T. H. Smith. — On Maori Implements and Weapojis. 425 



waharoas of their 2^as, &c., though grotesque and certainly not 

 true to nature as representations of the objects we suppose to 

 have been intended to be represented, are yet not lacking in 

 boldness of conception, breadth of design, and a certain artistic 

 finish, which together evidence genius in the artist and con- 

 summate skill in the artificer. The canoes themselves, the 

 houses, the pas, and the fortifications, of which now the traces 

 only are to be seen, cause a feeling of wonder which will not 

 be diminished when we inquire more particularly what were 

 the instruments and appliances at the command of the men 

 who formed and elaborated these things. 



Most of the carvings we now see were not executed with 

 the old tools, and are not, therefore, specimens of the art and 

 skill of the old tohunga, but they are mainly copied from the 

 older carvings, and though executed with better tools are not 

 superior to them as works of art. 



Entering upon my subject, I will first notice what may be 

 called the agricultural implements used by the Maori of the 

 olden time. 



The ho was the principal implement used in such agricul- 

 ture as was known to the Maori. It is composed of a shaft 

 of hard wood, generally manuka or viaire, from 7ft. to 9ft. 

 long, flat at the lower end, and brought to an edge at the 

 sides and foot. Five or six inches from the bottom is an 

 attachment, which is movable, called a teka or takahi. The 

 shaft is held with both hands and struck into the ground ; 

 and, the left foot being pressed upon the projecting takahi, or 

 spur, it is driven down as far as necessary, and by lowering 

 the shaft the sod -is turned. The ko was also used in plant- 

 ing the kitmara ; also in digging aruhe (fern-root) , which in 

 the old time was the principal food, especially in winter, 

 and in time of war, when the people often had to leave 

 their ordinary dwelling-places and betake themselves to their 

 fortified ^ja. Maori cultivations in those days were not so 

 extensive as they became after the introduction of the potato. 

 The maara knmara and the taro plantations occupied less 

 space tharL was required when the potato came into general 

 cultivation and extensive bush-clearings or ivaerenga were 

 made. Before that time, the kumara, taru, and hue, or gourd, 

 were almost the only plants cultivated for food. The kumara 

 was brought to New Zealand by most of the original canoes. 

 The taro is said to have been brought in the Mataatua canoe, 

 by Euaauru. The ancestors of the Ngatiawa of the Bay of 

 Plenty came in this canoe, and it is in their country that the 

 taro is most extensively grown at the present time. I believe 

 the implement generally used in digging fern-root was shorter 

 and smaller than the exhibit specimens of the ko in our 

 Museum, but similarly shaped. 



