Hawaiian myths

A long introduction by Katherine Luomala the noted Hawaiian anthro pologist has been added to a new edition of Martha W. Beckwith’s Hawaiian Mythology which has been out of print for many years and become a literary rarity.

Although Miss Beckwith was born in the eastern states of America she spent her girlhood in Maui where her parents were schoolteachers. Her book was originally published in 1940 for the Folklore Foundation of Vassar College to which she was then attached.

But although written for the foundation it was immediately ac claimed by a far wider audience as the first scholarly work on the myths, legends, and folktales of the Hawaiian people. It has remained the only work of its kind, reflecting her early association with the people of the Islands and her life-long interest and involvement with them.

It is a scholarly book, over 500 pages long, with the usual supply of footnotes. It is not, however, so academic that the general reader interested in this type of literature will not find something of interest.

Nor is its interest confined to Hawaii.

Readers brought up in New Zealand — or Tahiti or Rarotonga — will recognise the same stories and the same gods and near-gods and their legendary behaviour and accomplish ments.

Although the author does not deal with the Polynesian migrations as such, she does give the various versions of myths and legends and thus has produced a book that has

a Pacific-wide application. —J.T.

(HAWAIIAN MYTHOLOGY. This edition published by University of Hawaii Press; $US12).

Potting

Pottering around the Islands is an accepted way of life. But potting around the Islands has yet to make an impression. However if readers get a hand to The Australian Pottery Book, by Harry Memmott, the hobby could spread like wildfire.

Not that there isn't any pottery in the Islands at the moment. What would be a fascinating exercise would be to take this excellent A-to-Z of pottery —Western-style—and relate it to the indigenous pottery styles of the Pacific.

Harry Memmott, an Australian potter of some fame, has produced

a pottery book for the amateur who wants to become something more than a clay-slinger. It has a clear text and plenty of pictures to show how various pottery styles are carried out. It also give the lowdown on glaze preparation and how to build your own kiln; in short, how to

become a potter. —J.S.E.

(The Australian Pottery Book,

Paul Hamlyn Pty. Ltd., $4.50).

Historic news

A Sydney firm is microfilming for universities and research bodies, some of Australia’s earliest news papers. The Sydney Gazette, first begun as an official government news paper in 1831, and which lasted until 1842, has been completely covered, as have all copies of the Sydney Morning Herald, first published in 1831 and still going.

Other newspapers and similar docu ments are to be microfilmed in the near future by the firm, W. & F.

Pascoe Pty. Ltd.

Colour

There are about as many photo graphic books about the South Pacific around at the moment as there are PIM’s. What makes Papua and New Guinea in Colour so dif ferent is its price. At $1.95 it’s a happy surprise.

In fact Colin Freeman and David Holdsworth’s little book, published by Rigby, is as good as a great many massive coffee-table tomes we’ve received recently. This little book, with advantage of small size and price, is worth buying. Its pictures are good and the text is as it should be—short.

It’s a pleasant little effort and the fact that it doesn’t go out of its way to throw Highland warriors in plumage at you from every page (except the front one) is a nice change.