WELLINGTON PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4177, 10 August 1874, Page 3

WELLINGTON PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

A meeting of the members of this Society was held in the Maori House on Saturday evening; the President, Dr. Knight, in the chair. NEW MEMBERS. The folloiving gentlemen were named as having been elected members of the Society since the last meeting:—Mr. A. Todd, of Wanganui ; Mr. J. E. Nathan, and the Hon. Colonel Brett. CONTRIBUTIONS. Dr. Hectob called attention to the valuable contributions which had been presented to the Museum since the last meeting. Among these were a large collection of Crustacea—shrimps, prawns, and such like—found at Spitzbergen, presented, with some valuable works descriptive of the collection, hy Professor Zovim, of Stockholm ; also a series of English crag fossils, presented by Mr. Crompton, of Norwich. PAPERS. Mr. Travers read a letter from Captain Turnbull, Harbor Master at Hokitika, to the Hon. J. A. Bonar, Superintendent, descriptive of a portion of wreck found at the Haast, on the West Coast of the Middle Island. This fragment was found at a great distance from the present high water mark, surrounded by dense bush. It was discovered by diggers in 1867, since which time no trace could he found of any vessel of that class having been wrecked on the Coast of New Zealand. From the peculiar manner of construction, Captain Turnbull concluded that it was a piece of the hull of a French or Netherlands built ship. Dr. Hector said that in 1867 he had called attention to the wreck in a short account which appeared in the Society’s papers, and by the kindness of the District Surveyor, Mr. Muller, he had been enabled to make the sketch showing the position of the wreck, which he exhibited. The most important point was the distance from high-water mark at which it had been found, which was fully 300 yards. It was surrounded hy low ngaio scrub, the terraces behind being heavily timbered. Tliis proved that the high-water mark at that time must have been very different from what it is at present. It had been suggested during the former discussion that the piece of wreck had been cast into that position by an earthquake wave, but he thought it rather due to the rapid making of the coast. The vessel to which it had belonged had been built in a peculiar manner, screw trenails having been used, and a layer of felt between every two layers of timber. Captain Fraser suggested that it might be a portion of La Perouse’s ship, which had for many years been sought in vain. He intended taking a portion of it home with him, and lodging it with the French Government, with a view to identification. THE SUMNER CAVE. Dr. Hector then read an interesting paper on the Sumner Cave, in Canterbury, New Zealand, by Mr. A. McKay, of the Geological Department, who had made excavations there for Dr. Haast in 1872. The exploration occupied seven weeks, and on its completion tlio collections and notes which were made were given to Dr. Haast, and the paper now read was chiefly occupied with the author’s own views on the question—whether the moa hunters were possessed of tools other than those of the rudest description ; and whether there were any facts constituting a difference between them and the Maoris of later times ? The cave, which -has been excavated - by the sea in a soft stratum between two hard layers of. lava rock, is nbw a long; .way. from. the sea shore, and although careful measurements have shown that the sandy floor of the cave is only a few feet above high-water mark, the accumulations of drift outside the cave have reached a much higher level. The lowest deposit in the cave was a'smooth level floor of sea sand, on the surface of which lay a considerable quantity of driftwood; covering this was a bed of breccia formed by debris from the roof of the cave and containing blocks of large size in some parts, especially towards the middle. The cave consists of three chambers, of which the outer is the largest, being 100 feet long, 74 feet wide, and from 12 to 25 feet high, and the thickness of this breccia was greatest where the cave was highest. This layer contained great quantities of bones of birds of small size, seal bones, a few flint flakes, and a |)iece of obsidian ; and immediately underlying ’ this bed, and six inches beneath the surface of'the underlying sand, a human jaw and heel bdim were found, and immediately over the spot the trunk of a seal that had evidently' been stranded. The existence of charred seal bones and burnt drift wood proves that the cave had been occupied- by man-at this -early period. Overlying the breccia was a “dirt.bed” containing charcoal, fragments of nets, matting, tools of wood and of stone of - high polish and finish, together-with moa bones and egg-shells and ijhe remains of, old cooking ovens. . In one part the breccia had beep cleared away and 4 hut erected, of which the butts of three posts "Still "remain.' A notable feature in the.dirt bed' was the absence of.' marine shells, .but overlying it was a bed composed almost entirely of shells varying in thickness from one to five feet. The uppermost layer of all consisted of decayed grass and fern leaves, in which European and Maori materials were freely mixed; In’the inner and smaller caves both fire-heaps and moa bones were found.. Excavations outside the cave-, showed an intermixture of polished stone implements mixed with moa and dog bones, but few or no sheila. There appeared everywhere to be a clear division between the moa hone deposits and the overlying shell bed, indicating, no doubt, a long period which followed the extinction of the moas in the neighborhoodbf the cave, during which the Natives -hunted them in the more remote parts of the country, hut returning afterwards to subsist on sbell-fish. Snob a radical change of food indicated a considerable lapse of time, during which'.'the cave probably remained uninhabited. ' After discussing the relative age of the . moa ovens at the Rakaia and elsewhere, the author considered the Sumner cave to bo the oldest. While the evidence obtained does not show that the moa hunters were in any way different from tho Maoris, ho yet considered tho period of the cave deposits as much more remote than tho traditional date of tho first arrival of tho Maoris in New Zealand—36o years ago—and thought that probably 1350 years would be nearer themark. He considered tho asserted absence of any traditional knowledge of the moa amongst the Maoris showed that tho moa was exterminated either,hy a different race, or that tho Maoris arrived at a date long prior to which their traditions extend, i Mr. T. Cockburn Hood, in connection with this subject, read extracts from a letter ho had received from a high authority on such matters —Judge Manning—affirming tho existence of Maori traditions regarding the moa; also regarding the hokoiai, and tho use of rough stone

implements by the Maoris, for cutting purposes. ... The Chairman then read a paper by Mr. J. H. Hamilton, of Christchurch, on Maori traditions respecting the moa, and describing the first discovery of the moa bones in Sumner Cave by the officers of the Acheron; and showing that the Natives in the South had a perfect knowledge of the moa’s former existence. Dr. Hector observed that Mr. Hamilton had been , one of the survey officers on board H.M.S. Acheron, when that vessel was surveying the New Zealand coast, and his statements might be relied on, as he had ample opportunities. Mr. Travers regretted that he had not been aware that the paper on the Sumner Cave was to be read that evening, as he had in his possession a quantity of bones and implements du" out of that cave, and along with them the fragment of a gourd which had evidently been used for drinking purposes. He might mention as an interesting fact, that there was a family of cave-men living in a cave in Port Nicholson, which was situate at less than a mile from the Pilot Station at the Heads. There were six or seven Maoris living there, and he had frequently visited tlxem. - Mr. Webb remarked that a complete human skeleton, now in the Christchurch Museum, had been found in the cave, no mention of which was made in the paper. He also stated that a fine deposit of moa bones had been lately fofmd in deposit that covers the hills round Lyttelton harbor. Dr. Hector said that the only grounds Mr. McKay had for doubt as to the x-eceut date of the moa’s existence, seemed to be the absence of Maori traditions with regard to it. He could only say that modern Maoris seem to know all about it. When he was at Hikurangi he sought out the oldest Maori and conversed with him respecting the different kinds of birds there. The Maori knew the moa, and said he could get some of the bones, anti that he knew a man who had seen one. He also knew the tarepo, which was a kind of large goose that went about with the moas. They wex-e now extinct, but had been seen by living Maoris. We should bear in mind that if Mr. Mantell had not procured two skins of the notoruis, they would have knoxvn of its existence only from bones found in Maori ovens, as in the case of the moa. On the whole he thought there was no reason for jumping to the conclusion that the moa had become extinct at a very remote period. The positive evidence of the existence of the moa in New Zealand was probably greater than that of the existence of the emu in some parts of Victoria. Many persons wex'e not conversant with the rapidity with which animals disappear. In proof of this he would refer to the bison. A hundred and fifty years ago these animals roamed over the Eastern States in countless herds ; yet it would now be very difficult to obtain positive proof of their existence in those States. We should therefore be cax-eful in accepting assumptions on this subject, as they might misleixd us ' inregard to the physical changes in post tertiary times in New Zealand, and especially as there is no coxxutry so favorably circumstanced as this for settling interesting questions about the origin and variation of species and other important points. Mr. Hood thought it quite possible that the tarepo still existed. He quite agreed with the remarks of Dr. Hector as to the rapidity with which animals pass away. In Switzerland not one man in a thousand could give a description of the beaver, yet we know that the last one there was killed as recently as 1812. TERTIARY ROCKS. Dr. Hector read a paper on the tertiax-y series of Wanganui, by Mr. Purnell, and observed that the paper pointed out an unconfox--mity in breaking up the lower Wanganui series, which, if established, would have an important bearing on the geology of the district. MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE OP THE IGNEOUS ROCKS OF THE MALVERN HILLS. A paper on this subject by R. Daintree, Esq., Agent-General for Queensland, was partially read. Dr. Hector stating that specimens had been sent by him to the author, who was formerly Government 1 Geologist in Australia, and was now devoting his attention to this subject. The results of his examination so far were vexy interesting, but of a highly technical nature. The President remarked that this method of examining rocks was a very recent and important advance in science, and he was glad to see that its application to New Zealand was not overlooked. The meeting then adjourned until Saturday next ; but many members remained to examine a large series of sketches made by Mr. W. M. Cooper, illustrating the scenery of the West Coast mining districts, and other parts of the Colony, and which he has kindly loft for inspection at the Museum.