THE MUSEUM.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 183, 28 April 1908, Page 8

THE MUSEUM.

, .. ." . 9 ; SOME INTERESTING ADDITIONS. ! CURIOUS MAORI RELICS. A largo noiv.ease has been placed in tho ; Dominion Museum containing a variety of i Maori relics, which have just been received i by the Director (Mr. A. Hamilton), and 1 which arc of very special interest. Among them arc a number of meres, one of which is of a very unusual shape, having one side almost rounded, whilo the other edge is sharpened. It was possibly so mado in order that, besides serving as a bludgeon, it might be used for an eel-killer, to which implement it shows a marked resemblance. Thoro are also, two bone mallets, used in carving, and one elaborate wooden mallet, all of which present considerable signs of uso. A well-carved canoe head for a model canoe is another exhibit, and two stone meres, .of tho kind called Onewa, are remarkable for. their beautiful workmanship. No little interest attaches to four - cartridge sticks, that is, sticks or cylinders of wood and hone, round which ■ the paper was wrapped to form tho cartridge." The powder and bullet were then loaded, and pressed down with tho end of tho stick. A carved adzo handle, and a remarkable stone carved with three spirals, which is'supposed to have been used in certain sacred ceremonies, connected with the kumera fields, are also worth inspection. A specimen is to be seen, too, of a very 'rare bone implement, only found in tho southern part. of tho South Island, called maripi paua; which was used to lover the naua shells from the rocks. A sperm whale's tooth, which was to have been divided into two tongue-shaped pendants, but of which'tho division was not. Quito completed, affords a . good . examplo of Maori patience. A deep groove has. been formed in the hard material, which exaotly follows the curve of tho tooth, and the execution of which with tho Natives' sandstono implement: bears witness to groat assiduity and skill. 'Mr. Hamilton has also received two specimens from the Antarctic—a piece of dark, almost black, lava, full of crystals, and a samplo of granite from an orratic block. Theso were, forwarded to the Museum probably by Professor David. They were ' received from Sydney, together with'a map showing the location whence they camo, and a description of the composition of the lava. Tliis crime from one of the lava flows of Mount Erebus.