388 Proceedings. 



of bones of small birds — paradise ducks, wekas, etc. — in excellent preservation ; 

 above them many remains of Moas. 



" Dr. Haast wishing to have them, I left them with him. Their only 

 value, I consider, is as evidence that the Moa remains are also very recent, as 

 it seems impossible that such tender bones could have been preserved in this 

 situation for any great lapse of time. Dr. Haast, however, does not agree in 

 this. It must be remembered that the floor of the cavern is not always dry, 

 as supposed ; during thaws and in violent rain storms there must be a good 

 deal of water go down, as is evident from the drifted grass sticking to the 

 shelving side of the lowest part of the chasm, evidently come in with water 

 through the fissures. The dust does not consequently incommode one in 

 digging, as usual in caverns where there is much accumulation of old animal 

 matter. The flat ground near had probably been a favourite camping ground, 

 from the quantity of droppings — -which are, no doubt, those of the large birds 

 — swept in by the wind, the draught into the cavern being very great, even 

 when a light breeze is blowing. Dr. Thomson and I had good evidence of this. 



" At times the Moas, taking shelter under the high rocks at the foot of 

 which, the fissure opens, may have slipped down in the snow drifts, which 

 would accumulate there and hide the aperture, and, from its shelving nature 

 as well as narrowness, it would be utterly impossible for them to extricate 

 themselves. This seems to be the most probable cause of the abundance of the 

 remains of the great birds in this place. There is no watercourse that could 

 have swept them in. Certainly the entrance may have become smaller, and 

 the floor may have gone down. Subsidences of masses of the rocks in these 

 hills, from the effect of water, are no doubt constantly occurring ; there are 

 many great holes and caverns, but, as it is at present, an Emu once in this 

 particular one could not get out. The skin that you have may possibly have 

 lain for a long time in some higher drj'^ ledge of the rock, and from thence 

 fallen down to where it was lying on the first landing, where it must have 

 been pi-etty clamp at times. Captain Hutton had visited the place a few 

 days previously, and Dr. Thomson showed me the head of a Tuatara they 

 found. 



"There is another cavern about 150 yai^ds from this one, but it was 

 impossible for me to get into it without a rope and assistance, I wi'ote to 

 Captain Hutton to tell him of it, and perhaps the Provincial authorities of 

 Otago will be liberal enough to allow a proper examination of these places to 

 be made. It would require men to bi'ing up all the debris in buckets, and 

 sift it in the light. Lying in the position one has to do, at the bottom of the 

 narrow, low hole, one cannot do much." 



3. "On the teeth of the Leiodon," by Charles Knight, F.R.C.S. 

 {Transactions, p. 358.) 



