112 NATURAL’ SCIENCE. FEB., 
one shilling a pound. The ancient importance attached to this dis- 
trict and its greenstone is indicated by the Maoriname Waipounamu, 
which has given its name to the whole of the island. Pounamu was 
one of the sons of the great Polynesian deity Tangaroa (Lord of the 
Ocean), who was the son of Rangi (Heaven) and Papa (Earth). 
The substance pounamu was formerly supposed to be generated inside 
a fish, a shark, and only to become hard on exposure to the air. It 
appears to have always occupied a prominent position in the mytho- 
logy, and to have been intimately associated with the history of the 
Maoris. 
The mode of working and fashioning the pounamu, or ‘ green- 
stone,” is variously described. The material was first cut into slabs of 
the form required ; this was done by sawing with thin pieces of slate 
or other hard material, assisted by sand and water, first on one side 
then the other, until the required piece could be broken off. The 
smaller fragments were fashioned into ear pendants by the 
women and children. ‘ With pretty constant work, a man will get a 
slab into a rough triangular shape, and about 14 inches thick, in a 
month, and, with the aid of some blocks of sharp, sandy-gritted lime- 
stone, will work down the faces and edges of it into proper shape in 
six weeks more. The most difficult part of the work is to drill the 
hole for the thong in the handle.” For this, pieces of sharp flint are 
obtained, and set in the end of a split stick, being lashed in very 
neatly, with a stone weight on either side, and forming a sort of tee- 
totum drill; as one flint is used up, another is inserted in its place. 
The enthusiastic Maori carried his partly-manufactured mere about 
with him, and every halt was utilised for taking a rub at it. The 
Greenstone was probably worked at all the Maori villages ; but some 
places have the appearance of having been especially engaged in the 
manufacture ; in these, numerous fragments, unfinished objects, as 
well as finished and polished implements, are found. In one instance, 
immense numbers were dug up in making a garden. In another, 
most of the remains are found in wharves or dwellings; the latter, buried 
in sand, are indicated by hearth-stones, below the level of which 
there is usually a receptacle under the floor, probably covered by a 
flax mat when inhabited. In this secret repository are found beauti- 
fully finished objects of greenstone, and, perhaps, pieces of hamatite ; 
the latter, ground and mixed with sharks’ oil, was used to adorn the 
person of the ancient Maori. 
The mere or axe was the most famous weapon of the Maoris; it 
was usually 13 to 15 inches in length, sharpened at one end, with a hole 
through the handle, through which was a strong thong of dogskin 
made into a running noose, through which the thumb would slip 
easily. It was carried in the belt. The mere was not used like an 
axe, there was too great danger of its being broken and the labour 
of years lost. The first contact of the fighting forces was with the 
hani, a sort of quarterstaff. As the fighting got closer the mere was 
