"LOST TRIBE" OF WEST COAST

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16364, 11 June 1927, Page 14

"LOST TRIBE" OF WEST COAST

PROF ESSOR INTEP.ESTED. Wliile on his botanic expedition to the West Coast and Nelson, an account of which he gave to members of the Philosophical Institute, Christchurch, on Wednesday night', Professor A. Wall interested himself in the reputed exist*ence in the Manila country of a strange people known through a iixed but unaccountable tradition af" " the lost, tribe," . Professor Wall confessed that, d'n common with many who have investigated the reports about these people, he had been unable to locate them or to secure any accurate account of their history. ," Much has been said about them, and what we have heard tell would lead to the belief that these people must have been ' hardcases,' " remarked the professor. He was told that a good many years ago a certain number of families went to the district and became isolated. " The theories of the cause of this isolation vary/' said the professor. ."One is that the' roads leading to their habitation became blocked, and that all communication with the outside world was cut off. Another is that the families did not bother to break their isolation. Many queer tales are told, and they are not fit for publication." He said that the subject was one of historical interest and worth investigation. He had obtained the addresses of people who were supposed to be acquainted with the subject, and the historical students of Canterbury College were going to inquire. ,