162 CANOES AND WAR-VESSELS. 
these, when cut, had to be shaped, and fitted on, 
and then bored with a small pointed stone, for the 
shreds of flax to be passed through, with which it 
was to be tied, or sewed, to the hull of the vessel. 
This accomplished, an elaborately-carved stem- 
and stern-post had to be made, and the whole 
canoe painted inside and outside with red, and one 
streak of black over the band which secures the 
side-boards, or what may be called the gunwale 
of the vessel : along this band is always laid a 
number of the gannefs most beautiful white 
feathers; and on the image, placed at the nose of 
the canoe, is fixed a large wig of the feathers of 
the kaka, or New-Zealand parrot. These canoes 
will sometimes contain from eighty to a hundred 
men : they are rowed with short paddles, a man 
sitting on each side, upon a grating raised about 
half-way from the bottom. They are tolerably 
safe, even in a stiff* breeze ; but, from their great 
length, they always go through the trough of the 
sea, and not over the waves. If they went over, 
poised on the wave underneath the middle, the 
back of the vessel would, in all probability, be 
broken. Many have been lost at sea, through 
the ignorance or obstinacy of the steersman. 
When they wish to row quick, their motions are 
mechanically regular ; and the crew are excited 
and regulated by a man standing up in the centre 
of the canoe, who sings and beats time. 
The vessels for ordinary purposes are much 
smaller than their men-of-war ; not having a 
