have had some difficulty, as in my residence in a country district I have not the means of consulting many works of reference. They are therefore not as complete as they might be under more favourable circumstances. I am largely indebted, however, to a compilation from various sources given in Hamilton's “Maori Art” (pp. 299-301), and have gathered a good deal of useful information from some of the older settlers in these parts, chiefly from Mr. James Bedggood, of Kerikeri, whose long residence among the natives and frequent opportunities of observation enable him to speak with authority on the subject. The old Maoris' assortment of pigments was very limited. They used black and white, the former manufactured chiefly, I believe, from the soot of burned kauri-gum or resinous wood, and the latter from a kind of pipeclay. They had also a very beautiful cobalt blue called pukepoto, a natural product formed from the decomposition of fossil bones, and found in very limited quantities in pockets in clay rock. These, with the red kokowai, constituted the “palette” of the old-time Maoris. No attempt apparently was ever made to produce a variety of shades by the blending of the different colours. Of the pigments named the kokowai was by far the most important. The black and the white were chiefly employed in small quantities for fine work, while the use of the blue was solely confined to personal adornment. But the kokowai was in universal requisition. It formed the general colour of all the painted work on the canoes, the houses, and the more ornamental portions of the palisading surrounding the pas; and it was also extensively used as a personal decoration, it being the very general custom of the chiefs and other people of note to cover their bodies with it. The raw material from which this favourite pigment was made consisted of a species of red ochre or oxide of iron found in deposits in the ground. This was first roasted in a very hot haangi, or native oven, and afterwards ground to a fine powder on a flat stone by means of a round smooth boulder. A finer variety was produced from creeks and streams which held the oxide in suspension. Fascines of fern, &c., were sunk in the water, and after some time were found to be covered with a deposit of the material in the form of an impalpable powder. They were then taken out and dried, when the powder was easily shaken off, the result being a pigment of the very finest quality, which was made up into balls, wrapped in leaves, and roasted, as already described. This variety was called horu, that procured from deposits in the earth being known as takou (A. H. M., vol. iv., p. 103). The vehicle generally used for the manufacture of the