82 
Account of some Fossil Bones 
the Moa slept; also, that if any one ventured to approach 
the dwelling of this wonderful creature, he would \>0 
invariably trampled on and killed by it. A mountain, 
named Wakapunake, at least 80 miles distant in ^ 
southerly direction, was spoken of as the residence of thi2 
creature; here, however, only one existed, which, it wa£ 
generally contended, was the sole survivor of the Mod* 
race. Yet they could not assign any possible reason why 
it should have become all but extinct. 
While, however, the existence of the Moa was univer" 
sally believed, (in fact, to dare to doubt of such a being 
amounted in the native estimation to a very high crime,) 
no one person could be found who could positively testify 
to his having had ocular demonstration of it: for while 
with every one it was a matter of the profoundest credence, 
that belief only rested on the bare and unsupported 
assertion of others. Many of the natives, however, had 
from time to time seen very large bones, larger from then’ 
Sauria ; but to which of the families composing the same, I cannot, 
in the absence of books of reference, at present determine. It 
appears to possess characters common to Lacertinida and Iguanida 9 
in its having the thin and extensible tongue of the former, combined 
with the undivided one of the latter. It is common in some parts 
of New Zealand, particularly on rocky headlands, and islets, lying 
off the coast. I have one at present in spirits, which I had alive for 
nearly three of the winter months; during which time, although I 
repeatedly tried to get it to take some kind of food, I could not 
succeed. From its habits I supposed it to be a hybernating animal. 
It measured 19 inches in length, had a row of elevated spines, (or 
rather recurved scales) nearly the whole length of its back, and 
appeared a perfectly harmless creature. It was taken, with two 
others, on Karewa Islet, off Tawranga Harbour in the Bay of 
Plenty. The natives speak of another species possessing a forked 
tail; and assert that a larger species, which inhabits swampy places, 
has been seen of 6 feet in length, and as thick as a man’s thigh. 
The largest, however, that I have ever heard of did not measure 
above 2 feet in length. 
