GIFT TO AUCKLAND.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 280, 23 November 1920, Page 9

GIFT TO AUCKLAND.

UNIQUE FIJI' CURIOS. THE TTTONER COLLECTION. fHV\'Kir< fIENKROI'S BEQUEST. ■\ti a-ddiviontt-l in<*entive. To .Aut*l*-lnn.l-rr- I" l-u-.li on with the War Memoriiil Mut«*iini is a nuvgnifU'rat frift that hsi> juft been made by Mr. .laiuee B. Tumvr. i.lio wv.ll-known' Fiji tra.ler. ■who : .s a native of Auckland provim. , * , KJid now living in the i-i-ty. It N hie unique i'o!le<iion of l-"iji weapons ;ind nrnami-nts i imi Uμ k him a life-time t-n p-ct In ;uiufiuiifinir t.lip rnirntion to make tlie jjiftMr. Turner wrote t« the Mayor iMr. ,1. 11. Crnnsoni: "For some time pa*t l have been in emrespondf.nee with the curator r>f the Auckland Miweum. Mr. C'rifcscnuiji. with regti.nl tn my collection of Fijian and other Island curios. an-1 I have hod in mirul the irift of Mime to t-h-e Wovinee of Auckland to be housed in Hip Auckland Miwuiii, but wont of proper space in thy present museum has hitherto caused mc to hesitaie in giving siime. In view, however, of tht , fact thai proposals nre maturinir for ft urn museum biiildins. in which. I understand from Mr. Cheese- | man, there will be adequate in a .-pci tal reservation for ,\ display of my coUwti.in. 1 have pleasure in intimating t.hrouph yon to thp citizens of the Pmvnvv of Auckland that 1 will be clad. subject In the present proposals in refr.inl -to the pno.p<v»ed now museum building bernir pompleted and space thej-ein provided for niy collection, to donate the collection on these terra* to the city. -, MOST GEXEROfS G-TTT. The Mayor, in thanking Mr. Turner for his "most generous gift." said: "1 convey to yon on behadf of the citizens an aasuranee of what I feel sure will be without exception keen appreciation of this magnanimous gift to the city and province.. It will be a further incentive to our citizens to provide the necessary funds at an early date to e.nable the proposals with regard to the Auckland War Memorial Museum to be carried to completion.' Mr. Cheeseman is very pleased that Auckland is to be the- " home of Mr. ■Corner's coUeetion. Mr. Turner's eollectkm is a very complete and varied one, cdrba-rninfj every important ethnological article used by the aboriginal iniiabit&nite of Fiji, and will be of very great vain* far purposes of comparison with oar splendid Maori collection and ' tie other collecMons of articles from the I Pacific Islands* Mr. Cherseman, in speaking of the good fortune of Auckland in being the home of euch a collect km, eaid he knew that Mr. Turner had been approached more than once by people and institutions outside the Dominion for the purchase of the collection, but he had refused all offers. THE CANNIBAL DAYS. The collection is at present in Sura, and photographs of it show it to be a particularly fine one. (If course, it would be quite impossible to obtain the articles now. as the natives neither use nor make them—except- in certain s.t3-le.= for the edification of the tourist. 3!r. Turner has been careful to obtain the history of every article where possible, and if they could speak some of the cJnbs could tell a pretty gruesome tale. There is, for instance, '"a bit ay a sthick," that used to belong to ihat gentle old cannibal Cakobau. or Thakombao, to give him his title in English spelling. There is also a club that belonfpj to Tui Idraketi, a rival of the great <Cakoban, and it is peculiar in that it is shaped like a cross and human Lair is irrapped from corner to corner just where the arms join. Both these chief? indulfrld in some toujrh fighting at the montfc of the Rewa River. It was during oet-i of their little wars that Cakobau, « lo lived along the coast at Bau, stole a inarch on the enemy hy rutting a canal between two 'branches of the Rewa River, getting through -with his fleet of -war canoes, and appearing in the morning right at Tui Idraketi's Deck floor, as it were, and great -was the slaughter. A CHRISTIAN SYMBOL? Some of the fighting clubs are shaped something like a boot, others re•emble a pineapple (and are ko called), while others h.ave round knoibs carved, er otherwise ornamented. Then there is *"ehorter club, of which the warrior carried several strung round his waist, and these he hurled ■with startling accuracy. The handle acted as a tail to the missile, •which -when it found its mark -was certain to end the argument on the spot. The clubs with heads shaped like a cross greatly interested the early missionaries, who argued that the natives had i heard something of the Christian re- i Hgion. That, of course, is a myth, but , even if it -wore true, it is just like the j Fijian to use it as a charm against the enemy. Thr Fijian had a queer sort of religion, but such as it was it contained a ceremony connected with child- | hood in which the infant was annointed ; ■with oil. For this purpose the priests | had special dishes, now very rare indeed. ! and of these Mr. Turner lias very good examples. There are. of course, some kava bowls. The lali, a very resonant sounding drum made out of the trunk of a tree, used for summoning villagers to war and on ceremonial occasions, is a characteristic feature of native villages, and Mr. Turner has alrea-dy presented one of these to the Museum. FIJIAN , TREASURES. Tn olden Fiji messages vrere sent from chief to chief by means of a tabua, a piece of wood shaped in outline something like a big French ibean. Then in the whaling days theee tafbua were made from whales" teeth and the whale's jawibone, which is as much like ivory as could be. Once these silent I messengers were very common in the group, but now they are very scarce. Other articles made from whales' teeth nre those necklaces which look like a. chevaux de fri*e round the wearer's neck. These and other articles made from t'.ie whalehone were tribal treasure?, and when a to-wn or village was sacked the ivory was all burned. Tt took years for 'the vanquished to recover and a* ivory was the standard of | wealth they did'not count much in Fijian diplomacy until they had again | amassed treasure, or were strong | enough to make a raid on the other . fellow's store-house. There are also a I vmnrbcr of stone axes, much like the I Maori article, in the collection. Knockine about the sronp as he did in the exciting days of half a century back Mr Turner had exceptional opportunity for collecting these weapons aid curio?, and there is not a finer col- - lection in existence. Added to the Fiiian curios alrpadv in the Auckland Museum they -will make up a roliection that will be of ine-tinrable value, especially for the purposes of comparative research into the ethnological history of New Zealand and. the South ■ Seas. ■ j