Skinner. — An Ancient Maori Sf one-quarry . 329 



are still unbroken, carefully packs his roughed-out tools, and turns his facb 

 down the spur to his home by the sea. 



We have no record of the tribe that first quarried the stone about the 

 Rush Pool, but we may feel fairly confident that it was used by Ngati- 

 tu-mata-kokiri, and by their conquerors, Ngati-apa-ki-te-ra-to. Ngati-apa 

 were the ruling tribe when D'Urville sailed by Macka} 's Bluff in January, 

 1827, and, though they then knew the effects of firearms, they knew little 

 about iron or iron implements.* I think we may fairly conclude that they 

 were the last tribe to use the quarry extensively, and probably the last to 

 use it at all, for in 1828 the Taranaki tribes swept down on Tasman Bay, 

 conquering Ngati-apa, and afterwards settling over the whole land. They 

 were armed with muskets, and were well acquainted with iron implements, 

 which must have come to them in increasing quantities from Kapiti and 

 Cloudy Bay. What tribe discovered and first made use of the stone will 

 most probably never be known, but we may feel confident that the quarry 

 was used over a long period of time. The granite boulders lying scattered 

 over the surface could scarcely have been carried there in less than a cen- 

 tury, and very probably indicate a much longer period. The great mass of 

 flakes beside the pool is of itself no proof that the workings were long in 

 existence, for a single Brandon flint-knapper can make between fifteen and 

 sixteen thousand gun-flints in a week.f The ancient Maori, though not so 

 quick a worker as that, could doubtless strike off a good many flakes in a 

 short time. 



Although we may be fairly sure that such whares as existed were on 

 the flaking terrace overlooking the pool, there is no trace of their founda- 

 tions. Neither is there any trace of shell or refuse heaps. On the northern 

 slope, about 100 ft. below the track, there is a curious pit, probably of Maori 

 origin. When cleared of the earth and stones that had fallen into it, it 

 measured 5 ft. by 3 ft. by 4 ft. It may possibly have been a store-pit for 

 fern-root. 



The pool itself appears to be artificial. A low bank appears to have 

 been thrown across the upper part of a gully, the pool in the basin thus 

 cut off being fed by surface water. The advantage of a plentiful supply 

 of water in the middle of the quarry area when quarrying is carried out by 

 the use of fire and water must have presented themselves at once. 



The Native tracks to and from the Rash Pool are indicated in 

 the accompanying map. One of them, beginning at the present site 

 of Nelson, follows the Maitai as far as the confluence of Sharland's 

 Creek. Here it strikes up the spur between the creek and the river, J 

 follows the bare ridge for a mile or two, and then, dropping down to the 

 Maitai at Wilson's Fiat, follows the valley again to the Forks. From this 

 point onwards as far as Franklin's Fiat it fo'lows the line of Barn'coat's 

 track — the " Old Mokitap." At Wilson's Flat a small patch of argillite 

 boulders has been worked, while at the flat by the Forks granite boulders 

 and argillite flakes indicate either a small quarry or a much-used camping- 

 place. 



A second track led up the stream by the present sawmill, over the 

 saddle, into the Teal Valley, and thence to the coast. A large gouge, 18 in. 

 long, was found on the saddle. The flakes that mark a camping-place at 

 the commencement of this track have been mentioned already. 



* McNab, " Murihiku," p. 369. 



f Evand, " Ancient Stone Implements," 2nd ed., p. 21. 



j The narrowness of the Maitai Valley for some miles below Wilson's Flat rendered 

 it almost impassable. 



