Canterbury and Westland. 437 



(C) OCCUEEENCE OP MoA-BONES AND TlME OE EXTINCTION OE THE 



DlNOENrTHIDJ3. 



In the previous chapter I have already pointed out, that the oldest 

 beds containing Moa-bones, are proved to belong to the Great Glacier 

 period, where they occur in morainic accumulations and silt-beds as well 

 as in fluviatile deposits, formed by rivers having issued from the 

 terminal face of gigantic glaciers during that period. Here they have 

 been traced as low as 100 feet below the surface. In the loess 

 deposits they are also of frequent occurrence where their existence 

 has been proved to a depth of more than 50 feet. Advancing to the 

 quaternary period Moa-bones are found in turbary deposits or in silt 

 or loess on the plains or lower hills, in caves and in fissures of rocks, 

 in fact everywhere where favourable conditions for their preservation 

 prevailed. In common with all those colonists arriving in New 

 Zealand, after Moa-bones had for some time been discovered, their 

 nature investigated, and the knowledge thus obtained spread 

 throughout the country, I was under the impression that the extinc- 

 tion of the Moa by the hand of man was rather of recent occurrence, 

 till geological research has shown me clearly that such an impression 

 is totally fallaceous. In my Presidential address to the Phil. Institute 

 of Canterbury, of 1871, 1 ventured first to give my views on the subject, 

 and a continuation of further researches has not only strengthened the 

 foundations upon which my reasoning was based, but I am happy to 

 say has been the cause of bringing out a series of papers, either against 

 or in support of my theories, and containing much important matter, 

 which when once sifted will be of great value from an ethnological point 

 of view for all time to come. It would be impossible to go over 

 the whole question in this chapter, or even to review the principal 

 papers written on the subject, which would fill several good sized 

 volumes, and I have therefore only prepared a short resume 

 tracing the gradual knowledge obtained — in chronological order. The 

 reader can then judge by himself, how r far the theory advocated by me 

 has any claim for acceptance. 



The first publications in which we find ample material concerning 

 these Islands are those relating to the voyages of the illustrious Captain 

 Cook. That admirable observer, who gives us such a faithful account 

 of the animal life of New Zealand, made enquiries, through his 

 interpreter Tupia, during his first journey, concerning the native 

 traditions. On his second visit he obtained further intelligence from 

 a native Chief, in Queen Charlotte Sound, given in the " Voyage to the 



