260 Transactions. 



used in a most ingenious way to serve the double purpose of reel and 

 float. This float was about 2 ft. long, the mid-section roughly an oval, 

 the major diameter being 6 in. and the minor 3 in. For about one-third 

 of its length at each end a portion was cut away, leaving two long horns. 

 A section of a Nottingham fishing-reel would exactly show the shape in 

 miniature. Its local name is 'poito. Two stone sinkers were fastened to 

 the inside of the pouraM, the bait carefully tied in place, the line wound 

 on the jpoito, and then the fisherman went off in his canoe to the selected 

 spot to try his luck. The time selected for placing the nets was at evening. 

 The fisherman was guided to the best places by marks on shore, and at 

 each place known to the fisherman a pouraJca would be let down until all 

 would be set. The poito would serve as a float, a hitch round one of the 

 horns making it stand upright in the water. In the morning the nets were 

 visited and lifted to see what had been caught. The poito was first placed 

 on the canoe and then the rope carefully pulled up. If the p)ouraha 

 was full the fisherman would know by the agitation of the water in it as 

 soon as it came in sight. It was lifted on board, the bottom of the net 

 untied, and the Tiokopu emptied into the bottom of the canoe. Fresh 

 bait was then attached and the pouraka lowered again at the same 

 spot. All the pouraka were visited in succession ; if any of them were 

 found empty they were taken on to some other spot. The kokopu caught 

 in this way were about the length of a man's hand, and they were very 

 fat. The time of fishing was from November to March. 



Another method of catching kokopu was by means of a tati. In 

 February or March, when the new fern [Pteris esculenta) was fully grown, 

 men cut large bundles of it and left them to dry. While the fern was 

 drying they prepared a long and strong rope, plaiting it of fiax. The length 

 of the rope would be from 40 to 50 fathoms. A number of shorter lengths 

 of light three-ply plaited flax ropes were prepared. When all the material 

 was ready it was taken to a suitable spot. A strong stake was driven 

 in on the edge of the shore and the thick rope firmly attached. The 

 lighter ropes were fastened at suitable intervals along the whole length 

 of the main rope to within a short distance of the end farthest out from 

 the shore. To this end a heavy stone was attached to serve as an anchor. 



Large bundles of the prepared fern were firmly tied to the free ends 

 of the lighter ropes, and when all was ready the bundles of fern were 

 lovrered into the water. A poito was fastened to the large rope near the 

 junction of the first short line. Sometimes as many as thirty bundles of 

 fern would be fastened to the main line. 



The bundles would be lifted during the daytime, and very great care 

 was taken to pull the bundles up one at a time in such a way that no 

 sudden jar was given to them. The bundles were either shaken into the 

 canoe, or a net called a karapa was passed under the bundle to catch the 

 kokopu as they fell from the fern. This method of catching kokopu was 

 practised from the month of April to the end of September. 



There was a method of taking a large variety of kokojm, known as 

 kokop)U-para, in the rivers by the use of a bob. This is the common 

 instrument in use for catching eels in other places. A number of worms 

 were threaded on some dressed flax and tied in a bunch to the end of a 

 short, thin rod. The fish would bite the worms and be suddenly jerked 

 into a canoe, or, if the fishing was from the shore, upon the dry land. 



Kokopu when eaten fresh were, without any preparation, steamed in 

 a Maori oven and eaten as a relish with fern-root, kmnara, or, in more 



