Downbs. — Eels and Eel-weirs. 309 



immediately increased to hundreds. When the fish are going down-river 

 freely the hinaki is visited and changed every two hours. The poha and 

 hinaki attached are lifted into a canoe, and the eels transferred to a puwai 

 (holding-basket) or another hinaki, and while this is being done other men 

 drop a new leading-net and hinaki behind the posts, working from the 

 pa-tuna itself, and pushing them to the bottom with the feet. 



The men are quite naked, and it seems to me to be cold and somewhat 

 dangerous work. When a fresh is in evidence the men are often immersed 

 nearly up to their necks when pushing the under-net into position, and it 

 takes all the power of two strong men to hold the operator from being 

 swept away by the fierce current ; add to this the darkness, and I am 

 convinced that few Europeans would care to take up the work. The 

 nets are lifted by means of a supplejack rope, which is attached to both 

 leading-net and pa-tuna. The hinaki is allowed to swing with the current. 

 Occasionally it breaks away, usually during a flood, when driftwood cuts 

 the poha net to pieces. I myself have at various times found three, two 

 containing eels and one lampreys, that had so broken away. In flood-time, 

 when the water is deep enough, two hinaki and poha are set, one above the 

 other. In a high flood the pa-tuna cannot be operated upon, and in this 

 way the natives often miss the season's catch. 



By the arrangement of this type of pa-tuna eels are taken going down- 

 stream and lampreys going up. The eels are carried down-stream by the 

 full force of the current, without chance of escape, and the lampreys going 

 up-stream attempt to enter the current between the posts that hold the 

 leading-net and the angle of the pa-tuna, the only possible way, and are 

 immediately swept back into the poha net by the force of water. 



The first night the hinaki were placed at the Moumahaki pa-tuna twelve 

 eels were taken, as before stated. The following morning a tohunga (priestlv 

 adept) very carefully opened the basket just a little, and the first eel that 

 crawled through into the canoe was killed and taken away by him to a 

 secret place unknown to the rest of the Nga-Rauru people. Thereafter the 

 rest of the eels were noa — that is, suitable for common food. 



Formerly the first catch from a new pa-tuna was divided into three 

 parts ; in the case of a large weir which accommodated several baskets 

 the outside basket — that is, the side away from which the fishers resided— 

 was taken and so divided. The first division or third was for the gods only, 

 and was cooked in a separate umu (oven), placed in flax baskets called kono, 

 into which the eels were coiled without breaking, and deposited in some 

 sacred place. The second division was for the women, and was eaten by 

 them while the last division was being prepared. The food-baskets in which 

 it was placed were called tapura or tapora ; those for the last third, for the 

 men, being designated rourou. 



The names of the various parts of this pa-tuna are as follows : The 

 upright stakes are called vtatia, but usually pou ; the heavy horizontal 

 beam, huahua ; the braces, tapapa ; the two strong posts to hold poha, 

 pou-rerenga ; the water-race, ia ; the bundles of fern matted into walls, 

 pakipaki ; the manuka bundles pegged down, tapapa; the mouth of the 

 pa-tuna, ngutu ; the fern-matted fences, karapi ; the maul for driving 

 stakes, ta. 



In rivers of some width this V-shaped weir may be repeated two or 

 three times, as VVV, thus providing two or more outlets, or ivaha, at each 

 of which a head-net and eel-pot would be placed. Such a weir was seen in 

 the Waikare-taheke River about twenty years ago. 



