THorne.—On Moas and a Moa-Hunter Encampment. 89 | 
The Moa bones got here consist of— 
4 Metatarsi 
4 Femora 
12 Vertebre 
5 Ribs. 
One of these birds was of large size, the tibia being nearly two feet long, 
and one of the most perfect bones obtained; but the bones of this and 
another smaller specimen are soft, yellow, and light, much lighter than any 
other bones we have found; they have, I think, lost all their gelatine, for, 
on touching a dry fracture of a bone with the tongue, the tongue will adhere 
to the lime; when damp, those yellow-coloured bones would crumble in 
your fingers ; although the utmost care was used in digging them out, some 
of them were so fragile that they wonld not bear their own weight in the 
air when freed from sand. The rib bones were, apparently, not much dis- 
turbed, but fell to pieces on being lifted. Underneath these bones, and 
amongst the sand, were the little white quartz pebbles, similar to those at 
Patua. The most determined doubter must now admit that these curious 
stones are really ‘‘ Moa stones.”’ 
Adjoining this sand ridge is a clay flax-covered ridge, on the northern 
side of which, down to the south bank of the Hora Hora River, the Maoris 
recently had a nice cultivation, an isthmus washed by the sea on one side, 
and the river on the other joins the Hora Hora pa to the cultivation ; on the 
sea-washed bank of this isthmus the skeleton of a man is to be seen. The 
Pa, which forms the south head of the river, is about 150 feet high, is very 
picturesque, and has a very fine double ditch or fosse round the only 
accessible side, and resembles in some respects Pataua Head. 
The coast is rocky from this point to within a mile of Ngungururu 
River, there the shore is a low sandy flat, with a fine beach, but I observed 
no Moa remains. 
We will now retrace our steps, cross the Pataua River on to Pataua 
Hill, for the purpose of examining the isthmus joining that hill to Taiharuru 
Island. This isthmus is a sandy ridge about 100 yards long, with the sea- 
beach on one side, mangrove mud flats on the other (vide Plate II., Sees. 
8, 4, and 5). For the length of 50 yards this ridge has been completely 
denuded of the vegetation with which it was once covered, presents an 
oblique face to the sea, and the sand is being blown off the top and in 
shore, exposing heaps of pipi shells and cooking stones as the evidence 
of former eating places. The other end of this ridge is covered with a thick 
mat of plants which are thriving in all similar places in this locality, viz., the 
Muhlenbeckia ; Coprosma acerosa, or, sloeberry ; the prickly little Leucopogon 
frazeri; and Desmoschenus (Pingao). The seaward face of this part of the 
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