course, no means of judging of the age of the kitchen middens of the shell-fish eaters, but it is evident that they are not of recent origin, if we take their position and contents into account. In fact, I believe them to be the equivalents of similar beds near the Sumner Cave, and which the natives themselves assign to the Waitaha, the remotest Maori occupation. On geological evidence alone the kitchen middens of the Moa-hunting population at Shag Point must therefore be pronounced to be of considerable antiquity.

Art. V.—On the Identity of the Moa-hunters with the present Maori Race. By Alexander McKay, of the Geological Survey Department. [Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 8th August, 1874.] During the spring of 1872, under the direction of Dr. Haast, of Christchurch, I excavated what is known as Moa-bone Cave, which is situated about seven miles from Christchurch, on the Christchurch and Sumner Road; the object of the excavation being to procure further information relative to the association of Moa-bones with the remains of the former human inhabitants of the cave. On the completion of the work I supplied Dr. Haast with a report embodying the main facts collected during the progress of the excavation, together with ample collections of the various relics found. My present paper is but an amplification of the report mentioned, with the addition of my own views respecting the matter at issue, viz:—Whether the Moa-hunters were possessed of tools other than those of the rudest description; and whether this constituted a distinction between them and the Maori inhabitants of later times? With these objects in view work was commenced on 3rd October, and was continued for the following seven weeks, during which period the entire cave and a considerable area outside was turned over. The cave is situated in a low spur of the volcanic range just opposite the junction of the Avon and Heathcote rivers, the mouth of the cave looking north-west, and facing the estuary of the two rivers. The cave itself results from the excavation by the sea of an old soil and other loose material between the two compact streams of lava rock, and it consists of three separate chambers in a nearly straight line from the entrance. The outer cave is by far the largest. It measures 100 feet in length, 74 feet at its greatest width, and varies in height from 12 to 25 feet. The walls are for the most part nearly vertical, the roof jagged and uneven, as its varying