periods, called, respectively, the 
Paleolithic, Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages, and that the two first periods 
are marked, definitely, by the use, in the first, of rudely chipped flints 
and stone implements, and, in the second, by that of materials of the same 
kind, but, generally exhibiting considerable polish and much skilful and 
elaborate workmanship,—At the same time, it is tolerably certain that 
these divisions cannot be drawn witha hard and sharp line, the two classes 
* Tnotice that the South or Middle Island is called by the Maoris Te wahi pounamu, 
which means, I believe, “the country of Jade.” So far as it goes, I should infer from this 
name, that Jade was found there abundantly by the first comers from the North Island, 
and that the name was really given as a reply to enquiries addressed to the natives by 
the first surveyors. 
+ Mr. Colenso’s argument from what he thinks the remains of hill forts now covered 
with humus, can only be answered on the spot by practised antiquaries or geologists. 
+ 
+ Mr. A. Thomson’s idea that the present Maoris area “cross” will be noticed 
presently. 
|| For various interesting Suggestions, see Mr. Colenso’s summary, “* Trans. N.Z. 
Inst.,” Vol. L., pp. 404—7, 
