654 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



woven of dressed flax-fibre and ornamented with taniko ; such 

 anklets were worn by women of rank. Others were made of 

 the hollow culms of a plant called " hangaroa," through which 

 threads of flax-fibre were passed, a band being formed of these. 

 Te Kowhai, of Ngatiruapani, states, "The tauri-komore was an 

 anklet. It was a tohu rangatira — a sign of good birth. They 

 were made by stringing the komore (?) upon cords of plaited 

 flax-fibre. The komore were hollow white objects brought 

 from afar — 1 think, from the ocean. Many such cords were 

 thus made and worn on the leg as an ornament." H. T. Pio 

 says, " Te tauri-komore kei raro tena i nga ivaeioae o nya 

 rangatira e here ana." The name was also applied to bands 

 tattooed on the wrists or ankles. (Komore = a sea-shell.) 



Pohoi: These were ear-ornaments of bird-skins. Such 

 skins, minus head and wing- and tail-feathers, had a piece of 

 round wood placed in them (Jiai ivhakatopuku) , so that they 

 would dry in that shape — i.e., in a cylindrical form. They 

 were worn suspended from the ears. 



Poro-toroa : These were short pieces of the bones of the 

 albatros, cut into lengths of about 2 in. They had a cord 

 passed through them, and were suspended from the neck, the 

 bone resting on the wearer's breast. I have seen but one 

 native so adorned here, though the various greenstone pen- 

 dants, kuru, lohakakai, kapcic (or tangiivai), are numerous. 



Heru, Combs : It is stated that these were formerlv made 

 of the stalks of the hcruJicru fern (Toclca intermedia) , also of 

 bone and wood. The fine-toothed combs are made oi mapara, 

 the hard resinous heart-wood of the kaliikatea. One such in 

 my possession is ingeniously and neatly laced in the pattern 

 known as tapuwae-kaiUuku. 



Chaplets, &c. : These were made from the sweet-scented 

 leaves of various shrubs and plants, such as the tanguru-rake, 

 koareare, kotara, and pua-kaito, and were worn by women. 

 Also head ornaments of feathers and various prized plumes 

 were worn. The generic terms for the above ornaments 

 appear to have been '^ pare " and " rakai." Rakai, or whaka- 

 rakai, also means to adorn the head with such gear. Hakari 

 also means to adorn, as with clothing. Pigeon-oil and the oil 

 expressed from the titoki-hQvv'\e% were scented with a moss 

 called " kopuru," or the gum of the tarata-ixee, which tree is 

 chipped at certain times to cause this gum to flow. Bn-d- 

 skins, such as that of the pukeko, were prepared as for p)ohoi, 

 and, having been scented with this oil, were worn suspended 

 from the neck. This is termed a " pona taratai" The hei 

 raukatva was composed of strips of albatros-skin, with 

 feathers attached, about 2 in. wide. Such strips were fastened 

 to the odorous leaves of the raukatva shrub, and worn as 



