26 Dendy, The Chathain Islands. 



of the Maori idea that they indicated the doom of the 

 race." Indeed, it is said that the Maoris attributed the 

 extinction of the Morioris largely to the infringement of 

 their own " tapu," an explanation which they may have 

 found very convenient under the circumstances. The 

 fact that the Kopi tree was always selected for the 

 purpose of carving may be explained readily enough by 

 the comparatively large size of the trunk and the 

 peculiarly suitable character of the smooth bark. 



There are also rude rock-carvings on the Island, but 

 these are of quite a different type. At the entrance of a 

 shallow cave or rock shelter at Maroroa, the soft rock is 

 scored with bird-like figures in endless repetition, which 

 are supposed possibly to represent shags. 



The Moriori idea of carving, whatever they may have 

 intended to represent, appears to have been extremely 

 crude. Their figures were doubtless to a large extent con- 

 ventionalized, but the inferiority to the Maori of New 

 Zealand, both in conception and execution, is very re- 

 markable, considering the undoubtedly close relationship 

 of the two races. Easy conditions of life do not, in this 

 case, appear to have conduced to the development of the 

 artistic faculty. As manufacturers of useful implements 

 of various kinds, they appear to have been much more 

 successful. Stone clubs and chisels, bone fish-hooks and 

 other manufactured articles have been found in abundance, 

 while they seem to have been very fond of using shark's 

 teeth for personal adornment. 



The most interesting relic which I myself obtained on 

 the island was a piece of curiously carved whalebone, 

 picked up in an old Moriori burying place by one of the 

 residents, Mr. Abner Clough. This I believe to be a 

 fairly typical example of that remarkable and widely- 

 spread instrument of primitive races known to ethno- 



