78 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



at present iiiikuowu to us, was universal amongst the Moa-liunters in this part 

 of the country. 



Judging from the great amount of kitchen midtlons deposited on the very 

 small portion on the dunes examined by me, there is no doubt that the real 

 camping ground of the Moa-hunters was outside the cave, and that they used 

 the latter only occasionally for shelter, or for their meals, and only in a few 

 instances for cooking purposes, thus proving that a long lapse of time was 

 necessary for the formation of the lower beds alone. On the other hand, the 

 observations I was able to make at the junction of the kitchen middens of the 

 Moa-hunters and of the shell-fish eaters, demonstrates that there passed again 

 a considerable time before the latter appeared on the scene, and as there are 

 actually no cooking ovens in the upper or shell beds, since deposited in the 

 cave, we can only conclude that the shells were likewise cooked outside the 

 numerous ash-beds, tussocks, and fern-stalks, interstratified amongst the shells, 

 suggesting that the later inhabitants lighted their fires only for warmth and 

 light in the cave, and probably slept there. 



It appeared to me important to obtain, if possible, some information from 

 the natives whether they had any knowledge or tradition in reference to the 

 remarkable quantity of shell heaps occurring in the inner or westerly portion 

 of the dunes, which are found at intervals from near the mouth of the Waipaia 

 all along the coast as far as the Waitaki, and in which I could never discover 

 any Moa bones. I therefore I'equested my friend, the Rev. J. W. Stack, to 

 inquire from the oldest Maoris of Kaiapoi what they knew about them. 



He informs me that these natives attribute them generally to the Waitaha, 

 the first immigrants who preceded the Ngatimamoe, who in their turn preceded 

 the Ngatikuri, the present inhabitants. 



Seeing that these remains are assigned to the remotest period of Maori 

 occupation by the natives themselves, the great division existing between the 

 lower, or Moa-hunter, and the upper, or shell beds, with such a distinct line 

 of demarcation, goes far to prove that an enormous space of time must have 

 elapsed since the Dinornis became extinct. 



Mr. Stack justly points out the importance of this fact in his communica- 

 tions to me, and thus the own traditions of the natives themselves, related in 

 an unbiassed way, are certainly a confirmation of the views I ventured to 

 express first in 1871, in respect to this question, and quite in opposition to the 

 then generally accepted assum])tions. 



Conclusion. 



Although when enumerating in the foregoing notes the results obtained 

 during the pursuit of the excavations, I have given already my views, formed 



