294 Dr A. Thomson on the Moa Caves of New Zealand. 



It is a curious circumstance, that the few islands upon 

 which the bones of large extinct birds have been found are 

 all situated in the southern hemisphere, and there are some 

 points of resemblance between the islands of the Mauritius, 

 Madagascar, and New Zealand, sufficient to excite the atten- 

 tion of the thoughtful and speculative. These islands are 

 situated to the south of the line, between long. 45° and 180° 

 east. They are chiefly of volcanic origin. The zoology of 

 all three is peculiar. So far as that of Madagascar is known, 

 it can scarcely be assimilated to that of Africa or Asia ; 

 while it appears equally distant from that of Australia. 

 There is, however, too little known about Madagascar, or 

 the large bird, the remains of which have only lately (1850) 

 been found, to allow me to speculate on the subject. But 

 when I turn to the two islands most celebrated for the re- 

 mains of feathered giants, the Mauritius and New Zealand, 

 I find a wonderful similarity in some things. Both are sur- 

 rounded by large oceans, in the neighbourhood of large con- 

 tinents ; both are in a genial climate in the southern hemi- 

 sphere ; both were discovered by Europeans much about the 

 same time, and both have been only lately occupied by the 

 human race. A rat* constitutes the quadruped indigenous 

 to both islands, and in both the large birds which were ob- 

 served upon them soon became extinct. Bontius, in 1658, 

 saw the Dodo alive in the Mauritius. I infer New Zealand- 

 ers saw a few Moas alive early in the seventeenth century. 

 There is this great difference between the two places. We 

 have written testimony of the existence of numerous Dodos 

 in the Mauritius ; but, in the present day, some men doubt 

 whether they ever lived, because the bones of the animal 

 cannot now be found on the island. In New Zealand, on 

 the contrary, the existence of the Moa rests on a few 



* It is doubtful whether the present rat of New Zealand is indigenous. 

 It is very probable that it accompanied the early settlers. Similar animals are 

 found over all the Polynesian Islands ; and the United States' exploring expe- 

 dition met with rats on Gardner's Island, one of the Phcnix group, during 

 their passage from the Fcejec Islands to the Sandwich Islands, — a circumstance 

 which made them assume it had been inhabited by the human race. 



