THE ANCHOR OF TAINUI.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19279, 18 March 1926, Page 8

THE ANCHOR OF TAINUI.

STONE IN MOKAU RIVER.

REMOVAL BY NATIVES. CONCEALMENT OF RELIC. MUSEUM'S PLAN FORESTALLED. The hope of placing Punga-o-Tainui, the anchor-stone of the Taimii canoe, in the Auckland War Memorial Museum seems farther off than it was a little while ago. Last Saturday afternoon a party of natives removed the stone from the Mokau River, where it has lain for centuries, and conveyed it to a place of safety known only to themselves.

For some time, Dr. I'. Buck and Mr. George Graham, of Auckland, have been trying to persuade natives in the Auckland Province to place their tribal relics in the new Auckland Museum for safekeeping, seeing that many such relics are in danger of being lost or damaged, and that the museum commemorates Maori as well as European soldiers who fell in the war. Already a fine carved house, from Thames has been handed over, and is in storage pending tho completion of the new building. Dr. Buck's Negotiations. Some five weeks ago, at the annual meeting of the Auckland Institute, Dr. Buck mentioned what lie had done to persuade the natives of tho Mokau that it would be wisdom on their part to deposit the anchor of Tainui in the new museum. I)r. Buck stated that ho had seen the hereditary chief of the tribe, who had agreed that the anchor would be better in tho museum than in tho river, although it had lain there for five and a-half centuries. The main obstacle had been the feelings of certain old people in the tribe. The chief was now dead, but in his last years ho had talked so much about the project that the old people had been convinced. His son was prepared to see that the stone was brought up. This was an example of a relic which was very hard to remove, and he had mentioned it to show what could be done. Kelic of- Voyagers. The natives who removed the store on Saturday made it clear to European onlookers that their place of safe-keeping was not the Auckland Museum. The anchor is of sandstone, about 4ft-. long, and shaped like an hour-glass with a thieF waist. One end is rather larger than tho other. The mooring-line was tied round it, in a fashion well * known to Polynesians. The stone is heavy enough to hold a large outrigger canoe, such as Tainui outdoubtedly was. According to dition, after the long voyage from Hawaiki, the canoe made its final landingplace in New Zealand at. the mouth of the Mokau, five and a-hal£ centuries ago. Two white stones, marking its bow and stern, are still shown on the spot where it is said to have been hauled on to dry land. Fishermen's Mascot. There is no particular reason for doubting the native tradition about the stone, which lay, before its removal, in the sand somewhere between high and low-water marks. It is naturally regarded by the natives as a very sacred object, and many songs and tales have grown up around it. Among other things, it was supposed to be the luck-stone, or " mauri '* of the natives who fished off the Mokau Heads, According to one story, the skipper of a trading cutter removed it some 40 years ago and took it to Waitara. Immediately the fishermen reported that they were getting no catches, and after the chiefs had invoked Government aid, tho skipper returned the relic to its proper place.

Apparently the natives who removed the stone last Saturday were not afraid of spoiling the fishing, unless, perchance, they have deposited it secretly in some other part of the river. It is to be hoped that Dt. Buck may yet be able to persuade the tribe as a whole that the new museum really is a noble shrine commemorating the honoured dead, and that after all it is a worthier resting-place for the stone than some hidden spot which in 50 years may be forgotten and tho relic lost.

A photograph illustrating the preparations for the removal of the historic anchor appears on page 11.