Haast. — Address. 51 



painted at various times, because in many places tlie rock-surface below 

 them lias scaled off, and new ones pass over the thus exposed face. The 

 whole interior of the rock-shelter being covered with these paintings, pass- 

 ing first indiscriminately over the red ones as well as over each other, it 

 was found impossible to make copies of the greatest portion of them. 

 Moreover, they nearly all represent the human form, and we selected a few 

 of the most characteristic ones, vJiich will be sufticient to show their 

 peculiar features. 



In the left-hand corner, close to a large shark-like animal, which, how- 

 ever, was too much effaced to be properly copied, were two groups of 

 animals in a sitting position, probably dogs, of which I had the best- 

 preserved one copied. They evidently are tearing something eatable 

 between them. In the centre of the wall is a figure which might be 

 taken for a Mantis, whilst close to it the figure of a seal is unmistakeable. 

 The rest, with the exception of a three-pronged (eel '?) fork, represent the 

 human figure, of which one has a stick in his hand. When the hands and 

 feet are represented, the former have generally four fingers and the latter 

 five toes. One of these figures has two calabashes hanging from its thigh. 

 It is most remarkable that none of these paintings are indecent, which is so 

 characteristic of all Maori carvings and paintings of the human figure. 

 These black paintings, although of such rude conception, are without doubt 

 the work of full-grown men, as many of them are eight feet above the floor 

 of the cave. 



The surface of the floor under this rock-shelter showed on both sides a 

 gentle undulation separated towards the centre by about ten feet of lower 

 groimd, and which, as I had occasion to observe, stands under water 

 during heavy rains, quite a streamlet running in from the higher ground to 

 the west. At first sight the nature of the ground indicated that it had 

 doubtless been accumulating during human occupancy. However, as I had 

 not the time to stay in order to have the necessary excavations made under 

 my eyes, I sent towards the end of February one of the museum staff*, Mr. 

 W. Sparks, junr., to do this. To test the ground, a trench was first dug 

 from the centre of the cave, beginning at the wall and continuing the same 

 for about thirty feet, and at right angles with it. Afterwards four more 

 trenches were excavated on both sides of the first, running out for about 

 sixteen feet from the interior. This done, the ground between these 

 trenches and along the face of the wall was thoroughly searched. These 

 excavations proved that kitchen middens of three distinct epochs existed 

 below the rock-shelter, having their greatest depth of 1ft. 2in. close to the 

 wall, and. gradually thinning out, so that ten feet from the wall they had en- 

 tirely disappeared, and the bed No. 3 of the annexed sections (fig. 2,) consisting 



