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[First paragraph…]Sir Walter Buller (1888) noted that Sir George Grey had told him that “a party of natives” at Preservation Inlet had described the recent killing of small moa at Preservation Inlet. Anderson (1989) did not give credence to this account, because Grey was never at Preservation Inlet. However, contemporary records (Anon 1878) show that Grey passed the inlet while travelling from Hokitika to Riverton on the SS Hinemoain 1878. It is likely that the ship’s log for the Hinemoa for 1878 was destroyed by a fire involving Marine Department records, so proof that Grey did visit the inlet at the time is not presently available. However, the possibility that he did visit remains and Grey’s claim cannot be dismissed on the basis that he did not do so. If the date of 1868 given by Buller is, as is likely, a mistake, that would account for the absence of any mention of this report by Grey 1870 (Grey 1870).