Considering how comparatively soon his visit followed upon the atrocities recorded by Mr. Shand, it is difficult to understand how the good Bishop could have been kept so much in the dark as to the true history of the Maori usurpation as his remarks would lead one to suppose. It is not difficult to believe that whoever invented the title “elder brother of the Bishop” for the unfortunate Moriori was gifted with a certain sense of humour, but the “amusing stories” of the first invasion were probably very carefully selected before they were allowed to come to the ears of the distinguished visitor. With the advent of European settlers the condition of the Morioris was doubtless greatly improved. As, however, the Maori occupation of the island took place prior to the Treaty of Waitangi, their ownership of the land by right of conquest has been admitted, with the exception of 2,000 acres, which they have been obliged to set apart as a reserve for their former slaves, of whom the remnant appear now to be very well treated, and to live on terms of equality with both Maoris and Europeans. The younger ones, at any rate, dress like Europeans and follow the same occupations—in fact, they are so completely “civilised” as to be no longer of much scientific interest. The extent of the Moriori population in former years is still attested by the immense quantity of human remains with which the shores of the island are littered, and by the abundant evidence of native handiwork. At intervals along the low sandhills which fringe the greater part of the shore old burying-places and huge shell-mounds or “kitchen-middens” are met with. It was the custom of the race to bury some, at any rate, of their dead in the sand by the sea-shore, in a sitting posture, facing the west, with the elbows down and the knees up. In many places the remains have been exposed by the wind, and the shore is strewn with skulls and bones in various stages of dismemberment. Owing doubtless to the ease with which graves are scooped out in the loose sand, the Maoris chose (at any rate, at first) similar situations on the island for their cemeteries, so that it is now by no means easy to say whether any particular skull or other bone picked up on the shore belonged to one of the conquered or one of the conquering race. The only safe plan for those who wish to obtain specimens for scientific investigation is to dig out the entire skeleton, when the sitting posture may be regarded as sufficient proof of Moriori origin, for the Maoris appear to have buried their dead in a horizontal position. ** Visit to the Chatham Islands in the Year 1848.” London. Printed for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and sold by the Sooiety for Promoting Christian Knowledge. 1851.