MAORIS v. PIGEONS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 7, 8 July 1909, Page 8

MAORIS v. PIGEONS.

IN OLDEN TIMES. Firearms now enable the Maoris to biing down the pigeons in those forests where the pretty biids aie still visible; but in olden times the slaying was not so easy. The natives were very fond of pigeon, and evolved a scheme to fill their lardeis for the winter. They did the execution with tpcu-a, long and narlow. An imperfect .specimen of this weapon has been in the Dominion ■Museum for some time, and two more, each 22ft long, were added to-day. Tho great length of the spears makes it difficult for the non-expert to use them, without risk of: breakage. The ■Maoris generally carried them by the point, leaving t-he other end to trail on the ground. Loops of vine were fixed to a tree that was likely to be frequented by the birds, and the spear was passed through in such a way a-s to enable the hunter to thrust straight at a particular branch. Then the wily native secreted himself among the foliage, and waited fo> his prey. To make spears a tree, generally tawa, was felled. The trunk was .split up with wedges, and the two h'llves were bedded carefully on the ground with clay or soil in order to be peifoctly even and level. The split, .surface was dressed down with adzes till level. Two parallel grooves were then cut in the lewol surface, in the centre, and these were worked v down till it was possible to under-cnt the por tion required. Briefly, the shaft of the spear ,was scooped out of half a tree, and when this operation was done the wood merely required scraping and finishing. In this way perfectly true and ev^i spears were manufactured to the length of 28ffc or 30ft'. . Owing to tho difficulty of transport, very few of these curious spears liavj found their way to museums. There are three or four in the Sir George Grey collection at Auckland, and one or two in the Auckland Museum. It is almost impossible now to find a tree retaining the original loops and guides which once served to accurately direct the pigconslayrag spears.