THE NEWEST BOOKS.

Otago Witness, Issue 4039, 11 August 1931, Page 64

THE NEWEST BOOKS.

A KING OF BIRDS.

“ The Mystery of the Moa: New Zealand’s Aviaii Giant,” By T. Lindsay Buick, F.R.Hist.S. Published under the auspices of the Board of Maori Ethnological Research. (Cloth; illustrated; If>s.) New Plymouth: Thomas Avery and Sons, Ltd. My main object has been to gather together the scattered story of the bird, to weld its many fragments into a connected whole, to garnish it with such new facts as can now be obtained, and to draw such icasonable deductions as can be drawn from the vague circumstances sun - .'tndiiig the moa as

we vaguely know them. . . . The story of the moa is so deeply mysterious, so embarrassingly complicated, so exaspcratingly elusive, that it presents a wider field for imaginative speculation than it does for the presentation of demonstrable facts; yet it is demonstrable facts wo require, and not the dreams of fancy or the figments of romance. To compel wide attention two indispensable elements are necessary to the making of an outstanding book—a' good subject and a capable writer. Very early in our island history the moa became one of the engrossing matters associated with the colony. Scientists ami investigators who were not scientific bent their energies to the understanding of “ the gigantic struthions bird—the largest in the world —known to science as

Dinornis, once an inhabitant of New Zealand.” Interest in the quest for knowledge of the moa grew, and with the discoveries of bones and skeletons, the number of investigators increased. Theories multiplied, and this great bird became surrounded by traditions as interesting as they were varied. Those there were who declared that they had beheld the giant alive—that though they had visited its haunts with the fixed intention of shooting the bird, the aweinspiring vision of the thing itself rendered them incapable of action. So the lore of the moa is in keeping with its authenticated proportions, and it is a subject deeply engrossing. Mr Buick has long since proved his fitness for the task of sifting the facts relating to the mystery of the moa. He has given us several historical works which have enriched the literature of our country. The distinguishing feature of all of it has been the accuracy of statement where such is essential, and a dressing of fact in a garb which gives it life. We have had occasion to commend his work in the past; but his present book is even more noteworthy than anything from his pen which has preceded it. With a subject so engrossing and a talented pen, “ The Mystery of the Moa ” is in all respects a notable book. Chapter 1- —“The Days Primeval”— introduces the reader to the big birds of tho past and the present; focussing attention’ on the extinct moa. In this examination, Air Buick endeavours to cover all known discoveries and locations, and in doing so takes the reader far afield and very close to Dunedin. It is clear that the moa roamed over almost the whole territory of New Zealand, certainly through the lighter forests and over the plains in some parts in considerable numbers. The discoveries and testimony of every authority are here

set out in imposing array, and the bird of antiquity has received attention from famous men of many lands. In the second chapter Mr Buick enters the shadowy past and discusses the question as to who was the European who actually first heard of the moa and when that event occurred. He points out that Dr John Savage’s book, “ Some /Account of New Zealand,” the first book devoted exclusively to New Zealand, published in 1807, makes no mention of the moa. And so with later books. “The silence of the Natives on the subject of the moa when discussing the natural history of their country with its early visitors may be taken, and indeed it has been taken,” say a Mr Buick, “as evidence that the Maori of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries did not know as much of the moa as lias been claimed for him.” The first reference we have to the moa in our literature, says Mr Buick, occurs in J. S. Polack’s “ New Zealand,” published in 1838. Polack was shown by the Maoris the bones of several large creatures, and was told stories of the methods of their ancestors in ensnaring the giant birds, of which these hones were said to be relics. The native traditions related to Polack by the Natives consisted of weird and wonderful stories of a man-destroying bird which lived on the top of a distant mountain, and these stories were later repeated to the Rev. William Colenso. It was in 1839 that the moa commenced to become an established fact, mainly through the action

of John Rule, who “was for a time almost as mysterious a character as the bird in whose revelation he played, so important a part.” The famous piece of tone which now rests in the British Museum was sent by Dr John Rule, of New South Wales, by John William Harris, not an ignorant sailor, as has been stated, but a “ young man of some education,” who came to Poverty Bay from Sydney just 100 years ago. Dr Rule speaks of Harris as “ a highly respectable person who has resided for several years in New Zealand,” and who on many occasions had travelled over parts of the country once frequented by the moa, or, as he termed it, “a movie.” This bone was destined to become famous. Professor Owen wa a not impressed by the specimen. He concluded that in all probability it was simply a beef bone, such as is brought to table in a napkin. It certainly was not the bone of a “ great eagle,” as some Maoris supposed. Dr Rule differed from this hasty conclusion, and Professor Owen promised next day to give him a more considered opinion. The Result of the more critical examination of the relic is told in Professor Owen’s work, “ The Extinct Wingless Birds of New Zealand,” his final conclusion being that—

The specimen had come from a bird; that it was the shaft of a thigh bone, and that it must have formed part of a skeleton as large as, if not larger than, the full-sized male ostrich, with the more striking difference that, whereas the femur of the ostrich, like that of the rhea and the eagle, is pneumatic, or contained air. the present huge bird's bone had been filled with marrow like that of a beast.

From that onward the moa was a definitely established fact, and Mr Buick devotes many pages and illustrations to further elucidation of the “ mystery.”

Up to the year 1846 the discoveries of moa bones had been confined to the North Island. It was then hoped that in the South Island some living specimens might still be preserved upon its sparsely peopled plains and among its rugged fastnesses. “The first important find in the South Island was made in 1846 by Dr Mackellar, who found a number of hones near the estuary or the Waikouaiti River on the east coast of Otago, and 29 miles north-west of Dunedin. The discovery was. not remarkable for what Dr Mackellar found, so much as for what he left, for the same deposit was subsequently examined by other explorers with much richer results. But few though the bones were that Dr Mackellar obtained, they proved to be remarkably perfect specimens, and excited the admiration of Professor Owen when he saw them prior to their being deposited in the Natural History Museum of the University of Edinburgh. “ Relics were found in many parts of Otago, notably at Awa-Moa, and the lake beds, such as Moa Flat; and at Hamilton’s.

There were many species of moa—one find at Glenmark of perhaps 1000 nioas represented fourteen. The large cemeteries of moas were, in Mr Buick's opinion, the result of forest fires. The birds sought refuge in the swamps, only to be eventually suffocated. In the final chapters the author describes the changing of the old order and the disappearance of the moa. In “The Date of Departure ” Mr Buick reviews a mass of evidence relative to the probable date of the bird a extinction. It appears fairly clear that it lived later in Otago than in the North Island. Everything which could possibly assist in clarifying the ‘ mystery ” appears to have been examined. and all sorts of stories of those who claimed to have seen the famous bird in the fiesh are narrated. Incidentally one is reprinted from the Otago Witness, in 1878, retailing that a moa had actually been seen near Waian (North Canterbury). It was described as “ being very much higher than any emu ever seen in Australia, and standing very much more erect on its legs. is described as a sort of silver grev wiHi greenish streaks through it.” Mr’Buick believes that the bird was destroyed somewhere about 160 years ago. This refers broadly to the main attacks made upon the birds hr the moahunters, but does not imply that a remnant or the race did not continue to live on m favoured spots, particularly in Central Otago, until the early part of the nineteenth century. To thus retreat the birds were being slowly driven when Richard 111 came to the throne of Eng- .• . there they maintained a diminishing existence until, the commencement of the glorious and record reign of Queen Victoria.

Here is a conspicuous addition to the literature relating to New Zealand—a book to be much valued. The author has undoubtedly enhanced his already high reputation, To the Board of Maori Ethnological Research the country owes much, and a later generation will appreciate the debt at a higher and more accurate value. The board has acted wisely in publishing this volume, and even in these days of economic stress we hope the board will continue its work of collecting historical data, which can only be accomplished while the material is available. In certain cases even next year may be too late. Messrs Avery and Sons present the work in most appropriate format. MODERN WHALING. “Whaling in the Antarctic.” By A. G. Bennett, member of the British Ornithological Union and bf the Royal Australian Ornithological Union. (Cloth; with illustrations and diagrams; 7s 6d net.) Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, Ltd. . . . to attack a whale some sixty feet or more in length and weighing a good Fifty tons, from an open rowing boat some eighteen feet long, required no little courage. In an opening chapter, containing * brief history of old-time whaling,- Mr Bennett gives his readers a glimpse of the dangers, privations, and scope of operations pursued by the precursors of the highly mechanised methods adopted to-day. Of that aspect much has been written, and the past has been made familiar in fact and in fiction. Mr Bennett’s book deals exhaustively and authoritatively with the new era of mammoth factory ships and fast chasers in which guns and explosive bombs have replaced the hand-propelled harpoon. His home is in the Falkland Islands, that remote community of the South Atlantic, and personal knowledge and observation are the background of his work. A very informative and interesting book is the result. The illustrations add to its value and attractiveness.

Whaling has always been based on the commercial value of the catch. For a time the high price of “ baleen ” (whalebone) kept the industry going until steel almost displaced it. Later paraflin in its many forms upset the market for whale oil. Coining to more recent times Mr Bennett says that the inventive genius of Svend Foyn, of Tonsberg, Norway, is responsible for the evolution of the modern practice of whaling “ from nothing into its present form.” The last few years have added only minor improvements to his technique. “ These improvements are certainly more deadly, but the tactics remain the same in all essentials, though the new plant is vastly

more expensive.” The work of this man, who began life as a sealer in the Arctic Ocean, means an annual income of from £3,000,000 to £4,000,000 to his native country of Norway. The experiments, accompanied by successes and failures, are quite romantic. With the suppression of whaling on the Norwegian coast it became necessary to find new fields for exploitation. To-day’s 90 per cent, of Norway’s whaling harvest comes from the Southern Ocean. The Norwegians have now developed the greatest whaling industry the world has known, “ and in the present century some two hundred thousand whales have been captured in Antarctic waters and a further 10 per cent, lost.”

Mr Bennett takes his readers over all the whaling grounds, introduces them to the various species, describes their habits, considers the problems associated with the industry, and details the modern methods of capture and the uses of the product. To the pertinent question: Can the whales, irrespective of species, stand up to, and hold their own against, the present slaughter? he offers some valuable information. “ Most thinking men who have some knowledge on the subject look upon the whales as doomed to ‘go out ’ as a commercial

proposition. This view is, unfortunately, strongly supported by past zoological history, which shows a succession of almost complete exterminations.” The investigations of the R.R.S. Discovery expedition will, it is expected, add much to the sum of knowledge on this question. The book is crammed with interesting details. For instance, the tongue of a big blue whale has been known to yield two and one-third tons of oil, a baby whale when born may exceed 20 feet in length, a whale may be supposed to have entered his old age at 30 years, In big whales the stomach contents consist of many cart loads, and so on. The author’s general view of the Antarctic, the region “ beyond the edge of the world,” is a very informative chapter, and this is especially true of the chapters entitled “ Creatures of the Antarctic.” In his final words, “ The Human Element,” Mr Bennett is apprehensive of the future. “It cannot, I think, be doubted that the present death rate of whales exceeds the economic limit, while • legislation seems powerless to bring about a permanent restriction. Public opinion, if it were possible to arouse it in connection with an industry so remote from the man in the street, might, perhaps, do something to stay the slayer’s hand; in the interest, be it marked, both of the pursued and the pursuer. At any rate it is the duty of any man who has a practical knowledge of the facts to raise his voice in protest—however feeble that voice mav be.”

■ And by way of eloquent commentary on the attributes of the human hunter there is interlaced in this chapter a photograph of “ a kindly man who has killed 5000 whales and loves a dog—his constant companion.” He is seen nursing his dog.