﻿Haast. — Moas and Moa IIunUTs. 71 



of man, whose appearance in these islands, as everywhere else, must have 

 brought about some very important physical changes on the face of the 

 country. The burning or destruction of the luxuriant vegetation in valleys 

 and on hills and plains, the diminution or even drying up of swamps, which 

 formerly retained the produce of the rain or of the melting snow much 

 longer than at a later period, have, as we coiild quote numerous instances to 

 show, brought about many considerable alterations on the surface and drainage 

 of the country. One of the principal results of this action is the occurrence of 

 much larger floods than those formerly experienced, the waters running off 

 far more rapidly than they did when the thick virgin vegetation, together 

 with the swamps and boggy grounds, acted, as it were, like a sponge, retaining 

 the moisture for a longer period. Another argument in favour of this suppo- 

 sition, that the Dinornis must have become, extinct much earlier than we 

 might infer from the occurrence of bones lying amongst the gi'ass, is the fact 

 proved abundantly by careful inquiries, that the Maoris know nothing whatever 

 about these huge birds, although various statements have been made to the 

 contrary, lately repeated in England ; however, as this question stands in close 

 relation to the age of the moa-hunting race, I shall leave it until I proceed to 

 this portion of my task. 



The testimony that moa bones have been found lying loose amongst the 

 grass on the shingle of the plains, together with small heaps of so-called moa 

 stones, where probably a bird has died and decayed, is too strong to be set aside 

 altogether, or to be explained by the assumption that the bones became 

 exposed, as I suggested before, thi'ough the original vegetation having been 

 burnt so extensively. We are, therefore, almost compelled to conclude that 

 the bones have in some instances never been buried under the soil, but 

 remained lying on the surface where the biixls died. I can, however, not 

 conceive that moa bones could have lain in such exposed positions for hundreds, 

 if not thousands, of years without decaying entirely. Even if we assume that 

 the birds have been extinct for only a century or so, it is inconceivable that 

 the natives, who have reliable traditions extending back for several hundred 

 years, and of many minor occurrences, should have no account of one of tlae 

 most important events which could happen to a race of hunters, namely, the 

 extinction of their principal means of existence. At the same time, the 

 pursuit of these huge birds to a people without firearms or even bows and 

 arrows, although they might have possessed boomerangs or a similar wooden 

 weapon, must have been so full of vital importance, excitement, and 

 danger, that the traditions of their hunting exploits would certainly have 

 outlived the accounts of all other events happening to a people of such 

 character. 



The Rev. J. W. Stack, with whom I repeatedly conversed upon this 



