THE AUSTRALIAN MUSKLM MAGAZINE. 



29 



THE HAWAIIAN GROUP COMPLETE. , , , , 



of Taro into poi or native porridge. 



field, broken up by lanes of blue water. 

 In the offing lies a ship, and a landing party 

 is shown on the ice front. This Antarctic 

 group reflects the greatest credit on the 

 taxidermist. Mr. H. S. Grant, and his 

 assistant, Mr. J. H. Wright, who mounted 

 the animals and constructed the fore- 

 ground, on Mr. Gallop, who painted the 

 background, and on Mr. A. R. McCulloch, 

 who superintended the installation. Any 

 defects in the group are attributable to the 

 fact that, as yet, there is no system of 

 artificial lighting in the museum. 



Groups such as these convey much more 

 information to a visitor than serried ranks 

 of single exhibits, and also create a livelier 

 interest in the facts of natural history. 

 With this object in view, the administration 

 has projected additional groups — one repre- 

 senting a coral reef pool, the haunt of 

 sponge and pearl-shell, tenanted l)y many- 

 coloured fishes, and walled in by masses of 

 gorgeous coral. In the Great Barrier Reef, 

 Australia can boast of the greatest accumu- 

 lation of living coral in the world : yet 

 comparatively few Australians have any 

 adequate conception of the transcendent 

 beauty and brilliant colours of live coral, 

 so unlike the specimens seen on mantel- 

 pieces or museum shelves. Another will 

 show a tide-pool in Port Jackson, peopled 

 with the marine organisms common in our 

 harbour. 



The group idea has been extended to in- 

 clude man as well as the lower animals, 

 so that ethnological and historical exhibits 

 are no longer confined to collections of 



weapons, utensils, and ornaments ; for 

 every progressive museum now endeavours, 

 by means of carefully executed models, 

 preferably life-size, and prepared from liv- 

 ing subjects, accompanied by appropriate 

 implements and effects, to portray for its 

 visitors the actual appearance, dress, cus- 

 toms, and daily life of various races of 

 men. If it is desired to show a tribal group 

 in a natural, out-of-doors setting, a pic- 

 tured background is added to harmonise 

 with the foreground. The Hawaiian 

 family group, recently installed in the 

 Ethnological Gallery, is one of the most 

 admiredexhibits in the Australian Museum. 

 This depicts a family of four, engaged in 

 the preparation of "poi" from the root of 

 the taro, and the manufacture of tapa cloth 

 from the bark of the paper-mulberry tree. 

 These figures, which were cast from nature 

 by Mr. Allen Hutchinson, and have been 

 skilfully coloured by Miss Phyllis Clarke, 

 from living models, are instinct with life. 

 Our aborigines, like all primitive peoples 

 who come into contact with civilisation, 

 are rapidly dwindling in numbers : the Tas- 

 manians are already extinct, and in the near 

 future no full-lilooded Australian black will 

 be left. All the more, then, is it necessary 

 for us to secure, while we may, and pre- 

 serve for our descendants, faithful repre- 

 sentations of the people themselves, their 

 tribal customs, and their daily life. The 

 Board of Trustees is fully alive to the im- 

 portance of taking this work in hand, and 

 a start will shortlv be made with the first 

 group of Australian natives. 



