306 Transactions. 



Riko. The largest of all. Te Kumeroa said lie had seen them 6 ft. 



long. 

 Kokopu-tuna. Very large. There are two kinds : paratawai, a short 



one, and putake-harakeke, reddish in colour. 

 Haumate. Like the hao, but with short ears. 

 Karaerae. 

 Kopakopako. Silver-eel. The Ngai-Tahu people call this pakeha. a 



name they used long before the advent of the Europeans. 

 Tarehe (called also tirehe and mairehe). A silver-eel ; is short, and 



not the best eating. 

 Kongehe. Can be caught with the hand. Soft and flaccid. 

 Tatarakau. Same thickness head to tail ; black like riko. 



PlHARAU. 



The lamprey (piharau) is about 18 in. or 20 in. long, with a cartilaginous 

 skeleton. It is considered a great delicacy by the Maori, but is difficult to 

 preserve, as it cannot be dried or smoked. My informant stated that the 

 longest time it can be kept fresh is four days. It is therefore put into 

 holding-baskets (korotete) (see Plate XXVIII, fig. 3) and kept alive for 

 months. Other natives say that the piharau can be preserved by drying, 

 but the method is somewhat different to that employed for eels, as they are 

 partly sun-dried and then finished by a slow fire. It goes up the rivers in 

 considerable numbers during May, June, July, and sometimes August, and 

 returns to the sea in October and November, when the skin is very soft. 

 It is taken in the hinaki during flood-time only, at a weir built from the 

 shore at right angles into the river. This is called utu, and is exception- 

 ally strong. The piharau is taken as it goes up the river, climbing close 

 to the shore to avoid the current. Although it is seldom seen swimming 

 up-stream (I have only seen one, although often motor-launching on the 

 upper river), yet great numbers are sometimes taken. On the 2nd May, 

 1917, 1,434 were lifted from the hinaki at Kai-manuka, Waitotara River ; 

 and in the Waitara, for a single night's netting during a fresh in June, 

 three sacks were filled — probably between two and three thousand. 



In some districts another method (called whakarau) of catching piharau 

 was adopted, but has now fallen into disuse. A large thick mat was manu- 

 factured of bracken laced together with flax. This was about 4 ft. wide, 

 and was pegged down in the river right up to the shore with parallel rOws 

 of pegs. This was laid down in a sheltered spot with either a natural or 

 artificial breakwater, and the piharau would shelter and hide in the pro- 

 vided cover. Two men would walk out into the river and roll the mat 

 up, working towards the shore, and, of course, taking the fish with them. 

 It is said that many were taken in this manner ; but nowadays, I am told, 

 a sheep-skin is used (I do not quite understand how) instead of the bracken 

 mat, and is almost as effective, and has the merit of being simpler. 



The Taranaki natives say that in former times they used a certain 

 sand (brought from Hawaiki !), which was placed in a little stone 

 cup called punga-tai, and, having had charms said over it, this cup was 

 deposited in the river near the pa and attracted the piharau to it. Tau 

 mahi, a te Maori ! 



Other Fish taken in Eel-weirs. 



The small fish taken in the pa-tuna at the same time and mixed with the 

 eels are kokopara and pangohengohe, probably the mountain-trout ; toitoi, a 



