MAORI ABORIGINAL MANUFACTURES. 505 
riess, or they are dyed yellow, red, or black. The yellow colour is im- 
parted with turmeric, the black with mud and the leaves of the Tavola 
(Terminalia Catappa, Linn.), and the red with the bark of the Kura 
(Morinda citrifolia, Linn.), and that of the tiri (Glittiferce ?) 
" Mats, with which the floors of houses and sleeping-places are thickly 
covered, are made of two kinds of screw pines ; the coarsest, of the 
leaves of the Balawa (Pandanus odoratissimns, Linn.) ; the finest, of 
those of the Voivoi {Pandanus caricosus, Rumph.) The Balawa, or 
Badra as it is sometimes termed, is a tree twenty-five feet high, with 
leathery sword-shaped leaves. The Voivoi or Kiekie is a stemless species, 
with leaves ten to twelve feet long. Fans, baskets, and the finest mats 
are made of its bleached leaves. Occasionally, neat patterns are worked 
in, by introducing portions of the material dyed black, whilst the borders 
of highly finished mats are tastefully ornamented with the bright red 
feathers of the Kula — a parroquet. The bleached leaves are also em- 
ployed for decorating the body, being tied by the men over the head- 
dress and on various parts of the person. A certain kind of mats, worn 
as articles of clothing, are called " Kuta," from a species of sedge 
(Eleocharis articulata), supplying materials for them, growing in swamps 
to the height of six feet or mure. Baskets are also made of the leaves 
of the cocoa-nut palm, and the stem of the Flagellaria indica, Linn, 
split up in narrow strips. 
" Fibre used for cordage is derived from three species of Vau, the 
cocoa-nut palm, the Yaka (Pachyrrhizos angulatus, Rich.), the kalakala- 
uaissoei (Hibiscus diver sifolius, Jaeq.), and the Sinu Mataiavi (Wickstra- 
mia indica, Meyer). Plaiting cocoa-nut fibre into * sinnet,' afterwards 
to be made into rope or simply used for binding material, is a favourite 
occupation of the men. Mr. Pritchard, Her Majesty's Consul at the 
Fijis, mentions having seen a ball of sinnet six feet high and four feet in 
diameter. Some heathen temples used to be entirely composed of such 
plaiting. The fibre of the Yaka is principally sought for fishing nets ; 
the Sinu Mataiavi, a sea-side shrub, serves the same purpose, its bark 
containing a readily available fibre." 
Specimens of " Tapa " were exhibited by J. Le Quesne, Hawke's Bay, 
W. Colenso, Hawke's Bay ; T. M. Hockin, Dunedin : and H. Nelson, 
Dunedin. The above-named exhibitors, as also Mrs. Muir, Dunedin, 
and William Jeffreys, Dunedin, sent a numerous variety of Fiji clubs 
and other curiosities. Some of the cocoa-nut mats are worked into 
various elegant patterns, and exhibit great skill in the manufacture. 
The clubs are very heavy weapons about five feet long ; the spears are 
long, and pointed with the sting of the sting-ray fish. Girdles of 
Hibiscus fibres, six inches wide, and dyed black, brown, and yellow, are 
worn by the women. For tying purposes, the Fijians use the fibre of 
the cocoa-nut beautifully plaited into sinnet. Pillows are made of a 
thick stick with four legs, and are just put under the neck, so that the 
