COOK RELICS IN RUSSIA.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 261, 4 November 1912, Page 7

COOK RELICS IN RUSSIA.

A SCIENTIST'S TRAVELS

Mr Brigham, director of the Bernice Pouhai Bishop Museum, of Honolulu, is,' according to Australian advices, a passenger for New Zealand by the Maunganui, which arrived in Wellington early on Wednesday morning from Sydney. He is accompanied' by- his secretary, Mr Wilson. Mr Brigham has been making a tour of the world, inspecting museums, and making investigations into ethnological and natural history. Both Mr Brigham and Mr Wilson have, travelled through the United' States; Great Britain, Russia, France, and Egypt. and a stay of three weeks was made in Java examining volcanoes. "One of the most interesting things I have iseen during the present tour," said Mr Brigham to a representative of the Sydney Telegraph, "were the relics' and ethnological things that were given to the" Governor of Kamschatka by Captain, Cook's" party after the death of the latter. These relics were sent by the Governor to St. Petersburg, where they remained until two or three- years ago, when; the boxes containing them were opened, but no one knew where they came from. Luckily, a professor in the St. Petersburg University, who had been to Honolulu,, recognised them. Being a Fellow of the Imperial Academy of Science at' St. Petersburg, I had full run of the relics, and I am to receive photographs of each one of them. The relics were very choice', although there was nothing new amongt them except a black feather helmet, which is a rare curiosity. We have in the. Bishop Museum probably the largest collection of Captain Cook relics that exist in the world, and in regard to these new ones, we are going to build, a new wing for the purpose of providing for Papuan relics, and this, it is expected, will cost about 100,000 dollars.

"In Dresden I found most remarkable specimens of pottery made by the natives in Dutch New Guinea. Their excellence was astonishing, and far excelled the work of the Peruvians. I found I could get more New Guinea relics in England than in Australia from the different museums. Russia is on© of the most delightful countries! to travel through. Their pictures and sculpture are as fine as the best in the world. They bave one gallery, full of Vandykes, any one of which would be a .jewel in a collection. In the Hermitage we saw a beautiful clock, ■ which was given to Catherine. It is in the form of a large peacock, and spreads its wings when the 'hours are , being soim led, whilst the time appears on a toadstool at the foot of the bird. They also had a beautifully polished greenstone.. 18ft. iong, 6ft. wide, and 4in. or sin. thick, all in one piece. There were two desks with all sorts of compartments about them, and which took the experts originally three years to set all open without injuring the desk. Other novelties they had were white sapphires, green diamondsj, and, amongst other things, the dressing-gown, slippers, and dress svyord of Napoleon, which he left behind on his retreat from Moscow." '