HAMILTON. 
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No 
DESCRIPTION OF THE CARVINGS. 
These carved totara slabs have for years stood at Maketu 
indicating the resting place of one of their leading men. 
This kind of burial tomb is of comparatively modern origin ; 
as in the olden days when war parties were on the warpath more 
care was taken to conceal the last resting place of the bundle of 
scraped and prepared bones which was the end of all brave men or 
those of high rank. If the bones were not hidden it would be 
possible for the enemy to deeply insult their opponents by making 
fish-hooks or other things from a bone of their ancestor. The 
so-called civilisation of this country has rendered it possible to bury 
the body in the earth in some prominent position, and either to 
build a small house over it, to erect a number of carved slabs round 
it, or in more recent times to build a regular monument of brick, 
stone or marble above it. 
* A reference to the old memorial cenotaphs in Angas will show 
that a row of wooden slabs, carved or painted, was erected and 
decorated in the same way as a war canoe with white feathers and a 
fence placed round it. Sometimes these were very elaborate and 
in the Dominion Museum there are the carvings belonging to the 
tomb memorial of Te Heu Heu. The memorial was erected with 
others at Poukawa, but the bones were carefully concealed at Ton- 
gariro. There were other tombs standing until recently at Ruato 
with several of the large carved slabs round the fence. 
As a rule these enclosures were not roofed in. The slabs do 
not show any sign of holes for the flaxlashing, tying them on to any 
frame work, but judging by the original photograph the edges were 
covered by a broad batten which should have been tied over the 
joins, and the ties ornamented with white albatross feathers as at 
page 102 “ Maori Art.” 
The slabs forming the present specimens are apparently of 
Arawa workmanship and may very well have been intended for a 
large house or houses. 
No. 1—The central board of the back of the building is in perfect 
preservation and presents a figure with a MERE and a 
Het T1Kk1 suspended sideways. Beneath the figure is an 
interlaced group of Manaias. Strangely enough the ceno- 
taph of carved slabs could only be known as a Tiki, 
there is no other term that would apply toit. The 
Maori would also apply the word Tiki to a solitary carved 
post set up to mark the temporary resting-place of a 
corpse and I know of no other word that could be cor- 
rectly applied. (The central slab is oft. high overall, and 
the width of 1, 2 and 3 combined is 5ft.) 
Nos. 2 and 3 are evidently a pair carved to suit the gable shaped 
form of the intended building. They both represent the 
human figure in a sideways position, and No. 3 has never 
