MAORI TRUMPET.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 259, 2 November 1933, Page 5

MAORI TRUMPET.

MANY YEARS OLD.

MADE FROM CONCH SHELL

ON VIEW AT MUSEUM.

An old conch shell war trumpet that was last used for calling the cows on a Buckland farm is now on view at the Auckland Museum. It formerly belonged to the Rev. Richard Taylor, F.G.S., and it has been deposited in the museum by his granddaughters, the Misses Taylor, of Auckland. The age of the trumpet, which is a fine specimen, is well attested not only by its history, but also by the old polish acquired by the well-carved wooden

mouthpiece and the ochre-impregnated flax lashing. The trumpet is made from the large New Zealand conch shell, which was not easy to obtain and which in later times was replaced by large South Sea Island shells which early traders brought to the Dominion. The Rev. Richard Taylor was one of the early missionaries of the Church Missionary Society. He arrived in New Zealand in 183G and at the time ~of Bishop Selwyn's arrival had charge of the school at Waimate. He accompanied Captain Hobson to Hokianga to secure the Hokianga chief's signature to the Treaty of Waitangi and later went with Lieutenant Shortland to Mangonui and Kaitaia to obtain the signatures of the natives of those districts. He was the author of the book "Te Ika-a-Maui," one of the first comprehensive accounts of the history, manners and customs of the Maori people. When the trumpet was handed on to one of Mr. Taylor's sons who was farming at Buckland it was often used for calling the cows from the fields at milking time.