Haast. — Stone Weapons of the Moriori and the Maori. 29 



bleeding head, cracked skull, or barked skin, as the case might 

 be." 



As by the genealogy of the Morioris they have existed 

 twenty-seven or twenty-eight generations on the island, it must 

 have been a very long time ago that by that law of their an- 

 cestor Numuku all weapons such as okewas, tans (or spears), 

 &c., were laid aside, the latter being placed on rests at their 

 sacred places of sepulture. Tuahu were only produced on the 

 occasion of " tohinga tamariki," a sort of baptismal ceremony ; 

 hence the making of okewas fell into desuetude, and that of any 

 other warlike weapons known to their ancestors. 



Concerning the stone implements used by the Maoris and 

 their ancestors, I have already stated that they called all those 

 made of nephrite (greenstone) mere, and the rest okewa. It is 

 evident that the stone clubs, possessing the same form as the 

 mere but made of hard black igneous rocks, are of a far more 

 ancient date, though they have been worked with great care, 

 and their form and polish are perfect. They have been found 

 in such positions that there can be no doubt as to their 

 great age. I was therefore much interested in obtaining two 

 Maori stone implements, which are very different in form from 

 those just alluded to, and which in many respects agree far 

 more with the stone weapons of the Morioris than with those of 

 the Maoris. 



One of these, found during the draining of an extensive 

 swamp at the Hinds, and presented to the Canterbury Museum 

 by Mr. E. H. Dobson, is roughly made of greyish dolerite rock. 

 It is 13-| inches long, 3 inches broad, and 1-J inches thick in the 

 centre. It has a resemblance to the okewa of the Morioris, in 

 so far that only one side (different from the form of the mere) 

 has been prepared for striking by being brought to a sharp edge, 

 and that it has no hole through the handle for the purpose of 

 passing a strap to be fastened to the wrist. The handle is also 

 of a very primitive character. The process pursued in its manu- 

 facture appears to me identical with that of the Morioris, the 

 implement being first chipped and afterwards roughly ground 

 down, though at one spot an attempt has been made to give it a 

 more perfect polish. This is the only weapon of the kind, viz., 

 possessing a striking edge on one side only, that I have ever 

 seen in New Zealand ; and the position of the swamp, of enor- 

 mous extent, is such that it may have been deposited therein 

 during many generations past. 



Another stone implement of very great interest to the 

 ethnologist is one that was lately presented to the Canterbury 

 Museum by Dr. de Lautour of Oamaru. It was obtained in 

 deep ploughing at Windermere, on the Kakanui Eiver, near 

 Maheno. Oamaru. It is made of a similar micaceous schist to 

 that of which the okewa (No. 1 ) of the Morioris is manufactured, 



