LETTER TO THE EDITORS. 



From Fr. 0. Cooksey, S.J. 



No one can be more thankful to Mr. Hyatt Verrill than I for his 

 very interesting contributions, and I write this to fill up a little of his data. 



On page 14 he mentions my exploration at Akawabi and as some 

 of the find is in the Society's Museum I think you may be glad to have 

 my observations. 



Akawabi, or as we usually called it Wauno, was discovered by Fr. 

 S. Gillet, S.J., who was the first white man to visit it, the inhabitants say, 

 it consisted of a scattered population of nearly 200 inhabitants as I found 

 when I prepared a supplementary census when the official census taker 

 finding no one at Akawabi did not trouble to ascend the forks of the 

 Wauno (Crane) Creek. 



From Catherine of Akawabi, I gathered several Indian stories. 



My visits were part of a systematic visitation which I made according 

 to a time-table which 1 published in 1910, 1911 and 1912, and were for 

 missionary purposes with antiquarian digressions when time permitted. 

 I was hampered by the idea that, every one who digs for gold, and gold- 

 diggers, are well paid, therefore Father should pay, but I got a good 

 many beautiful specimens, at Akawabi, Ho Sororo and elsewhere. 



In the mound at Akawabi near the surface I found the broken 

 Femur of a large mammal or human being now in the museum and at 

 Akawabi one of the two pot heads which Mr. Justice Hewick has. 

 With the exception of the one in the British Museum which is also 

 from the Wauno district, 1 believe, these are the most beautiful yet 

 found. The most common form, the " Billikin " shown in most of the 

 photos in the 1918 " Timehri," Mr. Rod way and I easily identified as the 

 God of Fecundity or Plenty from the physiological details of the very 

 fine specimen in the Society's museum. 



But the most glorious specimem of all is lost. 



At one of my last visits to Akawabi they brought me a vase, the like 

 of which one can dream about but seldom see ; except for a small portion 

 of the rims and one handle it was perfect and all or nearly all the pieces 

 were there. 



The Great God of Plenty whose image formed the two handles was 

 most beautifully finished and larger than usual. 



