THE SUMNER CAVES.

Globe, Volume I, Issue 99, 24 September 1874, Page 4

THE SUMNER CAVES.

The following is the concluding portion of Dr Haast's paper on the excavations conducted by him at the Moa Bone Point Cave : . Although when enumerating in the foregoing notes the results obtained during the pursuit of the excavations, I have given already my views, formed from a consideration of the sequence of the beds of human origin, their age and peculiarities, I think it will be useful if I offer in conclusion a short resume of the work performed and contemplated as a whole. The excavations have shown that a nearly level floor of marine sands existed, resting upon the rocky bottom of the cave, these sands being 4J feet above high water mark at the entrance of the cave, and gradually rising to eight feet near its termination. There is no evidence from which could be concluded when the big block at the entrance of the cave fell down from the roof to narrow the former so considerably, but I have no doubt that this took place before the sea had left the cave entirely, by being shut out by the boulder bank in front of the entrance, the crown of which rises 16 feet above high water mark. However, both the boulder bank and this rock at the entrance of the cave prevented the drift sands from entering and filling it, so that when the moa hunters landed with their canoes in some of the nooks amongst the rocky shore in the vicinity, they found a capital the cave, whilst the Peninsula, then an island, and the opposite shores of the main island, offered them a fine hunting ground. It appears from the examination of the sea sands that the first visitors of the cave entered it only occasionally, and still more rarely used it as a cooking place. This might have taken place after the waves of the sea had been shut out from the cave by the formation of the boulder bank in front of it, probably assisted by a rise of the land, but it is possible that at exceptionally high tides the water still entered the cave, as many of the broken moa bones, and the boulders of which the cooking ovens in the south-western portion were formed, were imbedded more than twelve inches deep in the sands, unless we assume that they might have been brought in that position by the next inhabitants having walked over them, and thus having trodde'i them down. The bed of ashes and dirt which here, and in a few other places, underlies the agglomeratic bed, clearly proves that before the last-mentioned deposit was formed, fires were lighted occasionally upon the sands. The discovery of drift wood in the cave, often of considerable size, of several seal skeletons, and of a portion of a lower human jaw, is a proof that its entrance during the deposition of the sands was easily accessible to the waves of the sea. I have already observed that in the marine sands we came across blocks of rock of all sizes, having fallen from the roof, and possessing a more or less rounded shape, such as is exhibited by scoria, formed in its upper and lower portions during the flow of a large lava stream. "When the waves of the sea finally retreated, a great number of these fragments fell for a considerable time from the roof, forming a nearly uniform layer of an average thickness of six inches above the marine sands, and being generally thicker where the cave is highest. This fall was, without doubt, caused by the interior of the cave gradually getting drier. During the whole time of the formation of- this remarkable deposit, the cave appears to have been occasionally inhabited, as evinced by the great number of bones and of small quantities of charcoal and ashes enclosed in the beds under consideration. Above this agglomerated bed another remarkable layer had been deposited, generally three to four inches in thickness, mostly consisting of refuse matter from human occupation and of ashes, so that I adopted the name of dirt bed for the same. It was especially in some localities, as for instance near the entrance of the cave, replete with kitchen middens of the moa hunters. I wish, however, to point out that the fall of the rocks from the roof did not cease during its formation or even afterwards, as all the beds upwards, even those of European origin, have small lumps of such scoria, or even larger blocks, embedded in them. I believe, therefore, that this dirt-bed was forming during a more regular occupancy of the cave by the moa hunters, and thus deposited in a much smaller space of time when compared with the other beds ; moreover, I think that the connection of the cooking places and kitchen middens of the moa hunters outside the cave amongst the dunes with the dirt bed, has been traced satisfactorily iu the foregoing pages. But now, as it were at once, the moa hunters disappear from the scene ; but not without affording an insight into their daily life, by leaving us some of their polished and unpolished stone implements, a few of their smaller tools made of bone, a few personal ornaments, as well as of fragments of canoes, whares, andofwooden spears fire sticks, and other objects too numerous to mention ; but by which the fact is established that they had reached already a certain state of civilisation, which in many respects seems not to have been inferior to that possessed by the Maoris when New Zealand was first visited by Europeans. At the same time, if we consider the position of the kitchen middens on the dunes in the vicinity of the cave and those which I discovered on the lines of inner dunes in the neighborhood of Christchurch, even the most ardent defends; <> r 'h« fmnndless assertions that the moas only uuiiio extinct some 80 or 100 years ago, must admit, that at least in this portion of the island, these gigantic birds were exterminated at a period when the physical features in this part of the Canterbury plains near the sea were different from what they are now, that large lagoonlike lakes have since been filled up, and sand dunes of considerable width have been added to those then existing. In one word, those changes during quarternary times have been of such magnitude that it is impossible to estimate, even approximately, the length of time necessary for the achievement of such important alterations, worked out by the action of the sea and the rivers entering it. And, as in other portions of this island the deposits iu which the kitchen middens of the moa hunters occur are of similar antiquity, I have no doubt that my views expressed on this subject some years ago will gain general acceptance in due time, although I know that erroneous notions to the contrary, when they have once become popular prejudices, are difficult to eradicate ; especially when they are supported by one or two scientific men in New Zealand, notwithstanding that their pssertum never Btood the tent of critical ex-

amination, and have been refuted over and over again. That after the deposition of the dirt bed the cave remained uninhabited for a considerable space of time, is not only proved by the clear line of demarcation between that layer aud the shell bed above it, in which no moa bones were found, but also by the deposit of blown sands about a foot thick at the entrance, and gradually thinning out as it advances towards the interior of the cave. Moreover, if we consider that at least these lower shell beds in the cave are of contemporaneous origin with those which arc situated outside on the dunes, to which Maori tradition assigns such a high antiquity, it is evident, judging from their situation in such adistinct and well-defined position above the bed containing moa bones, that the extinction of our gigantic birds, reasoning from this fact alone, is thrown back for a considerable space of time. Of course it is impossible to calculate this time by even hundreds of years, but as polished stone implements have been found in New Zealand buried in littoral beds, fifteen feet below the surface in undisturbed ground, over which extensive forests are growing, containing trees of enormous size, there is no doubt that the use of polished stone implements dates far back in prehistoric times ; I mean to say to a period to which even the most obscure traditions of the aborigines do not reach. Moreover, it has been proved by philological researches that the Polynesian race to which the Maoris belong is of high antiquity, and that since their location in the Pacific Ocean great physical changes must have taken piace in this part of the earth's surface. The similarity of the language spoken on numerous small islands situated at such considerable distances from each other, is no argument against such a hypothesis, because under certain conditions, even without accidental or intended emigrations, languages may remain nearly unchanged for a considerable space of time. I may even venture for thousands of years. In support of this view I wish only to refer here to the great resemblance of the Coptic with the language of the old Egyptians, as revealed to us by the translation of the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the oldest monuments of that wonderful race, still standing proudly on the banks of the Nile. If we now consider for a moment the shell beds in thecave, we are led to the conclusion, principally judging from the absence of cooking places amongst them and the numerous thin beds of ashes, without doubt the result of camp fires, and forming distinct lines of demarcation, that the cave was only occasionally inhabited, and that for their formation alone a long period of time has also to be claimed. The upper portion of these shell beds immediately below the surface deposits of European origin might be assigned to the forefathers of the Maori tribe inhabiting at present the neighbourhood, as according to their communications to the Rev J. W. Stack, the cave had been used as shelter for their fishing parties in former times. And thus another step towards the elucidation of the question when the moa became extinct has been made, aud I have no doubt that the future researches in similar localities will not only offer a confirmation of the views, as based upon the results of these excavations, but give us still more material towards a better knowledge of the life aud manners of the primitive people who exterminated the gigantic birds once inhabiting these islands. POSTSCRIPT. In the Press of August 13th of this year I observe a paragraph beaded " The Sumner Cave," being a resume of a paper read by Dr Hector before the Philosophical Society in Wellington, for A. M'Kay, on the excavations made by me in that locality, end of 1872, and during which the said A. M'Kay was one of the laborers employed by me. According to the Press the summary of the New Zealand Times begins with the following sentence : " The exploration occupied seven weeks, and on its completion the collection and notes which were made were given to Dr Haast. and the paper now read was chiefly occupied with the author's own view's on the question —whether the moa hunters were possessed of tools other than those of the rudest description, and whether there were any facts constituting a difference between them and the Maoris of later times." The beginning of this sentence, which I shall show in the sequel consists of an untruth, might lead one to suppose that the socalled author has committed only an indiscretion, but when I read the resume itself I found that all the principal results of my excavations had been published without ray permission or consent, and that the most flagrant breach of faith and trust had been committed. Here are the facts of the case : About three years ago when examining some geological sections near the gorge of the Ashley, I found there a man of the name of A. M'Kay, usually working as a laborer at fiax-mills in that locality, but having once been a gold-miner, he had been instructed to drive a gallery upon a supposed coal seam. As this person appeared to be very fond of geology, and to have a great thirst to learn something, he was very anxious that I should take him with me on one of my journeys to look after the horses, &c, and upon his earnest solicitations I engaged him shortly afterwards for such purpose. Returning from a journeylastingsomemor.ths during which I had found him zealous. I employed him in menial work at the Museum and sent him afterwards to collect fossils at, the Waipara ; during all that time I had been lending him books and doing everything in my power to help him on. When I had collected the necessary funds for the expenses of the exploration to be undertaken in the Sumner Uave, I took him there with another working man I had engaged for the purpose, to make the necessary excavations, under my own directions, and, as my report shows, superintending the work myself, generally going twice a week down to the cave to direct their proceedings in every respect. Thus not only were all the principal discoveries, with one exception, made under my own eye, or I may say with my own hands, but all the measurements were also made by myself, and all the notes written on the spot ; not trusting any one else with these matters. When there was sufficient mnlrrial collected, I took the same with me for deposition in the Museum, properly labelled, and only in the last week, when groat quantities of kitchen middens, both of Maori and moa hunter origin were obtained near the entrance of the cave, they were brought up together at the termination of the work,

As I thought I could place full confidence in the man's honesty, I explained to him always the nature of every object discovered (he did not know the difference between the bones of a bird and of a mammal), but to give him real interest in the work, 1 not only spoke unreservedly before him about the results obtained with scientific friends I took down during the time the work proceeded, but gave him also freely my views about the whole bearings of these interesting excavations, and when the work was finished, and he asked my permission to write me some notes on the same, I—taking an interest in his advancement—encouraged him to do so. which notes, if I remember rightly, three or four pages in quarto, after reading, I tore up as of no value to me. It will thus be seen that the statement in the beginning of the account given by the New Zealand Times, is altogether devoid of truth, and only made to hide somewhat the dishonest action of filching another man's property. I afterwards employed A. M'Kay to wash the specimens aud varnish the bones, during which time both Mr F. Fuller and myself gave him unreservedly all information upon them, and shortly afterwards when Dr Hector came to Christchurch, I recommended the said person to him warmly as a zealous collector, upon which recommendation he was engaged to go to Wellington. I therefore strongly protest against this most glaring breach of trust, of which no similar instance is known to me. It deeply grieves me that a man, for whom T have done everything in my power to help him on in the world, should thus, by betraying so shamefully the confidence placed in him, gain an unenviable notoriety ; but I am still more astonished to see a person in Dr Hector's position actually help my former workman in this business. This is incomprehensible to me. The Director of the Colonial Museum cannot plead in excuse that he had been deceived himself by M'Kay, as I went to the trouble to take him myself to the cave a few weeks after the excavations had been finished, and to explain to him what had been the principal results of my excavations, towards the expenses of which I paid a fair share out of my own pocket. In one word, Dr Hector must know that the abettor of such a transaction is as guilty as the perpetrator himself.