434 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



and painful operation as undergone by a Maori gentleman of 

 the olden time than can be easily realised by us. The tolni- 

 nga, or priest, was the barber ; and a number of troublesome 

 religious rites and ceremonies, with much personal incon- 

 venience, were its accompaniments. 



In connection with cooking, the mode of procuring fire, 

 the preliminary requisite and sine qua non of the practice of 

 the culinary art, should be noticed. 



The Maori cook had no box of matches, nor even a tinder- 

 box with flint and steel, with which to procure the first 

 requisite for his business. His apparatus comprised two pieces 

 of dry wood, with which, by laborious, long-continued friction, 

 combustion was induced. The instruments are the kaureiire 

 or kaurimarima, and the kauahi or kaunoti — the former a 

 pointed stick, which is rubbed forwards and backwards in a 

 groove made in the latter, which is laid on the ground. The 

 kaikomiko and malioe are the woods preferred for the purpose. 

 The process, as described by Mr. Taylor in his " New Zealand 

 and its Inhabitants," is "rubbing — or, rather, pushing — a 

 wedge-shaped piece of wood forward and backward along a 

 groove and collecting the charred dust at its extremity until 

 it ignited. It w^as then placed in a lump of soft flax and 

 waved to and fro, when it burst into flame." A fuller de- 

 scription of the process, as shown in England by two Maori 

 visitors, is given in a small book, published in 1830 — "The 

 New-Zealanders " : — 



" A small board of well-dried pine was laid upon the floor, 

 and the younger New-Zealander took in his hand a wedge 

 about nine inches long, and of the same material ; then, rub- 

 bing swith. this upon the board, in a direction to that parallel 

 to the grain, he made a groove about a quarter of an inch 

 deep and six or seven inches long. The friction, of course, 

 produced a quantity of what, had it been produced by another 

 means, would have been called sawdust ; and this he collected 

 at the end of the groove farthest from that part of the board 

 on which he was kneeling. He then continued his operation, 

 and in a short time the wood began to smoke, the sides of the 

 groove becoming completely charred. On this he stopped, 

 and gathered the tinder over that part of the groove which 

 appeared to be most strongly heated. After a few moments 

 it became manifest that the sawdust or tinder was ignited, 

 and a gentle application of the breath now drew forth a flame, 

 which rose to the height of several inches. This experiment 

 did not always succeed the first time. Whenever it was 

 repeated, whether after failure or success, the operator took 

 a new wedge and formed a new groove ; and it was stated 

 that this was absolutely necessary. The process was evidently 

 one of great labour. At the conclusion of it the operator was 



