METHOD OF PREPARING FLAX. 157 
on the side of a wood : the trees are burnt down, 
the branches consumed, and the potatoes placed 
between the roots, or upon any little bare spot 
that may be found. They tell us, that the reason 
for choosing such spots for these potatoes is, that 
the earth is all rotten leaves, and branches of 
trees, and shrubs ; the only soil in which this 
vegetable will flourish. 
The great use which the New Zealanders make 
of the staple commodity of their country — flax, is 
to convert it into garments, nets, and lines ; for 
which purposes it is admirably adapted. They 
have a great variety of garments, and names to 
specify each ; though no difference might be ob- 
served, in some of them, by a person not used to 
examine them very minutely. They are all made 
by the women ; which occupation, before the in- 
troduction of blankets and other European articles 
of clothing, took up the greatest part of their 
time. The only tool they use, consists of two small 
sticks, to hold the garment by, and to secure the 
line to which the warp is fastened : it is all knotted ; 
and the process is most tedious, requiring from 
three to four months’ close sitting to complete one 
of their kaitakas — the finest sort of mat which they 
make. This garment has a very silky appearance ; 
great care having been taken in dressing and 
bleaching the flax. They are sometimes made 
nine feet by seven or eight, with a deep rich black 
and white border, fancifully worked. The natives 
of the South much excel the Bay-of-Islanders, 
