1918.] The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. 
141 
have been very near the ground-line. Evidently the tree-fellers were 
desirous of obtaining as long a log as possible, probably for the purpose o£ 
making a canoe. 
It seems probable that the tree stood somewhere near the bank of the 
river, and that ere decay affected the stump the river undermined it and 
caused it to fall into the channel, where the waters have preserved it until 
the present time. 
Several stone adzes have been reclaimed from the bed of the river here,, 
and also a small paddle-shaped wooden implement of manuka ( Lepto- 
s'permum) . This was described by a local native as a korori kaanga, but it is- 
an old style of implement used in .the cultivation of the kumaia, or sweet 
potato, long prior to the introduction of maize in the latter years of the 
eighteenth century. Waikato natives term this implement a pinaki or 
pinaki taru. 
The tree was one of considerable girth, inasmuch as the measurements 
across the cut surface are 6 ft. by 4 ft. The tree was apparently felled in 
the usual manner adopted by the Maori when using stone tools. The heavy 
stone implement employed was lashed to a stout pole as a shaft, in an 
axial manner, as a chisel is hafted, with the butt end of the tool against 
a shoulder formed on the shaft. This implement was held so that the 
cutting-edge of the tool was horizontal, and the united strength of several 
men dashed it against the tree-trunk. The shaft worked on a horizontal 
guide-rail, which was of great assistance in the operation, and in at least 
some districts a certain primitive mechanical apparatus was employed in 
order to increase the power of the stroke. (See illustration in Dominion 
Museum Bulletin No. 4 , at p. 130.) Thus a rough horizontal groove was 
punched by this bashing process, for the tool did not make a clean cut, 
as does a metal tool. Another such groove was punched higher up the 
trunk, and the intervening block of wood was then chipped out, this 
process being repeated until the scarf was deemed deep enough. All 
descriptions of this process given by old natives explain that no clean- 
cut surface was possible, the stump presenting an uneven and jagged 
appearance, the effect of the stone tool on the timber being often described 
by the expressive word hungahunga, denoting that it presented a frayed or 
fuzzy aspect. 
The stump shows that the tree had been scarfed on both sides, and a 
small “ break ” shows in the middle, though the projecting slivers have 
disappeared. The main “ break," however, is on one side, where it pro¬ 
jects as a block ; this may have been left in order to give the tree a 
cant off its lean, as is done by our tree-fellers. At one place the smooth 
bite of the tool-edge is plainly seen, owing to the fact that the cut quarters 
across the grain and is not at right angles across it. The bite of the 
chipping-out implement is also seen. One kerf was commenced seemingly 
at a lower level, carried in 8 in. or 10 in., and then continued about 
11 in. higher up. One part of the surface looks as though fire may have 
been employed. 
The long submersion to which the stump has been subjected renders it 
somewhat difficult to identify the species, but it is assuredly either kauri 
or totara. The age can hardly be less than a hundred years, since the 
Maoris of this district must have been pretty plentifully supplied with iron 
tools since the “ twenties ” of last century. 
