made of braided sinnet, a number of strands being tied to a handle and the free ends left unplaited. They resemble the horse-hair fly-whisks used in Egypt. In many of the Pacific islands, Nine especially, swarms of flies similar to the house-fly frequent the highways and byways, and swarm round undefended human beings in myriads. In Niue it is rare to see Natives walking about in the daytime without leafy branches constantly in motion to prevent these pests from alighting on them. To a man with any feeling of pride in himself the fly-whisk is an indispensable part of his everyday equipment. In New Zealand the protection of the living from flies was unnecessary, and the fly-whisk of Polynesia disappeared. I have heard members of the Aupouri Tribe of the far North say that their high chiefs were so tapu that dire results took place if a fly that had alighted on their sacred heads subsequently alit on food. One man stated that to prevent such calamity attendants were careful to prevent flies from alighting on such chiefs. The immunity of the living Maori, however, was not shared by the dead. In olden times one of the weaknesses of the Maori was that of keeping their dead above ground for as long as possible: a too-hurried burial was looked upon as a disrespect to the dead. Grief must be allowed a considerable time to demonstrate its intensity. Even in these more enlightened days, owing to the desire of distant relatives or mourners to view the corpse, a good deal of trouble is sometimes experienced by the Department of Health in obtaining speedy burial in cases of death from infectious diseases. By-laws have had to be enacted under the Maori Councils Act to ensure burial in four days in the winter, three days ill the summer, and twenty-four hours in the case of infections disease. It can be understood, therefore, that in ancient times a corpse before being finally disposed of attracted more than the usual number of flies; To meet this the fly-flap, that had been discarded for the living, was retained or reinvented for the dead. Sinnet and horsehair not being available, and dressed flax-fibre causing more trouble than seemed necessary, the Maori form of fly-flap underwent a complete change. It has no connection with the fly-whisk of Polynesia except in part of its function.

The object was to attach to a handle a flat surface of sufficient area to ensure swatting a fly that had alighted on a corpse. As the appliance was only for the one corpse, and was not kept afterwards, no great care was taken in material selected or art displayed in the making. A thin rod 2 ft. to 3 ft. in length, of manuka or other wood, formed the handle. A short piece of similar wood from 5 in. to 6 in. long was placed across the long rod about 2 ½ in. to 3 in. from one end. This formed a cross with three equal limbs, the fourth long limb forming the handle. A strip of lightly scraped flax about ¼ in. wide was then used to form the flat striking-surface of the flap. It was crossed over the middle of the front piece of wood, and then, working from this centre outwards, was wrapped in succession round each of the four limbs of the cross. Reference to fig. 14 will show that the flaxen strip is crossed over the anterior surface of the limb, wrapped completely round it, and crossed over itself on its way to the next limb. Thus the stroke used is a wrapped stroke identical with that used in the decorative panels of houses (6). As each turn of the strip follows the shortest distance between two limbs of the cross, it follows that the figure developed is a square set on an angle, and thus appearing somewhat lozenge-shaped. This stroke was continued until the strip reached the ends of the three short limbs of the cross, when the end was tied. As each turn between the limbs was made, the strip of flax overlapped the outer edge of the previous turn, and