74 Transactions. 



one of these hills bears quite a big hole made by generations of Maori in 

 search of maukoroa (also known as lioru — red paint). One old man said, 

 " The Kati-Mamoe used to put red paint on their faces. They knew only 

 two paints — maukoroa (red) and a blue paint whose name I forget. The 

 red paint and the hoaka (stone used as a grindstone) were brought to this 

 land from Hawaiki." I am sorry I did not get a description of how the 

 paint was made. I was also told, " Maraki is a red-yellow clay found at 

 Waikouaiti and used for seaming canoes." 



An old woman said, " Kiakia is the name of a creek at Woodside, near 

 Outram, and it runs into Lee Creek. It is so called because of the kiakia 

 which grew there. The kiakia is a small bush-like spear-grass or grass- 

 tree, and the Maori went there to get it. They soaked it with the bark 

 of the fokaka tree and a dye resulted." 



" There is a swamp near Paterson's store at Port Molyneux called 

 Tukoroua," said another of my informants, " and that little spot is famous 

 for the dye it produces. The Tukoroua Swamp is the only place in South 

 Otago where the proper kind of paruparu, or black mud, for dyeing whitau 

 (prepared flax-fibre) can be found. The mud found elsewhere would turn 

 the whitau red or rusty looking, but the Tukoroua mud made it a beautiful 

 black. You could wash it with the best soap and you would never get 

 that black out. Such a reputation had this place that people would come 

 down from the North to get their mats treated with the dye from this 

 swamp." 



A creek in Southland is called Opani because on its banks the Maori 

 got earth suitable for making red paint (pani), and the name of the hill 

 north of Kaitangata where the red ochre was procured is Te-horo-maukoroa. 

 I was told that a tree called makatoatoa was no good for timber and that 

 the Maori extracted the sap from its bark for dye, but I do not know what 

 its European name is. 



Introduced Animals. 



One or two of my Maori friends casually mentioned some of the animals 

 introduced into this land. It is well known that the southern Maori call 

 the mouse hinereta (henrietta) because a vessel of this name (" Elizabeth 

 Henrietta " — 1823) introduced these little creatures to their notice, but 

 why they call a cat naki I could not ascertain. 



Some of the old people are not pleased with the introduction of vermin 

 to Maoriland. They blame the ferrets, weasels, and stoats for largelv 

 helping to kill out the native birds, and the fact remains that although 

 Stewart Island has been settled by white men, with their dogs roaming 

 about too, for many years, bird-life is still fairly plentiful. Thus in 1918 

 in Oban, the principal settlement, I saw the kereru, or native pigeon, and 

 heard the weka, or woodhen, calling. One old man said that if any one 

 attempted to take vermin to Stewart Island he hoped he would be caught ; 

 and he further expressed the bloodthirsty wish that the delinquent would 

 be slowly done to death in boiling oil. 



It is generally conceded that Captain Cook introduced the pig to New 

 Zealand, but the late Tare-te-Maiharoa told me they knew the animal 

 traditionally, and they called it poaka. He said it was mentioned in the 

 history very far back. I have read that poaka is a corruption of the 

 English word " porker," but against this we must remember that those 

 Polynesians who had pigs when Cook visited the South Sea islands called 



