THE FALLEN TAIAHA

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 111, 8 February 1928, Page 8

THE FALLEN TAIAHA

STRANGE COINCIDENCE -• Dominion Special Service. Masterton, February 7. A well-known resident of Masterton is a collector of relics and antiques, and among his valuable possessions is a Maori taiaha, a ceremonial staff or spear. It has been traced back as far as 1838, when it came into the possession of one of the early surveyors of the New Zealand Land Company after it had passed through tribal wars right back to the days of Captain Cook. It is of considerable worth, and is endorsed by Mr. Elsdon Best, one of the authorities of Nc\v Zealand. For over eighty years it was in ' the possession of a Wellington family. It has been with its present Masterton owner for five years, and during that time it has been securely attached bv hooks to the wall of a dimly-lit room, where picturesque history and the far places of the earth speak through many symbols. 4 Last night the inmates of the house retired at about 9.30. There was not a breath of wind, and the night) was calm. The sleepers were awak'endi by a loud clatter from the curio roojhi, as if an intruder had fallen over a chair, The matter was investigated immediately, and it was found that the room was empty. But the old taiaha was not in its accustomed. place. It had come away in some manner from its hooks, and was lying on the floor—not close to the wall, but six feet away.

It was only by accident that the collector remembered that that day, eighty-eight years ago, the Treaty of Waitangi had been signed, and the Maori race had cast away their instrument of war in an agreement for peace between white man and brown.