526 Proceedings. 



Engineering, presented by the trustees of the late H. Metcalfe, C.E. The gift is of 

 considerable importance from a technological point of view, and will form a welcome 

 addition to the library. 



The scarcity of shelf-room in the library has long been a source of anxiety to the 

 Council. An attempt has been made to mitigate the evil by erecting a temporary 

 range of shelving in the assistant's room, to which the geographical portion of the 

 library has been transferred. This has slightly improved matters, but the position will 

 soon be as acute as before. At the present time there can be no proper classification 

 of the books on the shelving, making it more difficult for readers to consult the library, 

 and causing much increased work to the custodians. 



Museum. — With the exception of a very short period necessarily reserved for 

 cleaning and rearrangement, the Museum has been open to the public during the whole 

 of the year. The attendance has been most satisfactory, as proved by the following 

 statistics. Taking the Sunday attendance first, the register kept by the janitor shows 

 that 27,102 people entered the building on that day, being an average of 521 for each 

 Sunday. The greatest attendance was 887, on the 4th April ; the smallest 88, on the 

 26th September. The total number of visitors on the ten chief holidays of the year 

 was 8,478, or an average of 847 for each holiday. The greatest attendance on any one 

 holiday was 4,320, on the 23rd April, the date of the arrival of the Prince of Wales. But 

 this extraordinary attendance was purely caused by the massing of huge crowds at the 

 foot of Princes Street in order to see the Prince's vessel arrive and pass up the harbour 

 to her berth. The next largest attendance was on King's Birthday, amounting to 975 ; 

 but the number of visitors on Easter Monday and Labour Day almost equalled that. 

 As explained in last year's report, it is impossible to give the actual attendance on 

 ordinary week-days, but it is believed to be about 250, which would give a total of 

 75,000. Adding this number to that counted for Sundays and holidays, the grand total 

 becomes 112,500. Last year the number was estimated at 107,787. 



In the report for the previous year the Council stated that in the present con- 

 gested state of the Museum it is practically impossible to make any changes of import- 

 ance therein, or to exhibit more than a small proportion of the many additions that 

 are being regularly received. The correctness of this statement will become more 

 obvious with each succeeding year. All that can be done at present is to keep the 

 collections in good order and condition, and to see that they are properly labelled and 

 arranged for public exhibition. In short, until a new building is provided little work 

 can be done in the Museum itself beyond those minor alterations and improvements 

 that can still be carried out. During the year it has been proved that excellent work 

 can be done, and important results obtained, by a series of short collecting trips into 

 various parts of the country. It is suggested that this plan should be extended during 

 the coming year. 



The additions and donations received or announced during the year have been 

 exceptionally numerous and valuable, but only the more important can be mentioned 

 here. Among them, the chief place must be given to Mr. J. B. Turner's superb collection 

 of Fijian and Polynesian ethnological specimens. For nearly fifty years Mr. Turner has 

 been engaged in building up this collection, which is recognized as being the finest and 

 most comjDlete in Fiji. It contains sets of nearly all the articles necessary to fully 

 illustrate the manners and customs of the ancient Fijian, and when placed in associa- 

 tion with the Maori collection in the Auckland Museum and the numerous Polynesian 

 articles already there will render the Museum pre-eminent as a centre for the study 

 of Polynesian culture. Mr. Turner is a native of Auckland, and his magnanimous gift 

 will ensure him a high place among the benefactors of the city. 



During a collecting tour made by Mr. Griffin through the Hauraki Plains and 

 other districts, donations of Maori articles were received from many settlers. Mr. L. 

 Carter presented three large ancient stone-worked carvings, a bundle of seventeen long 

 rods presumably used in house-building, two fine wooden wedges, together with a number 

 of other objects. Interesting Maori articles were also presented by Messrs, Miln, Benny, 

 and Bond, R. Muir, J. A. Lennard, J. Kidd, T. Dunbar, Mrs. Shelley, and others. 

 Articles of note from other districts have been received from G. Graham, Colonel 

 Boscawen, S. A. Browne, D. Munro, R. Wild, F. Wood, and numerous others. 



Attention should also be directed to an interesting collection of ethnological articles 

 from Assyria, comprising seventeen inscribed clay tablets, a Roman lamp, four scarabs, 

 thirty ancient coins, the whole presented by Mr. Graham Findlay. Finally, it is well 

 to mention a collection of ethnological specimens from Australia received in exchange 

 from the Australian Museum, Sydney. 



The War Memorial Museum and the Appeal for Funds. — At the last annual meeting, 

 held on the 23rd February, 1920, full particulars were given of the progress of the 

 scheme up to the time of the meeting. Briefly stated, it had been decided that the War 

 Memorial for the City of Auckland should consist of a suitable building to be erected 

 on Observatory Hill, in the Auckland Domain. It was further decided that the building 



