In 1419, the Emperor of China sent the most magnificent fleet of ships ever seen around the world. Besides sailors, ambassadors and such on board, there were the inevitable rats, faithful dogs and a certain group of fishing otters. The old Emperor died whereupon his jealous son, the new Emperor, ordered his fathers ships, upon return, to be destroyed, as well as the animals on board. One ship crashed before returning on the shores of Ruapuke Beach, New Zealand. Until now, no one has known the cause. The animals knew. This is their story.

Vols. for 1953- include also Report of annual meeting.

One of the great historical mysteries of recent centuries has to do with the discovery of Australia and New Zealand before the 17th century. Did 16th century Portuguese navigators reach the shores of these two countries and chart them? This book catalogues all major attempts over the last 500 years to answer these questions.

For more than 200 years, scholars and amateurs alike have wrestled with the problem -- did sixteenth century Portuguese navigators sail down the east coast of Australia and along the shores of New Zealand, charting the coastlines as they went? Employing endless speculation, all kinds of people have proposed all kinds of theories, not one of which resulted in a resolution over those two centuries. This book is different. Forsaking the speculation and guesswork model, it finally lays the matter to rest beyond all reasonable doubt

The story of invasive species in New Zealand is unlike any other in the world. By the mid-thirteenth century, the main islands of the country were the last large landmasses on Earth to remain uninhabited by humans, or any other land mammals. New Zealand’s endemic fauna evolved in isolation until first Polynesians, and then Europeans, arrived with a host of companion animals such as rats and cats in tow. Well-equipped with teeth and claws, these small furry mammals, along with the later arrival of stoats and ferrets, have devastated the fragile populations of unique birds, lizards and insects. Carolyn M. King brings together the necessary historical analysis and recent ecological research to understand this long, slow tragedy. As a comprehensive historical perspective on the fate of an iconic endemic fauna, this book offers much-needed insight into one of New Zealand’s longest-running national crises.

Yolngu art as a communication system encoding meaning as form; relation of art to the systems of clan organisation and restricted (secret) knowledge; contact history and social contexts of art production; iconography of clan paintings; response to the art market; social organisation rights to land and law; marriage and kinship; rights to paintings; knowledge system - structure, inclusiveness, power, secrecy; role of paintings in ceremonies - burial rituals; range of meanings associated with paintings - examples used in ceremonies associated with the Wawilak Sisters and ancestral shark images; graphic components of painting - figurative and geometric, clan designs; chronological change - the Donald Thomson Collection, past and contemporary categories of painting, commercial art; iconographic analysis of Manggalili clan paintings; relation of events in painting to Yolngu cosmology - creative powers , life and death, male and female dualities.