30 The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. [Jan. 
The Pae. —This word is used, as is whanganga, both as noun and verb, 
’but only in the measurement of the girth of trees or other objects. The 
unit is the fathom of the outstretched arms, but the arms are bent so as to 
embrace the object measured. The size of a tree is denoted by its girth 
in pae near the base. Examples : He rakau nui tera ; pae torn — That 
tree is a large one-—-three pae. Pae hia te rdkau na ? = How many pae 
is yon tree ? Pae tahi = One pae. Pae wha — Four pae. (Inasmuch as 
this expression is employed only in measuring girth, it is never confused 
with maro , which is used in linear measurement alone). As a verb : Ka 
paea te rakau = The tree was measured. Paea te rakau na = Measure yon 
tree. 
In measuring the girth of a tree by this method the word hamama, 
meaning “ open ” or “ gaping,” is employed to denote an incomplete pae. 
Thus pae rua hamama means a girth of between two and three arm-clasps 
-—the second extension of the arms does not complete the measurement, 
which is, however, under three pae. Literally the expression means 44 two 
pae open.” Another mode of expressing the same thing is Pae rua, hamama 
te torn = Two pae, the third open (i.e., incomplete). 
In some districts the word hamanga takes the place of hamama, at 
least in linear measurement. (See example under kumi.) 
The Takoto.- —We now come to the takoto, a curious method of measuring, 
being the length of the body plus that of the arm extended straight up 
over the head. It was used in horizontal measurements, the operator 
lying down at full length with one arm extended past his head. He would 
make a mark at the extremity of his reach, then get up and lie down again 
with his feet to that mark, and so on-—surely a cumbrous method of 
measuring. Captain R. A. Cruise, of the 84th Regiment, has given us an 
illustration of this method in his Journal of a Ten Months' Residence 
in New Zealand, published in 1823. While his vessel was lying at the 
Bay of Islands on the 27th April, 1820, several natives visited the ship, 
including a native of the Marquesas Group, far away in eastern Polynesia. 
A chief from the North Cape district was one who boarded the vessel, and 
Captain Cruise remarks, 44 He alone came up the side ; and, after gazing 
about for some time, proceeded to measure the ship from stem to stern. 
This he effected by prostrating himself upon the deck, and marking upon 
it the distance between his feet and the extreme ends of his hands, which 
he extended as far beyond his head as he could, counting at the same time 
the number of prostrations he had made. When he had got the length, 
he ascertained in the same way the breadth of the vessel, and announced 
it from the poop to his astonished followers who sat in their canoes.” 
When La Perouse visited Easter Island in 1786 the natives were much 
interested in measuring his vessel. 44 The exactness with which they 
measured the ship showed that they had not been inattentive spectators 
of our arts . . . and they returned the next day with a cord to take 
the measure over again.” He does not mention the medium of measure¬ 
ment in the first instance. 
When the 44 Active ” was lying in Palliser Bay in 1836 some natives 
measured the length of the vessel, employing the maro unit. 
Example : E wha takoto te roa = The length is four takoto. The word 
takoto means 44 to lie,” hence its use as a name for this unit. 
The Kumi.' —This standard is not any form of body measurement, but 
is a multiple of one. It is a specific term for ten maro, or fathoms, and the 
only special multiple term used by the Maori in connection with his primitive 
mode of measuring. The kumi represents a distance of about 60 ft. 
