Moa

“ The chief readily gave me the bone for a little tobacco; and I afterwards sent it to Professor Owen by Sir Everard Home in 1839; and I think I may justly claim to have been the first discoverer of the moa.' Mr Taylor continued his inquiries among the natives, who informed him that the moa was quite as large as a horse; that these birds had nests made of the refuse of fern-root, on which they fed; and that they used to conceal themselves in the veronica thickets, from which, by setting them on fire, the natives drove them out and killed them ”

“ By the side of the big and lusty images standing sentinel over the altars of the Hoolah Hoolah ground, it seemed a mere pigmy in tatters. But appearances all the world over are deceptive. Little men are sometimes very potent, and rags sometimes cover very extensive pretensions. In fact, this funny little image was the ‘crack’ god of the island; lording it over all the wooden lubbers who looked so grim and dreadful; its name was Moa Artua*. And it was in honour of Moa Artua, and for the entertainment of those who believe in him, that the curious ceremony I am about to describe was observed. ”

“ It is therefore very apparent that the inhabitants of Moa are a people with whom any Europeans, settled in their neighbourhood, might without any difficulty settle a commerce, and receive considerable assistance from them in making discoveries. ”

“ Jones Harvey at home for a picture paper?’
‘No, I’ve dropped the Press,’ said Merton, ‘I ask in a spirit of scientific curiosity.’
‘Well, there is the Dinornis, the Moa of New Zealand. A bird as big as the Roc in the “Arabian Nights.”’
‘Have you seen him?’
‘No, but I have seen her, the hen bird. She was sitting on eggs. No man knows her nest but myself, and old Te-iki-pa, the chief medicine-man, or Tohunga, of the Maori King. The Moa’s eyrie is in the King’s country. ”

“ On the 27th, being in the latitude of 2 degrees 10 minutes south, and in the longitude of 146 degrees 57 minutes, we fancied that we had a sight of the island of Moa, but it proved to be that of Jama, which lies a little to the east of Moa. We found here great plenty of cocoa-nuts and other refreshments. The inhabitants were absolutely black, and could easily repeat the words that they heard others speak, which shows their own to be a very copious language. ”

“ The skeleton of this particular Moa stands about 12ft. high, and is a curious but substantial fact, but as the Moa, the dinornis—as the learned folks call it—permanently retired from New Zealand, possibly before the Maoris came, the plumage and plumpness are the works of the artistic naturalist.
“By the rule of Nature, then,” he continued, “Zelania, with the proper stock to begin with, in complexion, form, feature, temperament, and mental endowments, should produce the finest type of man and womanhood on the planet.” ”

“ The naturalist said that the oddest bird in Australasia was the, Laughing Jackass, and the biggest the now extinct Great Moa.
The Moa stood thirteen feet high, and could step over an ordinary man's head or kick his hat off; and his head, too, for that matter. He said it was wingless, but a swift runner. The natives used to ride it. It could make forty miles an hour, and keep it up for four hundred miles and come out reasonably fresh. It was still in existence when the railway was introduced into New Zealand ”

“ They also believe that some of the largest species have been seen alive within the memory of man; and even affirm that individuals still exist in the unfrequented and inaccessible parts of the interior of the country. They call the bird Moa, and state that its head and tail were adorned with magnificent plumes of feathers, which were worn by their ancient chiefs as ornaments of distinction. ”

“ For three transgressions of Moab, Yea, for four, I will not reverse it: Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime. 2So will I send a fire upon Moab, And it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth; And Moab shall die with tumult, With shouting, and with the sound of the horn; 3And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, And will slay all the princes thereof with him, Saith the Lord. ”

“ Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab.
41 Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty men's hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
42 And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the LORD.
43 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the LORD.
44 He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit ”

“ I. The Mythology and Traditions of the Maori in New Zealand. By the Rev. J. F. H. Wohlers, of Ruapuke, Southland 3–53 II. Researches and Excavations carried on in and near the Moa-bone Point Cave, Sumner Road, in the year 1872. By Julius Haast, Ph.D., F.RS., President 54–85 III. Notes on an ancient Native Burial Place near the Moa-bone Point, Sumner. By Julius Haast, Ph.D., F.R.S., Director of the Canterbury Museum 86–91 IV. Notes on the Moa-hunter Encampment at Shag Point, Otago. By Julius Haast, Ph. D., F.R.S., etc. 91–98 V. On the Identity of the Moa-hunters with the present Maori Race. ”

“ Not far from us must be the site of Zoar; and on some of these mountains Lot dwelt with his two daughters. This country is called Moab, after the son of the eldest daughter. Moab means one begotten by a father. ”

“ It was the glory of Moab that their country was very populous and their forces were courageous; but where is her glory when all that great multitude is in a manner swept away, some by one judgment and some by another, and the little remnant that is left shall be very small and feeble, not able to bear up under their own griefs, much less to make head against their enemies' insults? Let not therefore the strong glory in their strength nor the many in their numbers. ”

“ How is the strong staff broken, the beautiful rod?
18 Come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst, O dwelling of the daughter of Dibon: because the spoiler of Moab is come up to thee, he hath destroyed thy bulwarks.
19 Stand in the way, and look out, O habitation of Aroer: inquire of him that fleeth: and say to him that hath escaped: What Is done?
20 Moab is confounded, because he is overthrown: howl ye, and cry, tell ye it in Amen, that Moab is wasted. ”

“ The wonderful thing about Moab is that everything happens in a story-book setting, with illustrations by Maxfield Parrish and Wyeth and Joe Coll, and all the rest of them, whichever way you look.
Imagine a blue sky—so clear-blue and pure that you can see against it the very feathers in the tails of wheeling kites, and know that they are brown, not black. Imagine all the houses, and the shacks between them, and the poles on which the burlap awnings hang, painted on flat canvas and stood up against that infinite blue. ”

“ Apart from the religious cult suggested in the name Mount Nebo, there were local cults of the Baal of Peor and the Baal of Meon, and Mesha’s allusion to ʽAshtar-Chemosh, a compound deity, has been taken to point to a corresponding consort whose existence might naturally be expected upon other grounds (see Astarte) . The fertility of Moab, the wealth of wine and corn, the temperate climate and the enervating heat supply conditions which directed the form of cult. ”

“ When the prophet had said this, the next day, before the sun-rising, a great torrent ran strongly; for God had caused it to rain very plentifully at the distance of three days' journey into Edom, so that the army and the cattle found water to drink in abundance. But when the Moabites heard that the three kings were coming upon them, and made their approach through the wilderness, the king of Moab gathered his army together presently, and commanded them to pitch their camp upon the mountains, that when the enemies should attempt to enter their country, they might not be concealed from them. ”

“ Therefore the abundance that he hath gotten is perished. 37For every head is bald, And every beard clipped; Upon all the hands are cuttings, And upon the loins sackcloth. 38On all the housetops of Moab and in the broad places thereof There is lamentation every where; For I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, Saith the Lord. ”

“ For long ago, though in the memory of man, as we learn from the traditions of the Maories, other wingless birds called Moas,97 which were six or seven feet high, lived in New Zealand, and had fierce fights with the natives. ”

“ Moab has his walls, and his high forts, with which he hopes to secure himself, and from which he designs to annoy the people of God; but God shall bring them all down, lay them low, bring them to the ground, to the dust; and so those who trusted to them will be left exposed. ”

“ Moab acknowledged its defeat, and agreed to pay tribute: it had suffered so much that it required several generations to recover.**
* 2 Sam. xxiii. 20-23: cf. 1 Chron. xi. 22-25. “Ariel,” who is made the father of the two slain by Benaiah, may possibly be the term in 11. 12, 17, 18 of the Inscription of Mesha (Moabite Stone) ; but its meaning is obscure, and has hitherto baffled all attempts to explain it. ** 2 Sam. viii. 2. ”

“ Chapter 22 1 And they went forward and encamped in the plains of Moab, over against where Jericho is situate beyond the Jordan.
2 And Balac the son of Sephor, seeing all that Israel had done to the Amorrhite,
3 And that the Moabites were in great fear of him, and were not able to sustain his assault,
4 He said to the elders of Madian: So will this people destroy all that dwell in our borders, as the ox is wont to eat the grass to the very roots. Now he was at that time king in Moab. ”

“ Chamos... The idol of the Moabites.
48:8. And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: and the valleys shall perish, and the plains shall be destroyed, for the Lord hath spoken:
48:9. Give a flower to Moab, for in its flower it shall go out: and the cities thereof shall be desolate, and uninhabited.
48:10. Cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord deceitfully: and cursed be he that withholdeth his sword from blood.
Deceitfully... In the Greek, negligently. The work of God here spoken of, is the punishment of the Moabites. ”

“ Don't betray the fugitive! 016:004 Let my outcasts dwell with you! As for Moab, be a hiding place for him from the face of the destroyer. For the extortioner is brought to nothing. Destruction ceases. The oppressors are consumed out of the land. 016:005 A throne will be established in loving kindness. One will sit on it in truth, in the tent of David, judging, seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness. 016:006 We have heard of the pride of Moab, that he is very proud; even of his arrogance, his pride, and his wrath. His boastings are nothing. 016:007 Therefore Moab will wail for Moab. ”

“ I have made the shouting stop. 11 Therefore my heart sounds like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts for Kir Heres. 12 It will happen that when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, and comes to his sanctuary to pray, that he will not prevail. 13 This is the word that Yahweh spoke concerning Moab in time past. 14 But now Yahweh has spoken, saying, "Within three years, as a worker bound by contract would count them, the glory of Moab shall be brought into contempt, with all his great multitude; and the remnant will be very small and feeble." ”

“ The remainder of the chapter is occupied with a prophecy of Elisha and by a statement of the overthrow of the king of Moab.
Nothing now could save Mesha. A strong delusion [414] was sent upon him to believe a lie. When water came down by way of Edom, and the whole country was filled with it, the Moabites rose up early in the morning, and as the Sun shone on the water the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood. ”

“ That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.
Chapter 15
1 The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence;
2 He is gone to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off.
3 In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly. ”

“ The subject is then diversified by an elegant and well-supported comparison, importing that the Moabites increased in insolence and pride in proportion to the duration of their prosperity, [647] ; but this prosperity is declared to be nearly at an end; the destroyer is already commissioned against Moab, and his neighbors called to sing the usual lamentation at his funeral, [648] . The prophet then represents some of the women of Aroer and Ammon, (the extreme borders of Moab) , standing in the highways, and asking the fugitives of Moab, What intelligence? ”

“ And they smote the land, even Moab, mightily. 25And they beat down the cities; and on every good piece of land they cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the fountains of water, and felled all the good trees; until there was left only Kir-hareseth with the stones of the wall thereof; so the slingers encompassed it, and smote it. 26And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew sword, to break through unto the king of Edom ”