202 Report of a Journey Around the 11 orld. 



a number of casts, of which several have already arrived. We are 

 also to have a Maori carved bone receptacle from their abundant 

 store, also some moa bones. The passage out of Wellington was 

 interesting ; the channel narrow and nearly crossed by reefs of 

 jagged rocks. 



Friday, Nov. i. Arrived at Lyttleton at daybreak, but did 

 not land until after breakfast, the train for Christchurch leaving 

 at 9:05. Through the long tunnel out upon the plain of Canterbury 

 is always a pleasant change, and the pleasure was greatly enhanced 

 by observing the great growth since my last visit in 1888. The 

 day was cloud)- and rain seemed threatening. Exchanged our 

 order for railway conveyance to Dunedin for a steamer passage, as 

 we could find no hotel accommodation in town for the race week and 

 desired to continue on the comfortable steamer Maunganui. We 

 secured our berths on the Mararoa for the return to Wellington; 

 telegraphed to Dunedin for our rooms at the Grand Hotel, and 

 all this took a long time. Finally the tram took us to Papanui, 

 Norman's Road, where Mr. Andrew Roby Bloxam met us and we 

 were soon in his hospitable home. We had reached the place 

 the Trustees wished us to visit for the purpose of examining a 

 feather cloak and other Hawaiian relics, heirlooms in Mr. Bloxam 's 

 family from the voyage of the Blonde in which his father and uncle 

 took part. The cloak we found was red, with yellow ornaments, 

 the mesh of the net was unusually coarse but the cloak large and 

 good. This was thrown over Mr. Bloxam's uncle's shoulders by 

 the Hawaiian Queen [Kaahumanu?], and he bequeathed it by will 

 to the present owner. A "stick god" was very interesting and 

 had a lizard head such as I have not seen before (Fig. 159). It 

 was in the Hale o Keawe at Honaunau, Hawaii, when the officers 

 of the Blonde were invited to inspect this famous depositary of the 

 remains of Hawaiian chiefs, and the visitors were permitted to take 

 some of the small idols put there as guardians of the dead. I was 

 kindly permitted to take this home with me for the purpose of 

 casting, to be returned if the Trustees should not care to purchase.' 

 The supposed dagger with which Captain Cook was killed turned 

 out to be no dagger, but the well carved handle of a Tahitian fan 

 or fly-flap. It is rather curious that so many supposed daggers 



"This has since been returned, the completeness of the Museum collection 

 of feather cloaks of this class not warranting any large expenditure for addi- 

 tional specimens. [350] 



