188 COLLIER AND STANDEN : 
the shells, though perfect, had been charred, and the fragments 
of quartzite mixed with them were burnt to a bright redness. 
In the Purpura-mounds all the shells had been broken ina 
peculiar manner, evidently whilst alive, but whether for food or 
bait is hard to determine, and certainly they would furnish poor 
material for either purpose. It is not unlikely that they have 
been broken with the hammer-stones before-mentioned, for with 
these we have obtained precisely the same results upon living 
specimens of Purpura. It is a remarkable fact that every one 
of the broken Purpurze we brought home-—several handfuls taken 
indiscriminately— exhibit the same peculiarity of fracture. In 
each case the apical whorls have been smashed, leaving the 
lower whorl with mouth intact, and in some cases portions 
of the second and third whorls remain along with part of the 
columella. None of the species of which the mounds are com- 
posed are particularly abundant upon the rocks in the immediate 
vicinity at the present time ; but they may have been collected 
on the neighbouring islands, and brought to this place by the 
people who used them. What fuel was used is also a mystery, 
and as far as can be ascertained there is no tradition relating to 
any tribe who may have formed these mounds. Is it possible 
that the Purpurz can have been thus broken in order to obtain 
the dye from the animals? We believe that the ancient Irish 
had a purple dye such as might be furnished by Purpure, and 
though it may be urged that such a tiny portion of colouring 
matter is afforded by each animal that it would be practically 
useless, we may reply to such an objection by referring to the 
testimony of Pliny (1) and others respecting the tedious process 
followed by the women of Tyre in obtaining the famed Tyrian 
purple dye trom the animal of AZw7vex—‘‘a tiny drop from each 
living fish !” and likewise further refer to the Rev. W. Colenso’s(?) 
graphic account of the equally tedious process employed by the 
Maoris in obtaining their brilliant dyes—a few threads of pre- 
(4) Pliny, ‘‘ Nat. Hist.,” lib. ix., C. 60.—63. 
(2) Trans. N. Zealand Inst., 1881, vol. xiv., p. 57. 
J.C., viii., April 1896. 
