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34
Mataii, or Totara. The Titoki (Alectryon excelsum) furnished handles
for light axes; and sometimes the Kowhai (Edwardsia grandiflora) was
used, particularly for the heavier ones. The Ake (Dodonaea viscosa),
and the Maire,* (Santalm Cunninghamii at the North, and Olea sp. at
the South,) supplied hardwood for war implements, and for carved
walking-staves; and of another hard wood, Manuka (Leptospermum
scoparium), husbandry implements, canoe paddles, and spears for war
and taking fish were made. Long war-spears were also made of Rimu
(Dacrydinum cupressinum); but the very long bird-spears (30-36 feet)
were made of Tawa (Nesodaphne Tawwa): the working of which out of a large tree with only their stone implements, obtaining, as they did,
but two spears from a single tree, was indeed a most patient and admi-
rable performance, often taking two years for its completion! The
hard-wooded Maire-Tawhake, (Eugeenia Maire,) was also prized, and
used by the Northern tribes (among whom alone it grew) for husbandry
implements. The channelled stems of the Neinei (Dracophyllum lati-
folium), and the red young saplings ot Toatoa, or Tanekaha (Phyllo-
cladus trichomanoides), made valued walking-sticks. The long straight
young trees of Manuka, and of Tawa, were used for battens for the sides
and roofs of their houses; stems of the Kareao (Rhipogonum parviflorum)
and also Kakaho reeds (Arundo conspicua), and slips of Totara timber,
were often used for the same purpose. The creepers, Aka, (Metrosideros
scandens,) and Kareao or Pirita, (Rhipogonum parviflorum,) were ex-
tensively used for tying up fences, platforms, and the heavy frame-work
of houses. Sometimes other creepers (Passiflora tetrandra, and Par-
sonsia, sp.), were used, but not commonly; and, among the Northern
tribes, the creeping fern Mangemange, (Lygodium articulatum,)
was generally used to bind the outward thatch securely on the
roof of their houses. The Raupo, or large Bulrush (Typha angustifolia)
was universally used to cover the frame-work of their houses; the outer
thatch being Toetoe, (Cperus ustulatus), or Tautahi (Carx ternaria,)
or Ririwaka (Scirpus maritimus), or of two kinds of Wiwi, or Rushes
(Juncus maritimus, and effusus); sometimes, however, a hard-
jointed rush, (Leptocarpus simplex,) was advantageously used;
being by far the best of all the Rushes or Sedges for thatching, on
account of its durability. The leaves of the Ti, or "Cabbage tree,"
(Cordyline australis,) were also used for this purpose; but, for the inner
work of roofs, sides, partitions, &c., the large fronds of the Nikau, or
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* See par.26 (viii.)