REPORT. 



\7"0UNG as this Museum is, aud large as its housing appears, 

 the colle(ftions are already in a congested condition. This is 

 not the case with the Hawaiian portion, for Hawaiian Hall was 

 planned to accommodate all that was likely to be exhibited of the 

 produ(5tions of this group, and the room is ample, but the crowded 

 state is ver}' evident when we consider the colle(5tions from the 

 other parts of the Pacific which are so important in helping to an 

 understanding of the relation and origin of Hawaiian works. 



We have at present all the "outland" things in Polynesian 

 Hall, whether the}' be Pol3^nesian, Papuan, or of mixed origin. 

 From the beginning it has been our hope to separate these collec- 

 tions, of so different origin and characfter, from the true Poh'nesian 

 products, and the past 3'ear the Dire(5tor has given much time to 

 the preparation of plans by which the desired end ma^- be attained. 

 By removing the very crowded Papuan, Australian, Fijian and 

 Micronesian collections from Pol3'nesian to a proposed Papuan 

 Hall the desired relief could be obtained and space left in Poly- 

 nesian Hall for a full sized carved Maori house, food house and 

 chief's tomb, aud also a carved war canoe of the t3-pe so beautifulh' 

 shown in the Auckland Museum. The Tahitian and Marquesan 

 specimens which are in sight, although not yet in possession, will 

 fill the vacated cases, and the specimens from New Guinea, New 

 Hebrides, the Solomons, and the Bismarck Archipelago will be 

 better arranged and exhibited in a larger hall. Both the New 

 Guinea and the Micronesian collecftions suffer greath' by lack of 

 case room. 



When this can be accomplished, the limit of exhibition room 

 will have been reached, so far as ethnology is concerned, for the 



[257] ^'> 



