The record-union., 1893-07-29
MoAS MAY STILL BE FOUND.
New Zealand Said to Have Some of the
Gigantic Birds Left.

New Zealand Said to Have Some of the
Gigantic Birds Left.
A dispatch from Berlin few DAYS ago
stated that the Ornithological Society had
discovered in the north island OF New
Zealand living species of bird twice as
large as the ostrich, and supposed hith
erto to be extinct. The Boston Herald
thinks that if the German scientist has
really caught his bird the discovery is the
most remarkable in natural history, and
his prize is a much greater attraction
than Barnum's white elephant or any
other animal that the most enterpriSing
circus manager ever exhibited to a Curl
GUS audience. In short, this bird is the
moa, which has interested ornithologists
since white people first entered New
Zealand. When the British settled in
New Zealand they found Numerous
skeletons of gigantic bird of the ostrich
family. AS the skeletons indicated, it
was from twelve to sixteen feet high.
Professor Owen made u study of forty
seven almost perfect specimens sent to
England by Mr.. Williams, a missionary,
who had them taken from the banks and
beds of rivers, where they were buried
only slightly in the mud and evidently
within recent times.
The interest of the European investiga-
sions was further excited by the tales that
New Zealand natives told of the gigantic
bird. The scientists named it the dinor-
nus giganteus, but the Maoris called it the
moa, and the native name prevailed. The
Maoris said that the bird was alive in
New Zealand not many generations ago,
and their tribal lore contained many ac-
counts OF encounters with this enormous
ostrich. There were legends OF daring
moa hunters, and some OF the natives as
serted that few of the great birds still
existed in lonely ana almost inaccessible
parts of the New Zealand Mountains.
Thus everything pointed TO the fact that
the bird was not confined to some former
geological era, but had existed until a
comparatively late period. This theory
received further confirmation from the
fact that the Maoris themselves had been
! in New Zealand only a few centuries.
| According to their undoubted legends
| these Maoris were originally natives of
| Samoa. Their ancestors, cruising around
| in canoes, had been blown many hundred
miles away to New Zealand in the thir-
| teenth or fourteenth century of the Chris
tian era. The island being uninhabited be-
! fore they arrived, the great bird could have
tiourished there unmolested for ages. The
Maoris slaughtered the birds in great
numbers. The moa was not dangerous
unless wounded or lnfuriated by the hunt
ers, being similar in temper, as in form.
to the ostrich. The mOa captivated Pro-
fessor owens imagination. He pictured
| it the lord of the great Polynesian Islands
I
mails, until the human animal, with his
superior intelligence, came.
| According to Professor OWENS theories,
deduced from his studies of the skeletons,
| the moa was heavier and bulkier in pro-
portion to its hight than the ostrich. but
! less swift OF foot. The shape of its skull
indicated an affinity to the dodo, with
lower cerebral development, and conse-
| Quently with greater stupidity. Thus
this heavy, stupid bird became
comparatively easy prey to the Maori
hunters, who are the boldest and most
vigorous type of the modern barbarian, a
few hundred of them holding 10000 per-
fectly armed, equipped and well-otficered
British troops at bay for more than two
years. Some such discovery as this Ger
| man scientist Is reported to have made is
not unexpected. Scientists have been in
clined to believe the Maori stories, and
some of them have held that the living
bird would be discovered yet i'll the wild
| interior OF New Zealand. SO far as can be
ascertained, there were two distinct
species OF these birds. One habited the
North Island of New Zealand and the
other was a native of the South or Mid
die Island. The South Island bird was
the largest and stood sixteen feetin hight.
| Professor Owen, on account of its size,
called it the elephantopus. 1t was extra
ordinary for the massive strength of its
limbs, breadth and bulk as well as hight
in the North American continent. Many
persons have seen the skeleton OF the
mammoth in the museums of natural his
tory. 1t is generally believed that the
huge beast became extinct thousands of
years ago. Ear up in Alaska. almost to
the coast of the Arctic Ocean, the Indians
say that herd of the mammoths still ex-
ist. The story is repeated with such per-
sistency and with such an air of sincerity
that some people believe that it is not a
mere hunters tale. About a month ago
this report was brought in again by In
dian hunters to one of the Alaskan trad
ing posts. They claimed that they had
seen the mammoths running along the
desolate shores OF the Arctic Ocean.
Their description of the animals tailed
exactly with the mammo:hs OF the mu-
seums. Perhaps the ordinary American
citizen may SOME day look upon the liv-
ing moa and the living mammoth.
The British Admiralty has made con-
tract with a firm OF photographers to fur
nish photographs of every section aud
detail of the men-of-war composing the
Queens navy, and as far as possible of
the vessels OF other nayies,