112 NATURAL SCIENCE. Feb.. 



one shilling a pound. The ancient importance attached to this dis- 

 trict and its greenstone is indicated by the Maori name Waipounamu, 

 which has given its name to the whole of the island. Pounamu was 

 one of the sons of the great Polynesian deity Tangaroa (Lord of the 

 Ocean), who was the son of Rangi (Heaven) and Papa (Earth). 

 The substance pounamu was formerly supposed to be generated inside 

 a fish, a shark, and only to become hard on exposure to the air. It 

 appears to have always occupied a prominent position in the mytho- 

 logy, and to have been intimately associated with the history of the 

 Maoris. 



The mode of working and fashioning the pounamu, or " green- 

 stone," is variously described. The material was first cut into slabs of 

 the form required ; this was done by sawing with thin pieces of slate 

 or other hard material, assisted by sand and water, first on one side 

 then the other, until the required piece could be broken off. The 

 smaller fragments were fashioned into ear pendants by the 

 women and children. " With pretty constant work, a man will get a 

 slab into a rough triangular shape, and about li inches thick, in a 

 month, and, with the aid of some blocks of sharp, sandy-gritted lime- 

 stone, will work down the faces and edges of it into proper shape in 

 six weeks more. The most difficult part of the work is to drill the 

 hole for the thong in the handle." For this, pieces of sharp flint are 

 obtained, and set in the end of a split stick, being lashed in very 

 neatly, with a stone weight on either side, and forming a sort of tee- 

 totum drill ; as one flint is used up, another is inserted in its place. 

 The enthusiastic Maori carried his partly-manufactured mere about 

 with him, and every halt was utilised for taking a rub at it. The 

 Greenstone was probably worked at all the Maori villages ; but some 

 places have the appearance of having been especially engaged in the 

 manufacture ; in these, numerous fragments, unfinished objects, as 

 well as finished and polished implements, are found. In one instance, 

 immense numbers were dug up in making a garden. In another, 

 most of the remains are found in whares or dwellings ; the latter, buried 

 in sand, are indicated by hearth -stones, below the level of which 

 there is usually a receptacle under the floor, probably covered by a 

 flax mat when inhabited. In this secret repository are found beauti- 

 fully finished objects of greenstone, and, perhaps, pieces of haematite ; 

 the latter, ground and mixed with sharks' oil, was used to adorn the 

 person of the ancient Maori. 



The mere or axe was the most famous weapon of the Maoris ; it 

 was usually 13 to 15 inches in length, sharpened at one end, with a hole 

 through the handle, through which was a strong thong of dogskin 

 made into a running noose, through which the thumb would slip 

 easily. It was carried in the belt. The mere was not used like an 

 axe, there was too great danger of its being broken and the labour 

 of years lost. The first contact of the fighting forces was with the 

 hani, a sort of quarterstaff". As the fighting got closer the mere was 



