HUMAN SKELETONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13846, 4 September 1908, Page 5

HUMAN SKELETONS.

MYSTERY OF THE PAST. MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD. [BY TELEGRAPH.SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.] ' I Wellington, Thursday. j At the foot of a half-burned stump on , ! Dr. Chappies' Makerua property. » skull ■ ! and one or two human bones were dis- . | covered a few days ago by an employee. . ! The remains had evidently been only a little } while exposed. The man made further in- , ! vestigation, and on removing the soil three , i whole skeletons were exposed to view— ) | that of a man, another of a woman, and f ! the third of a child. ' Dr. Chappie, who has seen the skeletons, , states that the slump at the fool of which r they were found stands on a small dry » ! eminence 100 yds or so from the main road. . | The bodies had lain there apparently for ■ j many years, 'the grass had sprung over . j them, and concealed them from sight, but : the recent Hies had" eaten into the roots . i of the stamp, and exposed the relics once [ "more to human tight. ( Dr. Chappie has taken the preliminary I steps towards; solving the mystery by subj mitling the bones to experts to ascertain -, I their n"e. His opinion is that , they had . occupied their shallow resting-place for s nearly half a century. Whether they are the skeletons of Maoris or Europeans it is - almost impossible lo tell. One interesting t and important thing is that on the left : upper arm hone of the male, near the , biceps, is a large dent, evidently an injury ! inflicted before death. This, however, only v adds to the mystery.