Studio: international art (22.1901)

Maori Houses

each forty feet high. All the kakaho, or reeds,
the toctoe, or flower-stalks of the arundo, had to be
cut at the proper season and then dried ; huge
stores of leaves of the typha, or bulrush, were
gathered to form part of. the roof, together with
heaps of New Zealand flax; and the wiry creeping
fern was used to fasten the outside thatch. In
some districts ropes of plaited flax were used for
the same purpose, as also were long thin rods.

The ordinary village houses in New Zealand
during the time of Captain Cook were of the most
primitive nature. The poor houses were little
more than a framework of slim, notched sticks,
lashed together with strips of flax, the sides and
roof being thatched with grass to keep out the
wind and rain, while some of the better-class
houses were lined with the bark of trees.

The door, which was only large enough to admit
a man creeping in on all fours, was placed at the

end of the house, and served the purpose of chimney
and window also. It seldom faced south, as this
was considered unlucky. In some conspicuous
place near the door was often to be found a
piece of wood covered with carving which was
valued by the owner as a work of art or a family
relic. While the majority of ordinary people were
living in this state, many of the finest houses were
built, sometimes taking three or four years to
erect. A slab elaborately carved with chiefs and
demons in the museum at Wellington took five
years to carve.

Endless trouble was bestowed on houses, and
after the death of a chief, who often carved parts of
his house with his own hands, the property was
laid under the" tapu " of the natives. All within
the enclosure was under a ban and considered
sacred, the arms and provisions were left exactly
as they remained at the moment the " tapu " was

21