Те Ranci Hrroa.—Maori Plaited Basketry and Plaitwork. 347 
e first row is composed of white twilled twos, then follow black 
twilled threes, white twilled twos, black twilled fours, and again white 
twilled twos. In the row of black twilled threes, as the name implies, each 
black weft crosses over three whites, and in the twilled fours each crosses 
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the n people. Further variety is now EEES Ву 
the stroke " in each succeeding weft of the same colour. Thus in the 
succeeding set of black wefts each alternate black crosses one weft whilst 
the others cross two, and check and twill strokes are combined in the 
same row to change the pattern. The next set of white wefts continues 
the alternate twill and check, or two and one, and before the bounding 
white bands. This design is called kowhiti on the east coast of the North 
Island, and mawhiti in the west. Amongst the Ngati-Porou the term 
kowhiti is applied to the plait in which хла апа twill strokes alternate 
as it does in the kowhiti design above. The technique is carried on to form 
three double rows of the kowhiti motive, арене! by black bands of 
twilled fours. As a convenient width has now been reached, the upper 
portion of the plaiting is finished off in эе са of alternate 
black and white 
The side- -edges are formed by turning the wefts back into the зард 
of the plaiting without reversing the surface as in floor-mats. Thus 
going to the right, the black sinistrals have no further white dextrals to 
interlace with. But from below up, as each black sinistral comes to the 
left side-edge of i. plaiting, it is turned back at right angles into the 
y and functions as a dextral weft. Hence both sinistrals and dextrals 
to the left of the left marginal white weft are black, and the plaiting of 
the triangular portion bounded by the left border, the upper border, and 
the left marginal white weft is completely black. For the same reason 
the triangular portion to the right of the right marginal black weft is 
completely white. These triangles of one colour can occur only when all 
the wefts of one colour go in the same direction at the beginning-edge. 
The width of the completed ume is about 6in., and the result is a 
strip of floor-matting 38 in. by 6 
the upper border the tis are left long without Bune or cutting. 
The upper and lower borders are folded back so as to conceal the ends 
of the wefts. It is usual to fold down the four corners a little more than 
the rest of the border. The band is now folded or doubled on itself, and 
prepared fibre of n requisite thickness through holes piercing both 
thicknesses of the band at either end. The fibre is drawn through to the 
middle of its length, the two halves brought together, divided into three 
equal portions, plaited into.a cord with a three-ply plait, and finished off 
at the end with an overhand knot. In length the cords are 18in. and 
upwards. 
