652 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



and stone-boiled/'' but now iron pots are used. After being 

 allowed to boil for some time, the fibre to be dyed is placed in 

 the vessel, the water in which is now coloured with the red 

 sap of the toatoa bark. After being boiled for some time, a 

 bed of hot, white, clean ashes is prepared, the fibre '.;aken out 

 and placed in these hot ashes, which is raked over the fibre. 

 A stick is used as a poker, to separate the fibre, and keep 

 turning and raking it, so that every part may come into 

 contact with the hot ashes, and yet not be singed, burnt, or 

 ■discoloured by the heat thereof. This process is hai pupiiri 

 i te ivhero, koi maivhe (to set the dye and prevent it from 

 fading). The fibre is then again boiled in the dye for about 

 ten minutes, after which it is hung up to dry, and is then 

 ready for use. 



In a district such as Rua-tahuna, where the toatoa-trees 

 are few, they were much prized, and had special names. This 

 tree is found on the Huiarau and Putai-hinu Ranges, but is 

 scarce in the lower country. 



Te Kiri-o-te-Bangi-tu-ke is a lone toatoa-tree, situated on 

 the Tahua-roa Range. It is named from an ancestor of the 

 Ngatitawhaki hapu, and from it is obtained the bark used in 

 my own ivhare pora. 



Te Eiri-o-Koro-kai-zvhenua is another such tree at Te Wera- 

 iti. Only the descendants of those two ancestors may take 

 bark from those trees. 



Needles. 

 In former times feather-quills {tuaka) were used as needles, 

 the base of the quill being used as the point and the thread of 

 flax-fibre fastened to the end of the feather. It was used for 

 mending cloaks, &c. The name of this quill-needle was 

 " torovioka," which word also means "to sew with the same." 

 {Toromokatia toku na.) 



Plaiting. 

 Many different plaits are known to the Maori, each of 

 which has its special uses. Among others are the fol- 

 lowing : — 



Topiki. 



WJiiri-papa : A flat plait. 



Whiri-kawe : A flat plait of three strands (kawai). 



Whiri-tuaptiku : A round (topiihc) plait of four strands. 



Bauru : A flat plait of five strands. 



Iwi-tuna : A round plait of four strands. 



* i.e., boiled by means of hot stones being placed therein, a common 

 practice in ancient Maoriland. 



