aken by northern tribesmen to secure for themselves supplies of greenstone, and it is not improbable that in early times such voyages were the normal method whereby greenstone was circulated. With the settlement of the northern and eastern coasts of the South Island, journeys afoot must have largely replaced sea-voyages, the greenstone passing indirectly to the north by a process of reciprocal gifts.
The climate of the South Island is more rigorous than that of the North, and of Maori domesticated food-plants only the kumara was grown south of Cook Strait. Its successful cultivation became more and more difficult the further southward settlements were founded, until in South Canterbury it faded out, and in Otago it could not be cultivated at all. Settlement in these districts was not precluded on that account, for, in addition to wild substitutes, taro, kumara, and other northern products were procured by a process of exchange by reciprocal gifts. Of all southern products it seems likely that preserved moa-flesh was the first to be used in securing northern produce. After the extermination of the moa it is probable that the flesh of mutton-birds took the place of moa-flesh. Later still a trade was developed in Otago greenstone from the Wakatipu district. The Maoris state that this greenstone was of the inanga kind. The term inanga is primarily applied to whitebait, and is used in metaphor of light-coloured greenstone. Whether inanga greenstone was found on the Arahura-Teremakau field has not yet been determined in this research. It is probable also that greenstone of darker shades was found occasionally in the Otago field. But an examination of the greenstone in the Otago University Museum demonstrates that, in that district, pieces having light shades decisively outnumber dark ones. Further, of the pieces of dark greenstone found on Maori sites in Otago it is probable that some at least are derived from the Westland field.
Greenstone from the field at the head of Lake Wakatipu was carried to settlements on the southern and eastern coasts of Otago. The accumulation of great amounts of worked and partially worked greenstone on sites like Murdering Beach, near Dunedin, may safely be attributed to the trade requirements of the north. There is satisfactory evidence, not yet published, that virtually the whole of the Murdering Beach greenstone was brought together early in the nineteenth century.
The method of transport north was dictated by special geographical conditions. In the North Island, transport of goods was carried out wherever possible by canoe. The east coast of the South Island is rough and harbourless, except at Banks Peninsula and about Dunedin. In consequence, porterage was organized on a large scale to take the place of water transport north and south. The system has been described by Stack (p. 186): “The trade created by the system of food exchange established by Tu Rakautahi necessitated the employment of a large body of porters, who were constantly employed carrying heavy loads to and from the various pas extending
from the north to the south of the Island. The labours of these men were greatly increased by the practice which prevailed of giving each more than one load to carry. This necessitated the formation of depots, between which the carriers went backwards and forwards, travelling over the same ground again and again, until they reached their final destination. The weight of an ordinary load was seldom short of a hundred pounds. Attached to the lower end of each burden was a sort of stool, to enable the porter to rest at any time during the journey, without the trouble of disengaging himself from his load.”
It is remarkable that no other investigator has described this system. But there is nothing unlikely in the existence of such a system, and it is confirmed by Andersen (1916, pp. 33–34), who relates that Te Maiharanui killed the porters who had carried his burdens north. The system seems to have reached its greatest development on the route between Otago and Banks Peninsula, but it was present nor