

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH OF NEW ZEALAND. 



1125 



building in which is housed the Colonial Museum, a monument to the devotion and 

 scientific zeal of Dr. (now Sir James) Hector, who has had charge of it ever since its 

 foundation in September, 1865. The nucleus of this fine establishment was formed with 

 the collection from the Museum of the New Zealand Society, and since then it has been 

 receiving constant accessions of deposits and donations, until now it is one of the most 

 complete of its kind in the colony. Its collection of articles of Maori archaeology and 

 curiosities is, in its way, quite unique, and of great value. The principal feature is the 

 Maori house originally constructed at Tauranga by the Ngatikaipoho tribe, and remarkable 

 for the excellence of the carving lavished upon it in the best style of Maori art. 

 Eighteen of the most skilful native carvers were engaged for a considerable time in the 

 fashioning of the strange uncouth figures which are ranged along its walls. 



To the right of the Parliament Buildings stands the Roman Catholic Church of St. 

 Mary's, the central roof of the edifice flanked by walls much lower in height, and with 

 a tower and spire over the main 

 entrance. Like the other ecclesias- 

 tical structures of Wellington, 

 it is built of wood. Under the 

 same spiritual administration is St. 

 Patrick's College, a handsome 



! THE HOUSES 

 OF PARLIAMENT 



THE GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS. 



building erected, in 1884, in the Te Aro quarter of the city, and on a commanding site. 

 The other leading educational institution of the place is the Wellington College, situated, 

 in the same part of the city, upon a hill-side near the Adelaide Road, and surrounded 

 with grounds having an area of no less than seventy-five acres. The primary schools 

 are in number and size fully equal to the requirements of the population. Chief among 



