The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1890-01-23

| " Cho heF. hlcnard Taylor, +. g.
o., VINO found in Maori house the frag-
ment of large bone which he supposed
at hrst to be human, but concluded. on
examination, to be that of bird. In
| qu1ry of the natives elected the infor-
nation that they knew the bone to he
mat OF bird; that such bones were not
uncommon, and that they used them in
the manufacture of their LARGEST fish
hooks. They also made the somewhat
apochryphal statement that a single
specimen OF the bird still lived in a
cave on a mountain near by; that it
always stood on one leg, and was guarded
by an immense lizard. This discovery
II mean of the bone, for the living bird
never materialized, although explorers
found plenty of caves was made on the
east coast, where the natives called the
bird the ''tarepo." Four years later. on
the west coast, he found perfect ceme-
terry of these bones, and heard the bird
called for the first time the ''moa'-the
natives, very singularly, never having
heard the name used by their brethren
on the other side of the island. For
long time no specimen could be found of
moa's skull, since the bones of this
part Of the body are so thin and delicate
as to be easily destroyed. The natives.
however, encouraged him by saying that
they would procure one, and advanced
the information that the moa's skull
was as large as that of a horse-sure
proof that they had never seen one,
since it is, in fact, not larger than that
of an ostrich, and curiously dispropor-
tionate to the great height of the bird.
Finally perfect skeleton was found.
the bones arranged on a sandy plain
just as they had lain when the bird died,
the rings of the windpipe even being
preserved, and a pile of quartz pebbles
showing the location of the gizzard.
The skull, in perfect shape, lay partly
lmbedded in the soil, and was in a highly
frlable condition. Removing it with
great care, the finder remounted his
horse to ride away, whereupon the ami
NAL, possessed of the devil, began to
"buck" most violently; off went the
reverend gentleman and away went the
precious skull, and was smashed beyond
remedy. Since then, however, many
skulls have been found, and appear in
museums all over New Zealand.
The greatest treasures of moa bones
are the old shell heaps on the west
coast, which mark the sites of feasts to
which the Maoris resorted during the
seasons of scanty harvests. Here they
regaled themselves on she'll fish, and
occasionally, as the mounds indicate.
varied their diet by seal, a baked
slave, or a noa, the bones of the latter
being found entire, since they had no
marrow in them to pay for breaking.
Excavations of these heaps brings to
light treasures of very varied char
acter. Not only bones of moas and
fragments of their eggs, but remains
also of other birds, such as ground par
rots and the apteryx, or kiwul fragments
of axes, knives, etc., wrought in pol
ished stone, are often found. The ovens
in which the moas were roasted appear to
have been in double lines, and to have
been used for many successive years, as
is shown from various thin layers of
sand alternating with the bones and
ashes. The number of ovens, and the
immenso store of scorehed bones in
them, indicate that the moa must have
existed in vast numbers.
According to native accounts, when
ever moa hunt was on foot the tribes
from all the region round were sum-
moned to assist. A great multitude
turned out and formed circle around
a wide stretch of country, fred the
thickets in every direction to drive
the birds from their haunts, and drove
them toward some lake, into which the |
terrified focks were forced and dis
patched without ability to make resist |
ance by people in canoes. To judge by
the contents of the ovens, not only were
the moas themselves eagerly eaten, but |
also their eggs, of which innumerable
fragments are found. The birds had |
thus little chance of perpetuating their
race, and so far as the North Island is
are undoubtedly extinct. |
Whether they have ceased to exist in |
the South Island is still matter of con-
lecture. So far as can be learned from |
native accounts the moa was undoubt- |
edly nocturnal and solitary in it's habits |
and may still be foundin secluded places |
upon the as yet impenetrable southwest |
coast The word ''moa" seems to be a |
generic Maori term for bird, and in the |
islands north of New Zealand the do
mestic fowl is called a moa The gem
eral opinion is in favor of the former ex-
istence of several species of the moa.
The skeletons in the Christehurch and /
Dunedin Museums show at least a half |
dozen strongly-marked varieties, and
studies of the eggs made by w. B. D.
T. G. s., perhaps the leading
authority on the subject, have resulted
IN the classification of no less than
swenty-four species. This gentleman,
BY patient researches among the she'll
heaps, has managed to reconstruct COM
pletely number of eggs from their
original fragments. An idea of the
labor entailed by the work may be
gained from tho fact that some of the
'ehabiliated specimens are composed of
between two and three hundred pieces.
The Dunedin and Christehurch Muse
1ms contain some unique relics of the
noa in the shape of pieces of flesh and
kin, which, being found in caves in a
section of country that is almost Egyp-
s&z l, |