Fraser. — On the Earnsclough Moa Cave. 103 



carried away a very large collection of tlie best preserved Moa bones I liave 

 ever seen, and I bave been a collector for many years. Several of tbese bones 

 have bunches of sinews attached to them, and are in otlier respects so perfect, 

 showing neither abrasion nor the slightest indication of having travelled even 

 the shortest distance, that I conld come to no other conclusion than that the 

 gigantic birds to which these various sized bones belonged must have perished 

 within the cave. 



Yery shortly after my arrival at Earnsclough I proceeded to "sdsit the 

 cave, accompanied by my son. We crossed the lower end of the Dunstan 

 basin, and entered by a narrow gorge the once beautiful valley of the Conroy, 

 now a hideous chaotic mass of alluvial workings. This valley contained rich 

 auriferous deposits, and in course of the workings vast quantities of Moa bones 

 were discovered at varying depths, from one to fifteen feet. 



We passed Pipeclay Gully, in which was found the lower jaw of a Saurian 

 in a perfect state of preservation. It is now in the possession of Dr. Thomson, 

 of Clyde. The jaw is somewhat larger than, but in other respects similar to 

 that which was found in the Glenmark swamp, and at present in the Canterbury 

 Museum. About four miles from the gorge we turned suddenly to the right, 

 and crossing the Conroy we commenced a gradual but oblique ascent of a spur 

 of the Umbrellas. After attaining a height of about 800 feet above the 

 Conroy we found our further course in this direction stopped by a wide and 

 deep gully, the edge of which bristled with huge castellated-looking dark rocks, 

 large slabs from which had slipped down and lay on the side of the gully. At 

 the foot of one of the largest of these rocks, and in the centre of a platform 

 about twenty yards square, one side of which formed the edge of the gully, we 

 found the entrances to the cave, which are about twenty feet apart. We lighted 

 our lamp, and descended by the perpendicular entrance, and, after some 

 scrambling, we found ourselves on a landing place which was lighted from the 

 other entrance, which was of an easy gradient, but so low that when we made 

 our exit from it we were compelled to go on all fours. The roof between the 

 entrances is composed of a rock, the upper surface of which is covered with a 

 well-grassed turf. The stone shows no sign of recent displacement, and may 

 have been in its present position for a thousand years. The floor of the 

 landing place is composed of rubbish of various kinds, including partially 

 cliaiTcd Moa bones. It was not difficult to account for the charred bones j the 

 shed from the scrub at the entrances had accumulated in the dry cave until 

 such time as it fell a prey to our great grass fires. There was not the slightest 

 indication of man having inhabited the cave. After leaving the landing place 

 we entered what I may call the true cave. Here we found the gradient so 

 steep that the fine dust which covered the floor of the cave to a considerable 

 depth slipped down from under our feet like sand. And I may here remark 



