offers of peace—another custom common to these people and the Maoris. Of their manufactured articles their canoes must rank as the first in importance. They were of all sizes, the largest capable of holding forty or fifty men, and they invariably had an ama, or outrigger. They were made of a tree called to—not the ito, or ironwood, of the other islands, but a much softer wood. A tree from 3ft. to 4ft. in diameter was selected, and then patiently hacked down with their shell tokis. The log is then rolled to the sea, where the action of the waves partially softens the wood—sufficiently so to allow the builders to split it up into variously-sized pieces, the longest and narrowest of which is selected to form a keel about a foot broad, rounded at the bottom and hollowed inside. The keel is shaped so as to gradually slope up at either end, terminating above the water in the ihu, or bow, at one end. Various pieces of irregular shape are now cut to fit one another, and with them the sides are built up, each piece being carefully rounded off so as to conform to the general contour. They are polished with coral to make them fit, and the edges of each piece are bored with a sharp stone or shell to receive the lashings which hold them together. The joints are cemented together with a preparation of pounded cocoanut-husk steeped in water. The body of the canoe is not built the whole length of the keel-piece, but projecting parts are left, both at stern and bow—the latter to act as a cutwater, which, being bluff, prevents the vessel from sinking in the trough of the seas. The upper tier of pieces has a projecting ledge on which the paddlers sit, whilst in the stern is a raised seat used to steer from. The paddle is long, the blade narrow, and usually carved. The natives also make kumetes, or bowls for their food; cocoanut-shells serving for cups. Their toki, or adze-handles, as also their shark-hooks, are made of a hard wood like myrtle. Everything else is formed of cocoanut, excepting their tuis (spoons) and mataus (fish-hooks), which are formed out of pearl-shell, the former of which are often carved. Their houses appear generally to be mere huts made of cocoanut-leaves, open at the sides; but in the better class mats to lift up and down are used to keep out the wind: in this they correspond with the houses of Samoa. The floors and vicinity of the houses are spread with rounded white pebbles of coral, which gives them a neat and cleanly appearance. The people sleep on mats made from the pandanus-leaves, which they call kie. Ropes are made of cocoanut-husk after it has been beaten and soaked, as are also their fishing-lines. The former are called kaha, the same as the Maori word for rope. Bags and nets are also made from the same material, and are