104 Transactions.— Miscellaneous. 
from the tertiary rocks that form the sea cliffs south of the Shag River to 
the mouth of that river; these hills, being about sixty feet in height near 
their southern end, and decreasing in altitude towards the river. Inland of 
the sand-hills there is alow flat, about two feet above high water mark, 
and this flat is bounded on the east by a tidal backwater, communicating 
with the river, which flows along the northern end of the sand-hills into the 
sea. 
The flat is covered with a luxuriant growth of grass; but, on the sand- 
hills, a few scattered tussocks—chiefly in the hollows—are the only vege- 
tation. The northern end of the sand-hills have been considerably worn 
away by the river, and now form low cliffs from five to eight feet high, in 
which are exposed some of the old Maori middens, consisting chiefly of 
shells and fish-bones, but also containing bones of dog, seal, moa, and 
other birds. 
On the yery highest point of the hills we also found considerable 
deposits of shells, Moa bones, and Maori trinkets, and we therefore decided 
to have a deep- trench cut in an east and west direction, right across the 
hills at this point, in order to ascertain to what depth traces of human 
occupation extended, and when that was completed, we determined to have 
pits sunk on the lower parts of the hills, and on the flat, to ascertain the 
nature of the remains there also. Accordingly, Mr. Booth, with the 
assistance of another man, commenced to work on the 25th January, and 
on the 11th February, the trench and pits having been completed, I again 
visited the ground, in company with Mr. Rich, to examine the ground and 
decide what should be done next. 
The explorations thus made exposed the whole structure of the sand- 
hills and the flat, and proved convincingly that the Maori middens were 
only surface deposits, seldom more than four feet deep, scattered irregularly 
over the hills and flat. We, consequently, gave orders to stop the excava- 
tion, and I requested Mr. Booth to continue the surface explorations, and 
to collect for the Museum for as long a period as he could stay. This he 
agreed to do, and he remained camped on the ground until the 24th April, 
when he left, sending to the Museum ten boxes full of the collections that 
he had made. 7 
Not having any room for unpacking these boxes, I have only opened 
the three most important ones, examined their contents, and packed them 
up again; but Mr. Booth supplied me with catalogues of the contents of 
each box. Iam not, therefore, in a position to describe the whole of the 
collections made at these middens; but, from my own observations, from 
the notes supplied to me by Mr. Booth, and from my examination of the 
three most important boxes, I am, I think, in possession of sufficient infor- 
