UNIVERSITY MUSEUM

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22057, 13 September 1933, Page 9

UNIVERSITY MUSEUM

RECENT ACCESSIONS DISCOVERY OF HUIA FEATHERS. As the result of a particularly lucky find by a resident of Central Otago, the Otago University Museum has received into its keeping one of the most interesting relics of the days of the Maori which have yet been discovered in Otago. Recently Mr G. Rae, of Millers’ Flat, was working over country on the east bank of the Molyneux River, some distance to the north of the junction of the Tallaburn with the main stream, when he came across a cleft in the rocks, Curiousity prompted him to make a thorough examination, and to his surprise he found hidden away among the rocks a package about 16 inches in length. On turning it over he found that it was wrapped in a very finely woven flax matting, within which was a wrapping of Otago tapa cloth, made of the inner bark of the hohere. The finder’s interest was now thoroughly aroused, and, hastily removing the wrappings, he found to his astonishment _ u roughly cut feather box, or waka-huia, and inside it several largo bundles of huin feathers in addition to a number of smaller bundles of scarlet kaka feathers. In addition to the feather box Mr Rae found the_ remnants of a beautiful planted flax kit, within which was a flat slat of bateen about eight inches in length, the cutting of which had been carried out with remarkable precision by stone tools. Realising that he had made a find of more than passing interest, the importance of which would be more fully appreciated by students of Maori art, Mr Rae decided to take it to the Museum. At the Museum the box was carefullyopened up and was found to contain 70 huia feathers. The feathers were badly crumpled and some had been attacked by moths. Under skilled treatment, however, they have resumed some of the gloss and beauty that were theirs when they were hidden more than 100 years ago. . .. , While the package is being discussed, it is interesting to note that tapa

cloth, which formed an inner wrapping, is best known through its association with the South Sea Islands, visitors to Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji being common possessors of this material. The ancestors of the Maori no doubt brought to New Zealand a full knowledge of how to make tapa. The plant, from the inner bark of which the Polynesian tapa is made, could be persuaded to grow* in New Zealand only in the far north, and even there with the greatest difficulty. Local substitutes were sought, and the inner bark of the hohere was proved to be the most amenable. It is rather strange that the only examples hitherto recorded in New Zealand are all from Central Otago —possibly because the material has been preserved better in a dry climate. In addition to the feathers a wooden awl or bodkin was found w'ith a long two-ply string attached, the head of the awl being covered with n pad of white tapa, which probably was used as a buffer when the instrument was being pushed through tough material. Round the white tapa pad had been wrapped an outer covering of dried brown tapa. The scarlet underwing feathers of the kaka were found tied in tiny bundles, the purpose apparently being to set off the gloss and sombre quality of the huia feathers. The date at which this treasure box was hidden in that remote spot is indicated by the fact that the bateen was cut with' stone tools, in the same way as the feather box. The time is not likely to have been later than 1820, and may have been before. Originally the feather box must have come to Otago through bartar, or ns a ceremonial gift from the north, as the huia is a North Island bird. Therefore, the former owner must have been a high chief in this part of the island, for none but a high chief could have possessed so many feathers. The reason for the concealment of the box in that spot remains a mystery. Why such a great collection of fragile treasures should ever have been taken from the coastal villages at the Heads is a puzzle. It would appear that the coastal villages must have been completely deserted, or these valuables would have been left behind under somebody’s charge. The wanderers may have been going to the West Coast, or to the greenstone country, and were taking the feather box along with them. However, there is no apparent reason why it should have been left half way. Visitors to the Museum who will sec the box in one of the recent accessions cases will bn able to speculate for themselves on its history and on the mystery of its hiding place. To many the uncertainty attached to its origin and its discovery in so remote a' spot "will add materially to the interest created by the box itself. COOK ISLAND MATERIAL. A gourd found in a cave near the Heads has been added to the Museum collections, together with fragments of Indian bangles, presumed to have been taken there by the early whalers. Mr D. S. Buchanan, of Balclutha, has placed on loan two exception ;.’’y fine adzes. One of these is of black, highly polished basalt, while the other is of beautifully modelled greenstone. The Museum has secured from Aitutaki, in the Cook Group, an important and extensive collection of Cook Island material. This has been obtained through the generosity and co-operation of Mr Drury Low, of that island, who has pre-

sented a piece of roughly ground greenstone recently dug up on the island. It is interesting to note that the curio is coloured in the manner of greenstone from Milford Sound northwards, and there seems little doubt that this sample reached Aitutaki in pre-European times. Through the agency of Mr Low a series of purchases have also been made from the Fels fund, including a number of line bowls, rare and interesting types of adzes, pounders, and instruments for shredding coconut. There is also a huge wooden couch made from tamana wood, the size of the object rendering it doubtful if another tree of the dimensions of that from which it was hewn exists in Polynesia. At. present there is no room to display all these articles, but it is hoped that a place will be found for them later in the year.