1920.] 
Andersen,—Maori String Games. 
147 
them downwards into the diamond, open them and extend the strings, and 
again wahine appears, slowly closing as the hands are drawn apart. (To 
unravel the figure without tangling the string, take the curved strings at 
the centres where they lie in the angle of the crossed strings running from 
thumbs and little fingers, and draw out right and left.) 
There is a third figure, tamaiti, but this the Maoris at Gisborne were 
unable to construct. As named, there is nothing in the shapes of the figures 
to suggest their names. It is otherwise when it is known that the figures 
represent only part of a wahine and tane, the tara and ure respectively. 
Comparison. 
In Central Africa (Miss Haddon, pp. 31, 32) the same two figures are 
formed, and are there called “ the moon ” ( mwezi ) {wahine), and “ the moon 
gone dark ” ( mwakatanga) {tane). The figure of the moon is, however, 
arrived at in a way quite different from the Maori method* 
1. Opening A. 
2. Take the far little-finger string between the lips and draw it towards 
you over all the other strings, at the same time releasing the loops from 
the little fingers, but not pulling the strings taut. 
3. Transfer the thumb loops to the little fingers, inserting the little 
fingers into the thumb loop from below, and insert the index fingers into 
the mouth loop from below. 
4. Extend the figure, at the same time letting go with the lips. 
5. Insert the thumbs into the lower index loop from below, grasp the 
upper near index string between thumbs and index fingers, and bend 
the index fingers so as to allow the lower index loop to slip over the tips 
of the fingers. Do not draw taut. 
6. Straighten the index fingers and slowly extend the figure by drawing 
the hands apart, when the figure of the moon appears, as did the figure of 
wahine in the Maori pattern. (The twist in the little-finger loops may be 
avoided by inserting the little fingers into the thumb loop from above 
instead of from below when transferring that loop to the little fingers in 
movement 3.) 
“ The moon gone dark ” is produced from “ the moon ” in the same way 
that tane is produced from wahine . 
The figure of “ the moon 55 also appears in Torres Straits, where it is 
called gud (mouth), and in North Queensland, where it is called “ sun 
clouded over.” Miss Haddon remarks that the continuation “ the moon 
gone dark ” does not seem to occur elsewhere than in Central Africa. As 
is seen, it occurs also in New Zealand. 
The same figure wahine .occurs incidentally in another figure in the 
Island of Uap, Western Carolines, where it is known as runi-ka-fei (carrying 
money). (Mrs. Jayne, pp. 160 et seq.) It is a continuation of another 
Caroline Islands figure, called “ ten men,”’ whose final pattern appears to 
be the same as the Maori tonga raurepe, though its construction is different. 
Rest the figure of tonga raurepe on the knees, slip each thumb from its loop, 
and then pick on the back of the thumbs, close to the index finger, the 
string which passed from thumb to index finger. Gently withdraw each 
middle finger from its loop, and let the string which passes over index 
finger and thumb slip off the index finger. Draw the hands apart with the 
loops on thumbs and index fingers, and wahine appears from the tangle. 
The part of the figure that follows the above in the Carolines is not of 
interest in this place. 
(To be concluded.) 
