accepted the hospitality of the family wharepuni (warm house) for the night, every aperture being closed up to exclude air. As recorded by these visitors, the night was spent in an atmosphere of intense heat. The Maori living in a state of near nudity could apparently tolerate this high night temperature, while his European guest scarce dared to move. This brings us to the importance of the building with the floor two feet below ground level and earth walls packed up at the sides (D.M. Monograph 8, fig. 8). Archaeologists have recently demonstrated the use of this house by the ancient Britons. Perhaps Moa hunter man used it too. In the light of this, the house figured on page 15 of the Taylors' book seems to me to be not a true replica of any sleeping hut or meeting house. The illustration showing the amo, or bargeboards, reaching down to ground level is to be deplored. Decay would quickly set in on the lower margins of such boards, and wet and damp would be a constant nuisance during winter. The view inside the house does not show any interior excavation likely to have been carried out for warmth at night. The book should have included the type of house seen by Captain Cook in Queen Charlotte Sound, where outside crossed rafters hold the thatch in place. (loc. cit. 8, fig. 5) Sir Peter Buck (The Coming of the Maori, in 1929, a Cawthron lecture, 2nd edition, p. 29) was the first to point out the importance of the oval house in the South Island, as northern tribes moved southwards. Mutton birders' huts were studied in a search for prototypes of older buildings persisiting in this marginal culture area. Possibly such a building may be seen in D.M. Monograph 8, fig. 35. To conclude, the book ‘The Maori Builds’ shows too much generalisation and supposition, and not enough reliance on exact scientific data. In their presentation of houses, both writer and artist appear to have used their imagination, without a sturdy enough framework. An example is the ‘sewing’ on the house illustrated on page 9. Again too, we may mention the importance of exact locality and source literature. Extracts appear to have been taken from other publications, and drawings made from previously published photographs, without specific references being given. A collection of such material from various publications (some now unavailable), presented in an attractive compact form, with complete references, would be a most useful and valuable production.

TALES OF THE MAORI BUSH by James Cowan A. H. & A. W. Reed, $2.25 reviewed by Ani Bosch This book, a reprint of an earlier publication, is made up of 30 stories written about the early days of New Zealand. I found it a pleasure to read and most valuable for its historical data. Nothing need be said of the author, as you will meet him through his stories. When reading the first chapter I found that I was travelling along with the author and his companions. I could see the landscape unfolding before my eyes, smell the vegetation, hear the forest noises and even longed for a long cooling drink from the river. As for pork chops in the bush, it sounds fantastic, as it well may have been. Further on in the book we meet and get to know Piwai, a likeable lazy clown, who achieves the impossible and buys an English saddle for his wife. Then there is Patokatoka with its four silent staring whares guarding its eel-grounds. We meet Tatai and her lover in a romantic interlude, where love does find a way, and later on at Hurepo, a swamp islet, we read of Ripeka—Chieftainess of Tuhoe—who was killed in a most tragic way, but with love. The author takes you right into the hearts and minds of his characters. The story I liked best is one called ‘The Mate of the Ariki’, a cutter that sailed around the Hauraki Gulf and surrounding islands. This is a truly wonderful book and I suggest you buy a copy immediately.

LINEMAN'S TICKET by Manu Gilbert Blackwood & Janet Paul, $2.10 reviewed by Allan W. Muir This is undoubtedly the most entertaining book that I have read for some considerable time. The Irish-Maori brand of humour used by the author appealed to me, a Pakeha with a great interest in the Maori people. Manu Gilbert, youngest of a family of three, describes himself as a blockhead who left college after two years to work as a bulldozer driver, thus breaking his mother's heart. To my way of thinking, he is a tangata