6 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



paint was shark-oil, but when required for personal adornment 

 it was often mixed with vegetable oils expressed from the 

 seeds of the titoki (Alectryon), the kohia (Passiflora) , the miro 

 (Podocarpus ferruginea), or the tangiao {Tetranthera calycnris), 

 which were more or less sweet-scented (" Maori Art," p. 300). 



A convenient vessel for mixing the paint was found in the 

 paua-shell {Haliotis). The small holes in these were stopped 

 with a flax cord inserted in them and joined so as to form a 

 handle ("Maori Art," p. 300). When required in a greater 

 quantity a large vessel such as a calabash was employed. 



Various modes were adopted in the application of the 

 kokotoai, each depending on the purpose for which it was 

 required. For the treating of woodwork the mixture was 

 made up into the consistency of ordinary paint and smeared 

 over and rubbed in with a bunch of vnika, or flax-fibre. "When 

 required for a cosmetic it was used in a moi'e liquid state. 

 Polack, in describing a hahunga, or feast at the ceremonial 

 scraping of the bones of a chief, says, " Eed paint was much 

 in requisition. A quantity of the mixture was arranged in a 

 broken calabash, into which some of these antipodal exquisites 

 absolutely dipped the entire head and face" ("Manners and 

 Customs of the New-Zealanders," vol. i.,p. 81). In this form 

 it was also used for saturating the clothes, which was some- 

 times done. Occasionally it was used in a form of greater 

 consistency. One of the old writers relates that a Maori who 

 was completely covered with kokoivai kept a small lump of it 

 in his hand, which he was constantly rubbing on to any por- 

 tion of his body from which the colour had worn ofi". 



Fortunately, the raw material for this much-sought-for 

 pigment was pretty widely distributed ; but as there was 

 much difference in quality a good deposit of kokoivai formed 

 a valuable possession, and the question of ownership some- 

 times gave rise to tribal disputes. One important kokoical- 

 field which supplied the wants of the people over a large 

 portion of the Bay of Islands district is situated at a place 

 called Te Ngau Areha, on the highest point of a range of 

 hills which forms the watershed of the Waitangi and Waihou 

 Eivers. Here are still to be seen several extensive excava- 

 tions, each of which was under separate ownership, and of 

 which one was always kept tapu, its product being reserved 

 for sacred purposes. A similar field lies on the right bank of 

 the Mangonui River, near the harbour, and probably many 

 others now forgotten miglit be found in several places. Mr. 

 Elsdon Best gives the name of a famous spring which de- 

 posited the red pigment near Ohaua. It was known as Nga 

 Toto o Tawera (the Blood of the Morning Star). In Hawke's 

 Bay four varieties are recognised — kokotvai, taupo, tareha, and 

 taramea. In Taranaki the material does not seem to be so 



