THornE.—On Moas and a Moa-Hunter Encampment. 85 
tree ; tahi, one; but the one Kowhai tree from which the creek takes its 
name has long disappeared). 
Sand dunes, about thirty feet in height, form a ridge above the beach, 
and fall undulatingly back three hundred to four hundred yards into exten- 
sive raupo and flax swamps. On these sand dunes the greatest number of 
relics were found, evidently accumulations of the hand of man; heaps of 
pipi shells; cockle, turbo, and mussels, oven-stones, charcoal, and ashes in 
the cooking places of the former inhabitants; close by, on the surface, are 
. the bones of seals, fishes, human bones, and the bones of birds ; amongst 
them these interesting remains of the Moa, which I collected with the 
greatest care, comprising :— 
60 Toe bones and claws 
27 Metatarsi (ankle) 
14 Tibiz (shin) 
27 Femora (thigh) 
70 Vertebre 
5 Pelves, 
A number of ribs, ete. 
Portion of the head of a smaller species, and the lower beak 
of another species. 
The Pelves are in a poor state of preservation, except one belonging to 
the smaller species of Moa, which is not much broken. We could have 
added great numbers of fragments of Tibie and Femora to our collection, 
but considered them worthless ; whether these pieces were broken by tramp- 
ing of horses and cattle accidentally, or cracked open for the marrow (if 
any) contained, is an interesting problem. If the natives were in the habit 
of breaking the bones, why did they not break all of them ? 
Of the more perfect specimens I append a table of measurements, which 
will, I trust, lead to the identification of some species. 
This sandy ridge was a fine feeding place of old. The ovens are 
particularly numerous, especially at eight or ten spots where the sand has 
been well blown in shore; at these places the surface is composed of a bed 
of hardened fine brown sand, On this, evidently older surface, heaps desagi 
oven stones, charcoal, ete., close by the bones of Moas, mark the kitchen 
middens ; near at hand, also, are little heaps of worn quartz pebbles. 
These are very singular, and excite curiosity at once, presenting, as they do, 
a striking contrast to the waterworn stones and pebbles strewn all about, 
which latter are of a blue colour. 
These little quartz pebbles I take to be “ crop-stones,” swallowed by the 
Moa to aid digestion, although they are not as smooth as what I have seen 
exhibited in our own Museum for “ Moa Stones ;” they were probably in 
