PHOTOGRAPHS OF INTEREST.
GIFT FOR AUCKLAND. ~ (B.v TelegraDh—Special Correspondent.) Auckland, December 29. The Auckland Museum will shortly bo in' possession of 'an interesting set of photographs of rocks in the Island of; New Caledonia, showing carvings, which are supposed to be the work of prehistoric man. I'lie rocks were first discovered by M. Glnumout—an officer in the penitentiary—in 1895, but little notice was taken of thein till 1898, when .51. Marius Arehambault visited them, and took photographs, which ho showed-at a recent art exhibition at Noumea. Copies of the photographs were given by IT. Archambauit to Mr. T. Maiming, British ViceConsul at New Caledonia, who happened to be leaving for Auckland, and who will hand them over to the museum' authorities. A large number of carved stones have been discovered at Diabot, in the north of the island. In one locality alone there are 100 stones, and tho crosses and circles on them are said to be witnesses of art of an ancient date of which the natives are ignorant. _ Tho most qualified natives know nothing about tho carvings, or by whom they were done. They are found exclusively on the harder rocks, and there is clear evidence that tho work was done with chisel and hammer. Tho cross is present in all the carvings, and is continually multiplied. It is shown in its simplest form, and in the'moro elaborate forms of six and eight branches, the Maltese Cross, and the Cross of Lorraine. The spiral is also largely employed, and there are representations of a strange instrument, somewhat like a pick, tridents, fern leaves, ovals, etc. There is also, one figure very like the Greek fetter Alpha. .
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Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1012, 30 December 1910, Page 4
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278PHOTOGRAPHS OF INTEREST. Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1012, 30 December 1910, Page 4
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