﻿8 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



which a luxuriant pine forest was growing at the time. In a paper published 

 in the Transactions of the Ethnological Society of London, I have described 

 these interesting specimens of pre-historic human workmanship, which, two 

 years ago, I had the satisfaction of laying before you, accompanying their 

 exhibition by a verbal description. T shall therefore not repeat what I then 

 stated, but proceed to the description of the principal locality in which I dis- 

 covered a moa-hixnter encampment of considerable extent. 



A great and almost insurmountable difficulty in the v/ay of the foot 

 traveller in this island is the presence of large torrential livers, coming down 

 from the central chain, since they can only be crossed by him when they are 

 very low, over long fords, and even then not withoiit considei-able danger. It 

 is therefore not surprising that the aboriginal population should have searched 

 from the earliest times for any spots where the necessity for crossing on foot 

 could be dispensed with. They observed that all these rivers, before entering 

 the sea, expanded into still-water lagoons, often of considerable extent, which 

 they could easily cross vdth canoes, or on rafts, or even by wading, and thus 

 the native paths, of which in many localities the traces are still quite distinct, 

 were always found upon the coast. The Rakaia being one of the mosb 

 dangerous of these rivers, it is natural that the northern side of the river, 

 near the sea, should always have been a frequented spot. Here, also, the 

 lagoon extends along the coast, affording the iiatives a secure resting-place for 

 their canoes or other means of conveyance, and, at the same time, a favourable 

 fishing ground. Thus it was to be expected that we should fiud near the 

 raouth of the river numerous remains of Maori occupation in the form of 

 ovens, signs of former huts, and occasionally a Maori implement ; but this 

 locality, on being more closely examined, proved to be of still greater interest, 

 having at one time been the camping ground of a moa-hunting population, 

 and covering an area of more than fifty acres. It is to this remarkable encamp- 

 ment that I shall devote the next portion of this address. However, before 

 proceeding, I wish to ofier a few general remarks on the topography of the 

 spot, in order to show how well this pre-historio people had selected their 

 habitations. 



Between the mouth of the E,akaia and Banks Peninsula, and even as far 

 as Sumner, all round the western foot of that volcanic system, a succession of 

 lagoons, of which Lake Ellesmere is by far the largest, swamps and deep 

 boggy creeks exist, through which, in former years, before the original vegeta- 

 tion was destroyed and better drainage introduced, this portion of the country 

 must have been kept in an almost impassable state. Looking over the country 

 between Banks Peninsula and the mouth of the Bakaia, we observe, first, 

 Lake Ellesmere, covering a large portion of that region, and between it and 

 the river several lagoons, surrounded by impenetrable swamps, from the 



