658 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



work. Should this rule be transgressed the evils of the taha- 

 ktira will descend upon the unhappy weaver. 



When weaving, should the aJio become knotted, it is a 

 sign that visitors are coming ; they will arrive to-morrow. 



Should a turuturu fall without being touched — na te rae 

 tangata i Uiraki — the brow of approaching man has over- 

 thrown it — that is, visitors are coming. 



Contrast of colours : The Maori seems to have a good 

 idea of contrasting colours in weaving. The term " liae," or 

 " IV ana," seems to bear this meaning. When speaking of 

 making a he muka, Te Whatu said, " Let us have three 

 colours, two are not enough ; kaore e hae (they will not hae). 

 (Ara, kaore e tvana te titiro atu i runga i te kakano kotahi, e 

 rua ranei, tena ki te toru, ka nui te wana. Ko ana mea kai te 

 ririri, e whakajnUa ana i tona pai tetahi, e tvhakapicta ana i 

 tona pai tetahi — koina te hae.)" 



Such are the meagre notes collected anent the ancient 

 whare pora and the art of weaving as practised by the 

 neolithic Maori of New Zealand. Meagre are they, and of 

 a disconnected nature ; yet is it well to preserve the little 

 information on these matters that is accessible in these days 

 of the pakeha. For the art of the tvhare pora is doomed, and 

 the aronui and maro-kopua of old have been replaced by print 

 dresses, the levelling prints of Manchester and the wooden- 

 nutmeg State, which are procurable alike by slave and chief- 

 taiuess. The rays of the setting sun are lingering on the 

 dismantled and empty tvhare pora, the tauira come not, the 

 tohunga has gone in search of the Living Waters of Tane, 

 which he shall never find. The Moremore pmvha is unknown 

 to the present generation, the tahakura and aroakapa are 

 objects of scorn. And even as I look from my tent-door out 

 across the primitive vale of Eua-tahuna the declining sun 

 drops behind the golden Peak of Maro, the purple shadows 

 glide acz'oss the darkening forest, and the art of the ivhare 

 pora is lost. 



