2 New Zealand Insiitute. 



investigations into the annals and traditions, tlie mythology and ethnology, of 

 the Maori race ; and into the natural resources of this country- — in its fisheries, 

 its minerals, and its trees and plants ; while the more purely scientific 

 questions connected with its meteorology, its botany, and its zoology, have 

 received a large share of attention. 



REVIEW OF VOL. IV. OF THE " TRANSACTIONS " OF THE INSTITUTE. 



I will now proceed to review very briefly the last or fourth volume of our 

 Transactions. 



A considerable portion of this volume treats of what may be termed the 

 pre-historic period of New Zealand. The essay of Mr. J. T. Thomson, on the 

 origin and migration of the Maoris, is an ingenious and suggestive addition 

 to the literature of a subject, the full examination of which should certainly 

 be undertaken without delay, and before the traditional knowledge possessed 

 by the natives is obscured or obliterated by the lapse of time, and by the 

 preponderance of the European settlers. Closely related to this same question 

 is the thoughtful criticism by Mr. Travers of some of the more prominent 

 Maori legends. We have also several instructive papers filled with dis- 

 cussions relative to the Moa. On the one hand, Dr. Haast arrives at the 

 opinion that the extermination of this gigantic bird is of high antiquity, and 

 that it was effected by a people wholly different from, or at least by very 

 remote ancestors of the Maoris of the present day. Dr. Hector, on the other 

 hand, adheres to the view which has hitherto been generally received, viz., 

 that the Moa has become extinct within a comparatively short period before 

 the settlement of these Islands by Europeans, and that it was hunted by the 

 immediate forefathers of the existing aborigines. I would further direct 

 attention to the remarks by Archdeacon Williams and by Mr. Gillies on the 

 foot-prints of the Moa on a sandy deposit on the sea-beach at Poverty Bay ; 

 and to the description by Captain Hutton of the moa feathers which have 

 recently been found in alluvial soil in the interior of Otago. 



ZOOLOGY. 



The contributions in Zoology during the past year have been numerous 

 and varied. The treatment by Captain Hutton of several special branches of 

 this department of science may be recommended as a model for observers. To 

 Captain Hutton we are also indebted for the compilation of the valuable 

 Catalogues of the Birds and Fishes of this country, which have recently been 

 issued from the Museum. Another remarkable paper is a description by 

 Dr. Haast of an extinct gigantic bird of prey {Harpagornis Moo7'ei), which he 

 supposes to have far exceeded in dimensions any known bird of the eagle 

 kind, and to have been of proportionate size to the Moa. He believes that, 



