PROGRESS REPORT OF THE FLAX COMMISSIONERS. 3.

I asked the woman, Annie Kanara, who was working for me, to strip the other side of some of the
leaves; she laughed at such an idea, but tried, and after failing several times succeeded with about a
dozen leaves, andthen objected to waste time on any more. This under fibre is not as abundant as the
other, but extends the whole length of the leaf from the butt to the point; it is equally fine and
strong, and there was apparently no difference in the ultimate fibres when microscopically examined,
but it is too green in colour to mix with the other, as it is difficult to separate it from the cuticle and
surrounding cellular tissue. The breaking strain of the only strands I could prepare was 198 lbs.*

After stripping the fibre of the upper (or right) side, it was well scraped with the edge of the
shell to remove as much of the cuticle as possible; and when a small hank of a dozen or twenty leaves
had been finished, it was thrown into a tub of water to be kept moist until a sufficient quantity was
ready to be taken down to a running stream, where it was washed and scraped with the shell over and
over again till all the cuticle, gum, &c., had been removed, when it was hung up to dry, and afterwards
worked and twisted with the hand. It took Annie Kanara the greater part of two days to gather
leaves and prepare four or five pounds weight, and she would not part with it for less than 1s. per lb.
It was very white and soft and bright, for the leaves had been carefully selected, and the breaking
strain was from 210 lbs. to 275 lbs. But what an amount of hand-labour is necessary to produce a
ton of this fine quality, and what a waste of fibre! At least one-half the leaf is discarded, and the
fibre from one side of the other half is rejected, so that the Maori obtains from each leaf only one-
fourth the quantity that would be secured in machine-dressing; and as he would not select more than
one in four of the leaves of any full-grown bush, the European mill-owner, who cuts down the whole
plant, could in the first year produce sixteen tons of his fibre from the same ground that would give
only one ton of fine Native-dressed flax.

In preparing flax for their mats, the Natives take much more time and trouble than has just been
described: they soak the fibre in running water for four days, and then beat it with a stone or mallet;
and this process is repeated over and over again for four or five weeks, or even for much longer periods.
But I have no doubt that this excessive manipulation weakens the fibre, though it makes it very soft
and durable.

I dare say that a few tons of the ordinary washed fibre could be procured from the Natives for
less than 1s. per lb., but not at Otaki. The Commissioners endeavoured to procure one ton through
Mr. Bevan, an old settler and rope-spinner at that place, but he said he could not get it for less than
1s. per lb.; and the Rev. Mr. McWilliam, who kindly assisted me in securing the services of Annie
Kanara, said that he had first applied to the Native woman who had lately prepared some for Bishop
Hadfield, which was sent to England by Mr. Sewell; but she had refused to work at any more, as she
considered she had been insufficiently paid for what she had done. I believe she got 4d. per lb. for
it. Annie Kanara got 5s. from me for her two days' work, and would have earned as much if she had
been stripping flax for the rope-spinners. These pay 1 d. per lb. (£14 a ton) for fibre that has been
merely stripped and tied up into bundles. Of course the Natives take all leaves as they come for this
purpose, but they only use the upper portion, as they cannot strip the butts, and the spinners object
to longer lengths than 3 or 4 feet as being unmanageable. I got a sample from Mr. Dodds at Otaki,
which he had prepared for rope-making by hand-hackling it, the labour and loss of weight bringing the
cost up to £25 a ton (the breaking strain was 188 lbs.). He had sent five or six tons to England, and
it sold there at £25 a ton, leaving him to bear the cost of transport to Wellington, £6 a ton, and
thence to England, £8 or £9 a ton more.

Mr. Bevan is not making rope at present, as the Natives are demanding 2d. instead of 1 d. a lb.
for the flax.

Wellington, 6th December, 1870.

T. M. HAULTAIN.

SAMPLES accompanying this Report.

1. Harakeke (Tuhura) fibre, washed.
2. Harakeke (Tukura) fibre, washed.
3. Harakeke fibre, unwashed.
4. Harakeke stripped for rope-spinners.
5. Harakeke stripped, hackled.
6. Harakeke leaves stripped on both sides, showing difference of colour.

No. 3.

CIRCULAR addressed to NATIVES by the NATIVE MINISTER.

Wellington, 26th September, 1870.

To ____

Friend, Salutations to you. The time has now come when the cry of the riroriro is heard; 1
therefore consider it right to give you a few words of advice, lest the riroriro should cry in vain.

Pleiades is high in the heavens, the warm season has arrived, and the thoughtful man thinks it is
time to cultivate food to enable him to live, and also to extend hospitality to strangers, lest he be in
the same case as the thoughtless one who, when the season of the scarcity of food comes round, is in a
very helpless condition. In former days all descriptions of food used by the Maoris, such as the
kumara, taro, and other things, were largely cultivated; at present the cultivation of these articles of
food has decreased. I therefore consider that you ought again to turn your attention to their cultiva-
tion lest they disappear altogether, and that the word of the proverb ought to be fulfilled which says,
"The fame of a man brave in war is uncertain; but the fame of a man diligent or brave in tilling the
ground will always last."

Another work which you are able to do is the preparation of flax. Formerly that was a great

• The breaking strain here given was obtained in the manner described in the experiments performed by Dr. Hector,
  the results of which were given in the Report of the Flax Commission, 1870.
  2