Page:Our New Zealand Cousins.djvu/151

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Our New Zealand Cousins.
135

may one day astonish the world in the rôle of a new Mahdi, or Peter the Hermit. At present he is an object of curiosity with the many, and certainly, with some, an object of pity and kindly interest.

If the visitor wishes to feast his eyes on an exhibition of perfect good taste and exquisite skill in arrangement, let him visit the atelier of that artist in arrangement of curios—Mr. Kohn, the jeweller, on Lambton Quay. Mr. Kohn has a wonderful and most complete collection of Maori and Island weapons, cloths, and other curios. They are arranged round the walls of an upper room, where the light streams softly in through stained windows, and the courtesy of Mr. Kohn is on a par with his good taste. The room is a wonder. It is something unique. Dr. Buller has another splendid collection of Maori curios which I much regretted I was unable to see, although Captain Mair had most kindly provided me with a letter of introduction to the worthy doctor.

The museum and botanical gardens, too, are worthy a visit.

Another object of interest, too, I had the good fortune to behold, under the guidance of its constructor. This was the Belmont Viaduct, erected on the Wellington and Manawatu Railway about a mile from Johnstonville, by Mr. Morton Danaher, the contractor, from the design of Mr. H. P. Higginson, the engineer to the company.

The bridge is said to be the highest viaduct, built exclusively of timber, in the world. So that Wel-