WAITAKI “MYSTERY” STONE.

Evening Star, Issue 22722, 9 August 1937, Page 12

WAITAKI “MYSTERY” STONE.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —I read with interest Mr J. B. Chapman’s letter anent the Waitaki “mystery ” stone. To the casual .observer, and to the white people as a whole, the stone has little significance beyond evoking a certain amount of speculation as to its presence in that part of the Waitaki south district near the river mouth; but to the Maori it is tanu. Maori residents in and around the district speak of the stone in whisper, and none will go near it. They hold it as something sacred t® them— something indefinably related with the ancient traditions of thi® earliest Maori invaders of our shores. The point is interesting in that it ro> veals that superstition still hold® sway among the natives of thes® islands, and they are loath to discus* the stone, other than to say it is tapir. Some months ago an interesting articl® appeared in the ‘ Star ’ about th» mystery stone.. ’ After reading it 1 was determined, to see the stone for myself, and spent a day in inspecting the remains of old Maori ovens and charred moa bones in the vicinity of where the: stone stands. The facts, I found, were as stated in the article;' but 1 certainly do not agree with My Teviotdale that the stone consist* mainly of wood ash and moa bone. Moreover, the absence of Maori oven* near where the stone was found show* that a huge conglomerate of wood ash would be the last thing one would expect to find in such a place. Beside®, the stone is heavy; I was unable t« lift it myself, but with the help of two men was able to raise it a few inches from the ground. The surround* ing land shows evidence of Maori occupation, probably extending oven many hundreds of years, and the mojat bones are a mute reminder that tin* country once harboured the tallesfc bird in the world.—l am, etc,, 1 Oamaru, August 7., Pakrha*