When Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sailed into Golden Bay on 18 December 1642, he and his crew were greeted by the call of what may have been a pūtātara (shell trumpet). They responded by sounding baroque trumpets. Pūtātara were made from native conch shells, and more rarely exotic triton shells, which occasionally washed up on New Zealand beaches.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Permission of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
Courtesy of Richard Nunns and Bob Bickerton