432 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



ments for ordinary wear when travelling, or at work, or in 

 wet weather : the piheinhe, the pora or tatara — a very great 

 variety. Specimens of these are to be seen in our Museum, 

 and bear witness to the patience and ingenuity of those 

 employed in their production — generally the feminine part 

 of the Maori community. With reference to the feather 

 mats, however, Polack, in his book, "Manners and Customs 

 of New Zealand," says, "The clothing of the birds of the 

 shore and ocean are made use of to form a garment, a strong 

 matting being the substance on which the ingenuity of the 

 chiefs is expended in obtaining the aerial garment. In pursu- 

 ing this occupation among the females the warrior realised no 

 bad idea of the gallant Hercules at the feet of Omphale." 



Floor-mats {takai^au), baskets (kete), &c., were made by 

 interlacing strips of flax-leaf, or the leaf of the ti (cabbage- 

 palm). The process of making these is called rarayiga. Beau- 

 tiful girdles (maro, or tatua) were also made by the same 

 process from the pingao, a j'ellow rush growing near the 

 sea. No implement was required for this work — the hand 

 sufficed. 



The culinary appliances of the Maori people were very 

 simple ; many of them were found ready to hand, requiring 

 but little skill to adapt them to the purposes for which they 

 were used. A 2yip^ shell, or a chip of the mata, or obsidian, 

 served as a knife, and was deftly and effectively handled in all 

 such operations as required a cutting instrument. It is simply 

 wonderful what caii be, and is, done with a jjip^ shell in the 

 hand of an unsophisticated Maori accustomed to its use. 



The oumu, or haa?igi, in which food was cooked, was only 

 a hole scooped in the ground of a size proportioned to that 

 which was to be cooked. A fire of dry wood was kindled in 

 this hole, and upon the burning wood were placed stones not 

 liable to crack with the heat. These soon became red-hot, 

 and, as the fire burned down, fell into the hole. The smoking 

 half-burnt wood was then carefully removed ; the hot stones 

 were evenly placed in the hole and covered with green leaves 

 well sprinkled with water, making a clean lining to the oven, 

 upon which the food to be cooked was then laid, piled up and 

 covered with more green leaves ; water was then poured over 

 the whole, which, finding its way down to the hot stones, was 

 rapidly converted into steam, while a covering of old flax mats 

 well wetted was spread over the leaves, and the whole quickly 

 and closely covered up with earth to prevent the escape of the 

 steam, which, in a short time, perfectly cooked the contents 

 of the oven, the time required varying according to the mass 

 of food subjected to the process. The liaangi was then opened, 

 the coverings carefully removed, and the food placed in fresh 

 baskets made of the leaves of the harakeke (flax) or ti (cab- 



