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or 4 ft. deep, and when full of lampreys it liad taken as many as six 

 people to haul it out. It was made of fine flax, with vines as bows to 

 strengthen it. This dam was quite close to the kaika, and during many 

 years the people did not go to the falls at all, as they could get all the 

 kanakana they wanted so handy. 



He had seen a Maori put an eel-pot in the Upoko-papaii Creek and get 

 as many eels as his horse could carry — probably 2 cwt. of eels. The 

 Maori also caught eels with bobs (mounu). These were made by sticking 

 strips of flax through rushes (wiwi) and threading worms (noke) on. Eels 

 cannot wriggle fast on dry grass, so this was spread by the fisher, and as 

 the eels took the bob they were hauled on to the spread grass, where they 

 were seized and threaded through the gills on to a flax line ready to be 

 carried away. He had seen old Pi catch eels by hand. The spring was 

 blocked with tussock {pat it i), and the water was to her hips, but she caught 

 the eels round the gills and handed them out one by one. The eels the 

 Maori ate were not the silver-bellies, which they thought too poor, but 

 the big black fellows. 



The Maori did not like the kokopura, as it had too many bones. Koura, 

 or crayfish, were caught by turning over the stones in creeks, and they 

 were roasted on the embers. Kakahi, or fresh- water mussels, were found in 

 some streams. 



In the Mataura River at certain seasons the Maori would net patiki 

 (flounders) on the beaches. Mata (whitebait) were caught in baskets of 

 flax very finely woven. Inaka (minnows) were caught at the falls, and 

 were spread on flax mats and sun-dried. When properly done they would 

 last a long time. 



The kiore, or native rat, was nearly cream in colour, and was caught 

 with a bent stick and loop. The rat would chew a string to get at a bait, 

 and this released the stick and the loop caught them. They were rolled in 

 mud and baked in the fire, the mud bringing the skin off. Most Maori 

 would n<j»t touch the pouhawaiki, or European rat. 



Tuturau was a very rich kaika in the old days. The bush swarmed with 

 birds and the creeks with fish ; but, strange to say, the proper fern-root did 

 not grow here, being brought from Otama and Tokanui. It was dug with 

 the Maori spade. This was of wood, about 5 ft. long, and had a sort 

 of scoop at the business end and a stick stuck out on one side for the 

 foot of the digger to press. They were square at the end, and dug fairly 

 well, being very vigorously Used ; in fact, Mr. Gourlay thought that many 

 an English spade would break if the same energy was used on it. 



When he came to the reserve half a dozen trees were held to be sacred. 

 These were all matai (black-pine), and it was perhaps because of the 

 edible berries on them that they had been originally " tapu-ed." You 

 could shoot or spear pigeon^ on them, but you must not put an axe near 

 them. Pikiraki was the name of the red mistletoe on the tawai (beech), 

 but the white mistletoe on the rata was called puawai. The Maori at 

 Tuturau got mud from a swamp at Waimumu, and this made an excellent 

 fast black dye. 



When eels were put out to dry and rain threatened, a shelter of tussock 

 or ti leaves was thatched over them. This shelter was called an uhi. One 

 kind of whata (storehouse) was built up high, and you went up an arawhata 

 (ladder) to reach it. 



He would eat Maori preserved food even if it had mildew on it, as it 

 woiUd cause no harm ; but food preserved by Europeans was aj)t to go 



