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down to the coast and subsist upon shell-fish or anything else they could find : 

 sometimes a seal, more frequently a slave, and occasionally a Moa, whose 

 bones are generally found entire, as they only are destitute of marrow. These 

 are very interesting heaps, and well worth visiting as affording the means of 

 reading some pages of Maori history in bygone days. The last visit which I 

 paid to Waingongoro, was in 1866, in company with Sir George Grey. On our 

 arrival there he asked me to show him the place where I discovered the great 

 deposit of Moa bones in 1843. I took him at once to the place, and to my 

 astonishment I found the hillocks almost as thickly covered with bones as 

 when I first saw them ; the wind had uncovered a lower stratum since my 

 former visit. Several officers stationed at the neighbouring redoubt expressed 

 their surprise when told the bones where those of the Moa. They had seen 

 them times without number, but supposing them only beef bones, passed 

 them without further notice. Several soldiers volunteered their services, and 

 a great number of those old ovens were opened ; all worked in good earnest, 

 and no one more heartily than the Governor. It was quite amusing to see 

 His Excellency grubbing up the old ashes, and carefully selecting what he 

 thought worth carrying away. 



A large cloth was spread on the ground, and the various articles found 

 were piled upon it ; these were of a very miscellaneous character, consisting 

 not only of bones of the Moa, and fragments of its eggs, but of almost every 

 other bird indigenous to these islands, including those of the kakapo and 

 kiwi, with chert flakes, fragments of highly polished axes, and other articles. 

 These ovens seem to have been made in a double line, and to have been used 

 for many years, as each layer of ashes was separated by a thin stratum of 

 sand from the one immediately below, and the number of them was very 

 great. The natives informed me that when the Moa hunt was to take j)lace, 

 notice was given to the neighbouring places, inviting them all to the battue. 

 The party then spread out to enclose as large a space as possible, and drive 

 the birds from their haunts, then gradually contracting the line as they 

 approached some lake, they at last rushed forward with loud yells and drov« 

 the frightened birds into the water, where they could be easily approached in 

 canoes, and despatched without their being able to make any resistance. 

 These Moa hunts were, doubtless, very destructive, as from the number of 

 men employed, and the long lines of ovens, the slaughter must have been very 

 great ; and, in addition to this, from the large quantity of egg-shells, a clear 

 proof is given that they were eagerly sought for and feasted upon. Thus, the 

 poor birds had little chance of continuing their race. Another cause of their 

 disappearance may be also mentioned, the extinction of the tuatara, the 

 largest lizard existing on these islands, on which they are said to have fed, 

 with other varieties of the same family, which since the introduction of the 



