19 SEPTEMBER 1952, Page 16

A Polynesian Statue

S1R,—In your review of American Indians in the Pacific the point is made that " the Maori Polynesians never made stone statues or any- thing of the kind." I feel it may be of interest therefore to say that there is a highly stylised carved stone figure between two and three feet in height (if my memory serves me aright) by Te Wairoa—the buried village—under Mt. Tarawera, near Rotarua. It is weather-beaten' and obviously several centuries old. As far as I know there is no local tradition that it was brought by the Grand Fleet or is not indigenous.—Yours