THE EXTINCTION OF THE

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 333, 21 October 1908, Page 12

THE EXTINCTION OF THE

MOA. —..— EARL* AND LATER DISCOVERIES. VARIOUS THEORIES. . (To THE EdITOB.) Sir,—Ever since the great osteologist, the late Sir Richard Owen, announced to the world sixty years ago that a gigantic struthious bird, much exceeding the ostrich in all its proportisns, had lived, or possibly did then live, in New Zealand, tlio cause oi khie] of its extinction havo been a great theme for controversy by scientists and students of mex remains. The history of the gre*t age in New Zealand has yet to bo written; and, until it is undertaken and accomplished by a competent scientist, it is, at all times, of much interest and value to have all bow faets on the important subject duly published to aid tho future historian of these apterous giants, and for general information at the present time. It was, therefore, •with interest that I read several letters published recently in The Dominion, and other newspapers, on tho extinction of the moa in ■the North Island. With your permission, I would also recount some of my experiences in discovering and digging up moa bones in igouth Canterbury, the result of which work enabled me, as will bo presently explained, to give a' definite pronouncement for modern Maori-moa extinction. In the early eighties, iboing then a nevr arrival, I lived on tie Albury Estate, in So„uth Canterbury, then the .property of the Hon. Edward Richardson, in my free timo I, explored the ideal disrtict 'for relics of the Maori and moa with an earnest desire to discover, if possible, evidences of their eocval existence. In two , years I had formed a good collection of wellpreserved bones of several species of moas, and of those of other contemporaneous and also extinct species. After leaving the Albury Estate later, the late Sir Walter Buller visited my homo in Ashburton to inspcct these relics of a vanished race and other ornithological specimens, in my possession. So impressed was the distinguished ornithologist with the freshness and rarity of some of the bones that lie requested me to again procced to my old hunting ; ground, and undertake an extended exploration of tho district for moa tones. . ■ Before giving details of some of our work bud its bearing on the theory of Maori-raoa extinction,. I would refer briefly to a lecture delivered by Professor Ray Lankester in London four years snd a half ago, on the •work of tlio late Sir' Richard Owen in relation to' the ditcoTery of tho moa in Now Zealand. Professor Lankester is reported to har« stated that thsso gigantic' struthious birds, with other contemporaneous species, '"became extinct 500 or 600 years ago." There is perhaps no scientific subject that has ,'receired less earnest thought, or one to [which less practical observation or research ihas been devoted by scientists in New Zealand than the causes of the extinction of ptho moas. Scientists in England and other 'countries are, therefore, too prone to accept "the theories of New Zealand scientists on this iyery open and important question. The late Bir Julius von Haast contended that the 'taoas had been exterminated for centurion by an a'utochthonic race, from whom, ho Ithonght, the Maoris were the direct descend■ants. The Rev. William Colenso, the distinguished scientist, also contended that the Woas were extinct in the North Island long interior to the advent cf tho Maori to New tZealand about, 600 years ago. Without drawing further on tho opinions or jjnoa-extinction theories'of other observers, I {would narrate some of our experiences, when "excavating for moa bones in South Canterbury. As already stated, we beg?n work on . the Albury Estate, on the Te-Nga-Wai River, which was , unquesionably one of the last taunts of the. last remnant of the extinct Ngati-Mamoe tribo. We carefully excavated ,<nd! examined'jjlHo.; floors of the grotesquely-' painted limestone rock shelters and caves, l which yielded masses of charred moa bones and numerous fragments of moa egg shells in ' good preservation. Near tho gorge of tho Te-Nga-Wai were numerous Maori nmus, or ovens. Around some of them wo found charred bones i and masses of bone ash, together with layers of charred moa egg shells, charred wood and charcoal, which had all been recently covered with earth by. earthworms. These completed, we .turned our attention to another and more ready means of collecting moa bones. "While thus exploring for these relics, con-' tract ploughmen wero busy ploughing the virgin soil of tho limestone downs. Every day the ploughs turned up parts of skeletons of different species «f moa'. By carefully forking over the soil around the sites of the upturned bones we obtained tho remaining parts. The skull of one specimen with both mandibles and the soft tracheal rings found with it were afterwards submitted by Sir iWalter Buller to Sir Richard Owen, who pronounced them to belong to it gigantic and probably a new species of extinct wcka. In several instances we found some of tho smooth, much-worn jistard stones with tho bones, thus showing the "birds to have died where their bones lay. The other bones we obtained included some "belonging to the massive elephant-footed moa, and many others of morc-delicite skeletal structure. Tho week »before we b»£»n to follow the plough, a ploughman named Xetfe turned'up a heap of mixtd rat* bonti, which he collected and ■carried into the station house. They were composed chiefly of tarsal, tibial, femoral, and a few rert»br*l tones «f large moas, with • one Itrgs upper mandible, and a few claws. • Before leaving th« interesting district, we devoted several days to ditging up moas' bones ■ from the b»tt#ma of the swallow-holes and ' deep fissures of the limestone, but these belonged t» a nsre remote period of the moa age, and are beside the question at issue. On® of tkese lirr# swallow-holes remains a veritable nscropons -of moa bones, awaiting some enterprising collector with a littlo means to explore it perfectly. • Scientists now ' gsnerally agree . that the .moas attained their maximum development ;during the Plitstoceni Age;.and that from : various causes they gradually diminished in numbers and species, and ultimately became extinct. Tfhatsrer may have been the causo ; of the extinction «f the birds, whose bones i. we lad in situations favourable to their long • ; »ad perfect preservation dossnot interest us i kere. .?robably 1 some p:rished during tho : Glacier ?eriod, as indicated by the presence ••f t>eir bones in post-glacial and alluvial deposit. With all thsjs facts before us, I am, m#v»rth«less, earnestly convinced that soveral species «f moa lived in considerable numbers ia Scuth Canterbury well within the last 200 years. The rich swampy vegetation covoring large areas, surrounded by richly-grasscd downs and warm valleys, during tlio Ngati--Mamoe occupation of these districts, formed ideal ffceding grounds for tho huge graminivorous birds, whose bones wero unoarthod i in considerable quantities while draining and .ploughing the lamia. The faet that results 'on these lines irera very uniform over tho areas noted, 'gives snpport to my expressed opinions. When forking out the bones on the limestone downs, we had no difficulty in distinguishing tho birds of different ages by their softer or more solid condition. The exceedingly hard and solid structure of tho mature bones would naturally resist solvents of the soil for a longer period than those of immature birds. Thero was, howover, to us tho most unmistakable ovidenoe that neither had been long dead. Tho presence of tho B»ft tracheal rings and tho interior parts of tie maxilla in several skeletons or parts of skeletons we unearthed on tho open downs akowtd that they had not been long in tho •erth. Further evidence I would adduce in support *f tho theory of recent Maori-moa extinction show that the extinct Ngati-Mamoe ptople were long resident in the caves and reck ihelters, and that they subsisted on the birda—ai elearly shewn in the contents of their kitcktn middens—if tlioy did not protect, a*r farm far food purposes, soveral species »f m«a over a considerable area of South Cwterbury until th» time of their own oxttrmiiiation by Ngai-Tahu within the historic poried. The latter includes the last twenty years of the eighteenth century as narrated to the late Hon. Mr. Mantell sixty years ago, and later to Canon Stack by the then last eld chiefs of Ngati-Mamoo, who witnessed tho closing scones of the struggle. These rude painted dwellings l occur on the Tc-Nga-Wai, in Totarar Valley, in the main and many side valleys of tho Opihi, at Care,

and formerly on the Kakaihu, all of which districts have frequently yielded large quantities of well-preserved moa bones t together with both Tucle and polished greenstone and other implements. The occurrence of seal bones ana .sea shells in the floors of these rude dwellings also proves those people to have been occasionally, or, perhaps, periodically, nomadio. The rock paintings on the slteltor faces having been painted or decorated with grotesque figures of fish, birds, and historic "incidents," over largo spaces over and over again' for generations, also indicate their long .resident® in these primeval abodes. Those, groups of remarkable figures depicbid on the rock faces, though in rude.stylo, .represent the work of tho oldtime Maori in the art : of painting. Probably, or ; presumably, the strongest phase of argument .maintained by tho opponents of the theory of recent Maori extinction of the moa is the absence of any tribal traditions having referenco to tho moa ago — especially in the South Island. "Lost as the moa is lost" occurs in a very old North Island Maori lament or waiata, whilo in the South Island, as in tho North Island, there are a numbor of Native place-names in which the word "moa" occurs. Mr. Porcy Smith,: tho. distinguished Maori scholar and Maori,,historian, lias explained, in volume XIV of "Tho Journal of .tho Polynesian Society," the absence of any Native traditions, referring to tho visit of Abel Tasman, and tho murder of his boat's crow in 1642. •' The original inhabitants of Tasman Bay were the Ngati-Tu-Mata-Kokiri, who, wero attacked and almost annihilated by an expedition of the Ngati-A.pa-ki-te-ra-to tribe from the North Island about the close of tho seventeenth century. The annihilation of. successive tribes, finally including tho Ngati-Mamoo by Ngai-Ta&u, tho present South Island 'Maoris, will also explain the paucity of Native traditions referring to tho moa in the South Island. No one for a moment doubts the remarks by Mr. H. C. , Field, the genial author of "New Zealand Perns," in his letter on the extinction of tho moa in the North Island, recently published by Mr. Bruce in The Dominion. It is quito possible, . however, that the Maoris, who narrated the story of recent living moas wero mistaken. The Maoris generally have a orude conception of tho space of timo" following lor between events of the past—even 'in their "own tribal lineage—that such Ternaries, I fear, cannot be accepted as proof of tho recent extinction of the moa in the North Island. All ovidences at the present time obtained by careful exploration unmistakably prove that the moas became extinct in tho North Island ages before they passed in tho South Island. However, tho present is the time to fully work out this very interesting and important subject, wMo the evidences aro with' us, and while tho facts 1 have given oan again and again bo verified in South Canterbury by all interested in the last of the moas. W. W. SMITH!. New Plymouth, October 13, 1908.