264 Transactions. 



proverb which reads, " E noho Jcai ika, kia haere kai rau " (Fish-eaters remain, 

 net-eaters are going). It refers to an incident during some fighting which 

 took place just to the south of Roto-a-Ira about two hundred years ago. 



The information given in the last edition of Williams's Maori Dictionary 

 is no further advanced than BidM^ill's — viz., " Koaro, a small fresh- water 

 fish like inanga." 



The fish are caught in hinaki with a special arrangement, called a poha, 

 attached to the mouth of the hinaki. The hinaki was made of rushes and 

 the poha of flax. Museum Bulletin No. 2, page 58, has illustrations of two 

 hinaki with poha attached. The second and fourth are those used for 

 koaro. There are three streams running into Roto-a-Ira which take their 

 rise from springs gushing up out of the earth — the Mapouriki and Nga- 

 puna from Tongariro, and the Waione from Kakaramea. These three were 

 the best for koaro. The hinaki were pegged down, some with their mouths 

 up-stream quite close to the source, and others alongside of them with 

 their mouths down-stream. The fish caught as they came out of the 

 springs from the underground source were light-coloured, and spotted on 

 the back ; those caught ascending the stream were dark. The best month 

 of the year for taking the fish was March. When caught they were spread 

 out on stones in the sun to dry, and then stored in kits for future use. 



These brief notes are written in the past tense, for the old methods of 

 catching fish are practically extinct. It is only some of the old men who 

 can explain the use of their old implements. 



The introduction of trout to the Taupo Lake and streams put an end 

 to the native fish and methods of catching them. A koura 5 in. long from 

 the tip of the claws to the tail was taken recently from the stomach of a 

 trout. 



Art. XXVII. — To what Extent is Earth-rotation the Cause of the Ocean 



Currents ? 



By A. W. BURRELL. 



Communicated by Mr. J. T. Ward. 



[Read before the Wanganui Philosophical Society. 11th June, 1918; received by Editor, 

 20th July, 1918 ; issued separately, 16th July, 1919.] 



Plate XXII. 



Those who have given the currents of the ocean their serious consideration 

 must certainly have been struck by the fact that the main currents are 

 circling in a contrary direction to that in Avhich the earth is rotating- — 

 that is to say, they are moving in a clockwise direction in the Northern 

 Hemisphere and anti-clockwise in the Southern. This fact seems to me 

 to point to a cause governing the movements of the water in both hemi- 

 spheres, the cause being earth-rotation. 



Given a rotating sphere with its surface interspersed with great land 

 and water areas, in what way will the water behave when acted upon by 

 the attractive power of external bodies in or near the same plane of 

 rotation ? It appears to me that currents will undoubtedly be set running 

 in a contrary direction to that in which the sphere is rotating, more 

 especially if the land areas extend in a north-and-south direction to fairly 

 high latitudes, and for this reason : That there exists an affinity, or 



