Page:Pounamu, notes on New Zealand greenstone (IA pounamunotesonne00robl).djvu/27



HE principal mechanical tools of the Maori of the old days were toki or stone adzes (Figure 3), of which the most highly prized were made of greenstone. It is convenient to describe these tools as adzes inasmuch as they were helved in the same way as our adzes; but with the important

distinction that the Maori never inserted the handle in the stone head, but always lashed the head to the helve. Toki were of various kinds and sizes, each being known by its own particular name. Mr. Elsdon Best enumerates four kinds:—ngao pae, the large heavy tool for roughing out work; ngao tu, an adze of medium size; ngao matariki, a small finishing tool; and toki whakarau the smallest of the set, used for giving the final smoothness to the surface.