7 4 Transaction s. — Miscellaneous. 



had belonged to tlie Maoris, although, as appendix C will show, a great num- 

 ber of things were found, either broken, become useless and thrown away, or 



accidentally dropped. 



There were only a few pieces of broken polished stone inplements and a 



small piece of nephrite (greenstone) amongst them. 



Concerning the existence of human bones in the low^er beds, I may here 

 add that portions of the right ramus of a lower jaw were found in the western 

 side in the marine sands, about 6 inches below their surface, which might have 

 been carried in by the surf, as near it the greater portion of the skeleton of a 

 fur seal was excavated, which w r as doubtless brought in in the same manner. 

 This lower jaw had belonged to a not quite full-grown man, the last molar 

 just making its appearance ; there was not the least sign of such bones either 

 in the agglomerate nor in the ash and dirt bed above it, thus confirming 

 similar observations made at the Rakaia encampment. 



Amongst the bones collected in the Maori or shell beds were two pelvic 

 bones belonging to a full grown male, and the ninth dorsal vertebra, not quite 

 mature ; all three were entire, and it is difficult to say how they may have 

 been brought into, the cave, but as there was through the whole thickness of 

 these beds not the least sign of any broken human bone, it appears obvious 

 that during all the time the shell-fish eaters were in occupation of the ground 

 they were either not cannibals, or had such a peaceful existence, not being at 

 war w T ith neighbouring tribes, that they had no opportunity to indulge in that 



horrible practice. 



However, looking at the long lapse of time during which the shell-fish 



eaters were in possession of the ground, and the insecurity of life to which 



savage tribes are exposed, I am inclined to believe that had they been cannibals, 



when the lower portions of the shell beds were formed, there would certainly 



be some evidence of it. 



My friend, the Kev. J. W. Stack, at my request, has made inquiries 

 amongst the older natives in Kaiapoi, and has been informed by them that 

 the cave in question had been a common resort of their fishing parties some 

 thirty years ago, so that some of the uppermost beds might have been formed 

 by their refuse ; but as cannibalism has been practised at least for several 



centuries in ] 



tainly proves that they are of considerable antiquity, which is still more 

 strengthened by the curious fact that amongst the hundreds of bones belonging 

 to small birds, not a vestige of the weka {Ocydromns australis) has been met 



doa-hunter beds, a feature 



they have in common with those occurring in the Rakaia encampment. 



Vs far back as the traditions of the Maoris go, allusion is made in their 



