Haast. — Stone Weapons of the Moriori and the Maori. 27 



laceous layers, save a considerable degree of hardness. From 

 the traditions attached to these remarkable weapons, it is evident 

 that a long time must have elapsed since they were manu- 

 factured, and some of them brought to such perfection, con- 

 sidering the material from which they were shaped. 



It is clear that the same process of polishing the uniformly 

 hard material, from which the Morioris made their " tokis" or 

 stone axes, could not be applied to these war-clubs, and that 

 the principal work of forming them consisted in the chipping 

 process. When the proposed form was thus obtained, they 

 proceeded to give the war-clubs some little polish, as much as 

 was possible without removing the loose argillaceous or mica- 

 ceous matter between the quartz layers. In some instances the 

 layers were so very thin and intimately blended with the rest, 

 that a far greater polish could be given to the material worked 

 upon. In describing the different forms of their war-clubs, I 

 shall return to this subject. Besides the large weapons made of 

 nephrite (greenstone) to which exclusively the Maoris apply the 

 term " mere,'" they also used stone weapons of similar form, 

 manufactured from melaphyre, aphanite, and other fine-grained 

 basic rocks, for which weapons the generic term "okewa" was used. 



The Morioris, on the other hand, who did not possess any 

 nephrite weapons or implements, had several names for the 

 peculiar stone weapons they at one time used for offensive and 

 defensive purposes. 



They restricted the term " oketra" to a peculiar bill-hook 

 shaped war-club, of which No. 1 is a reduced representation. 

 These okewas range from 12 inches to 16 inches in length, 

 with a breadth of 3^ inches to 4i inches, and a thickness in the 

 centre of an inch to an inch and a half. The weapon figured 

 No. 1 is a remarkably well-worked specimen 15 inches long, 4 

 inches broad, and 1\ inches thick ; it is worked to as sharp a 

 rounded edge as the nature of the material would allow. In 

 this instance the micaceous schist is of a more uniform cha- 

 racter, the quartz layers being very thin and inconspicuous. I 

 may draw your attention to the sharp prominence at A, by 

 which the edge is divided into two unequal parts, the upper 

 portion above it sloping more rapidly backwards. We possess 

 some of these okewas in the Canterbury Museum, which are 

 only six inches long. They were either children's toys or 

 attempts towards the learning of the manufacture of these im- 

 plements. A second form (No. 2) has the shape of a club. It 

 is named "pohatu taharua." The specimen is lOf inches long, 

 4^ inches broad, and 1| inches thick. The quartzose layers 

 are much thicker, so that less finish could be given to it. 

 Both sides are flat, the edges only being rounded off, except at 

 the handle, where on one side the material has been so far 

 removed that the curvature goes over the whole surface. 



