MEASURES. 
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allusion to the way of procuring it, and when Maui asked him 
for fire he gave him one of his fingers, implying that was the 
way of obtaining it. (See the myth of Mauika.) 
Measures. 
The grain of wheat appears to be the foundation of most 
of our English weights and measures, so many grains making 
a penny weight, and so many penny weights an ounce ; so 
likewise in long measure, three grains making an inch, 
the smallest measure of distance ; some are derived from 
the members of the body, as a finger’s length, and eight 
finger lengths one yard, the palm, hand breadth, span, stride 
pace, and foot ; it is probable that anciently this was the case 
with most nations, thus the Hebrew cubit ; it is still so with 
the Maori ; they have, like us, the aohanga and aowanga, a 
handful. The kotahiwanga, a span, or stride ; the watianga, 
the length of the arm, from the end of the middle finger to 
the elbow, the cubit, literally in Maori, the breaking of the 
elbow ; the tika, either the body extended on the ground 
from the great toe to the middle finger, or the extent of the 
two arms stretched out, this is generally considered as six 
feet or a fathom ; the kumi is ten tika or sixty feet, it is also 
a fathom ; the maro is properly both arms extended, some 
times it is only a yard or even a span ; wahanga , the arm's 
length to the middle of the breast or half a tika ; waroro and 
warona, one step forward, or a pace ; te keke the length 
of the arm ; teke teke one arm's length, the width of the 
breast and half the other arm ; the tikarere one out stretch, 
and a little 3 more ; the pokoiwi from the end of the middle 
finger to the shoulder. Measuring magnitude as the girth 
of a tree was naturally by the arm ; thus the paetahi is as 
much as can be grasped with both arms ; pae rua hamama 
te torn, two girths, the third open or not complete, that is 
two and a half. For weight there was no particular measure, 
only such as tai maha heavy, mama light; as in distance, 
tawiti far off, mamao distant, tata near, as they had no grain 
there was only the paihere , a bundle of flax or raupo. 
b b 2 
