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Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 12089, 31 October 1933, Page 3

A. very interesting Maori relic in the form of ft, Food hole or, as it is called in Maori, “t-omokai”, . has just been discovered ■on the farm of Mr E. II- Rhode, of Pukeatua. Mi« E.. McGrath, an authority, on Maori customs', said that tin's “tomo-kai’’ was in a- perfect state of preservation. It, consisted of two chambers divided by earth buttresses. It might be many years old—perhaps 50 or even- 100—and 'the fact that it was found dry and intact, was duo largely to the manhole or entrance (haying been covered with pungas and then about 2ft. of cflrth placed over it. This- had resisted all - the strain of - cattle- and implements passing over it. Yeans ago; in times of inter-tribal Maori warfare, these holes were made, in secluded. -spots, and filled with food, as a safeguardfor the tribes -in case' of invasion. Food would remain fresh for months when sealed in those holes. . The Maori pa. and foodholes were not, built by the chief and his warriors, hut by Maori slaves captured during inter-tribal warfare,