buAP. VIII. MATS OF NATIVE MAkti-ACTUliE. 2f46 
formed of strings scraped only at regular intervals, thus 
leaving the gold-coloured straw on the spaces not 
scraped. By thus dyeing or not dyeing, scraping or not 
scraping the tags, or by alternating dyed and scraped, 
undyed and unscraped tags, on the same mat, a great 
many varieties of the kornwai are made ; but the most 
general one is that with scraped and dyed tags. These 
mats, although often worn by men, are more com- 
monly the dress of the women. 
A third sort of mat is the tiehe, or rough outside 
covering. Its outside is formed of the refuse from the 
operation of flax-scraping; but the inner surface is 
often woven very closely, and of the finest flax. The 
slaves generally wear very coarse mats of this kind, 
having no women who are allowed to bestow pains on 
mat-making for themselves and their relations. The 
tiehe, like the korowai, varies much in colour and 
quality. They are all perfectly waterproof, the leaves 
of the outside thatch overlapping each other like tiles. 
But the most valued Maori mat is the haitaka or 
parawai. This is woven of the very finest, silky, snow- 
white muka, and is unsullied by any tag or ornament 
except a border of a foot in width at the bottom, and ■ 
six inches on the two sides. This border is dyed black, 
except where sets of parallel zigzag lines, and the 
lozenge-shaped spaces between them, are left white or 
stained chesnut-colour with another dye. Lately a 
very bad taste of introducing coloured worsted, taken 
from European clothing, has spoiled the chasteness of 
their execution ; but an old parmaai, with nothing but 
Maori materials and manufacture, is certainly a very 
handsome garment, and the border is really classical in 
design. 
The two sexes have different ways of wearing the 
mat or blanket. The man wears it tied on his right 
