THE MAORI PAST AND PRESENT. By T. E. Donne, (Seeley,
Service. 21s.)-We can warmly commend Mr. Donne's new book on the Maori. No one living knows them better, for Mr. Donne as a New Zealand official has had much to do with the natives for half a century. Moreover, Mr. Donne writes well and racily, and his anecdotes and descriptions are of great interest. The Maori, as most readers know, are increasing in numbers, and live on the best of terms with their white fellow-citizens. But they have not forgotten their old traditions and still have a fear, for instance, of meddling with things or persons that arc " tapu "-or, as Bishop Williams defined it, under religious or superstitious restriction." Mr. Donne tells a queer story of the misadven- tures that befell him when he removed some fine carved figures, which were " tapu," from an abandoned hut, and took them to the museum. Collectors will be specially interested in his chapters on the Maori love of jade and the curious personal ornaments made of jade and known as " hei tiki." Mr. Donne's account of the pure-bred and half-breed Maori of the present day is most encouraging. The book is admirably illustrated.
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