636 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



a war-club, though not polished. They were made of hard 

 volcanic stone (hard or twi), the rough grain of that stone 

 being preferred. A piece of quartz was lashed to a handle, 

 and with this crude implement the club was chipped into 

 form, albeit a long and tedious process. A good paUc was 

 much prized by weavers, and was handed down for many 

 generations. The j^^biu of the hard maire wood were too 

 smooth to be appreciated for the above work, but were used 

 for pounding fern-root, and some for poundmg bark for 

 dyeing. 



Two kinds of threads are used in weaving — namely, miro 

 and harure. The miro is simply a piece of fibre tw^isted by 

 being rolled under the hand. The fibre is placed across the 

 leg just above the knee, and held by the left hand. The right 

 hand is placed upon it and thrust outwards, thus rolling and 

 twisting the fibre beneath it. This movement is termed a 

 "maid." The same movement is then repeated, but back- 

 wards — i.e., towards the body. This is called a " katau." 

 The two rollings complete the process, and the miro is com- 

 plete. This word "miro " is used as both verb and noun, as 

 also is the term " karure." The kar^ire is formed by twisting 

 two miro together, the result being a very strong thread. The 

 thrums for koroivai, &c., are usually karure. 



Tilwi : This term is applied to short aho (woof-threads) 

 woven into the centre of cloaks, maro, &c., in order to widen 

 the centre, and give them a rounded form, that they may fit 

 better. It is equivalent to the mata-iuhiti, or skipped mesh, 

 in netting. The tihoi cross-threads do not extend to the edges 

 (tapa) of the garment. 



Tami : This word is applied to the tihoi, to denote com- 

 pletion. Kua tami te tihoi — that is, the short aho are com- 

 pleted. 



Kamo : To close or finish off a pattern in taniko (orna- 

 mental border to a cloak or kilt, woven in patterns with 

 different-coloured threads) is expressed by the term " kamo." 

 In weaving the diamond pattern, when a diamond is finished 

 off at the lowest point it is " kua kavio." 



Tdiid : This expression is applied to commencing the 

 weaving of a garment. It is an ancient word, and applies 

 only to weaving. Thus the aho tapu is known as the aho 

 tauatanga (= aho timatatanga), or commencing woof-thread. 

 Also, should I say " E iohatu ana ahau i taku hihi-ma " (I am 

 weaving my hihi-ma) the expression would not be good form ; 

 it savours of conceit ; people will think that I am very proud 

 of my knowledge of weaving. It is much better to say, 

 " E taua ana ahati i taku hihi-via (he kupu lohakaiti tena)" — 

 I am beginning to weave my hihi-ma, the same being a fine 

 cloak with white thrums (hukahuka). In like manner is the 



