DR. DE LAUTOUR'S LECTURE,

North Otago Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 7465, 13 September 1892, Page 2

DR. DE LAUTOUR'S LECTURE,

Dr rle Liutour deliverpd a lecture on the Moa in the Athenjeum Hall last ovening, when thore was only a moderats attendance. The audience was, however, a very appreciative one. ,iud tha lecturer* remarks were Hitened to with increasing interest. Mr Alfred Headland introduced the lecturer, who at once entered into his subject. The Doctor spoke of the general history of the moa, together with some of the difficulties in placing and in Gliding oub approximately when the moa lived in New Zsaland j and through what reason and by whal causj they became extinct. The discovery of the moa had excited much interest in the scientific world, and when Professor Owen, of England, was first shown a mo* bone he recognised it to bo a bird a bone, and desired a museum to purchase the relict at a great 'price, ai it indicated the dis* oovery of a species of bird extinct. Bub people laughed at him, and the relicb passed away. Discoveries of moa bones ' had lei to the discovery of other extinct New Zealand birds, such as an enormous rail, an eagle-hawk, and a large goose. The first great and important find of moa bones was that at Glenraark, and Sir Julius yon Hiast supplied the demand of the museums of the world for moa bones ; and in exchange for the surplus bones, Sir Julius yon Kaast obtained some L 20,000 worth of curios. Ofthe4o,ooo bones found at Eufield, the sp'cnnens before them had been built, and each bone in the casuarinus, the cnasus, and the didyna had to be compared with 3000 or 4000 other bones before theit> excellent specimens had been accurately fitted together. He described the specimens exhibited ai the completed specimen* that could be built up, »nd their arrangement reflected great, credit upon Professor Hutton and Mr Sparks The lecturer had himself compiled an eleplnntus species of moa, und "to tho uninitiated," to us* the lecturer's own phrase, it looked just as complete .»s mmy of tho skeletons which were exhibited as moas in many of the museums of the world, notwithstanding tint hundreds of bones of different birds had been used to build up the specimens before them. The lecturer treated of tb« geologic^ time -it which the mois existed, and it w is generally decided that the moa coul 1 not possibly have existed according to gcologionl history before the tertiary period. Ho thought some human agency, -is in the cisc of 'he American bison, had come m to hasten tho destruction of the moa. Mr S'umbles, a Timaru contractor, foun-1 some moa bones under the lava, and tint was tb» oldest gwlogicil find of ni<M bones. The lecturer himself found bones near the coast in Maori ovens ; and exhibited a fen* broken pieces of moa egg sholls, which he h>»d found near the mouth of the Awtmoa creek, and indicated that the shells hvl been subjected to he tl That nlso indioited, nccurding to Dr PI iast, fliat th°r<> na? a race prior to i lie existence of the Maori, who were moa hnu eis. Tln-so people wercc«lled the Morion, a id were infinitely less civilised thau the Miori. According to semi writers the Moriories destroyed iho iic . The M tori had very tew traditions which we.it bick for 350 years, but little reference was made to the moa in these traditions ; whiloPipi, a Maori, told C 'I. Miodonald that as a lad 16 yoira of age, he had heen present at a moa hunt. Another authority averred that the Maori anived in Now Zealand 1350 years a«o, and fell upon the moa and aie th"m up, and then forgot all about ib. WYh regird to the find at E ifijH, he could only attribute the finding of some 3000 or 4000 moas bones in a pit some 20 feet long by six feet wide and four deep, to the theory that the moas had come to that placa to die, and if only two or three a-year died there, and if, as waa supposed, the moa existed for 5000 years, that would easily accounb for so many being found at the same place. And the lecturer believed that as the gullies and swamps were drained,

further finds of moa b<meß would be found in impenetrable places where the birds had hid themselves avt»y to die. It was a well-known fact th-it some birds and other animals had huiying places of their own. There h.irl been discovered by Capt. Hut ton some 33 different species of moas, varying in height from two to 12 or 13 feet. The lecturer, after debcribing and exhibiting a number of the parts of (he nidi limies, concluded an interesting and instinctive lecture, for which, at iho instance of MrHeidUnd, he was accorded a vote of thanks by accl imation.