of rotten wood,
and turning a small stick rapidly between his hands, in the same manner
as we mill chocolate, the friction caused the touchwood, in which the
point of the stick was inserted, to take fire; while, wrapping it up in
the dry grass, and shaking it backward and forward, he very soon
produced a flame, which he communicated to some dry sticks, and other
fuel that our party had collected."

This was not, however, any sudden device of Shungie's, but merely the
contrivance in general use in such emergencies among his countrymen.

"We have mentioned two New Zealanders, who are at present in this
country, and have recently been exhibiting the dances and other customs
of their native land, in several of our provincial towns. Among other
things which they show is this method of kindling fire, and we extract
from the letter of a correspondent who saw them at Birmingham, the
following account of this part of their performance:--'A small board of
well-dried pine was laid upon the floor, and the younger New Zealander
took in his hand a wedge about nine inches long, and of the same
material; then rubbing with this upon the board, in a direction parallel
to the grain, he made a groove, about a quarter of an inch deep and six
or seven inches long. The friction, of course, produced a quantity of
what, had it been produced by another means, would have been called
sawdust; and this he collected at the end of the groove farthest from
that part of the board on which he was kneeling. He then continued his
operation; and in a short time the wood began to smoke, the sides of the
groove becoming completely charred. On this he stopped and gathered the
tinder over that part of the groove which appeared to be most strongly
heated. After a few moments, it became manifest that the sawdust or
tinder was ignited; and a gentle application of the breath now drew
forth a flame which rose to the height of several inches. This
experiment did not always succeed the first time; whenever it was
repeated, whether after failure or success, the operator took a new
wedge and formed a new groove, and it was stated that this was
absolutely necessary. The process was evidently one of very great
labour; at the conclusion of it, the operator was steaming with
perspiration, and his elder countryman stated that his own strength was
unequal to the feat.'"

[Illustration: _Tourist Dept. Photo._

Greenstone axes, with carved wooden handles, and ornamented w