84 
The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. [April 
List 4. 
('Obtained at the hui aroha, 
Mouti (1, 3). 
Toemi (1). (Te toemi a Rua- 
mitimiti in list 1.) 
Te puia i Whakaari. 
Ngutu koko. 
Maui (2). 
Tutae takahuri. 
Te whare o Takore (2, 3). 
Te kani. 
Kiwi. 
Te waka kai harakeke. 
Puta a toke. 
Moutohora. 
Gisborne, in Ajpril, 1919.) 
Te waka a Tama-rereti (1, 3). 
Tonga-raurepe (1). (Raurepa 
in list 1.) 
Maikaika. 
Paekohu (1, 3). 
Te ara o Tawhaki. 
Whai wahine. 
Whai tane. 
Whai kotiro (2). 
Whiwhirau (3). 
Waewae kahu. 
Nga pu-tutu. 
The maui figure is of considerable interest: it requires two persons for 
its completion, and shows four of the Maui brothers/ It was one of fifteen 
figures shown by one elderly Maori, named Aporo. Cinema pictures of 
several of these figures were taken by Mr. J. McDonald, the Dominion 
Museum artist and photographer, and are now lodged in the Museum. 
Aporo was a man of parts, for, besides being proficient in string games, 
he was a bird-tamer, a teacher of speech to the tui, a weather-prophet, 
something of an impromptu poet and singer, and a dog-trainer. His own 
dog was able to do several supercanine tricks. 
List 5. 
(From various districts.) 
Whare kehua. 
Kapunga rurutu. 
Motukiwi ( also known as Kau- 
parera). 
Nga ihiihi o Kopu (1, 2). 
Whare puni (3). 
Mawhiti. 
Paenui. 
Motu-kaheru. 
Waewae pikaraihe. 
Te Moana nui a Kiwa. 
Matariki. 
Te awanga. 
Ikaika o te raranga. 
Matui. 
Poho-kereru. 
It is possible, of course, that the same figures may be known by 
different names in different districts, and that consequently several of the 
above names may merely be synonyms. It is as well, however, to have .the 
names on record until such time as the figure itself may be discovered 
and noted down. In list 1 the name moe haere is probably nothing more 
than the concluding portion of mouti. In list 2, te malnau is a continuation 
of te whare o Takoreke. In list 4, whai tane is a continuation of whai 
wahine , and whai kotiro is probably a further continuation, for the Maori 
at Gisborne said that there was a third part to this figure, which was called 
by some of them tamaiti. There are several figures with star names — Kopu, 
Nga ihiihi o Kopu, Matariki. In the Polynesian Islands, too, there are many 
figures representing stars. In New Mexico is one, Dil-ye-he (the Pleiades) ; 
and Matariki (the Pleiades) is one of the names in list 5. 
In the year 1906 was published an excellent book on this subject— 
String Figures, a Study of Cat’s-cradle in Many Lands, by Caroline Furness 
Jayne. The book shows that the knowledge of the game is world-wide : 
