" A SPIRIT MESSAGE,"

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18244, 10 November 1922, Page 11

" A SPIRIT MESSAGE,"

WRITTEN IN HIERATICS.

EPISODE ON THE MAKTJRA.

CONFIRMATION BY CAPTAIN.

Confirmation of a strange Btory of the psychic powers of a woman passenger, who received a spirit message on a voyage of the Makura last year, and wrote it in Eastern hieratics, was given yesterday by Captain Crawford, on the arrival of tho vessel at Auckland.. The story was published in detail in the Herald, of October 10, having been sent to a London paper by a well-known traveller, who is at present visiting-New Zealand. "The story is absolutely true, and I can vouch for it in every detail," said Captain Crawford. " The main points are that this lady, in the presence of her husband and myself, sat at my desk and presently began to write. After about 20 minutes, she showed us tho paper, covered with a queer straight script, such as I had never seen before. 'What a nuisance 1 I have got. back to that Eastern writing,' she exclaimed."

" I. had no idea whatever what tho -writing was, hut kept tho manuscript, and on a subsequent voyage showed it to a worldfamous archaelogist from Cambridge University, who had been engaged in research work among the buried cities of Mesopotamia, .and was on his way to Australia on furlough. He was greatly excited about the matter, declaring the writing to bo a very good example of hieratics, used by the people of Asia Minor thousands of years ago. He recognised some of the signs as identical with those ho had seen in his archaological work, but could not fully decipher them without tho aid of magnifying glass and books of reference. He agreed to let me know tho result of his investigations, but so far I have not heard from him, and do not know whether he has returned to Mesopotamia or England."

Tho captain stated that another hieratic message had been handed to him by Mrs. B. at Honolulu' a few months ago, and this had been sent to the British Museum. No acknowledgment of the document had as yet been received, but no doubt this would be forthcoming later on.