All this is the more necessary because the Maori of to-day knows little of his forefathers' arts—knows very often neither their names nor their uses. Indeed, curio-hunters have bought so largely that the Maoris themselves retain scarcely any of these old works, and to-day, at the close of 1904, the only chance for a new collector is to ransack European shops, and occasionally buy from a European collector. The few Englishmen who really have a great knowledge of these things are dying out, and several are letting their knowledge die with them. Ere it is lost I put into this paper what I have learnt about these dredges. Rarity. Looking over Edge Partington's and other works describing Polynesia, I find no trace of these dredges outside New Zealand. They were invented by the Maoris, and were theirs solely, their Polynesian kinsfolk knowing nothing of them. Roukakahi, having been invented by Maoris, cannot be of an older date than the advent of the canoes from Hawaiki, and doubtless were not invented till long after—probably were invented within the last two centuries. In New Zealand to-day they are amongst the rarest of their works of art. I got one about two months ago, and, strange to say, another about a week later. There is one in the British Museum figured in Partington's book, one in the Christchurch Museum, and two in the Auckland Museum; there are two in a shop, and Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Turnbull, in their fine collections, have one each; the Wellington Museum also owns one: making the total number, including mine, eleven. Of course there are others, but nevertheless they are rare. As Maoris now get plenty of animal food, and as their numbers are smaller, the need for getting large supplies of fresh-water mussels lessens year by year: there are ample in shallow waters. Elsdon Best, that splendid worker and authority upon all Maori works, says that shellfish in Tuhoeland are not now eaten. These dredges, therefore, are now never used, and no new dredges are made. After a diligent search amongst the Maori literature of Angas, Colenso, White, Hamilton, &c., I have found only very brief stray references to them. This is an attempt to detail their history, their structure, and their uses, and these are the first ever exhibited before this society. Name. The Maoris had two sorts of dredges, one with teeth, the other without. The rake dredges were used in the shallow lakes abounding in the hot-lakes district: these were called rouka-kahi. The plain or toothless dredges were employed in Lake Taupo, and were used to catch crayfish (koura). Best says