Taylor''s Account oj Maori House. 



35 



of sleuder laths, dyed black, white, or red, and bound together with narrow strips of the kiekie {Freyci- 

 7icfia banksii ) leaf, very tastefully disposed in patterns ; this is called arapake ; there is also a skirt- 

 ing board {papa -d'hai) painted red; and the rafters which are either carved or painted with different 

 colored ochres, rest on a ridge pole {tahuku or lahu), in which a notch is cut to receive them. This 

 ridge pole is always the entire length of the building, including that of the verandah, being gen- 

 erally of a triangular shape, and very heav}' ; it is supported by a post or pillar (pou talin) in the 

 middle of the house, the bottom of which is carved in the form of a human figure representing the 



founder of the family — and is thus a kind of lares ; immediately before 

 the face of this figure is the fire-place, a small pit formed by four slab 

 stones sunk into the ground ; perhaps this is some relic of ancient fire- 

 worship in the position of the fire, which, as a domestic altar, always 

 burns before the face of the image of their deified ancestor. 



The entrance to the house is by sliding door {tatau), which is 

 formed of a solid slab of wood, about two feet and a half high, and a 

 foot and a half wide ; the way of fastening it when the owners were ab- 

 sent, was by means of a stick, which passed through a loop in the door 

 and crossed the side posts ; it could of course be opened by any one, but 

 was always regarded as tapu ; they were also accustomed to secure 

 their doors by complicated knots, when likely to be absent for any 

 length of time. On the right side of this is a window {malapihi), gen- 

 erally about ten inches high and two feet wide ; this also is furnished 

 with a slide which goes into the wall of the building ; another window 

 is placed in the roof, a kind of trap-door, termed a pihauoa ox puhanga, 

 literally gills or lungs, a breathing place, more than an aperture for 

 admitting light, which is not required in a ivhare-puni at night. On 

 entering, there is a low slab of wood on either side, to partition off the 

 sleeping places, leaving a path down the middle, that nearest the door 

 being about eighteen inches high, in which the inmates lay in rows, each 

 with his feet towards the fire, and his head to the wall ; the chief, or 

 owner of the house, invariably takes the right side next the window, 

 the place of honor ; the next in point of rank occupy those nearest to 

 him, whilst the slaves, and persons of no consequence, go to the furthest 

 end. Their bedding {wariki), seldom consists of anything more than 

 one or more ground mats {zcaikaica) , upon which sometimes a finer one 

 {tihenga pora) is laid, and a round log, or a bundle of fern serves as a 

 pillow (iirunga) . Formerly thej' never ate in their houses, therefore 

 verandahs (ma/iati) were required. The length of a whare puni is from 

 twenty to thirty feet, and the breadth sixteen ; the verandah is seldom more than six feet in depth, 

 being a continuation of the gable end of the house, having the entire width^*^ of the one building ; it 

 has a broad slab in front, about two feet and a half high, which separates it from the road ; from this a 

 post rises to the ridgepole which is surmounted with a caved figure.^' [Figs. 27 and 28.] The verandah 

 is ornamented in the same way as the interior of the house ; its wall plate is often carved to repre- 

 sent the prostrate figures of slaves on whose bodies the pillars which support the house stand ; this 

 seems to refer to an extinct custom of killing human victims, and placing them in the holes made to 

 receive the posts, that the house being founded in blood might stand ; the custom still prevails in 

 Borneo and other parts. Over the door is a board called maihi {sAso pa)e or korupe) , elaborately 



'''This is not quite exact, as the porch was always a little less than the width of the house. See Hamilton, p. 81. 

 ^'This post, which is common enough in modern houses, seems not to have been usual in those of the olden 

 time. Fig. 25. 



[219] 



FIG. 27. TEKOTEKO FROM 

 MAORI GABLE. 



