268 Transactions. 



nearly all the loose bone objects had been dug from sand discoloured by 

 charcoal, which still adhered, all but three of the hooks (Plate XXIII, 

 figs. 4, 5, 6) had blue estuary-mud still adhering, and were stained the same 

 deep brown as is timber waterlogged in estuaries and harbours. The flax 

 cord also showed signs of estuary-mud. On the back of one of the hooks 

 (Plate XXIII, fig. 7) was a fragment of plaited flax, the plait being that 

 commonly used by the Maoris in making kits. A close examination yields 

 evidence that they were found together in estuary-mud, and that some 

 former European owner has carefully scrubbed three of them (Plate XXIII, 

 figs. 4, 5, 6) to which neither mud nor sand of any kind remains adhering. 



When the collection was received the serrated bone point of Xo. 5 

 was inserted in the shank as shown, but, as it was not secured with small 

 wooden wedges like the points of Nos. 7, 8, 9, it may possibly have 

 been discovered elsewhere and inserted by the owner who scrubbed the 

 three hooks already mentioned. This may also have been the case with 

 the bone points of Nos. 2 and 6, but a careful examination of each will, 

 I think, convince any one that points and shanks all actually " belong." 



Several pieces of evidence indicate that the estuary in which the hooks 

 were found was probably in the neighbourhood of Dunedin. In the Otago 

 University Museum collection is a wooden shank from a cave near Otago 

 Heads almost identical with that of Xo. 5, but lacking the bone j^oint. 

 This type of shank is not known to occur elsewhere in New Zealand. If 

 the bone point be accepted as evidence it is confirmatory, for it belongs to 

 a type common in Otago but not recorded elsewhere. Much stronger is 

 the evidence of hooks Nos. 7, 8, 9, for hooks of identical shape but having 

 a nail in place of a bone point are still used in barracouta-fishing by 

 European fishermen on the Otago coast. The timber now used for the 

 shank is red-cedar, the colour attracting the fish without any need of bait. 

 Frank Bullen has left an interesting account of the Maori method of using 

 this tvpe of hook as practised by the Maoris at Port William, Stewart Island, 

 in the " seventies " : " The Maoris have quite an original way of catching 

 barracouta. They prepare a piece of rimu (red-pine) about three inches 

 long by an inch broad and a quarter of an inch thick. Through one end of 

 this they drive an inch nail bent upwards, and filed to a sharp point. The 

 other end is fastened to about a fathom of stout fishing-line, which is in 

 turn secured to the end of a stout five-foot pole. Seated in a boat with 

 sail set, they slip along until a school of barracouta is happened upon. Then 

 the peak of the sail is dropped, so as to deaden the boat's way, while the 

 fishermen ply their poles with a sidelong sweep that threshes the bit of 

 shining red through the water, making it irresistibly attractive to a struggling 

 horde of ravenous fish. One by one, as swiftly as the rod can be wielded, 

 the lithe forms drop off the barbless hook into the boat, till the vigorous 

 arm can no longer respond to the will of the fisherman, or the vessel will 

 hold no more.'"* 



The large hook (Plate XXIII, fig. 2) is made of manuka wood, and was 

 probably used in shark-fishing. At the bottom of the curve, on the outer 

 side, is a small knob which appears to have been carved to represent a 

 human face. This type of hook, to which Nos. 3 and 4 also belong, is 

 common to the whole of New Zealand. The size of the remaining hook, 

 No. 1, indicates that it was used for catching smaller kinds of fish. 



* The Cruise of the '" Cachalot,'" Chapter xxv. For this reference I have to thank 

 Dr. W. N. Benson. 



