anything from leaves or fern to a Persian carpet. Floor-mats consist of two kinds—the rough, quickly made mats for everyday use, and the better-class sleeping-mat, usually with designs plaited in with coloured wefts.

Ordinary Floor-mats (Taka).—These mats have a variety of names according to district, such as pokipoki, tamata, hipora, &c. They are made from the natural wefts of, the Phormium tenax. The length is usually 6 ft. or more, so as to prove sufficiently long for the reclining figure, whilst the width varies from 2 ft. to 4 ft. according to the length of flax-blades from which the wefts have been prepared.

The beginning consists of plaiting the butt-tufts of the wefts' together with a three-ply plait until the required length of 6 ft. or so is reached. This stage is called whiri (“twist,” or “plait ”). There are three ways of commencing the whiri

Figs. 11–14.—Method (b) of commencing the twist, or plait, whiri.

(a.) The first weft has its butt-tuft split and diverged into two equal parts. The second weft is placed parallel with the first, overlapping its left edge and crossing the left half of its divided butt-tuft. Reference to the figures shows that there are now three tufts of fibre which form the basis for the three-ply plait. The right tuft (IR) is twisted over the middle tuft (2), and then the left tuft (IL) is twisted over it to the middle position (fig. 6). A third weft is overlapped along weft 2, as in fig. 7. The plaiting is repeated as before. It will be noted that the butt-tuft of the new weft is in the middle with the end of the previous middle-tuft (IL), and they are treated as one element in the three-ply plaiting. The right tuft (2) is twisted over to the middle (fig. 8), and then the left tuft (IR.) is twisted over it to take up the middle position (fig. 9). The addition of weft 4 and the right and left twists results in fig. 10. Wefts are added singly in this manner until the required length is reached, when the fibrous tufts are continued on in a three-ply plait and tied in a knot. To get a closer plait in the body of the mat, double wefts are plaited in every here and there along the course of the whiri.

(b.) In the above method of commencement there is a tendency for the first weft to split up from the division of the butt-tuft. To prevent this the basket beginning is used. The first weft is not divided at its butt-tuft. The second weft is crossed over it (fig. 11). The butt-tuft of weft 1 is twisted over weft 2 and carried down behind it to the right (fig. 12). A third weft is added by overlapping it along weft 1. We have now our three elements for the three-ply plait. To fix the commencement firmly, the right tuft 1 is twisted over tuft 3 to the middle, and then the left tuft twisted over it to occupy the middle position, as in figs. 13 and 14. From now on the procedure of method (a) is carried on. Each additional weft overlaps the preceding one on the left, and its butt-tuft merges with the one occupying the middle position. On completion, the second weft, which sticks out from the line of the others, is simply bent into the same line on commencing plaiting the body of the mat.

(c.) The third commencement is seen in the tapora mats for covering food in the cooking-ovens. In this a three-ply cord is commenced with ordinary strips of flax, and then the butt-tufts of the wefts are plaited in on the left side, as in the usual whiri. In the case of the tapora a cord long enough to form a loop for hanging up is plaited, but in the ordinary floormat just enough is plaited to fix the commencement ere including the wefts. During the progress of the whiri the butt ends of the wefts are held in position by the left hand, whilst the right hand adds the fresh wefts and twists the butt-tufts into position.

The body of the mat is usually plaited with a twilled-two stroke in horizontal or vertical lines; and combinations of the two are used. The check stroke may be used entirely or in combinations with twilled twos. As pointed out already, the side edges are defined by turning in the projecting sinistral wefts on the left and the dextrals on the right. In turning in the wefts they are merely bent so that the same surface is kept uppermost. The surfaces of the wefts corresponding to the inner or upper surface of the plant-leaf are kept uppermost on the body of the mat, so that the better colour and smoother surface of the completed mat will show when in use. A twisted turn at the edges would expose the different shade of the under-surface and give an ugly mixed appearance to the completed article. When the body of the mat is of the requisite width the plaiter makes sure that the upper edge finishes on the same parallel of strokes from side to side.

The finish in these mats is the process called tapiki by most tribes, but kopetipeti by the Whanganui. The mat is turned over so that the finish may not be seen on the upper surface. As mentioned in describing the technique of checker-work, the dextral wefts form the upper layer and the sinistrals the lower. On turning the mat, the sinistrals form the upper layer, but they now lean towards the right, whilst the lower layer of dextrals lean towards the left. To avoid confusion it is better to refer to the wefts in their altered position according to the direction in which they lean. Thus the upper layer becomes dextral and the lower sinistral.

The finish is carried out by plaiting a width from the left with the usual diagonal advancing edge of about six dextrals. The edge of the upper border is formed by turning back the dextrals and sinistrals into the body of the mat by twisting and doubling them along the course of the sinistrals, and keeping them in position by plaiting the other dextrals of the series of six over and under them in the usual way. In fig. 15 the line AB denotes the line of completed plaiting for the full length of a mat done with a check

stroke. The left edge has been continued until there are six dextrals above the completed edge. The left projecting sinistral is marked S1. The problem is to turn the left sinistral, S1, and the left dextral, D1, back into the body of the mat along the course of S1 and fix them in position by

Figs. 15–19.—Method of finishing edge of mat.
Figs. 20–22.—Method of making the secure hiki finish.

the ordinary plaiting of the dextrals. It will be noted that D1 passes under S1. The alternative dextrals, D2, D4, and D6, which pass over S1, are lifted with the left hand, and in fig. 16 are turned back to make the

process clear. The upper border is commenced by twisting over the first dextral, D1, at right angles to its own course, and laying it along the course of S1. In this turn the weft is twisted over so as to expose its other surface, whereas in the side borders the wefts are bent into the body without changing its surface. D1 is now fixed down by dropping D2 across it in its normal course (fig. 17).

The turning of the mat-edge is completed, for this series, by doubling back S1 over D2 to lie over the turned-back portion of D1 and along its own course (fig. 18). The remainder of the dextral series are dealt with in the ordinary manner. The under-wefts (D3 and D5) are picked up, and the over-wefts (D4 and D6) pressed down over the course of S1. Thus in the new combination D2, D4, and D6 are down, whilst D3 and D5 are turned back; and to complete the series of six a fresh dextral (D7) is picked up (fig. 19). We perceive that the first dextral and sinistral on the left have been disposed of, and the process of plaiting has opened up a fresh series of alternate dextrals for the next sinistral. S2 is now placed in position between them, and by carrying on as above the next two wefts on the left, D2 and S2, are disposed of. So it is continued to the right edge.

Where the wefts are long and project beyond the lowest crossing dextral the ends are cut off. At the right corner the weft-ends which cannot be doubled back are plaited into a three-ply braid and knotted against the edge.

In the taka type of mat the kopetipeti finish is usually quite enough. Some of these mats, however, are made much better by having the wefts lightly scraped. To some of them, as well as to the best-class mats, the additional finish called hiki is applied.

The hiki finish is used after the kopetipeti finish to make doubly secure the weft-ends and prevent the edge unravelling. Thus the weft-ends have to be sufficiently long to permit of their being plaited in a three-ply plait. By dropping one weft as a new weft is picked up, the actual elements plaited consist of three throughout.

The plait commences from the left. It will be remembered that in the kopetipeti finish the weft-ends are in twos, a dextral and a sinistral being together. These pairs are treated and numbered as single wefts. Take the first three wefts on the end, numbering from the left. Proceed as in ordinary three-ply plaiting. The right weft (3) is brought over the middle one (2) and then the left weft (1) is brought over it to occupy the middle position (fig. 20).

From now on, as each new weft is taken up, the old weft on the right is discarded. This discard is accomplished by turning it back first of all to allow the new weft to be brought down over the middle one, and then as a last movement twisting it over the base of the new weft and pushing it under and to the left, where it is kept by the ring and little fingers of the left hand. Applying these principles in fig. 21, a new weft (4) is drawn over the middle weft (1), and the left weft (3) is drawn over it to occupy the middle position. The old right weft (2) is twisted over the base of the new weft (4) and pushed to the back and the left, where it is discarded. The new series consists of 3 in the middle, 4 on the left, and 1 on the right. The weft on the right (1) is pushed back to allow the new weft (5) to be brought down over the middle weft (3). The left weft (4) is brought over 5 to the middle position, whilst the old right weft (1) is twisted over the base of the new weft (5) and discarded, as seen in fig. 22. By continuing in this manner and exercising enough pressure to tighten the wefts, the hiki finish is carried across to the right edge and the upper border rendered secure,

the loose projecting ends being finally cut off. Owing to the narrowing of the flax-blade towards the butt-junction, the wefts partake of this narrowing. The part of the mat, therefore, near the three-ply-plait border made from the butt-tufts is more open than the rest of the mat; Though, in plaiting the mat, we have spoken of the “lower” and “upper” borders, when the completed mat is in use it is placed longways and these two borders become the sides.

A variety of mat for very rough use is made with very wide wefts, almost the full width of the half-blade of flax. Others, again, instead of having butt-tufts for plaiting the beginning, have three or four wefts united by a narrow strip of butt, and these undivided portions of butt form the edge. Another variety, owing to the flax-leaves being short, has two rows of wefts plaited on to the butt-tuft three-ply, beginning as in the basket beginning. The wefts on one side are then plaited in the usual way and finished with the kopetipeti ending. The wefts on the other side are then dealt with similarly. Thus we have a mat about 4 ft. wide with the three-ply plait of butt-tufts running down the middle.

The tapora mat is another variety. This mat is used to cover the food in the umu (cooking-oven) before the earth is heaped over it to seal up the steam. The wefts are lightly scraped (piahu), not to make them white but in order to remove some of the epidermis and colouring-matter, so as to prevent them imparting a bitter taste to the food. It is curious that this reason is assigned, as fish are often wrapped up in green flax and cooked in the embers without any taste being imparted to it. It may be that the steam of the umu draws out the bitterness of green flax more than the dry heat of the embers.

In the commencement of the beginning of the tapora, method (c) is used. A three-ply braid of sufficient length to make a loop is plaited, and the butt-tufts of the wefts plaited in as in the taka. The body is plaited in checker-work or twilled twos. In the finish, instead of the kopetipeti, a three-ply plait is used, as in the case of the ordinary basket. On the left a three-ply braid is plaited to form a loop, and then the wefts, both dextral and sinistral, are added in and plaited along the border until the right edge is reached. The extra length of wefts is carried on in a braid to form another loop. The length is shorter than the taka. Thus we have a mat like the taka but with a different finish, and with a loop at each corner for use as handles in picking the tapora off the hot food when cooked, and for hanging up in the cooking-house when not in use.

Finer mats, Porera, or Tienga.—The finer mats are made of white and dyed wefts of flax or kiekie, and pingao is used in the coloured designs. Kiekie mats are whiter than flax, and, if carefully looked after, last longer. If bent too sharply in rolling or folding, the wefts are apt to crack, and are then liable to wear into holes. These mats are used for sleeping upon, and all meeting-houses have a set as part of their furnishing. These are kept stored away; but when visitors come the floor is strewn with dried rushes or fern, rough mats placed over it, and then an upper covering of fine porera makes the reception-house worthy of both guests and hosts. On the East Coast these mats are called takapau. Porera are usually about 6 ft. 6 in. in length and 4 ft. 6 in. to 10 ft. or more in width. In some cases very wide mats are made for flooring the meeting-houses.

The beginning: Wefts for these mats do not have the butt ends scraped, therefore the whiri beginning of rough mats is inapplicable. The wefts, as previously mentioned, are left united at one end by the butt end of the

half-blade of flax being undivided. The wefts of one butt-piece are used as dextrals and the next as sinistrals, so that the beginning-edge consists of butt-pieces crossing each other, the alternate ones being in the same direction. The butt-pieces prevent the edge from coming loose as the plaiting proceeds. In rough mats quickly made this beginning-edge is sometimes used and left in the completed mat, but with the porera it is only temporary. Sometimes, where two wefts to a butt-piece are used throughout, the two wefts are diverged in opposite directions. In cases where the wefts are single, a row of them is laid down and two thin strips of flax are twined round the butt ends in a fitch to keep them in position temporarily for the plaiting. The beginning-edge is continued for the full length of the mat—that is, 6 ft. 6 in. (Plate 81, fig. 1.)

The body is usually plaited in twilled twos, but a check stroke is sometimes used, especially in a fairly common mat made with alternate black and white wefts. Owing to the limited length of the wefts the mat is plaited in narrow widths of from 14 in. to 18 in. (Plate 81, fig. 2.) A width is by some tribes called a whara, and by some a papa. A whara is plaited for the full length of the beginning-edge, and the wefts as they become free at either end are turned back into the body of the plaiting, as in the case of the taka mats. This forms edges at right angles to the beginning-edge, and will form sections of the upper and lower borders of the completed mat. Four whara, or sections, of 15 in. each make a convenient total width of 5 ft., but this width may be increased by adding more sections. Four whara require three joins.

The join is called a hono in some districts, and in some a maurua. The first whara has the weft-ends finished off by turning them back on the under-side in the kopetipeti finish described in taka mats. Still keeping the section with the under-side uppermost, the undivided butt portions of the beginning-edge are split with the thumb-nail into their component wefts. These free ends can now be joined to a fresh set of wefts necessary to form the next section. Joins are double (hono rua) or single (hono tahi). The double join is the older one in the Whanganui district, but the single join is more quickly made.

(a.) The single join: The first step is to reduplicate the dextral wefts by laying a fresh set along the course of the old set. They are kept in position by pushing the butt ends under two crossing sinistrals at the joining-edge. This is done along the entire edge except for a couple of inches at the left end. The butt ends of the fresh wefts project below the crossing sinistrals for 1 in. or so (fig. 23).

The dextrals are now in pairs, consisting of a newly added long weft and the short end of the old weft. The first movement in adding the fresh sinistrals is to turn back the first two pairs of dextrals on the left. A fresh sinistral is placed along the course of the old sinistral that is exposed. This old sinistral is picked up and drawn tightly along the upper surface of the fresh sinistral, and kept in position with the left thumb (fig. 24). The short weft of the first dextral pair is picked up, drawn taut, and with a quick half-turn bent down at right angles to lie along the course of the fresh sinistral (fig. 25). The long weft of the first dextral pair is then straightened back into its proper position, crossing over the pair of sinistrals (fig. 26). The short sinistral is turned back on its own course over the crossing long dextral (fig. 27). The second pair of dextrals is brought forward to straighten up matters, and then brought back again with a third pair of dextrals. This brings us to the position at the

commencement where there were two pairs of dextrals turned back. A fresh sinistral is added along the course of the next old sinistral, and

Fig. 23.—Porera, single join. Butt ends of fresh dextrals pushed under two crossing sinistrals, showing space on left where old dextrals are not reduplicated.
Figs. 24–27.—Porera, single join. Steps in adding fresh sinistral.
Fig. 28.—Porera, single join. Section of completed join, showing fresh dextrals and sinistrals in position, and resulting fringe with under layer of dextral butt ends directed to left and upper triple layer of sinistral butt ends, and tips of old dextrals and sinistrals directed slanting to the right.
Fig. 29.—Porera, double join. First stage, showing addition of fresh set of dextrals, with resulting fringe composed of butt ends of fresh dextrals slanting to the left, and under layer of tip ends of old dextrals slanting to the right.
Fig. 30.—Porera, double join. Second stage, showing addition of fresh set of sinistrals, with resulting fringe of butt ends of fresh sinistrals below and tip ends of old sinistrals above, both slanting to the right.

the above process repeated. When the second long dextral is in position it effectually fixes down the ends of the first short dextral and the first short sinistral (fig. 28). This is continued throughout.

It is readily seen that the fresh dextrals were added by pushing the butt ends under two crossing sinistrals already plaited into position. The fresh sinistrals by the second part of the joining process are crossed by two dextrals; and thus the twilled-two stroke is maintained throughout the join. The continuation of the twilled-two plaiting keeps them all firmly in position. The short ends of the old dextrals and sinistrals are disposed of by turning them back and to the right. In the resulting fringe of weft-ends we have a layer of the butt ends of the fresh dextrals slanting towards the left, and above that a triple layer of the butt ends of the fresh sinistrals and the tip ends of the old dextrals and sinistrals slanting to the right. These ends are trimmed off evenly, but remain as a fringe on the under-surface of the mat. On the left end of the join the ordinary twilled plaiting is continued, and the side edge continued by bending back the sinistral wefts into the body. On plaiting forward for 2 in. or 3 in. it will be found that a number of dextral wefts on the extreme left that have not been replaced by fresh ones, together with unreplaced sinistrals that have been turned in from the left side edge to function as dextrals, are becoming short. These are now replaced with fresh dextrals, making a short join parallel with the main join and about 3 in. in front of it. It is called a pahupahu. At the right end of the join a similar pahupahu join is made for the sinistrals.

(b.) The double join: In the double join the dextrals are joined first in a separate row. The fresh dextrals are not pushed under the sinistrals, as in the single join, but are plaited in individually, whilst the short ends of the old dextrals are bent down and to the right, as in the single join, when they are cut off evenly (fig. 29). The first fringe will thus consist of an upper layer of the butt ends of the fresh dextrals slanting down to the left, and an under layer of the tip ends of the old dextrals slanting down to the right. The fresh dextrals and old sinistrals are plaited on for 1 in. to 1-½ in., and the fresh sinistrals added in an exactly similar manner to the single join, except, of course, that there are no short dextrals to turn back. The short sinistrals are turned back and disposed of as before. In the resulting second fringe (fig. 30) the two layers of ends are both directed down towards the right, the upper being the tip ends of the old sinistrals and the other the butt ends of the fresh.

In the double join there are two rows of fringes, as against one in the single. Some tribes call the fringe a hiki, and thus call the double join a hono with two hiki. As before stated, the Whanganui people restrict the term hiki to the three-ply plait done to the weft-ends composing the fringe in order further to secure them.

(c.) Another method of joining was used by men in the North Island west-coast district. The weft-ends were plaited with a four-ply plait (whiri tuamaka); but this, owing to the ridge formed along the join, was not so comfortable to lie on in the pre-mattress period.

After the join was completed the mat was turned over and the plaiting continued with the proper surface uppermost.

The finish: The outer edge of the first section was finished off in the kopetipeti method, and all that remained when the last section had been joined and completed was to finish off its outer edge in a similar fashion. The tribes of the east coast of the North Island call this finish at the edge tapiki, and the Taranaki tribes call it kapeu.

Many porera are made with white wefts alone, and designs may be worked by changing from horizontal to vertical lines of twilled twos. To get neat