RARE MAORI CANOFS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18341, 6 March 1923, Page 4

RARE MAORI CANOFS.

SPECIMENS FOR EXHIBITION. 100-WARRIOR CRAFT LOST. [FROM OXTB OWN CORRESPONDENT. ] LONDON, 'Jan. 26. It was on record somewhere that the Admiralty had in their possession an ornamental Maori canoe which was not a model. Sir James Allen caused inquiries to be made, and it transpired that this , interesting relic of the early days of New Zealand was housed in the Admiralty Museum at Chatham. Negotiations have been proceeding, with the result that the Admiralty will lend the canoe to the New ' Zealand Government during the j British Empire Exhibition. j An officer of the High Commissioner's Department has been down to Chatham, and has taken photographs of the canoe, and from these it may be seen that it is a very, handsome piece of work. It is a one-man canoe about 15ft. long, with a carved gunwale throughout the length of the craft. , Both the bow piece (pitau) and the stern piece are the best examples of Maori carving, and the canoe is in an excellent state of preservation. Before it came to the Chatham Museum it seems to have been moved about considerably, but it is thought that it was brought Home by one of Her Majesty's • ships about the year 1840. "Seeing that these ornamental canoes are so rare at the present time, it is to be hoped that the Admiralty will consider an exchange of some kind, so that the valuable curio may some day be returned to New Zealand. In a museum in the North of England there is another Maori canoe of somewhat similar size to the Chatham one. It is hung from the rafters and labelled ! "Pacific canoe." No one seems to have | been able to name its country of origin. i The carving is much bolder," and consists of human figures all-round the sides, down ' to the water level. The High Commissioner has been negotiating for the loan ; of this, and it has been tentatively promised. It may not be Jtenerallv known. that a war canoe capable of carrying a hundred warriors was once in English waters. ' What has become of it neither the Ad- ' miralty nor anyone else can now disclose. j On June 28, 1866, General Hr Q. Robley 1 arrived with other English troops in Portsmouth Harbour from New Zealand. He saw floating on the water there this fine -war canoe, and on making inquiries found that it had been brought across.by the captain of H.M.S. Curacoa, which [ was out in New Zealand waters during ' the wars. A few years ago General Ribley addressed the Admiralty regarding j the canoe, but no one was able to throw | any light on its ultimate fate.