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THE ZooLoGist—JuLy, 1875. 4521 
calcined, all of them occurring only in the lowest bed. The over- 
lying shell beds, as I shall call them in future, consisted principally 
of the usual remnants of shells, together with some seal bones 
belonging to fur seal and sea leopard, portions of the Maori dog, 
all evidently from their kitchen middens; bones of fish, without 
exception belonging to the hapuku (Oligorus gigas); also bones of 
small birds, of which the enumeration will be found in the lists 
attached to this memoir; of the latter, those of the spotted shag 
(Graculus punctatus) were the most numerous. 
Works of human industry were not wanting, as we obtained 
pieces of timber evidently worked and planed down by polished 
stone implements, and upon one of which a coating of red colour 
was still visible. Amongst the other objects made of wood hitherto 
exhumed were— 
1. Several pieces of “toa,” a thin and long wooden spear made 
of tawa (Mesodaphne tawa), a tree which grows only in the northern 
part of the Northern Island. This spear is used by the Maoris for 
shooting birds ; for this purpose they form, as it were, a short tube 
around it with the one hand, through which, after taking proper 
aim, they jerk the thin spear up suddenly with the other. 
2. A patu aruhe, or fern-root beater, made of maire (Santalum 
Cunninghamii), another strictly Northern Island tree. 
3. The greatest portion of a whaka-kai, a wooden dish made of 
pukatea (Aiherosperma Nove-Zealandie), used for placing fat birds 
in so as not to lose the oil, or for the preparation of the juice of the 
tupakihi (Coriarta ruscifolia). 
4. Several large pawa shells (Haliotis Iris), in which the holes 
near the exterior border are filled with the fibres of flax or ti leaves, 
thus forming a vessel for the preservation of oil and other liquids. 
5. A fish-hook (Matoa), used for catching hapuku, made from 
the wood of the kai kai atua (Rhaddothamus Solandri}, another 
Northern Island tree. 
6. A long slender switch, of which part was broken off, and 
having at the other side a notch for tying. This is called a tokai 
made of aka, one of the Metrosideros or Rata species. It is used 
to keep the entrance of a fishing-net open. 
7. Another piece was recognised as a taka ore kaka, a parrot 
perch made of pukatea. 
8. Several pieces belonging to a canoe, such as the puru (two 
specimens), made of manuka (Leplospermum scoparium), used to 
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