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THE LEAF-FIBKE OF NEW ZEALAND FLAX. 45
tresses, sofas, and cliairs ; and for tliis purpose it has been largely used
in the North, and is also coming into use in the South Island. It has
been found to preserve its elasticity for ten years. The fibre, or " pre-
pared leaf," is used by the Otago settlers for caulking canoes and
boats (copies). In the North Island especially', the fibre is still, to a
considerable extent, manufactured by the natives into rugs, floor-mats,
cloaks, and other articles of dress, or house furnishings, which are
used equally by settlers and Maoris.
Properties and applicationa of other products and parts of the New
Zealand Flax plants.— The ioregoing do not by any means represent
all the economical applications of this most useful plant. Indeed, in
pre-colonization times especially, it was to the Maoris what the Cocoa-
Nut Palm is to the'Singalese and Pacific Islanders, the Bamboo to the
Chinese, or the Thuja gigantea to the Indians of British Columbia
and Vancouver.
The green leaf, torn into strips of varying size, subserves an infinity
of uses, in lieu of cordage especially.
The shafts of the gold mines in some of the Otago diggings are
built by a method " as instructive as it is novel, consisting of a frame-
work or skeleton lining of timber, interlaced or plaited vertically and
horizontally with New Ze-iiand Flax."* The timber used is the small
or " scrub " timber, in many jilaces comparatively abundant, and hence
inexpensive. Tlie flax leaf not only binds together the timber sup-
ports, but prevents the loose or " detached stuff" from falling on the
miners while at work. With thongs of the same kind, in pre-coloni-
zation times, the Maoris lashed together the framework of their wlieves
and the palisades of their pahs. The settlers of the present day use
strips of the leaf—of various breadth, according to the strength de-
sired—in lieu of all fornis of thong and cordage, straps, or other
fastenings, e.g. as stock-whips, ropes, straps for conveying loads on the
back, after the fashion of knapsacks (these flax-straps being knoAvn to
the Maoris as " kehaki," or " kawe"). The drayman, or stockman,
as he goes along, improvises the .strong pliant fibre of the green leaf
into a variety of useful articles ; and I have myself, in the form of
flax-straps and in other shapes, repeatedly experienced its utility.
The Maoris make baskets, or " kits," of the split leaves, dyeing them
with "hirau " or "inau" bark {El(Socarpus dentatus, Vahl). These
* Tincent Pjke : Gold Fields' Report for 1863.