72 Transactions. — Miscellaneous . 



E tuhera tonu nei. 



He aha te kai o roto ? 



He rino, he kete taromo potiki 



He katokato no potiki 



He kete uhi no potiki 



Katahi nei au ka kai 



I te kumara nei 



Te katokato. 



Kokopu (Galaxias fasciatus). 



This small fresh-water fish is well known to those who 

 dwell in the lone places of the land. It is fair eating, but 

 the bones are troublesome. It is best cooked in the native 

 manner, in a steam-oven. The kokopu was, and still is, the 

 most numerous fish of this district. 



Natives recognise three varieties of kokopu, viz. : — 



1. Rau-mahche (known as maeJie at Waikare-moana). 



2. Reretaiva, smaller than rau-mahehe, found in shoals 

 (pahihi) ; is the soundest sleeper. 



3. Para : The largest. 



Koaivheawhe : The young of the para are so termed. 



Porohe, koeaea (or kacaea), and uruao are terms applied to 

 the young of the inanga, kokopu, and tipokopoko fish. 



The first two of the list have not so many bones as the 

 para, which requires much care on the eater's part. The 

 reddish colour of some kokopu is said to have been caused by 

 the blood of Murirangawhenua, when Maui washed the jaw- 

 bone of that ancestor before using it as a fish-hook. 



As observed, the kokopu is sometimes taken with a bob, 

 but the usual method is by use of a hand-net, of which there 

 are two kinds. The first kind of these nets (kupcnga) is that 

 used by women, who do most of the fishing for kokopu. To 

 construct this net a piece of green supplejack (pirita) is pro- 

 cured, bent into an oval form, and the ends then fastened 

 together. A piece of cord, called the tautata, has one end 

 secured to one side of the oval hoop in the centre, and the 

 other end is passed round the opposite side. Then by pulling 

 the cord the two sides are brought to within 8 in. of each 

 other, thus flattening the oval. The cord is so secured, and 

 keeps the net-hoop from spreading. Another piece of pirita 

 is bent in two places so as to form three sides, having two 

 right-angles, the two upright ends being about 18 in. in height 

 and the length of the bottom piece is 2 ft. The ends of this 

 titoko, as it is called, are fastened to the above hoop, which is 

 termed tutu, and the framework of the net is completed. 

 The fastening of the titoko to the tutu is effected by doubling 

 the ends of the former over the latter and so lashing them. 

 A net is then made to fit this frame. It is made by knotting 

 or netting (ta kupenga) narrow dried strips of undressed flax 

 (harakeke), the mesh (mata) being fin. in length. This net- 



