Page:Transactions NZ Institute Volume 9.djvu/622

Rh ancestors used to collect the feathers found near its entrance, as ornaments. My informant could not tell how long ago this occurred, and seemed rather inclined to set the whole story down as "he korero parau na nga tupuna" or old men's tales. It is, however, strange that I had heard, many years before, from a Northern Native, that the last Moa was seen on the East Coast, at a place called Whakapuna, evidently indicating this same mountain, though the last syllable of the name had been dropped.

There are several interesting physiographical questions, which a study of this district would illustrate, such as the origin of Lake Waikaremoana and other smaller lakes, most of which occupy true rock basins not scooped out by glaciers; the course taken by the present rivers, which are not always along the natural water-courses; the encroachment of the sea; and the alternations in the level of the land; but they would prolong this paper to an undue length, and moreover require to be dealt with by an abler observer than myself.

Appended hereto is a list of the fossils seen, as far as they can be identified, an estimate of the probable thickness of each group, and a map and sections.