This image, a detail of the printed image found at the head of 'Hawaiki:...' is relatively small in relation to the dimensions of the book. The flax, that unfortunately sits just outside the frame of this image, attests to a Pacific location centrally occupied by a castle in shadow. This subtle announcement of the underlying concerns of S Percy Smith and his fellow Aryanists should indicate for the contemporary reader that she is exiting the realm of science and entering one in which a civilising myth is overwriting the myths of a 'decayed' Aryan race.
For more information on Aryanism in the New Zealand context read Tony Ballantyne's 'Race and Web of Empire'
For more information on Aryanism in the New Zealand context read Tony Ballantyne's 'Race and Web of Empire'