Photographs of Curiosities.

New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, 1 December 1900, Page 241

Photographs of Curiosities.

: fpN placing before our readers the first of M this series of collections of photograph f\ cariosities it may be well to remind £=5j them that we shall be pleased to receive contributions for the next number and subsequent ones. Those who have kodaks and no curiosities should make use of their friends who have curiosities but no kodaks. MUMMIFIED HEAD OF SETI, THE WARRIOK. The first curiosity to which we call attention is the head of the well-preserved old warrior, Seti the First, of the 19th Dynasty, 1462 8.C., father of llamses the

Great. For the illustration, from which this reproduction was taken and the history of the original, we are indebted to

Mr. Henry Greon. The mummy now reclines in its cofh'u in t,ho Museum at (Ji/oii. Seti undertook several campaigns against the Aramaic tribes who were in league with the Khittim (tho Hittites of the Bible). As

a god on earth ho considered he could do no wrong, and that to defend oneself it i.s often best to attack. Acting on this principle, he plunged into the Grand Duke of Khita's dominions, for ho it was who sat on the Hittite throne. Outside the city were peaceful herdsmen, Seti routed them, and then took the stronghold, and the poet of the period composed the following characteristic song of triumph in his honour : — " Pharoah is a jackal which rushes leaping through the Hittite lands, ho is a grim lion exploring the hidden ways of all regions, he is a powerful bull with a pair of sharpened horns. He has struck down the Asiatics ! he has thrown to the ground the Khita! He has slain the princes, he has

passed through them as a flame of fire, he has brought them to nought !" Seti erected many fine buildings, notably the Memnonium at Abydos, and had a sepulchre hewn out of the rock for himself at Thebes. The great canal leading from the Nile to the eastern frontier of this kingdom was completed in his reign, chiefly destined to irrigate the land of Goshen, which it rendered exceedingly fertile. MUMMIFIED HAWK. We are also indebted to Egypt for the hawk, which is also a mummy. He had the reputation of being a-sacrec bird, and was lying in dignified sepulture in a Pyramid, from which sacrilegious hands removed what remains of him, and it is at present in the possession of a resident of Auckland, who kindly allowed it to be photographed. It is supposod to be some few thousand years since he last folded his wings, and was wrapt iv the immortal garment reserved for sacred birds only. A COLLECTION OF BADGES. The collection of badges given here was made by Mr. T. Bowley, of Waikato. Many of them were taken from the bodies of men who had no farther use for them while he

was on transport duty in South Africa, where he had excellent opportunities, as his duties led him to all the scenes of the

engagement. He had unfortunately no complete list of the regiments to which they belong, but military men will have no

Charles Salmon. AN ELECTRIC SPARK.

trouble in picking them out. This item requires very little wi'iting about, but much will suggest itself to the mind of the reader regarding the hot corners that many of these badges have been in. EMERGENCY RATION. The battered tin containing an emergency ration is one of those served out to soldiers in

the Transvaal. Each man has one in his kit. The most emphatic instructions are issued that it is not to be opered until its owner has been thirty-six hours without food. In its small compass it contaius four ounces of essence of meat in one compartment, and five ounces of cocoa paste in the other. This, the instructions on it state, " can be eaten dry with or without biscuit, or one fourth simmered for a quarter of an hour in one pint of water will make liquid cocoa of good strength." The tins are all numbered, and each man has to account for his, if missing, whenever his kit is examined. This tin was the property of a returned trooper. He carried it many miles over the veldt, but fortunately had no occasion to use it. AN ELECTROGRAPH. This photograph, or rather electrograph, was taken by a young gentleman who was sufficiently con-

versant with electricity to induce a Npark to give him a sitting. Ho states that tho effect was produced by " passing an electric spark through a sensitive film." Tho re is a certain satisfaction in being able to reproduce and hand down to posterity such an evauescent and ephemeral thing as an electric spark. A HAYSTACK TAKING A HUSINIOSS TlilP. A haystack may be occasionally soon floating down a river at tho mercy of a flood in this or any other country, but our photograph represents a well-regulated cutter-rigged and properly equ i pped Wgy ptian haystack taking a business trip on the Nile. In a country where inundations are tho rule instead of the exception, it appears to be a happy thought to build your haystack on a flat-bottomed boat, so that when the floods come you can step your mast, ship tho crow and the rudder, set sail, and utilize the waste of water to take the hay to market.

epika's mere. The whalebone mere here depicted has the following inscription on it : — " This mere belonged "to Bpika, the fighting chief,

efiha's meke. of the Waikato; it was taken from a native shot at No. 3 Redoubt, Kairau, 23rd January, 1861. — R. H. MacG-kegor, Captain 65th Regiment." Wielded by Epika's powerful arm, it has doubtless done terrible execution on many an unfortunate foeman in the numberless tribal wars of pre-pakeha days. At close quarters the mere was a very formidable weapon, splitting skulls with great facility. A CORNUCOPIA. The Cornucopia is a shell horn from Fiji.

The natives there use it as a bugle to blow calls. They manage to get from fair to

medium music out of it, but nothing^ that could be called classical. However, it serves its purpose, and is useful if not exceedingly ornamental. THE EFFECT OF A WHITE SQUALL. The French barque " Max," when she was towed into the port of Auckland a few months ago, was a striking example of what a furious white squall can do if a vessel happens to be in its track. The " Max " was a new boat on her way from New Caledonia bowling merrily along with a fair wind in 33 degrees south and 177 degrees east when suddenly, without the slightest warning, the squall was on her in all its fury. Maintopmast yards and gear fell crashing on to the deck and carried rail,

stanchions, and one of the boats away in one act. Fair weather followed, and she managed to reach Auckland to refit. THE HULL OF THE '' WOLVERINE." Our contributor succeeded in getting the last photo taken of the "Wolverine" just before she was broken up, as she reclined on the North Shore of the Aucklaud Harbour. It is many years since she first sailed into Auckland as a warship, and acted at one time as flagship of the fleet. Becoming out of date, the old veteran was rigged as a barque, and traded to Sydney, eventually falling lower as age and many infirmities incapacitated her for actual service.

" ALAMEDA'S " FAREWELL TO AUCKLAND. This photo of the " Alameda " owes its inclusion in the list of curiosities to the

THE u ALAMEDA's" FARKWELL TO AUCKLAND. fact that she was taken when leaving Auckland on her last 'Frisco trip. It is, therefore, a photo which can never be taken again. It will recall to many pleasurable trips taken in this fine ocean tramp. LONGEST BRIDGE IN NEW ZEALAND. The bridge over the Rakaia in South Canterbury is the longest wooden bridge in

New Zealand ; it is just about a mile in length, and its waters arc confined to a narrow channel. A stranger going ovor this

A. E. O'KuofFo. HULL (W TIHO "WoIA'KRINIO." bridge, when the water is low, would marvel at a bridge being required over dry land. But let him cross after a hot Nor'-wester has melted the snow in the wild Alpine ranges above, and ho would have no trouble in seeing the necessity. The millions of tons of debris washed down by the floods of centuries have filled tho river bed and made a wide gravolly plain of it, over which at flood time tho waters swirl in furious fashion.