268 Dr A. Thomson on the Mod Caves of New Zealand. 



Description of Two Caves in the North Island of New 

 Zealand, in which were found Bones of the large extinct 

 wingless Bird, called by the Natives, Moa, and by Na- 

 turalists Dinornis ; with some general Observations on 

 this Genus of Birds. By Arthur S. Thomson, M.D., 

 Surgeon of the 58th Regiment. Communicated by the 

 Author. 



Narrative. — In the month of February 1849, I accom- 

 panied Lieutenant Servantes, of the 6th regiment, Captain 

 Henderson, Royal Artillery, and Lieutenant Clark, Royal 

 Engineers, in search of a cave said to contain the bones 

 of the Moa. Almost fifty years had elapsed since our guide, 

 an old woman, had seen these bones. The place of the cave, 

 and the bones, were perfectly familiar to her mind, as she 

 had seen them when a girl, but the face of the country had 

 evidently changed considerably since that period ; — trees 

 had grown up where ferns had formerly grown, and fern was 

 now growing where trees then stood ; so that after searching 

 about for a whole day, the old lady was obliged to acknow- 

 ledge that she could not find the cave, and we returned to 

 Auckland without accomplishing the object of our journey. 



In September 1849, I accompanied Captain Henderson 

 and Lieutenant Servantes on another trip for a similar ob- 

 ject ; on this occasion we were successful in finding a cave, 

 and a quantity of Moa^ bones, among which were several 

 almost entire skulls, and the beaks of some of the largest 

 birds, and a bone like a humerus. These specimens were 

 given to His Excellency Sir George Grey, Governor of New 

 Zealand, who transmitted them, I believe, to Professor Owen.* 

 I have been several times asked for a description of the cave, 

 but as our visit to it was a hasty one, and as all my fellow- 

 travellers to whom I might have applied for assistance in 

 this matter had left the country, I was obliged to acknow- 

 ledge my inability to give a satisfactory account of the cave. 

 This I regretted very much, because the New Zealanders are 

 exceedingly jealous of shewing or allowing any place to be- 



* An account of these bones is given, I believe, in the Transactions of the 

 Zoological Society, and forms Part V., in continuation of Professor Owen's 

 previous memoirs on the Dinornis. 



