Chapman. — On tJie Working of Greenstone. 533 



Conclusion. 



I cannot but feel sensible that this long paper is diffuse 

 and somewhat rambling. It is, however, intended as a com- 

 prehensive collection of data connected with this subject, 

 and I have made it my chief endeavour that it shall be as 

 complete as possible, at the risk of rendering it interesting only 

 for purposes of reference. No doubt there is a great deal of 

 repetition ; but my excuse for this is that I thought it most 

 desirable that these Transactions should be made the receptacle 

 for authentic original matter rather than matter made read- 

 able. I am fully aware that in some departments it must 

 prove very defective. The history and traditions concerning 

 objects of greenstone in the North Island ought to form the 

 subject of a paper of a more poetical description than this, 

 and ought to be collated with closer regard for chronology. 

 Let me hope that I may have succeeded in inciting some 

 North Island scholar to write it. My paper is rather a work 

 of South Island research and observation. All this kind of 

 work must be done soon, before the material dies with the 

 dying generation of "authentic fellows." Let me express a 

 hope, too, that I may excite such friendly criticism as will 

 lead to the correction of errors and the procuring of additional 

 information. I shall be only too pleased to receive com- 

 munications on this subject from any quarter. This applies 

 to Europe as well as the Pacific, for I am almost wholly 

 unacquainted with the literature which the "Encyclopaedia 

 Britannica " tells me exists on this subject. It is of too special 

 a character to be found either in my native island, Aotearoa, 

 or in Wai Pounamu, where my home now is, civilised as they 

 both are. 



Addenda. 



Since the foregoing paper was read I have had an oppor- 

 tunity of examining the collections in the Colonial Museum 

 at Wellington, and the Christchurch Museum. The Hon. 

 W. B. D. Mantell and Sir. Walter Buller have also afforded 

 me ample opportunities of examining their collections, and 

 I have also inspected several smaller collections : I append 

 a few notes of these. I also append an extract of a letter 

 from Mr. S. Percy Smith, the Surveyor-General of New 

 Zealand, on greenstone in Polynesia ; and a comparative set 

 of analyses compiled by Professor Ulrich. 



SiE Walter Buller's Collection. 



1. Mere, 13in. by 4Jin. Broad-leaved. Opaque. EanJcaraha that 

 is like katvakaiva, but tinged with yellow (gelbgriin), like the karaka- 

 leaf. The handle is, as is commonly the case, much more yellow. This 

 mere belonged to the Waikato-proper Tribe, and came into litigation in 

 connection with a block of land. 



