436 Transactions. 



Fishing-grounds. 



The old-time Maori, a careful and observant student of nature and all 

 matters connected with food-supplies, soon ascertained the parts of the 

 lake where the various foods were most plentiful and most easily procured. 

 These spots became the fishing-grounds, carefully marked and jealously 

 guarded by the various subtribes and families. They were given names, 

 and the most famous were alluded to in song and story. Such were Kaiore, 

 te wkare o te konra, o te toitoi (the home of the koura and the toitoi), and 

 Te Taramoa, where nets were drawn and iau were set. Patua-i-te-rangi, 

 in a lament for Te Ao Karewa, who was drowned in the lake, sang as 

 follows : — 



E hine e Pare, e Pare kinokino kia au ki to kuia, 



E kore korua ko to tungane e puta i Te Ponui-a-Rerenga. 



E kukume ana te au o te taua ki o papa. 



Na Ngati-Whakaue te riri i tuku atu kia hoki, 



Kia ata noho e te tangata, 



Kauaka e rere ki te tau poito. 



Ki ta ia tangata kupenga ra. 



Piki ake ra e hine 



Ki o taumata e rua ki Taupiri ki Te Rewarewa, 



Kia marama koe te titiro 



Ki te moana ki o whaea, 



E moe ake ra Te Ao i tona whare kinokino, 



I te wkare kai a te tangata, ko Kaiore, 



Ko Kaiore tukunga porohe ki te parenga ki Te Taramoa. 



Puruatia o mawliiti, he puru whare no Te Whakaruru e . . . 



From the fourth line this may be translated roughly as follows : — 



It was Ngati-Whakaue who turned back those seeking strife, 

 And (advised) that man should live in peace — 

 Not to meddle with the tan kept up by floats 

 Or with the nets of other men. 

 Ascend, little maid, 



The two summits, Taupiri and Te Rewarewa, 

 Tbat thou mayest clearly view 

 The lake and your elders, 

 Where Te Ao sleeps in her house of death, 

 The house of the food of man, Kaiore — 



Kaiore, where the toitoi traps are set in the direction of the shore, towards 

 Te Taramoa. 



Te Moari was famous as Te Moenga o te Kokopu (where the kokopu 

 sleeps). The big drag-nets were used on this ground. Of the hakdhi 

 grounds the most famous of all was Tahunaroa, another famous one being 

 Te Rau Tawa. 



Landmarks. — Some of the grounds were located by sighting conspicuous 

 objects ashore and getting a cross-bearing between two sets. The Tahuna- 

 roa ground, for instance, was picked up as follows : A line was taken from 

 a large cabbage-tree on the lake-shore near Owhatiura to a small clump 

 of trees known as Te-Rau-o-te-Huia, situated on the hills at the back of 

 Owhata. Keeping on this line, the canoe paddled forward or back until 

 a certain conspicuous slip in the Arikikapakapa Reserve, near Whakarewa- 

 rewa, was in line over the top of some small islands, known as Motutere, 

 n the lake-arm at the back of the present Sanatorium. The canoe was 

 now on Tahunaroa, and down went the pole with the absolute certainty of 

 striking bottom. 



Other marks were the natural objects in the water, such as rocks. 

 Such a one was Patuwhare, a rock off the shore of Mokoia, out from the 



