Page:Pounamu, notes on New Zealand greenstone (IA pounamunotesonne00robl).djvu/82

78 Nowadays old and good specimens of tiki and other ornaments and implements of the native greenstone are rare in New Zealand. Very many have left the country; and those that remain in private hands are for the most part in the possession of rich natives, who are keenly alive to their value, and can rarely be induced to part with those treasured memorials of their ancestors.

When, however, in the course of their memorable journey to the Dominions beyond the seas, their present Majesties visited New Zealand, in 1901, the Maori chiefs loyally presented to the royal visitors many valuable heirlooms and works of art, which are now exhibited in the British Museum by command the King.