194 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 



lavender, the hope ot good reward in the form of bones keeps the spirits 

 buoyant. In working down the fissures they become narrower, and 

 frequently the larger bones are found tightly jammed into their narrow 

 bottoms. In all the fissures we worked we found a water channel 

 formed along the bottom through which a considerable stream of water 

 must occasionally flow, and owing to the long continuance of dry 

 weather very little water was in any of the channels. One remarkable 

 feature about them is the occurrence in parts of their bottoms of 

 thousands of small bones mixed together in wet mud and sand (partially 

 dissolved limestone). In some places we found them from six inches to 

 a foot deep, and they appear to me to be composed chiefly of the bones of 

 chicks of several species of Moa and Aptornis. Amongst them we found 

 two skulls of Stringops liabroptilus (Owl Parrot). Along with these are 

 some that will in all probability prove to belong to the ancient dog, the 

 companion of the moa hunters. We also found chips of moa egg shells, 

 gizzard-stones, and portions of moa skin, with remains of other species 

 of birds still living in some localities, but extinct in the Albury district. 

 For obvious reasons, I must, however, avoid dealing with their specific 

 characters. The first fissure unfortunately becoming too narrow to 

 admit of working it thoroughly, we had reluctantly to leave it, although 

 we were fully aware that numerous valuable bones lay buried for ever 

 beneath our feet. 



Our next essay was in the deep hole mentioned in my paper in 

 Vol. II., page 293, and from which came the Aptornis skull described 

 by Sir Richard Owen, and supposed by the accomplished naturalist to 

 belong to a new species.* From the same hole were taken along with 

 the Aptornis skull some of the largest and best preserved bones of 

 Dirnomis dephantopus and crassus yet obtained. The bones buried in 

 the clamp fissures are cleaner and whiter than bones dug out of swamps, 

 the latter being generally charged with the black or other colouring 

 matter of the clay or mud in which they occur. In entering the hole I 

 observed that slight changes had occurred since I last examined it seven 

 years ago. On each side a broad fissure filled with clay and broken 

 limestone exists. In these fissures the bones are embedded at various 

 depths in intensely tenacious clay. Since I last visited it a considerable 

 quantity of the clay had fallen out of the fissures on to the bottom and 

 left several bones projecting out of the almost upright section of clay 

 and small stones. After turning over and collecting all bones contained 

 in the fallen debris, we built as much of it as possible into one corner, 

 and then dug down close to the wall of rock in line with the fissure 

 until we reached the water channel on its bottom. But the extremely 

 narrow space in which we were placed made it impossible for us to 

 examine the full depth of clay in the hole ; it could only be done 

 perfectly by constructing a staging across the top of it, and using a 

 windlass to draw the whole of the clay to the surface. On reaching 

 the water channel we again met with a vast number of small, mixed 

 bones lying in the wet, sandy mud. We followed the channel away 

 from the hole for several yards and obtained some excellent bones, but 

 were stopped in our progress by the fissure again becoming too narrow 

 to work in. We threw back the clay into the closed fissures and tried 



* Introduction to Sir Walter Buller's " History of the Birds of New Zealand," p. xxiii. 



