THorne.—On Meas and a Moa-Hunter Encampment. 87 
the swamp; that this process was going on at the time when Moas and 
Moa-hunters lived here, and still continues, is evident to me, and I hope, 
before I have done, to prove it to you. 
The Maori track, in 1867, was a little distance back from the beach, and 
amongst the plants which were then alive, but are now covered up with 
sand; owing to the tediousness of walking in loose sand, travellers—now 
following the ridge close to the beach on the pipi shells and kitchen middens 
—could not possibly escape observing the Moa bones, and as the Revs. W. 
Colenso and Williams, with others, must often have passed this way, with- 
out reporting the existence of these bones, I am forced to conclude that 
they were buried under sand and vegetation; so that to these simple natural 
causes must any merit of discovery be accorded. 
The skulls of two dogs and a cat were found at the Kowhaitahi end of 
the ridge ; but as they were amongst the driftwood and loose sand, they are 
probably recent. : 
I examined carefully every bone we saw for the marks, scratching or 
gnawing of dog’s teeth, but failed to discover any; it may be that the 
natives had no domesticated dog at this time, if the contrary, dogs could 
not have been numerous, or the fragile bones of the small Moa Pelvis would 
surely have been gnawed and broken. | 
The bones of smaller birds, such as Kiwi, Gulls, &e., were also to be 
seen ; we collected some in the hopes of getting them identified. 
The two swamps at the back of the sand dunes were probably one some 
time ago; but are now divided by a small causeway of sand, which has 
advanced from the sea and met a clay spur from the hills, the larger swamp 
draining itself into the Kowhaitahi Creek, and the smaller one into a 
Pataua ; both are quite impassible for cattle. The smaller one will 
drained this summer, and careful search made for buried Moa remains. 
Stone Hatchets or Adzes.—In the locality I am now speaking of I ae 
seven, of various sizes and shapes (exhibited), weighing hen #08 F mie 
some of them are well made and polished, and have seen good AS 
others again are sharp, perhaps first re-ground ; but one or coe 2 sae 
have been made by a clumsy workman, or tyro at the art, re pte 
much chipped stone spoilt and thrown away. Plate IIL., figures . a 
Human Skeletons,—I found the remains of two bodies only e ect 
Pataua Beach. One of them is that of a large man, the pig oe 
Skeleton of whom I have lodged in the Museum ; the teeth are ed oes 
t much ground down. - This individual had been buried about three 
below the recent surface, and three or four feet of sand intervened a. 
him and the old bed of hardened brown sand to which I have alluded, w1 
shells and stones on it, and is probably recent. 
