Te Rangi Hiroa. — Maori Food-supplies of Lake Eotorua. 439 



the pekapeka, and was of sufficient length to reach from the lake- 

 bottom to the surface, where it was fastened to the aka tauhu, or simply 

 tauhu. 



The tauhu, or ridgepole, consisted of a stronger length of aka, about 

 2 in. thick. One end was usually attached to a tumu, or post, marking the 

 crayfish-ground, the other being fastened to a polio, or float. The pekapeka 

 were attached along it at intervals of 10 ft. To prevent the line of the tauhu 

 being altered by winds or currents, a punga (anchor) was often attached 

 by a line to the tauhu. 



The complete tau is shown in the diagram (fig. 1). When set on the 



koura ground the tauhu line is fastened at one end to the tumu at the water- 

 ed 



level, and kept on the surface, like the top rope of a net, by floats. Every 

 10 ft. along its length a pekapeka line hangs down to the bottom of the lake, 

 with a fern bundle attached to its end by an aka tahua. Into these bundles 

 the koura make their way and await their fate. 



Before, however, the owner of the tau can secure the trapped koura 

 he must be provided with a korapa, or hand-net. The korapa is shaped 

 somewhat like a tennis-racquet on a large scale, without a handle. The 

 frame is made of toatoa wood (Phijllocladus trichoma noides), which has a 

 springy, elastic fibre. The two ends are brought round in an oval, lashed 

 together, and strengthened by a cross-piece a few inches above this binding. 

 A flax net, with very little bag in it, is stretched across the frame. 



'auky 



T=Wk* 



fv* Wu^Jr\ 



Fig. 1. — The tau koura. 



The process of securing koura by means of the tau is known as tatd koura. 

 If the owner of a tau invited you to accompany him to secure his catch 

 he would say, Ka haere taua ki te tatd koura (Let us go and tatd koura). 

 This is an idiomatic phrase that applies only to the tau. Having embarked 

 on his canoe, he made his way to the ground and picked up the tauhu at 

 the tumu, or post. He then hauled along the tauhu, hand over hand, until 

 he reached the first vertical line, or pekapeka. He then drew up the. 

 pekapeka, evenly and smoothly. The koura lay in the leaves of the fern, 

 and the movement, if not too sudden, had no disturbing effect upon them 

 whilst the bundle was still in the water. Exposure to the air, however, 

 was a different matter — as probably many of us will remember from our 

 juvenile experiences in attempting to lure a fresh-water crayfish ashore 

 on a bent pin baited with a worm : it will come to the surface clinging 

 on tenaciously, but immediately it breaks the surface it lets go and kicks 

 for the bottom again. The old-time Maori was acquainted with this. 



