1 44 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



half-divine figures carved — carried his god or gods with him. 

 The modern Maori, performing no ancient rites, never bothers 

 about carving semi-divine figures — hence this modern dredge 

 is quite plain. The old dredges exhibit kindred carvings of 

 deities, and probably, as Tane was addressed in Best's hymn, 

 these figures are images of that great god. 



The Net. 



The net (rori) is a sort of basket : it is 31 in. irom top to 

 oottom, and averages from side to side 33 in. Its meshes are 

 diamond-shaped, of knotted flax ; each open space is 1| in. long 

 by 1 in. wide ; the meshes are wide enough to let all the mud 

 run away, but fine enough to hold the shell-fish. This net is a 

 rectangular parallelogram : it has length and breadth, but has no 

 sides for its thickness. The under side is tied closely along the 

 under side of the dredge along its whole length. The upper side 

 is tied to the holes in the dredge's sides. The upper side of the 

 net of the hao was tied by a string to the pole about 2 ft. above 

 its attachment to the hao : in this way the mouth of the net 

 was kept open some inches above the hao, so that even if an 

 affrighted koura tried to jump above the approaching hao it 

 would not jump high enough to clear the net, but fall into it. 



The Sinker. 



A necessary part of the roukakahi was a sinker : some had 

 t hree small sinkers instead of one large one. Occasionally sinkers 

 made of soft stone were slightly carved. The sinker photographed 

 is a large, round, heavy stone. All round it is a shallow groove 

 for the rope to lie in, and another runs round at right angles to 

 the first. Each groove is 24 in. in length. The base of the sinker, 

 instead of being rounded like the rest, has been cut off smoothly, 

 and thus a broad, flat surface lies in the lake-mud. When three 

 smaller sinkers were used one was attached to each angle of 

 the dredge. 



Art. IV. — The Early History of the Morion*. 



By A. Shand, Chatham Islands. 



Communicated by Professor H. B. Kirk. 



[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 3rd August, L904.] 



The predisposing cause of (he advent of the Morion people to 



ill'- Chatham Islands Erom their ancestral homes in Polynesia, as 



■d by themselves, was war and fighting— or, as they phrase 



ii " tli.' trouble in Bawaiki." This is detailed by them in their 



