4 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



that the tuki is far older than the gourd. The smaller gourd 

 was broken by being dropped whilst being carried on horse- 

 back, but the tuki is uninjured. Both tukis are made of 

 matai. The ttiki, or neck, of the larger calabash is 3 in. from 

 top to bottom where it joins the gourd. Its circumference 

 low down is 15 in. It is slightly bell-mouthed — it is 4f in. 

 across the mouth, aiid is larger than most tukis. The other 

 tuki is the same in shape and make, but it is smaller and is 

 attached to a smaller gourd. The interior of each is quite 

 smooth, and at the bottom it is pierced by several holes to fix 

 it to the gourd. The carving of the larger tuki is in whorls, 

 like much of the tattooing on a Maori's face, these whorls 

 running round the tuki. The carving is beautifully done in 

 parallel curving lines in groups of three, with between each 

 group a series of small pinnacles arranged symmetrically be- 

 tween each band of three continuous lines. To break up the 

 monotony, at two points opposite each other there are fresh 

 lines running from top to bottom of the collar at right angles 

 to each other. The rim is smooth on top, but its circum- 

 ference is broken up by pairs of notches close together, but 

 each pair equidistant from the others. The outside edge, 

 w^hich was originally a circle, has been pared down until it 

 has become a seven-sided figure ; the smaller tuki is similarly 

 made into a fourteen-sided figure, but in each case only on the 

 extreme outside edge of the rim. The tukis were always made 

 circular. The smaller tuki is not notched in the rim, and the 

 spiral curves wind uninterruptedly around the body. 



These tukis seem to be excellent samples of Maori carving 

 carried to its highest point. The gourds, with their rich red- 

 brown colouring, surmounted by these exquisitely carved solid 

 wooden necks, form really beautiful specimens of Maori art, 

 and it is no wonder they were highly piized ornaments at big 

 feasts. 



Akt. II. — On the Maori Method of -preparing and using 



Kokowai. 



By Archdeacon Walsh. 

 [Read before the Auckland Institute, 3rd A^iguH, 1903.] 

 I HAVE much pleasure in presenting the Auckland Museum 

 with a stone grinding-slab and rubber used by the Maoris of 

 old time in the manufacture of their favourite red pigment 

 generally known as kokowai. 



The occasion seems to furnisli an opportunity for offering 

 a few notes on the subject, in the composition of which 1 



