the same lady was instructing me how to finish off the top border of a mat. I had found, as others have found, that plaiting cannot be properly described unless one actually learns how to do it. In the finishing process, on turning back the wrong weft, my instructress called out, “No, not that one; turn back the left whenu.” “The left what.?” I asked. “The left whenu,” she replied without hesitation. “What is a whenu?” I asked with suppressed excitement. “A whenu,” she explained placidly, “is a strip of harakeke used in plaiting.” “I thought,” I remarked, “that the whenu is the warp used in weaving.” “So it is,” she said; “the warp of dressed fibre used in weaving cloaks and the strip of harakeke used in plaiting mats and baskets are both called whenu.” “Are you sure?” I asked. She turned her tattooed face towards me with an indulgent smile and gently replied, “Have I not said it? Do you doubt my word?” “No,” I hastened to say, “but two hours ago you told me there was no such word.” “Ah,” she said, with the faintest tinge of embarrassment in her smile, “we think so much about European matters in these days that the old Maori words sometimes elude us for the moment. The strip of prepared harakeke is called whenu.” I turned to my European friend and said, “We will cross out our previous note, and write instead thereof, ‘The Whanganui Tribe has a special word for weft, and it is whenu.’”

The methods of beginning and finishing will be described under the various articles.

The strokes used come under the headings of checker-work and twilled work.

Checker-work, as defined, consists in each weft passing alternately over and under each consecutive crossing weft. This plait is termed takitahi (singly). When the butt ends of the wefts have been fixed in a straight line the wefts lie parallel to one another. Adjacent wefts are now crossed diagonally over each other so that alternate wefts lie in the same direction. Those leaning towards the right are called “dextral” wefts, and those towards the left “sinistral.” The plaiting of the wefts is not done singly, but in a series. Alternate dextral wefts are lifted up with the left hand, and the right hand picks up and slips the appropriate sinistral weft along the space between the dextral wefts that are held up and those that are lying flat. The dextral wefts that were lifted up are now dropped and those that were lying flat are picked up in their turn. The next sinistral weft is now passed between. In this way a series of alternate dextral wefts pass above one sinistral and then below the next, whilst the series of alternate dextrals that passed below the first sinistral now passes above the second. This results in checker-work as defined above. The process may be compared to weaving. The dextral wefts correspond to the warps, which are separated in series of alternate threads, whilst the sinistral weft corresponds to the weaving weft which passes through on the bobbin. In weaving, however, the weft works across parallel to the straight edge lying transversely in front of the weaver. In plaiting, whilst the straight edge of a mat, for example, lies transversely in front of the plaiter, the wefts lie diagonally. To meet this the plaiter commences her work on the left. In fig. 1 the dextral wefts are shown plain and lettered D, whilst the sinistrals are shaded and lettered S. The dextrals are crossed over the sinistrals at the beginning, and this initial crossing is not counted in the following description. The firt sinistral after passing under the first dextral is bent back into the body of the mat and becomes a dextral. This bend, being vertically above the end of the mat, is the commencement of the left border of the mat.

Sinistral 2, after passing under dextral 2, passes between two dextrals and, coming into the vertical line of the left border, is bent back into the body to become a dextral. S3 passes between four dextrals and S4 between six before being turned back. S5 passes between eight dextrals, and, this being a usual width for plaiting, it is not necessary to turn it back for the present. Working with eight dextrals, picking up four and dropping four, the plaiter works towards the right across the article with the diagonal edge shown. As each sinistral weft is placed between the alternating fours, a fresh dextral is picked up below and the top dextral of the previous series left out. Thus she keeps to the eight dextrals throughout the width of the article, and the last row plaited is parallel with the lower edge of the mat. When the right edge of the article is reached, the dextral wefts which project beyond it are turned back into the body of the mat, as on the left, and become sinistrals.

Fig. 1.—Commencement of weaving a taka mat, showing arrangement of dextral and sinistral wefts.

Another series is now commenced from the left, and so by successive widths, with an advancing diagonal edge, the body of the article is completed. Whilst plaiting, the dextrals that have just been done with are looped back out of the way, so as not to get their free ends mixed up with the sinistrals. On completion of the strip of plaiting the dextrals are allowed to fall back into their natural position. Thus on commencing a fresh strip of plaiting the dextrals and sinistrals are in two distinct layers, the dextrals being above. The upper layer of dextrals, as we have seen, is first dealt with by the left hand separating a number of wefts, and from the under layer of sinistrals the right hand then picks up one weft and places it in position. Thus the keeping of the two layers distinct renders the work much easier and avoids confusion. Plate 78, fig. 2, shows the lower layer of sinistrals, the dextrals finished with looped over on the left, and those to be dealt with in their normal position on the right. The first completed strip of

plaiting and the advancing diagonal edge of the second strip are shown very clearly. Although the plait figured is a twilled two, except for the actual stroke used it illustrates checker-work equally well.

Checker-work is usually done on the rougher articles, such as small baskets for cooked food, baskets, and sometimes mats, made from the rough wefts.

Twilled work is distinguished as “twilled twos “or” twilled threes,” &c, according as each weft passes over or under two or three, &c, crossing wefts. A twilled two is a very favourite plait. This stroke is commonly known as a rangarua (two-plait). The Whanganui people have different names according as the lines of the pattern are horizontal (pae) or vertical (tu). The names pae and tu simply mean horizontal and vertical, but are only applied to twilled twos. Anything more than a two, such as twilled threes, &c, are called hora (spread out). These are usually introduced into the coloured designs, but a row or rows of threes are sometimes worked on floor-mats and the better baskets.

Fig. 2.—Twilled twos, horizontal.
Fig. 3.—Twilled twos, vertical.

The technique of twilled work is similar to that of checker-work, except, of course, that the left hand picks up alternate twos or threes, &c, of dextrals whilst the one sinistral is placed through as above. As the work progresses, the plaiting-in of each sinistral adds another dextral and necessitates a rearrangement of the dextral series. In a horizontal twilled two the upper dextrals of the previous series passing’ over the sinistrals are dropped and the upper of those passing under are picked up. The lower dextrals in each case are carried on. Referring to fig. 2, mark the course of the sinistral S7. The dextrals D8 and D7 pass over it, and D6 and D5 pass under it. In preparing for the next sinistral, S8, another dextral, D9, has come in from below. D9 and D8 are lifted so as to pass over S8, and this causes D7, which was the upper of the previous pair, to be dropped so as to maintain the twilled two. Thus the previous, under air, D6 and D5, are added to from below, and the upper D5 must be picked up to prevent a three. This is carried on throughout. The skilled plaiters carry