328 Transactions. 



Europe.* Kodingite is, however, a favourite material for the finishing-work 

 called " pecking," and, in the form of small, almost spherical, boulders, is 

 frequently found on village-sites around Tasman Bay. 



On none of the hammer-stones examined was there any sign of hafting. 

 In a cleft on the summit of one of the crags two much-battered hammers 

 were found, placed in cache by some Maori that never returned. They were 

 further concealed by a large piece of the surrounding rock being placed 

 over the cleft. 



Some of the finer flaking must, I think, have been done with a punch ; 

 but no specimens of this implement were found. Possibly they were made 

 of wood, as in the case of the Aztec punches ; possibly of bone. Some of 

 the unfinished adzes found have been " pecked as a step preliminary to 

 polishing. In far the greatest number of cases the tools would be roughed 

 out at the Rush Pool, and then carried away to some kainga on the coast, 

 there to be finished at leisure. But there must have been a certain pro- 

 portion finished at the pool itself, for on the terrace already mentioned a 

 number of polishers were found. 



When digging for water in the mud of the basin late in a dry summer, 

 Dr. S. A. Gibbs discovered a finished adze.f I have not heard of finished 

 tools being found in any other part of the quarrying area. For the most 

 part, the roughed-out blocks must have been carried away. This is exem- 

 plified by a large unfinished gouge which was found on the saddle between 

 the unnamed north branch of the North Maitai and the Teal. Through 

 this saddle the old Native track to Whakapuaka passed. At the confluence 

 of the unnamed tributary and the main stream a large pile of small chips 

 marks a much-used camping-place on this track. 



From the data gathered a fairly detailed picture may be drawn of the 

 ancient Maori adze-maker at work. He comes to the Rush Pool one of a 

 party laden with baskets of food and loads of pebbles from the Bluff. He 

 stows the food in one of the whares on the terrace above the pool, and goes 

 out equipped with a fire-plough and a large granite pebble. The smaller 

 boulders of argillite which could be broken by a hammer without the inter- 

 vention of fire have been used up long ago, so he removes, by tapping, a 

 patch of the outer coating from one of the masses, finds the stone suitable, 

 and builds a fire against its base. Next he fetches water from the pool 

 and pours it on the red-hot stone. The surface splinters, and the interior 

 cracks. When it has cooled he attacks it with his haftless quartering- 

 hammer, breaking it into blocks of suitable size. These he takes up to the 

 terrace, where, with smaller pebbles, and perhaps with punches, he reduces 

 them to the rough shape. The flakes struck off go to swell the pile, part 

 of which is shown in Plate XII, fig. 2. The work may occvpy him for 

 several days, and he may perhaps " peck " and polish one or two of the 

 tools that satisfy him more than ordinarily well, But he will have rejected 

 some of the blocks after the first examination, and others will be thrown 

 aside on account of flaws or unexpected hardness in the stone. In the 

 meantime half the party will have been away trapping kakapo and weka 

 on the slopes of the Dun, for in those days the thick tussock of the mineral 

 belt, untouched for centuries by fire, must have afforded shelter to teeming 

 bird-life. J On the return of the hunters he hides the hammer-stones that 



* E.g., at Pfahlbauten, .Switzerland (vide Dr. Keller, " Lake Dwellings," p. 36). 



t It is probable enough that others would be found in the same place. The Nelson 

 Philosophical Institute might consider the proper exploration of the basin. 



% For this suggestion, together with information as to the Native track, I have to 

 thank Mr. F. F. C. Huddleston. 



