T. H. Smith. — On Maori Implements and Weapons. 429 



The alio hi-ika, or fishing-lines, were made from dressed 

 flax, which was miro (twisted) in the same way as in making 

 the threads for weaving garments. 



The matau, or fishhooks, were made from bone (often human 

 bone), from wood, and from shell; and of various patterns, 

 according to the fancy or ingenuity of the maker. They were 

 generally, but not always, barbed. With some, bait was used ; 

 others, made of wood, were lined with pearlshell, or fashioned 

 wholly of shell, with a barbed point attached, and shaped to 

 look like a fish when drawn through the water. These are 

 common enough to make minute description unnecessary ; 

 many specimens may be seen in our Museum. 



The hinahituna, for catching eels, was a basket made of 

 a creeping fern called mangemange. It was generally about 

 5ft. or 6ft. in length, and 18in. in diameter; cylindrical, but 

 tapering at one end. Both ends were open — one, the larger, 

 having an inverted funnel inserted, through which the eels 

 passed into the basket ; the other, fitted with a removable 

 cover, or door, for discharging its contents. These baskets 

 were placed in the pa tuna, or eel-weirs, and in the com'se of 

 small streams, near their confluence with larger ones. The 

 material of which they were made being very tough and dur- 

 able, they were almost imperishable ; and, as they perfectly 

 answered the purpose for which they were constructed, they 

 were regarded as a most useful and valuable item of personal 

 property. 



The tapora is a small net for inanga, the so-called white- 

 bait of the fresh- water lakes and rivers. 



The taruJce is a basket for taking koura, or crayfish. The 

 roit kdkahi is an instrument used to collect the fresh-water 

 bivalve kakalii, found in the lakes and esteemed as a delicacy, 

 and a food suitable for sick persons and children ; the liquor 

 obtained from these shellfish (the loai kakahi) making a kind 

 of broth, palatable and nutritious and easy of digestion. 



The rou resembles a rake, to which a rori, a net or 

 basket-like receptacle, is attached, into which the shellfish 

 falls as it is raked up from the bottom. The fisherman stands 

 up in his canoe and plies his rou until he has obtained a 

 sufficient quantity. It is hard work, which has given rise to 

 the proverb, — 



The husband who gathers JcaJcahi shall be caressed. 



The husband who sleeps away his time in the house shall be cuffed. 



A specimen of the ovit is in the Museum. 



Barbed spears were used for spearing flounders and other 

 fish, which were attracted with lighted torches at night. 



In snaring birds and kiore (the so-called Maori rat), the 

 Maori was expert. The kiore was taken in a' trap, tawhiti 



