300 Transactions. 



hence its name riri wild, angry. It is esteemed the finest of all the eel 

 family, the flesh somewhat resembling wild pork in flavour. The natives, 

 of course, do not attempt any skinning or cleaning, as doth the uneducated 

 European, but they say that if the fish is dipped in boiling water the slime 

 is at once removed. Those 1 saw taken at the Kauwae-roa Rapid, Whanga- 

 nui River, on the 19th April, 1916, were all about the same size, 2 ft. 9 in. 

 long and 8 in. in circumference. 1 have noticed this peculiarity in connec- 

 tion with other tuna-heke that I have seen caught, and it seems to me to 

 be conclusive evidence that only the fully developed (and probably female) 

 eels are seeking a spawning-bed in the ocean ; the small and immature fish 

 remain in the fresh water. 



Although the tuna-riri is usually taken going down the river when the 

 water is discoloured by rain, yet some natives say that occasionally it climbs 

 the rapid, so the pa-tuna is constructed to intercept the fish whether it 

 travels up or down. Under ordinary water-level a heavy log, called huahua, 

 is placed in the weir, running parallel to the current, and held in position 

 by cross-stakes driven each side of it. This creates a backwater running 

 up the swiftest rapid, and as the eel swims up this channel he takes advan- 

 tage of the assistance so given to climb the rapid. As soon as he reaches 

 the top he follows round a smoothly dressed post placed right at the head 

 of the weir, leading to the inside, and he is immediately caught by the 

 strong current and thrown back into the net leading to the hinaki, or eel- 

 pot, at the foot of the weir. Pa tonga, my Waitotara informant, stated 

 that tuna-riri will not preserve by sun-drying, as does the ordinary tuua- 

 toke, but this is questioned by the Whanganui people. The catch lasts 

 only two or three days, and while it is being dealt with the eels are trans- 

 ferred to large baskets, called puwai and puhara, made for this purpose, 

 and also spare hinaki. and then put back into the water to be sorted out 

 at a more convenient time. When all available baskets are full the surplus 

 fish are put into holes, called parua, dug in the clay, and covered with 

 fern, where they will keep alive for a day or two. 



The favourite way of cooking the smaller eels is to grill them. They 

 are taken out of the baskets and killed by a cut behind the head which 

 severs the bone. Without further treatment they are strung close together 

 by a thin stick being passed through the heads, and then placed on a grid 

 over a fire of embers — usually, in these degenerate days, on some fencing- 

 wire or wire netting. This method of cooking is called rara, and the eels 

 so treated are certainly very good if one could only get over the idea of 

 grilled entrails and slime (jxirafea). As a matter of fact, the entrails of all 

 the tuna-heke variety are very small, most of the inside of the fish being 

 filled with what appears to be fat or undeveloped roe. This part to the 

 Maori mind and taste constitutes a special delicacy. 



Those I have examined have shown no traces of food, consequently I am 

 inclined to think that these eels, like the salmon, travel on empty stomachs. 



Other eels caught in the pa-tuna are tuna-paranui, a black eel ; ruahine, 

 very large but short (one of this variety weighing 38 lb. was caught last 

 year on the upper Whanganui) ; arawaru, not so thick but longer than 

 ruahine ; mona-nui, a small variety ; tuna-keke, somewhat larger ; tuna- 

 kuia, the largest of all, and filled with roe, or probably fat, only seen and 

 caught for two or three days each year. Of the above the only eel that I 

 have had an opportunity of seeing was ruahine. On the 2nd May, 1917. 

 the large eels commenced to go down the Moumahaki, and fourteen of these 

 immense fish were taken on that date. The smallest probably weighed 



